Nick walked out of the rehab centre and took a deep breath. He had been in there for the passed 3 months, and all together he had gained back 65 pounds of what he lost to make him a healthy weight. He had to admit that the battle was hard, and at times he wanted to quit, but there was a constant thing in his life which he was working for. Cari. He had Brian promise that he wouldn't tell Cari when he got out of the centre.
"Nick!" Leighanne exclaimed when she saw him walk out. They had arranged a small surprise party for when he got out, and even though Nick requested for Brian to come pick him up, they made up an excuse for Leighanne to come.
"Hi, Leigh. Is it ever good to be out." Nick smiled the most genuine smile Leighanne had ever seen.
"You look so much better, you know." She grinned and gave him a hug.
"I feel better too. And this time they gave me a diet plan to stick to if I ever feel that I want to loose some weight. And it is done the safe way."
"Good. We all missed you."
"Thanks. I missed everyone too."
"Cari wants to know when you're going to be home."
"I know. I wrote her a couple times. I'm not quite ready to see her face to face. But I actually talked to her on the phone last week."
"That's good. Do you want to come back to my place so that we can wait for Brian?"
"Sure." Nick smiled, thinking of Cari.
The car ride was kind of quiet, but Nick was extremely happy to be able to go home and possibly up to Cari's house sometime in the future.
***
"Shhhhhh. I heard a car pull up." Brian said to the other guys. He slyly sneeked a peek out the window and saw Leighanne's car pull up in the driveway. "They're here!" he exclaimed and everyone got in their spots.
Leighanne opened the door and Nick asked how long she thought it would be before Brian got home.
"SURPRISE!!!!!!" Kevin, Howie, AJ, and Brian all exclaimed, jumping out of their hiding spots.
Nick stood there with his mouth open before breaking out into a huge grin and giving his 4 older brothers a tight hug.
"Thanks guys. For sticking with me and helping me." Nick whispered between his tears of happiness.
"Like we'd abandon you in a time of need." Howie grinned and then Nick stopped and gave Brian a longer tighter hug.
"Thanks for helping me get better." Nick whispered.
"You did it all your self. You just had me telling you stuff you wanted to hear." Brian whispered and tried to hold his tears back.