The plane landed on the runway of the airport in LA. Nick and Kristin hastily made their way out of the way to meet his parents. Nick glanced around the airport and spotted his mom and dad a few feet away waving to get their attention. Nick smiled widely as he ran over to them.

"Mom! Dad!" he shouted as he ran to them.

"Nick!" his mom cried with her arms open wide.

Nick hugged his mother tight. "It's so good to see you. I've missed you so much."

"It's good to see you too Nick," his mom replied with a smile.

Nick glanced over at his dad. "Hey dad," he said as he hugged him.

"We're glad you're home," he replied.

"Ahem," said Kristin.

Nick gave her an irritated look then faced his parents. "Mom, Dad this is Kristin."

"Ah, this is the famous Kristin I've been hearing so much about," Bob replied.

Kristin laughed and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you too."

"It's good to see you again Kristin," Jane said as she patted her on the back.

"Well, are we ready to go?" Bob asked.

"Yeah I think so," Nick replied as he followed his dad out to the van.

They drove out of the airport and went to Nick's parents' house. Nick's eyes grew wide as he looked at the outside of the house.

"Wow! This looks great!"

Jane laughed. "Nick why do you sound so surprised? You're the one who helped up get this house."

"I know, I just forgot what it looked like. It's been too long since I've been here."

"Well, who's fault is that?" Jane teased.

"Mom!"

Jane laughed. "I'm sorry I just had to give you a hard time about that. Your brother and sisters will be really excited to see you. They've been talking about it all week. Especially Aaron."

"I'll be glad to see them too. I've missed everyone."

Bob pulled into the garage and everyone got out. Nick could hear the sound of Aaron running through the house. He laughed as he saw Aaron bust through the door and speed toward Nick.

"Nick!" he shouted as he hugged him tight.

"Hey there little man!"

"Nick come play N64 with me. I wanna show you something. Then when we're done with that we'll go swimming. Then we'll play some basketball and then--"

"Whoa whoa! Slow down A.C. I'm going to be here for a whole week. We've got plenty of time to do all of that stuff."

"Okay," Aaron said excitedly.

"Help me with my stuff and I'll play N64 with you."

"Okay," Aaron said as he grabbed one of Nick's bags and headed inside.

Nick carried all the bags upstairs to his room and placed them on the bed. Kristin followed him and stood in the doorway.

"Where do I put my stuff?" she asked.

"In B.J.'s room. Come with me I'll show you where it is," Nick replied as he walked down the hall to B.J.'s room. The sound of Nsync was blaring through the door. Nick rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Yo Sis! What do you think you're doing? You traitor!" he teased.

B.J. laughed and turned down the stereo. "I know you were standing outside my door," she said as she got up and hugged Nick. "God damn boy you've gotten taller. You gotta stop growing or else I can't beat you up anymore."

"Oh yeah right. You couldn't beat me up even if I had two hands tied behind my back."

B.J. stuck her tongue out at Nick and laughed. "Who asked you anyway."

Nick laughed and grabbed one of Kristin's bag. "B.J., this is my girlfriend Kristin. She's going to sleeping in here for the week."

"Nice to meet you," B.J. said as she shook Kristin's hand. "You can sleep on the spare bed over here. Don't mind the mess, I'm still getting everything organized in here."

"Oh that's okay. I'm sure I won't be in here much anyway," Kristin said as she laid her suitcase on top of the bed.

Nick placed the other bag on the bed. "Well, I'm going to play some N64 with Aaron. You two have fun," Nick said as he gave Kristin a quick kiss on the cheek then left.

"Well, I hate to leave you alone, but I'm getting ready to meet some friends at the mall. Do you wanna come?"

"Oh no thanks. I'll just start unpacking my things."

"Okay, well, see you later then," B.J. said as she left.

"Yeah okay," Kristin mumbled.

Kristin finished putting away her things then walked down the hallway to find Nick. She heard his voice coming from a room so she peeked inside. There he was sitting on the floor with Aaron playing N64.

"Hahahahaha! I won again!" Nick said as he did a little dance.

"No fair! You can't do that!"

"Oh but I can," Nick said as he lightly pushed Aaron.

Kristin took a seat next to Nick. He looked over at her and smiled.

"Hey!" he said with a grin. "Get bored with B.J. already?"

"No, she left to meet some friends at the mall."

"Oh...she didn't invite you?"

"No, she did, but I said I wanted to stay here."

"Suit yourself," Nick said as he continued to play the game.

A few hours later, after dinner, Nick was sitting on a stool talking to his mom while she did dishes. Kristin came up behind him and put her arms around his waist. Nick smiled and kissed her.

"Let's go swimming," she said.

"Not right now I'm talking to my mom. We can go swimming tomorrow."

"Why not tonight?"

"I just wanna spend some time with my family tonight. I haven't seen them in forever."

"Nick, we're going to be here all week. You've got enough time to spend with your family."

"And we've got enough time to go swimming. We'll do it tomorrow, I promise."

"Fine whatever," Kristin said in an irritated tone. "I'm going to bed then."

"Okay, good night," he said as he reached for a kiss.

Kristin ignored him and walked upstairs. Nick let out a sigh and shook his head.

"Kristin seems like a nice young lady," Jane said.

"Yeah I guess," Nick said nonchalantly.

"You don't sound too sure about that. Are you okay?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine. Kristin and I are just having a few problems. She's been really irritable and impatient lately. I don't understand what her problem is. We fought the entire way here. We're just not as happy as we used to be. I dunno what to do about it."

Jane laughed and walked over to her son. She placed her arms around him and gave him a small hug. "It's just a phase. Every couple goes through it. Just give her time. You just keep doing what you know is right. She'll come along soon."

"I hope so," Nick said with a yawn.

"You look tired. Why don't you get some sleep."

"I think I will," Nick said as he got off the stool. He kissed his mom on the cheek. "Good night Mom."

"Good night," she replied.

Nick walked up the stairs to his room. He passed the hall bathroom on the way just as Kristin came out. He glanced at her for a moment.

"I'm going to sleep now," he said softly.

"Good for you," she said as she started to walked back to B.J.'s room.

Nick grabbed her by the arm. "Why are you being so moody toward me? What did I do?"

Kristin jerked her arm away. "I knew it was a mistake to come here with you. You're going to be spending all your time with your family."

"Kristin I see you everyday. It's been almost six months since I've seen my family. What is so wrong with wanting to spend time with them while I'm here?"

"Nothing, except when you ignore your girlfriend while doing it."

Nick rolled his eyes. "You think I'm ignoring you? You're being paranoid."

"Yeah, well, whatever," Kristin said as she walked into the room.

Nick groaned in frustration and went to his own room. He stripped down to his boxers and settled himself under the covers. Still angry at Kristin he tucked the covers under his chin and closed his eyes.

"She's so irritable," Nick mumbled. "I wish she'd stop."

Nick let out a yawn and tried to relax. Before he knew it, his thoughts had faded into a haze and he was sound asleep.