Nick rolled over and stretched, finding he was alone in bed he sat up looking around the room. "Jess?" he slid out of bed, grabbing his boxers from the floor and pulling them on. He walked towards the bathroom, seeing the light on and lightly knocked on the door. "Jess?" he called out softly. He could hear her voice, whispering, as he pushed the door open slowly. "I'll be back in the city in a week or so…yes…I know I have a show…don’t worry about it, I'll be home in plenty of time to…" Nick looked in, finding Jess sitting on the floor of the bathroom, her back to him, talking into the phone. He started towards her, smiling as he realized she hadn't heard him come in, preparing to make her jump by kissing the back of her neck.
"I love you too Dylan."
Nick froze at the words. Jess laughed softly and repeated them as she hung up the phone. She stood up and turned…her eyes grew wide and the smile disappeared as she found Nick standing in the doorway. "Nick…" her voice barely came out in a whisper. "I woke up and you were gone…so I uh…came to find you…" Nicks voice cracked as he spoke. "How much did you…I mean…" Jess stopped as she realized exactly what he'd heard. "Who's Dylan?" Nick asked softly as Jess sat on the edge of the bathtub. Her hazel eyes shone bright with tears as she looked up at him…seeing the hurt in his blue eyes. Holding out her hand Nick looked down and saw the ring sparkle as the light hit the diamond, the small gold band encircling her finger. His head shot back up and he looked at her, shock covering his face as he realized what she was saying. "He's my fiancée…" Jess said quietly.
Nick spun around, almost charging back into the bedroom, grabbing his jeans and struggling into them. His body shaking as he held back the tears that begged to fall. "Nick!" Jess ran in behind him, "Nick please…let me...I need to explain please…" she sobbed as he spun around to face him. His bright blue eyes clouded with confusion and hurt. "Explain what? That I got what I deserved? That you got me back for what I did to you? That you let me think you really had forgiven me? What the fuck was last nite Jess! What the hell were you doing…What the hell were you letting ME do?! Is this some big laugh to you?" Nick's voice grew hoarse as he sank to the bed, his head dropping into his hands as the tears came. His body shaking violently as he sobbed. Jess dropped to her knees in front of him, pulling his hands down from his face. "Nick…last nite…was…" she cupped her hands around his face, looking into his tear filled eyes, "last nite was beautiful…and perfect…" Jess's voice trailed off as she tried to explain. Nick stared at her, trying to hear the words she was speaking but only hearing over and over in his mind…"I love you too Dylan…" Jess reached up, automatically brushing his hair back from his face, wiping the tears from his cheeks. Nick grabbed her hand, pressing it against his cheek, then pulled it down into his lap, his fingers toying with the engagement ring. "Then what's this about?" he looked to her for the explanation.
Jess took a deep breath, preparing herself, "I met him before I came down to see you the…last time…but we were just friends. After…well after I got back, he was there, like the best friend I thought I'd lost at the time…the best friend I needed so badly to talk to about what had happened." Nick sighed, "I can't believe I was so stupid…that I did something so horrible…to you of all people." His hands gripped hers tight as she talked, "I forgave you Nick…and I do love you. But I put aside a lot of feelings after what happened. When I came down to see you at school, I had all these plans to tell you that I was in love with you. Dylan had already brought up the idea of us getting married…so when I left, I told him I was going to talk to you, to find out if there were any feelings from you or not. You were…are…so important to me and I thought when I went down there everything, all the years of loving you, would just fall into place and we'd live happily ever after…" Jess's voice drifted off. "And I hurt you…" Nick spoke quietly. Jess nodded and looked up at him, "Yes Nick, you hurt me. Not physically…but inside…you took all the trust and all the love I had and just popped it like a balloon. It was like you were a different person. You treated me horribly, and it wasn't all just the alcohol talking. Somewhere, inside yourself, you felt some of those feelings, or you wouldn't have said them out loud." "NO! Jess, I swear…I didn't…I don’t…" Nick stood up, pacing the room. "I DO love you Jess. I don’t know why I said such horrible things to you. When you came out of the bathroom before the dinner that nite, I knew…I KNEW I loved you. I tried to make myself think it was just because you're my best friend…but that nite, I knew it was more than that. I got so fucking jealous watching all those guys touching you, and making you laugh…it was like, I'd tried to not be in love with you for so long and the nite I realize it's true…" Nick's voice grew soft as he stopped pacing and turned, looking at Jess sitting across the room. Jess stood and walked towards him, "That nite you watched me having fun, being happy for YOU Nickolas. I wasn't flirting…I wasn't trying to get anyone's attention except yours, and you turned into this horrible, hateful man who degraded me that nite."
Tears streamed down Nick's face as he listened. "You let petty childish jealousy come between us…between our friendship, and you pushed me away." Jess reached out and brushed the tears from his face, Nick reached up holding her hands, closing his eyes and pressed her hands to his cheeks. "I'm so sorry Jessa…I'm so so sorry…" Jess kissed his lips softly as he opened his eyes, looking into hers, "I know you are Nickolas," she whispered softly, "I know." The two stood crying softly, their arms wrapped around one another.