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***RECAP: Nick nodded in agreement, but inside all he felt was some sort of happiness. He wasn't happy that one of his best friends was hurt, he was happy that now he felt as though he had a chance.***
Lauren's phone rang and rang inside her hotel. "I'm sorry sir, but she seems to not be in at the moment," the hotel operator told Nick, who was on the phone. "But I'm positive she's there!" he exclaimed, exasperated, "isn't there any way you can just put me through?"
"Not if she doesn't pick up the phone," the operator explained, "I can leave a message for you if you'd like?"
"Forget it," Nick muttered, and hung up. "Shit," he said, kicking a chair over in his room, "what am I supposed to do?"
He thought back to that morning when he had met the guys at the dance studio with Fatima. AJ had looked like shit run over twice, and it wasn't looking good. While Nick had gained back his strength 100%, AJ was going downhill. He had bags under his eyes, and barely moved or spoke. No one even dared mention Lauren or anything about them being siblings.
Nick still had intense feelings for Lauren, but now couldn't even get in touch with her just to say hi. He had tried going to her hotel room, but no one answered the door. She had made it quite clear she wanted nothing to do with anyone.
It had only been three days since the confession, but those three days had seemed like weeks. During the dance rehearsal, Brian had whispered to Nick, "Dude, we need to do something about AJ.....him and Lauren really need to talk!" And Nick had agreed, but he was uneasy about the possible outcome of that.
Nick had also told Brian about his feelings for Lauren. "Dude! How long have you felt this way?!" he had asked, surprised as hell, "did you like her when AJ did?!"
Nick had nodded solemnly. "I didn't want to steal her away," he had explained, "but I just felt so strongly for her!"
So now, everyone knew except AJ, who pretty much kept to himself these days. The thing Nick was scared about the most was Lauren leaving Orlando and him never getting to say goodbye.
**************************
"AJ?" Kevin said softly, trying to get his attention. The five guys were sitting in Brian's living room after just finishing some group work they were doing.
"AJ?" Kevin said again, "we've been thinking....."
"Yeah," chimed in Howie, "dude, you've been so depressed lately, and it kills us to see you this way....don't you think it'd be a good idea if you called her? Lauren, I mean.....I think you owe it to yourself....."
"I owe it to no one," AJ interrupted loudly, "she bombarded me with this fucking information and she expects me to just pretend like nothing happened?! I LIKED her, D, for Christ sakes I LIKED her! My own damn sister! She knew I was trying to put the moves on her....why didn't she stop me?! Did she have to string me along like that?!? My fucking sister...."
"I know you're upset, AJ, but you have to get past it! You have to talk to her and tell her what you're feeling or else nothing will be accomplished! You heard her before....you and your father are the ONLY family besides her mother that she has! You two need to reconnect, rather than drift apart!" Kevin explained, trying to knock some sense into AJ.
AJ let out a huge sigh but refused to back down. "You don't understand what this is like! Up until three days ago I didn't have anyone either! I had my mom, and occasionally I had my father, when he decided to show up in my life.....but I've never had any brothers and sisters! This is the biggest shock of my life...that my father would keep something so big from me! For God sakes, I'm 19 years old! This has been kept from me for 19 fucking years!" he exclaimed.
"But it's been kept from Lauren for 20," Brian reasoned, "I'm not saying that you shouldn't be affected, but I'm saying that you need to sort this out together."
AJ sighed again. "I just need to not think about it," he said stubbornly, "I just need to not think about her, talk about her, and I need to not see her."
"Ever again?" asked Nick meekly.
"Ever again."
***************************
"Mom, I'm coming home," Lauren said into the phone. She sat in her hotel room for what seemed like the fourth week in a row. Really, it had only been a couple days. "Things didn't turn out as well as I had planned, so I'm coming home as soon as I can.....I'll try calling you again soon, but I may be home before I get a chance........bye," she told her mom's answering machine.
She leaned against the headboard of her hotel bed as a tear ran down her cheek. "Well, I've really fucked things up!" she cried to an empty room, "I HAD a brother who I thought cared about me, but now wants nothing to do with me....I had it good but it's gone now!"
She broke into heavy sobs, as she thought about the times she had spent with him. Though they had only known each other for two weeks, the memories she had were endless. She also missed Nick. In the two weeks they had known each other, she had made such a connection with him, and liked him a lot, but couldn't gather up enough courage to talk to him on the phone. "What makes me so sure that he'll ever want to see me again," she cried out loud, "I hurt his best friend! He probably hates me!"
She cried and cried until she had no more tears left. She got on the phone and booked a ticket back to Toronto as soon as possible. The soonest she could book was for the following week, but in that week she wanted nothing to do with anyone.
She wanted to call Robert, but she thought somehow that would make things worse. "Why did I screw it up?" she asked herself, "why?"
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