"Hi, Kev," Nick said. "Is Karen there?"
"Yeah she is, but she's sleeping. Do you want me to get her?" he asked.
"No, it's okay, she had a long day yesterday, I'll talk with her later." Nick said.
"Nick? Are YOU okay? You were really scaring me last night." Kevin asked.
"I'm fine, I'll call back later." Nick lied.
"Okay," Kevin said.
Nick hung up the phone and just sat there. 'She's still sleeping. Hmm..I know, I'll go over there and surprise her, I'll bring over balloons and flowers.' he smiled. 'Wait, I can't buy her trust and friendship.' his smile faded. 'But I'll do it anyway, just to surprise her.' his smile reappeared.
Nick quickly crawled out of bed and got dressed. He went downstairs to get some breakfast and then he'd be out the door to the flower shop. 'I hope it works.'
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Theresa's mom was outside Theresa's room door. "Theresa, are you okay in there? Dawn said you didn't feel like going out today, are you sick?" There was no response. "Theresa? Please open the door."
"Mom, I'm fine. I'm just tired, can you please leave me alone."
"Are you sure? Do you want to come out with us and Wesenburgs'?"
"No, it's okay mom, I think I'm going to stay home today. I'll see you later."
"Okay, honey, take care!"
"Love ya mom!"
Theresa was sitting on her bed, "I wonder what's on TV." she said aloud. She had decided to try and relax today, trying to get her mind off all the things that has happened. She turned on the TV on to MTV. Music always cleared her mind. The music video, "Baby One More Time" was on. "Man, Britney Spears is perfect. She probably can get any guy she wants. I wish I was just like her."
Theresa continued to watch music videos all day long, and her mind had drifted away from Nick and Karen, until the video, "I Want it That Way" came on. 'Man, Nick looks so good.' she felt a tear come down her face. 'No, I can't let this bother me.' She turned off the TV and turned on the radio. 'I'll Never Break Your Heart" was on. 'What a coincidence?' She said turning off the radio. 'I think I'm going to go take a swim in the pool downstairs, that'll help me take my mind off things.' She got up and went to change into her bathing suit and headed down to the pool.
Back at Brian's place, Brian had just gotten home, he had come into the door and slammed it. "Yo, B-Rok, Karen's still sleeping so you might want to keep it down." Howie warned. "What's up, Brian? You look angry." Howie noticed.
"I don't want to talk about it right now, D." Brian snapped.
"Ok, I'm not even gonna try." Howie said stepping aside.
Kevin entered just as Brian stormed up the stairs. "What happened now?" he asked Howie.
"I have no idea, but he almost bit my head for asking what was wrong."
"What's been up with him lately, he has had so much on his mind that he just keeps to himself." Kevin said. "I'm going to go talk to him."
"Know what, Kev," Howie suggested. "Maybe you should leave him alone right now, maybe he needs time to think things through before he goes off and says things to others."
"You're right, but I can't just stand here and see him like that, he's my cousin."
"I know that, but notice how he's been so into helping Karen to keep his mind off his own problems."
"Yeah I guess I'll leave him alone, but I want answers soon." Kevin said in a serious tone.
Upstairs, Brian opened the door to Karen's room. 'She's still sleeping. I can't let her know about Leigh Anne and I. I promised to try and make her happy, and that's what I'm going to do. I can't bring her down with my problems, she already has enough of her own. Well, I'll let her sleep.' Just as Brian stepped back to close the door, Karen spoke up, "Brian? Is that you?"
"Oh I'm sorry for waking you up." he apologized.
"No, it's okay, I was already up." she said.
He entered the room, "Well, are you up to the thought of shopping? We gotta get you some new clothes remember."
She looked down at the red dress she still had on. "I guess so. Hmm..got anything else I could wear for today?"
"Want to borrow a pair of shorts and T-shirt?" he suggested.
"Sure, anything you've got then this dress." she smiled.
"I'll go get it."
Karen sat in her bed. 'I must've been too tired to get out of this dress. The last thing I remember was that we were in the park talking. It felt good to be comforted in Brian's arms. He is truly a good friend. I am really --'
"Here you go," Brian interrupted her thoughts. "I think it's a little big."
"It's okay. I'll go put it on." She hurried into the bathroom to change.
As she came out of the bathroom, Brian started laughing. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's REALLY big on you." he said between snickers.
"Yeah, well, I'm going to go down for some breakfast and then we're off." Karen suggested.
"Hmm.. how about I take you out for some breakfast and then after that we can go shopping?"
"I don't know...." she said.
"Come on it's on me!!" Brian assured.
"Well, in that case..." she joked.
"Let's go."
"Okay."
Brian and Karen left the house and headed for a cafe down by Main Street.
Meanwhile, Aaron and Dawn were walking down Main Street hand in hand. "Aaron?" Dawn asked. "Do you want to help me get Nick and Theresa together?"
"It'll be hard." Aaron said.
"Why?"
"Because Nick is rally hooked on this Karen girl." Aaron told her.
"He is?" Dawn said sad.
"Yeah, last night all he talked about was Karen."
"Oh," Dawn said. "Theresa was up all night long crying over Nick."
"Really? She must really have it hard for him."
"Yeah."
"But last night, I noticed that Brian and Karen were close. If Brian didn't have a girlfriend I'd think they were going out."
"Maybe they do like each other." Dawn said eagerly.
"Nah, Brian would never cheat on his girlfriend. When he says he's just helping her out, he really means it. That's Brian for you. He is totally honest with anyone, even strangers."
"Oh," she said disappointed.
Aaron looked at his disappointed girlfriend. "You know what? Maybe I will help you try and get Nick and Theresa together."
"You will?"
"Yeah, this Karen girl is really hurting Nick and he doesn't deserve to be treated like that."
"You will?"
"Yeah, I'll work on Nick, but you gotta work on Theresa."
"I will, thank you." and she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Nick arrived at Brian's place full of confidence with a bunch of flowers. He reached out to ring the doorbell when the door opened.
"Hey Nick, what's up?" Kevin said. "Aww..are those for me?" he joked.
"No, they're for Karen, is she up yet."
"Actually you just missed her. She went out for breakfast with Brian and then they're going shopping."
"Oh," said a disappointed Nick Carter. "Do you know when they'll be home?"
"No, I don't." Kevin said. "Do you want to leave those flowers here? I can put them in a vase and stick them in her room."
"Yeah, sure," Nick said. "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere, Howie and I are just going to stay home and chill today. I was just getting the mail."
"Would it be cool if I hung out with you guys today?"
"Sure, come on in." Kevin said. "Howie's in the family room."
"Thanks." Nick said. 'And maybe I'll be able to catch Karen.'
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