Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 00:16:01 -0800 (PST)
From: slpwriter <slpwriter@yahoo.com>
Subject: Nick Lachey: My Everything-62

Hello to all of you!

I'm back with another chapter of "My Everything."


Thanks for all of your support! Without it, I don't
think I could have written this story for this long.

 Now on with the story.


First of all, let me just say that this is my first
time writing any kind of fiction like this.

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of total fiction and is not
meant to imply anything about the sexualities of Nick
and Drew Lachey or anyone else mentioned in this
story.

If you are too young to read this, or if Homosexuality
offends you, then please don't continue any further
and leave.

NEWSFLASH: To those of you who don't already know,
Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, in real life, have
reconciled and are now husband and wife. I wish them
all the best with their marriage and hope they live a
long and happy life together.

If you want details about their wedding, check out the
98 Degrees Official Website at www.98degrees.com.


Other 98 Degrees stories I'd like to recommend are.

"Give Me Just One Night" by Unanoche.
"69 with Jeff Timmons" by Zachary Scott Pritt
"Nick Lachey" by Ken.
"98 Degrees Is Hot" by Gay Night
"The Reunion" by RinSong.
"Loving Nick Lachey" by Jordan
"Playing Doctor with 98 Degrees" by Brian
"This Gift" by Sprout

and finally:
"What I feel for you" by Thack.

"What I feel for you." is an awesome story and Thack,
himself deserves applause for all of his hard work on
it.


Now, I"ll let you get on with the story.

Enjoy.


Previously on "My Everything".....


I went and found my favorite spot in the sand and sat
down to watch the sunset, as I thought about the
friends that I'd left behind in Los Angeles, without
saying goodbye.

I sat there, the tears overwhelming me as the final
rays of the sun finally disappeared from view in the
distance.

"Goodbye, my friends." I whispered, before I broke
down, crying.

I have no idea how long I had been sitting there,
crying, until I felt a hand come down on my shoulder
and gently squeeze it. I turned around and looked up,
expecting to see Jake.

"Jake." I said, sternly. "I thought I told you that
I......

My voice cut off as my eyes widened and my jaw
dropped.

There, standing before me, dressed in a light blue
jogsuit and looking so sexy, was Nick.

"Hi." He said, softly, a small smile on his face. "You
look like you could use a friend right now."

I got up on my feet quickly and leapt at him,
embracing him in my arms, hugging him tightly.


"I'm so glad you're here." I whispered.


***********
CHAPTER 62
***********

Nick hugged me, tightly. It felt so good to be in his
arms again at that moment. I didn't realize until I
saw him, just how much I'd actually missed him.

"Nick, not that I'm complaining or anything, but what
are you doing here in Orlando?" I asked him, as I
pulled back from our embrace, and looked into his
face. "I thought you'd have gone back home first
thing. But instead you're here and not back home in
Los Angeles with Jessica and Nicole. Why?"

"I am headed back home." Nick said, nodding. "But I
had to see you one last time before I headed back."

I frowned, wondering what he meant by that. It sounded
so....final.

"Nick? I don't understand." I said to him. "What do
you mean you had to see me one last time? You make it
sound so final."

Nick looked down and shifted his feet into the sand.
It was obvious he wanted to tell me something.

"Well," he said, hesitantly. "You and I are not a
couple anymore and we both have moved on with our
lives. I'm with Jessica, and you're with Drew."

As soon as he mentioned Drew, I immediately felt the
anger start to burn within me again. Just hearing
Drew's name would set me off.

"Don't even say your brother's name around me right
now." I said, bitterly. "If I never see him or talk to
him again, it'll be too soon."

I saw Nick's forehead crinkle in confusion. Obviously
since he'd been gone he had no idea that Drew and I
were on bad terms right now.

"Why?" Nick asked. "What happened between you two?"

I couldn't look at him and turned away, looking out
into the distance, as I watched the waves crashing
onto the shore. I couldn't stop the tears that were
falling from all the hurt and betrayal I was feeling
now that I'd learned Drew's shocking secret.

"Did he do something to you?" I heard Nick ask from
behind me.

I spun around and he saw the tears that were falling
down my face even now. I could see the concern in his
eyes.

All I could do was nod as I covered my face with my
hands and sobbed into them.

I felt Nick's hands on my shoulders and I uncovered my
face and allowed him to see the turmoil that I was in.
He cupped my face in his hands, his thumbs stroking my
cheeks.

"Tell me what he did." Nick said, as he continued to
comfort me. I could see the pleading look in his eyes
and I couldn't bear it.

"Nick, please." I said, sighing. "Not now. I don't
want to go there just yet. It's only been a few hours
since I found out. I just got back from Los Angeles
about an hour ago."

"Alright." Nick said, pulling me into a hug again.
"Just know that I'm here for you and that I won't push
you. Whatever it is can wait until you're ready to
talk about it."

"Thanks, Nick." I said, holding onto him, enjoying
this moment. After a few minutes, I pulled back from
our hug.

"Anyway, enough about me." I said, ready to change the
subject. "Let's talk about you. Where have you been
all this time? Where did you go?"

Nick started walking past me and walked towards the
water a bit. Then he looked down at the spot in the
sand before him, and chose to sit down there. I went
to join him.

"Different places." Nick said, as I sat beside him, in
the sand. He was staring off into the distance as he
spoke.

"I went to Hawaii where Jessica and I got married a
month before Nicole was born, and spent some time
there, doing some soul searching." Nick continued. "I
even took time out to have a little fun as well while
I was there."

"Then, I decided to go to New York for the next day,
since that's where you and I first met. It seems like
such a lifetime ago."

"Yeah." I said, thinking back to when we'd met each
other. "We shared alot of wonderful memories in New
York together, didn't we?"

Nick smiled, and turned to look at me.

"Yes, we did." He said, quietly. "Times, I will never
forget as long as I live."

I nodded.

"You were my first real relationship and my first real
true love." I said to him.

Then I sighed heavily, when I remembered something.

"I just wish it hadn't ended the way that it did with
you all disowning me the way that you did." I said,
sadly.

Nick's smile left his face at that moment. As I looked
at him, I could tell that he felt really bad about it
now. Perhaps even worse now then when he did when we
came face to face for the first time since then.

"I wish it hadn't ended that way, either." He said.
"But I didn't realize that until I saw you again after
all those years."

I nodded, as I started playing in the sand with my
hands.

"It still hurts, you know." I said, softly. "I still
haven't totally gotten over it. But there's something
that you need to know."

Nick was curious now. He knew he'd missed out on alot
while he was gone. But what he didn't know was that he
was about to get the surprise of his life.

"What's that?" He asked, looking into my eyes.

I looked right back and started to get lost in his
eyes. They were so blue and so hypnotic. Yet, I
couldn't let myself get caught up in them.

"The day you left, I got your letter and found out
just how emotionally messed up you were and I realized
that you needed my friendship more than ever."

"After read your letter, my buddy, Jake, came by later
that morning and started asking me if I'd gotten some
ass that night."

Nick's eyes widened when he heard that.

"You didn't tell him about us, did you?" He asked,
looking panic-stricken.

Not that I blamed him. He didn't know Jake, so I could
understand why he was worried, so I set about to ease
his fears.

"No, Nick, I didn't tell him about you being my
husband, or about sleeping with Drew."  I reassured
him. "But I told him that my ex's name was Nick, but I
didn't tell him anything else about you or Drew, or
the rest of the guys about how you disowned me. I
didn't know him enough to trust him with specifics at
that time, which was after he saved me from my suicide
attempt."

"Then, what did you mean before?" Nick asked.

"Jake wanted to know if I'd spent the night with
someone." I told him. "He already knew because he saw
me walking funny when he came into my place and then
he mentioned that he came over this morning to ask me
to go  swimming with him and Michelle, but he saw that
my car was gone, so he knew I didn't come home that
night."

"Oh." Nick said. "Did you tell him that it was Drew
you slept with?" He asked.

"No." I said, then grinned. "But I made him guess who
it was. I only gave him the hint that it was somebody
famous and since Jake is straight, you'll never guess
who was the first guy he named."

"Who?" Nick said, his grin matching mine, knowing that
it was going to be funny.

"Brad Pitt." I said, before I started snickering.

"Are you serious?" Nick laughed. "Well, he's sure got
great taste in guys for a straight guy."

I couldn't help it. I just erupted with laughter. Nick
laughed a bit, but then started looking at me like I
had gone nuts.

"What's so funny about that?" He asked, that sexy grin
still on his face.

"I said the exact same words to Jake when he guessed
Brad." I said, in between laughs. "Then, he guessed
Matt Damon and that's when I realized that I hadn't
contacted him or Ben to let them know what had
happened to me, so I did that and called Ben and we
got to talking. Then, I decided to go to Los Angeles
for the weekend to see Ben, and on the way, I stopped
over at your house."

"Jessica and I didn't get along at all." I said,
reluctantly. "She started insulting me and blaming me
for your leaving and then she said "Fuck you." to me.
And I lost it and screamed back at her, "No thanks,
and that I'd rather fuck her husband, meaning you."

Nick's jaw dropped, in shock when he heard that
revelation.

"No way." He said, in disbelief. "Oh my god, I'm
afraid to ask how she reacted to that."

"The way you might expect." I said to him, a smirk
still on my face. "She lunged at me like a wild animal
and Jeff had to grab her to keep her from tearing my
face off and that's when she screamed at me to get out
and stay out. And to stay away from her family, as
well as her husband."

"Why did you say that?" Nick said, frowning in
confusion. "Were you trying to deliberately provoke
her?"

"No." I said, frowning. "I was real mad and it slipped
out. You know how you can get mad and not think before
you act. When that came out of my mouth, I was just as
stunned as everyone else."

Nick nodded.

"Yeah, I know." He said. "I've been there, myself."

"Yeah." I said, continuing. "Anyway, back to what you
needed to know. A few days ago, I decided that I'd
like to try again at a friendship with everyone and
said that If they could agree to let me forgive and
forget in my own time and own way, then I didn't see
any reason why we could all try again at being friends
again. So, I welcomed Drew, and everyone back with
open arms."

Nick's eyes widened in surprise. Then he leaned over
and pulled me into a hug.

"That's so great!" He said, enthusiastically. "I'm so
proud of you."

"Thank you." I said. "And just so you know, it's the
same for you. If you can agree to let me forgive you
on my terms, then you and I are friends again as
well."

Nick just hugged me harder, letting me know that he'd
agreed to my terms, without a second thought.

"I take it that's a yes, by the way you're hugging
me?" I joked, laughing a bit.

"You bet." Nick said, as he released me.

I suddenly started to feel cold and I think Nick
noticed.

"Are you cold?" he asked me. I nodded.

"A little, yeah." I said, rubbing my bare arms up and
down to warm them.

Nick took off his jogsuit coat and wrapped it around
my shoulders. It was a really nice gesture.

"Is that better?" he asked, quietly.

"Much." I answered, a smile on my face. "Thanks."

"Sure." Nick said, starting to get up. "Don't you
think we should go in now?"

"Good idea." I said, getting up with him. "Would you
like to come and meet Jake real quick?"

"Actually, no." Nick said. "Not tonight. I'm tired
from all that jet lag. I just wanted to know if it'd
be ok if I could crash here at your place tonight?"

"Sure." I said, smiling. "I could use the company."

"Alright, let's go in." Nick said, walking with me
towards my house.

I pulled my keys from out of my pocket and unlocked
the door. I opened it and led Nick in as I closed the
door behind me.

I turned around to face Nick.

"If you'd like, you can use my shower to get cleaned
up if you'd like." I offered. "And you can come to my
room and grab some sweatpants to sleep in if you'd
like."

"That's ok." Nick said. "I'm alright. Actually, I have
my things in the rental car I rented."

"You rented a car?" I asked, in surprise. "Where's
your car?"

"It's at the LAX airport in Los Angeles." Nick told
me. "I decided to leave it there until I got back."

"Oh." I said, just as I glanced over at the phone. I
then remembered that I needed to call Jake.

"Hey, Nick," I started saying. "Why don't you go and
take your shower, while I call Jake to tell him that
I'm not going to stay with him and Michelle for
tonight after all."

"Sure." Nick said, turning to head towards the
bathroom. But then, he turned back around. "Why were
you going to stay with Jake tonight?"

"Because I didn't want to be alone." I told him.
"After I learned what Drew did, I was an emotional
basket case. I ended up doing something I never
thought I was capable of."

"I'm afraid to ask what you did." Nick said, the worry
clear in his voice. "Is it really that bad?"

"I'm afraid so." I told him. "I gave your brother's
face quite a beating. He's got two swollen black and
blue cheeks and a busted lip."

"You beat him up?!" Nick said, sounding angry. "Why
would you do that? That is not like you at all, Sean.
I've never known you to be violent."

"I know, Nick, I know." I said, agreeing with him.
"But you'll understand once you find out what he did.
Then you won't blame me for giving him a beating. I
was devastated and I felt like Drew deserved what he
got."

Nick was silent for a moment, not sure if he wanted to
hear any more.

"Is my brother, ok?" He asked me, his voice sounding a
little shaky.

"He'll be fine." I said, bitterly. "Not that I care
anymore."

"Sean." Nick said, sympathetically. "That's a little
harsh, don't you think?"

"No, I don't, Nick." I said. "What you brother did is
unforgiveable."

"But, Sean, he's still my brother." Nick said. "If you
and I are friends again, you know Drew is part of the
package. I can get another friend, but I can't get
another brother."

I sighed, knowing that Nick was right. I wanted to be
friends with him again and that meant that I was going
to have to find a way to be able to deal with Drew,
without coming between him and his relationship with
Nick.

"I hear what you're saying, Nick." I said, as I
reached for my cordless phone. "And I can't promise
that I'll be able to be around Drew without being
bitter, but I can promise you that I won't come
between you two. I won't force you to choose between
your brother and me. I know I would lose. The two of
you share a bond that I will never really understand."

"You're right about that, Sean." Nick said. "Drew and
I have a very strong bond. I love him alot."

As I sat there, Nick got silent for a moment. Then I
heard him sigh.

"Well, I'm going to go and get in the shower now." He
said. "Thanks again for letting me stay here tonight."

"No problem, buddy." I said, then turned around to
face him. "The bathroom is the first door to the left
when you go down the hallway."

"Ok." Nick said, turning to head that way. "We'll talk
more when I get finished."

"Alright, Nick." I said, as he walked down the hallway
to the bathroom. "See you later."

When Nick was gone, I picked up the cordless phone and
dialed Jake's number. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, Jake, it's me." I said. "I just wanted to let
you know that I changed my mind about staying with you
two tonight."

"Oh." I heard him say. "Alright then. Have a good
night's rest and call me tommorrow."

"Will do." I said. "Besides, I want you to meet a
friend of mine, who's staying with me tonight."

"Someone is with you right now? Jake asked, curiously.
"Who?"

"Sorry, buddy." I said, smiling. "You'll have to wait
until tommorrow. we're both already exhausted from jet
lag, so we're going to sleep in a while."

"Alright, but will you at least answer me one
question?" Jake asked, quickly.

"What's that, bud?" I askead him.

"Is this "friend" of yours a guy or a girl?" He asked.

"A guy." I said. "You'll meet him tommorrow."

"I can't wait." Jake said. "I'll talk to you
tommorrow. Goodbye.

"Bye, Jake." I said, as I hung up the phone.

I sat back onto the couch and lay back against it. I
thought about how lucky I was to have Nick back in my
life again, even if he was just my friend.

I got so lost in my thoughts, I didn't hear Nick come
into the living room. At least until he came up behind
me and tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped.

"Damn, Nick, you scared me." I said, as I turned
around to look at him.

 "Next time, let me......" I stopped short, unable to
finish my sentence from what I saw before my own eyes.

Nick was standing in front of me, clad only in a
towel. Water was trickling down his chest. As I
gawked, I saw a drop of water trickle down between his
pecs, down the center line of his abs, and down his
treasure trail. The drop of water disappeared down
further into his towel.

His body was so beautiful even now and  I noticed that
he had definitely been taking care of his body while
he was gone. His abs looked even better than ever
before.

"I didn't mean to startle you." Nick said, smiling at
me, and how I was distracted by his buff body.

"Don't worry about it." I stammered, my voice a bit
husky. "Next time, just give me some advanced
warning."

"Sure." Nick said, then looked at his body, noticing
that I was still checking him out.

"You like what you see?" He chuckled, slightly,
enjoying the attention he was getting.

I snapped out of it and grinned.

"Sure." I said. "You never pass up a chance to get
someone all hot and bothered when you look like that."

Nick laughed.

"Yeah, well I go by the motto: "If you've got it,
flaunt it." you know what I mean?" He said, as he
flexed his pecs and abs.

I walked up to him and got really close to him, my
face just inches away from his.

"Well, let me tell you something, sexy boy." I
whispered, seductively, as I gazed at his lips, then
back up to his face. "I suggest you go into my room
and get yourself dressed, before we get into trouble
here."

Nick waggled his eyebrows.

"What if I want to get into trouble?" he flirted back.

"Don't push it." I said, with a grin. "Now go."

"Yes, sir!" Nick said, saluting me, like an army
soldier. "Right away, sir!"

With that said, he started marching off to my room.

"You're crazy, you know that?!" I called out after
him, grinning ear to ear. I heard him laugh as he
disappeared into my room.

I decided to follow him, so I walked into my room,
just in time to get a view of his fine, naked ass, as
he removed the towel from his waist, his back to me. I
could feel the all-too-familiar startings of a hard on
in my jeans.

"Ok, Sean, I know you're watching me." Nick suddenly
said. "I can feel your eyes on my ass."

He turned around, a smile on his face. He laughed when
he saw the shocked look on my face.

"How did you know I was standing here?" I asked, as I
stood there in shock.

"I heard you come down the hallway." he said, with one
of his sexy ass grins on his face, showing off his
beautiful teeth. His teeth were so perfect. His smile,
to me, could just light up the whole room.

"Well, now that I'm here in the doorway, I might as
well come in." I said, stepping into the room, as Nick
opened up the drawer and looked for a pair of
underwear. He found a pair of my boxer-briefs and
started to put them on.

"No, Nick, not those." I said, quickly. Nick looked up
at me and frowned in confusion.

"Why not?" He asked, stepping out of them and holding
them back in his hand.

"You'll see." I said, as I walked over to the drawer
and opened the bottom one and pulled out another
package of underwear and handed them to him.

He accepted them and noticed that they were not the
same as the ones he was about to put on. When he saw
just what type of underwear they were, he started
laughing in embarrassment as his face turned at least
5 different shades of red, which surprised.

"Sean, Sean, Sean." He giggled, as he opened the
package and took out a pair of bikini underwear. There
were 5 in all, in colors of Red, Blue, Gray, White and
Black.

"So, does that mean you like them?" I asked, trying
not to laugh at his red face.

"Well, I will let you know, as soon as I stop
blushing." He laughed, as he twirled a pair of them on
his finger.

"Oh, come on, Nicholas." I urged him. "We both know
you're not that shy."

"Well, yeah, but these?" Nick said, holding up the
bikini briefs he had taken out, which were blue.

I came over to him and put my hands on his chest and
ran them up and down his perfectly tight pecs.

"How about you model it for me?" I asked him,
seductively. "We both know you've got the body for it,
stud."

Nick saw the look on my face. He knew that I was
practically begging him to try some on. He caved.

"Alright, what the hell." He said. "Wait here, while I
go into the bathroom and put them on. You stay here
and keep your back to the door until I say you can
turn around."

"Alright, fine." I said.

"Be right back." Nick said as he ran past me, out of
my room, into the bathroom.

I waited and waited for what seemed like hours, but in
reality, it had only been about a minute.

"Ok, you can turn around now." I heard him say from
behind me.

I turned around and my breath caught in my throat.
Nick was standing in the doorway, wearing the blue
bikini briefs. He looked so hot! He was practically
sizzling!

"Wow." I said, breathless. "Nick, you look so good in
those bikini briefs.

Really?" Nick asked, spinning around to give me a full
show. "You like?"

"Oh, yeah." I said, waggling my brows. "I like,
alright. What do you think? Do you like them?"

"Yeah, I do." Nick said, admiring them. "They're not
bad, actually. Not bad at all. I actually like how I
look in these."

"And then some." I agreed. "Are you ready to turn in,
yet?"

Actually, Yeah." Nick said, as he started yawning.
"I'm beat. What about you?

I nodded, as I looked at him, sleepily.

"Yeah, me too." I said. I then looked at my king sized
bed.

 "Do you want to share my bed? I asked him. "There's
plenty of room."

Nick thought it over for a moment, debating whether or
not it was a good idea for him to be sharing a bed
with his ex-husband.

I looked at Nick and I could see that he still seemed
lost by the look in his eyes.

"Nick?" I asked him. He looked up at me.

 "I think before you decide whether or not you should
share the same bed with me, you should tell me this:
"Have you made a decision where Jessica and I are
concerned? You said you loved us both in the letter
you sent me."

"Yes, I have." Nick said, and then looked at me,
closely, as he prepared to give me his decision:

"I'm staying with Jessica." He said.

I was silent for a moment as I allowed myself to
process this news. Nick had finally decided who he
wanted to spend the rest of his life with, meaning
that his confusion was over. He knew who he wanted to
spend the rest of his life with. And it obviously
wasn't me.

I turned away and looked out the window, which was
open a crack, and listened to the sound of the water,
crashing against the shore.

"This was why I had to see you before I went back
home." I heard Nick say from behind me. I had to tell
you in person before I left. I felt like I owed you
that much."

I sighed, as I turned back to look at him.

"You don't owe me a thing, Nick." I said, softly, as I
looked into his eyes. "I'm glad you finally know what
you want so that you don't have to run anymore. Now,
you can concentrate on working on your marriage with
Jessica and taking care of that precious little angel
of yours."

"Nicole." Nick said, nodding. "I miss my little girl
so much. Jessica too."

"Then, it's settled." I said, patting his arm. "You
need to get back to them as soon as possible. "When do
you head back home?"

"Tommorrow morning." Nick said. "It gave me enough
time to come and see you to tell you what my decision
was."

"And I appreciate it, Nick." I said. "Just know that
no matter what happens, that I will always care about
you. Never forget how special you are, and always will
be, to me."

Nick was starting to get choked up. I could see the
tears that were ready to fall down his face. I pulled
him into my arms, giving him a hug.

"And I want you to know that I forgive you for
everything that happened all those years ago." I
confessed to him.

Then, Nick broke down in my arms.

"Thanks, Sean." He sobbed. "You have no idea how much
it means to me to hear you finally say those words.
Especially after the way I treated you two years ago
when I threw you out of my life. I don't think I will
ever forgive myself for that."

"Shh, it's alright." I said, rubbing my hands up and
down Nick's back as he continued to cry into my
shoulder. "It's ancient history. We can start over
again as friends and this time with a clean slate."

I lifted Nick's face from my shoulder, my hand under
his chin, forcing him to look into my eyes.

"So, this is it, huh?" I asked him, as I wiped away
his tears.

"Yes, it is." Nick sniffed. "I'm ready to move on with
my life and rebuild my marriage to Jessica and take
care of my beautiful daughter."

"I met you daughter earlier today." I said. "She is so
adorable. She looks just like her mother, with a
little bit of you in her. She has Jessica's blonde
hair, and her father's blue eyes. I'd bet any money
that she's going to be a real knockout when she grows
up. Especially since she has two beautiful parents who
created her."

"Thanks, Sean." Nick said, as I let go of him. "I'm
glad you like my daughter."

"What's not to like?" I asked him. "You know I love
kids. When we were still married, and you told me that
Jessica was pregnant, a part of me was jealous back
then, because Jessica was giving you something that I
could give you: A child."

Nick frowned. "I never knew that." He said. "How come
you didn't tell me?"

"There was no reason to." I said. "I'd already found
out that you were already having a baby and I was
happy for you."

I then looked at the clock and realized that it was
getting late. It was already past midnight.

"Nick, it's getting late." I said to him. "You really
should turn in since you have to be up early
tommorrow."

"Yeah, you're right." He said, then hugged me again.

"Oh, and I decided that I'm going to sleep in your
guest bedroom tonight, instead of sharing your bed."
Nick told me. "But thanks for the offer, though. It
was very generous of you."

As he started to head to bed, I grabbed his arm.

"Nick before you go," I said, as he faced me. "Will
you do one last thing for me?"

He smiled. "Name it." He said.

I hesitated before asking him what I wanted. It was
alot to ask of him, especially now.

"Will you kiss me one last time?" I asked him. "That
way we can have closure?"

"Sure." Nick said, as he brought his hand behind my
neck.

Slowly, he pulled me in and his lips met mine as we
engaged into a passionate kiss. Our kiss got even more
passionate, as our tongues starting wrestling with
each other, savoring the flavor of our lips.

I was flooded with emotions as I kissed him. I felt
joy. I felt sadness. Understanding. Appreciation. Even
anger.

I felt all of this, as I kissed Nick and relived all
the memories that I'd been through with him.

And within seconds, the need, the passion, the desire,
was over.

 Nick and I pulled back from each other and looked
into each other's eyes, both of us understanding what
we saw it each other's eyes:

 The truth.

 We had connected for the last time. It was over
between us.

"Good-bye, Sean." Nick whispered. "And goodnight."

And with that, he left the room and headed into the
guest bedroom, to get some sleep. He closed my door
behind him.

I took off my clothes and turned off the light. I then
crawled into bed and pulled the covers over me.

I realized at that moment, when Nick and I kissed,
that my feelings for him had been re-awakened. I knew
right then and there that I had never stopped loving
him. But I had realized it a little too late and there
was nothing I could do about it now.

The tears that I'd been holding back since Nick's
decision had been made and announced, suddenly came in
a flood.

"Good-bye, Nicholas." I whispered.

I silently ended up crying myself to sleep.

*******************************************************
THE NEXT MORNING...............

I woke up to a beautiful sunrise, early Sunday
morning. I remembered that this was the day I was
originally supposed to have left Los Angeles, but with
what had happened yesterday, I had come home earlier
than expected.

I got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom to
urinate. After doing that and brushing my teeth, I
decided to go to the kitchen to get a drink of water.
I was really thirsty.

At that moment, I thought I smelled food cooking in
the kitchen. I walked down the hallway and turned into
the doorway of the kitchen.

Nick was in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. and he had
the table set and two glasses of orange juice ready at
the table.

"Well, look who's up." Nick greeted me, with his sexy
smile. "Would you like some breakfast?"

I looked up at him in amazement.

"You made me breakfast?" I asked him. "Nick, you
really shouldn't have."

"I wanted to." Nick said, as he grabbed two slices of
toast from the toaster when the popped up. "It's my
way of thanking you for letting me crash  here last
night."

I sat down at the table, as Nick scooped some eggs off
of the skillet and set them on my plate for me. Then
he filled his plate and went to butter the toast.

When he'd done that, he set some toast on my plate, as
well and then sat down to eat at the table with me.

"No thanks needed, buddy. You know you're always
welcome in my home." I said, as I took a bite of my
eggs.

"Thanks." Nick said, as he took a sip of his orange
juice. "I really appreciate it."

"So, when does your flight leave?" I asked, as I
chewed my toast.

"In an hour." Nick said. "I've only got a few minutes
to eat here and say goodbye and then I've got to head
for the airport."

"Alright, then, let's finish up here." I said,
quickly.

Breakfast was finished in total silence. I looked
around at the dirty plates before us.

"Well, since you were so nice to make us breakfast, I
will do the dishes." I said, getting up and taking our
plates to the sink.

I put them in the sink and rinsed them off, so I could
put them in the dishwasher later.

"If I didn't have to go, I'd do them for you." Nick
said, obviously feeling guilty about it.

"Hey." I said, touching his shoulder. "Don't worry
about it. You have nothing to feel guilty about. I'll
take care of it."

"Thanks." Nick said, sadly. He walked into the living
room. I followed him. He started getting this things
together, which were on the floor, by the couch. That
was odd. I didn't remember Nick, bringing his things
in last night.

"Nick, what are all those bags doing there?" I asked
him. "I didn't see them there last night."

"I couldn't sleep right away last night." Nick said.
"So, I went out and brought all of my things in to get
what I needed out of them.

"Oh." I said. "I must have been asleep, because I
never heard you last night."

That's because I made sure not to wake you." Nick
said, as he picked his things up and set them outside
the door.

He turned around and looked at me again, then pulled
me close and hugged me.

"Good-bye, buddy." He said. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." I said, as I hugged him back. He
had no idea just how much he would be missed. "Take
care and have a safe flight home, ok?"

"I will." Nick said. He then leaned into me and gave
me a quick kiss on the cheek. Then, he grabbed his
things and walked outside to load them into his rental
car.

I quickly took that moment to run to my room and put
on a pair of sweatpants, before I bounded out the door
and ran down through the sand, barefooted, to catch up
with Nick.

I made it to his side, just as he finished loading his
things into the back of the car. He shut the trunk and
turned back to me.

"Did you forget something?" He asked me.

"Sort of." I told him. "I forgot to introduce you to
Jake this morning.

Nick put a hand to his head when he realized that he'd
forgotten about that.

"Damn, that's right." He said. "I'm so sorry, Sean.
We'll have to do it another time."

"It's alright." I said. "We'll have another chance.
But there's something I want to ask you before you
go."

What's that?" Nick asked, his hair fluttering in the
morning wind.

"Since Jake is a good friend of mine and I trust him
with my life, I just wanted to know if it's ok if I
told him about you. That you were once my husband and
I can tell him about the rest of the guys and your
wife. Is that ok with you?"

Nick thought it over for a moment. then, he finally
nodded.

"If you trust him that much, then yes, you can tell
him." He said, as he opened his car door and got in.

"Thanks." I said, appreciatively. "I'll see you soon."

"You bet." Nick said, as he started the engine.
"Goodbye, Sean."

He then drove off. I waved to him as he did, until his
car disappeared out of sight.

I turned around and walked back to the house. As I got
to my door, I saw Michelle coming towards me.

"Who was that guy I saw you talking to earlier?" She
asked me. "He was cute."

"That was my friend, Nick Lachey." I told her. Her
eyes widened.

"I knew he looked familiar!" She gushed. "He with 98
Degrees!"

"Yep." I said, then wondered what she was doing here,
this early in the morning.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" I asked her,
wondering why she wasn't at the college.

"This is my free period." She explained. "I'm just
home to grab some breakfast real quick before I go
back."

"Where's Jake?" I asked her. "Is he still here?"

"No." She said. "He had class today. He said to tell
you that he's sorry he wasn't able to meet your friend
you were telling him about last night."

"Yeah." I said. "Nick was sorry too that he didn't get
to meet Jake." And he gave me permission to tell you
guys about him and the fact that I'm friends with him,
and the rest of the guys of 98."

"Cool." Michelle said, then looked at her watch. "I've
got to go. I'll see you later, Sean."

"Bye, Michelle." I said, as I watched her head into
her's and Jake's apartment.

I then walked back into my house and set about getting
everything cleaned up. But then, I remembered
something else that needed to be done.

I grabbed the phone and dialed the number for Nick's
house in L.A.

"Hello?" I heard someone answer. Cool! It was Danny!

"Danny, it's me, Sean." I said to him.

"Sean!" He exclaimed. "I heard about what Drew did.
Hell, we all did and we're so worried about you. Where
are you?"

"I'm back home here, in Orlando." I told him. "How's
Drew doing, Danny? I hope you guys didn't hurt him
anymore than I did. He's already sorry enough for it."

"No, we didn't beat on him or anything, Sean." Danny
said, the anger evident in his voice. "But we all did
yell at him quite a bit."

"Speaking of Drew, is he there?" I asked Danny. "I
need to speak to him."

"Yeah, he's right here." Danny said. "I'll put him
on."

"Danny, wait!" I said, wanting to catch him before he
passed the phone to Drew. Luckily I did.

"What, Sean?" He asked.

"Is Everybody there in the room, besides Drew?" I
asked him.

"Yeah." He said then asked, sounding confused. "Why?"

"Put me on speaker phone, please." I asked him, then
said. "I'll explain everything then."

"Alright." Danny said. There was a slight pause and a
click as he set the phone down on the hook.

"Sean, are you there?" He asked me. "You're on speaker
phone now."

"Thanks, buddy." I said. "Drew, are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here." He said. He sounded weird. "What do
you want?"

"Well, I take it that everyone knows now about what
you did, correct?" I asked him.

"Yeah." he said, bitterly. "So?"

"So, here's the point I'm trying to make here,
starting with some news I have for all of you." I
said. "It's about Nick."

I heard gasps in the background and everyone asking
questions all at once, until Drew told them all to
pipe down.

"Have you heard from him?" Drew asked me.

"Yes, Drew, I have." I said. "And that's what I need
to talk about with all of you."

"Where is he, Sean?" I heard Jesssica's voice ask. "Do
you know where he is?"

"Yes, Jessica." I said to her. "He showed up,
unexpectedly here in Orlando at my place yesterday
evening when I got back home. He stayed the night."

"Well, is he there, now?" Jessica asked. "Can I talk
to him, please?"

"You can't, Jessica." I told her. "He's not here
anymore."

"Do you know where he went, Sean?" I heard Jeff's
voice ask me.

"He's on his way home." I told everyone. "He left for
the airport a few minutes ago. He should be home by
late afternoon, your time."

I could hear sighs of relief and 'yes's' going around
as everyone processed this wonderful news. Nick was
coming home!

"Sean, thank you so much for calling us." Jessica
said. "I'm sorry I misjudged you."

That admission, was a shock to say the least, coming
from her. But I accepted it, anyway.

"Don't worry about it." I said to her. "Apology
accepted. Anyway, back to you, Drew, and what you
did."

"What about it?" He asked, his voice monotone.

"As furious as I am with you right now, I don't want
to see you and Nick at odds over this." I told him.
"I've decided that I will save your sorry ass ONE last
time."

"What are you talking about, Sean?" I heard Justin
ask.

"Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing." Kandi added.

"Nick doesn't know about what happened." I told
everyone. "I didn't tell him anything and neither will
you guys. But he does know that you did something to
me, Drew, but doesn't know what. All I told him is
that what you did do caused me to beat you up and
needless to say, he wasn't happy about it."

"Are you serious?" Drew asked, stunned at this
revelation. "He actually defended me?!"

"Yes he did, Drew." I told him. He loves you. It's
evident that he missed you alot while he was gone. And
if he finds out about what you did, your relationship
with him will be changed forever, and I don't want
that. No matter how angry I am with you, I don't feel
like you deserve to lose your brother. I know how much
you love him, Drew. Or so I thought."

"I do, Sean." Drew said. "Never forget that. But what
am I going to tell him? Nick knows me too well. He'll
know when I'm lying."

"Well, you'll have to think of something." I told him.
"Because if you want your relationship with Nick to
survive, he can never know that it was you who broke
us up."

I then got more specific, knowing now that it was out
in the open, there was nothing to hide anymore.

"Nick can never know that you're the one who made sure
that our marriage was never legal. He can never know
that you paid off that minister to deceive us. If he
ever finds out, your relationship with him will be
destroyed forever."


To Be Continued........?

Well, that's all for this one, folks!

"Now that Nick and Sean have officially closed the
door on their relationship, will Sean ever come clean
to Nick about Drew?"

"How will everyone react when Nick finally comes home?
Will there be a happy family re-union? Or will all
hell break loose?

"What happens next? Oh, if you only knew!"

Stay tuned.

slpwriter@yahoo.com