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“Love Can Save”

“But my love is all I have to give.
Without you, I don’t think I can live.
I wish I could give the world to you,
But love is all I have to give to you.” –“All I Have To Give” by the Backstreet Boys.

**~Trouble In Paradise~**

Nick nods off to sleep even through the blaring of the rock music on the radio. Yasmine smirks as Anya quietly paces over to the radio and shuts it off.

“There, much better. That music was too rock even for me.” Anya smirks, brushing off a dark carrot lock that strayed onto her cheeks.

Yasmine smiles and steps over to the sofa to where Nick was left sprawled out fast asleep. Anya tilts her head and laughs, “Why, look at that. He’s the cutest thing sleeping like that.” All the while as she was speaking, Yasmine shakes her head to tell Anya to lower her voice.

“What? Please he can’t hear: he’s out. Look at him.” She points at the sleeping man and smiles, “Anyways sweetie, I’m gonna head off to my job, do you want me to bring you back anything to eat?” Anya asks, tilting her head, her flaming locks tumble pass her slim shoulders.

“Na, I’m all good. Thanks though.” Yasmine yawns, placing her hands over her swelled six month abdomen.

“Man, I can’t believe it’s been six months already.” Anya whispers sadly, blinking away the tears that suddenly pricked her eyes.

Yasmine sighs, “Don’t start Anya.”

“I know, I’m just angry that nothing happened to your case. This bastard should have been caught by now, but instead he’s running around somewhere maybe even in the city for all we know, free with no worries.” Anya hisses angrily, her hazel eyes burn in rage against her snowy face.

“Please An…”

But Anya cuts her off, “Don’t worry about it. I was talking with detective Venderly about the criminal and he says he’s holding onto your case as closely as he can. He’s managed to get the city airports to help out with his search so if that punk thinks he can escape, he’s wrong.”

Finally Yasmine manages a small smile and nods her head, “Thanks. Thanks so much for doing that for me. I want to find the guy who did this to me. But I’m not gonna cry myself to sleep about him. I’ve been there and done that.” Glancing down at the ground, her eyes fill with unshed tears as she gulps and smiles, ‘Well I don’t wanna cry anymore about it. Let’s move on, k?” Yasmine chokes out, gulping down the lump in her throat.

Anya smiles painfully and embraces her roommate tightly, “Shhhh, I’m sorry I made you all sad. I’m just so frustrated with how slow everything is going in your case.”

Yasmine pulls away and wipes the stain tears from her friend’s face, pulling away from the embrace. “Things will work out. The guilty won’t run forever, who ever did that, will get punished soon enough.”

Anya chokes back a sob and straightens up, “Right. You’re so right. And you’re doing well. The guys have been taking care of you and I’m just glad that you’re surrounded by good friends.”

“Oh girl, thanks and you’ve been helping out more recently, I mean you didn’t have to lose that job for me you know?”

“I know, but I wanted to. I realized the job was taking up more of my time than I had to offer. Plus you need some help too, Nick and A.J. can only help out so much.” Anya giggles, poking Yasmine in the ribs.

“Alright, alright, go before you lose this job as well.” Yasmine laughs, pushing Anya out of the doorway.

“K, and behave. I heard about that little episode with A.J. Don’t try anything dirty with blondie over there.” Anya teases, leaving a shocked Yasmine.

“What? Who told you?” Yasmine whispers, a smirk sliding on the corners of her lips.

“A big sexy tall dark haired birdie told me.” Anya grins widely, displaying her teeth.

“Kevin? I’ll kill him.” Yasmine whispers through clenched teeth, curling a raven lock in her hands.

“Please don’t, he’s good for his age, hmmm… Very good.” Anya giggles, sashaying her hips towards the elevator bank.

“You’re a nut.” Yasmine calls out as Anya blows a kiss at her.

“Ahhh, see this nut though recognizes that you have a good man and you’re letting him slip away.”

Yasmine rolls her eyes, “I’m not letting any guy slip away.”

“Sure you are, just keep telling yourself that and hey you might believe it one day.” Anya smirks, disappearing through the elevator doors and leaves.

Yasmine snorts and closes the door behind her, quietly walking back to see Nick still fast asleep. “I ain’t letting any guy slip away. I don’t know where she comes up with that.” She mutters, picking up some plastic cups and plates lying on the coffee table and dumping it into a trash bin next to the kitchen counter.

“She’s right.” Nick croaks out, opening his light eyes and sitting up from the sofa tiredly rubbing his sleepy eyes.

“Shut up. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Yasmine smirks, flopping onto a barstool, swinging her legs.

“Please, I can’t sleep with all that talking you too had. And I know Yasmine’s right: I am the cutest thing around, I can’t help that though, it’s the genes, I’ve been blessed with quite the attractive ones.” Nick states, tugging on the collar to show he made his point.

Yasmine snorts and shakes her head, “Please, keep that up and that fatuous head of yours might blow up.”

Nick curls his lips and stares at her in silence. Laughing, Yasmine throws a small paper back dictionary towards him and bursts out, “Look it up sweetie, I ain’t telling you.”

“I know what that word means.” Nick smirks, standing up and stretches.

Yasmine cocks her eyebrows and nods her head, “K, oh right. I know you do.” She whispers sarcastically. The phone rings suddenly and she wobbles over to answer it. Once her back was turned, Nick inches over to the dictionary on the floor and flips it open to find the word. Smiling, he laughs and tosses it on the sofa, waiting for Yasmine to finish the conversation on the phone. After five minutes, Yasmine hangs up and turns around facing Nick.

“So, you think I’m an idiot?” Nick smirks, rubbing the front pockets of his jeans.

Smiling, she tilts her head, “Nick I saw when you picked up the dictionary. And that action just proved it.” She teases him.

Nick raises his light eyebrows, “How you saw me?”

“You forgot my cabinet has that transparent fiber: so I saw when you bend down and got the book. Cute though, I’ll let it slide.”

Now it was Nick’s turn to snort and flops back down on the sofa, “Whatever man. I ain’t stressing. So, how was it kissing A.J.?” He whispers out, a smirk crossing his lips.

Yasmine stood rigid and gulps, she thought that the kiss would remain silent only between the two of them, but she figured that one of the guys squealed. “Uh, who told you?”

“Doesn’t matter. Was A..J. all he made himself out to be or what? Let me know, so I can rag on him the next time I see him.”

“Uh, Nick, why do you care anyway? I kissed him and you know what, I liked it.”

“I’m sure you did, but how about you taste some white chocolate over here and then you can decide.” Nick jokes, hearing a gasp from her.

“Nick!”

“What? Oh come on, you puckered up with J? Why not me? I’m also a Backstreet Boy too you know and if there were other ladies in this room, they wouldn’t hesitate to kiss me…”

“Nick you’re ridiculous, I’m not kissing you.”

“Right, cause you feeling A.J.” Nick adds in, hearing Yasmine sigh.

“Please it’s not even like that. I was just playing around with him, it’s not serious.”

“So let me play too, I like to play!” Nick grins widely, showing off his pearly whites.

Yasmine laughs and shakes her head, “Come on Nick, stop acting so silly.”

“Ok, fine. I see how you are. You give all the love to J, but leave me out in the cold. I thought all these years meant something to you.” Nick pouts, batting his baby blues at her and stands up to face her.

“Shut up boy.”

“No, I won’t. You have no love for me.” Nick crosses his arms playfully and sniffs, pulling off the sad look.

“God, you’re such a baby.” Yasmine mutters, eyeing him from the corner of the eye.

Nick faces her and pouts, “I’ll stop being a baby if you kiss me.”

“Screw you Nick.”

“Wow! That fast, the hell with the kiss, I’ll get booty then!” Nick laughs causing Yasmine to get into a fit of giggles.

“I say you keep everything in the pants, I don’t want to see anything that isn’t visible.” Yasmine grins having Nick glance down at the front of his jeans.

Nick chuckles and sighs, “I was so close though girl.” He settles back down on the sofa.

“Please, no you weren’t.” Yasmine smirks, her raven locks lie down her shoulders and she slowly stand up stretching. Suddenly she feels a movement within her abdomen and she squeals out, “Ahhh, Nick! The baby! The baby moved!” She bubbles out.

Nick gasps and rushes over to her, watching her, “It moved! That’s a good thing right? I mean you’re not going into labor or anything right?”

Yasmine rolls her eyes at his ignorance and places his shaking hands on her abdomen. “Yes Nick, it’s a good thing. The baby is fine: that what it means.”

Nick smiles and feels the soft kick coming from her stomach. He pulls his hand away and laughs, “It kicked me!”

“Sure did. I believe if it’s a girl, she’ll be a ballerina with those kicks or if it’s a guy, my little own football player.” Yasmine smiles softly as Nick pulls his hand away. And when I go in labor, it’ll be weeks from now. It’s still way too early. I have three more months of carrying this kid around before I let him or her go.”

“Speaking of sex, do you know if you’re gonna have a girl or boy?” Nick asks, sipping on a glass of root beer on the counter.

“Oh no, not yet. I got the letter a while back, but I was too afraid to open it. I don’t favor the sex Nick you know. I don’t care if it’s a boy or girl, I’ll still love it no matter what.” Yasmine beams, pleased with the upcoming arrival.

“Well, that’s good to know. But if you don’t mind, how about I take a look at it? And if you want I can tell you what the baby is.” Nick states, drumming his fingers on the dark mahogany counter.

Laughing, Yasmine points to her bedroom, “It’s lying on the laptop. Bring it over here and find out.”

Nick obliges and quickly waltzes into the bedroom to see the sealed white envelope exactly where she left it. He smiles and rips opens the letter, pulling it out of the envelope. He smiles and scans his eyes down the letter. Suddenly the air in his throat chokes, as he grips the letter tightly in his hands. This wasn’t the letter from the hospital: this seemed to be another letter from someone who obviously knew who Yasmine is. “Could it be a friend of hers?’ Gulping, he can hear Yasmine’s voice from the kitchenette:

“Hurry up, tell me what it says. I might as well know since my baby shower is coming up. I should know what the sex of the baby is.”

“Uh, oh yeah. Though I thought you didn’t want to know.” Nick slowly whispers as he reads the letter and stuffs it back into the envelope.

“Ah, I might as well find out. I want the presents to be color coordinated anyway.” He hears her voice echoing down the hall.

Nick folds and slips the letter into his pocket, continuing to search in the room for the hospital letter. Yasmine after waiting for a while, gets annoyed and slowly wobbles her way into the bedroom to see Nick stand up directly in front of her with a smile on his face. “So I’m guessing you found the letter.” She states as Nick waves a white and blue colored envelope in front of her face.

“Oh yeah. But before we open it up…” Nick ruffles through his pocket, pulling out a letter mailed to her. “Who’s Kelvin?”

Yasmine’s eyes lit up and she gulps. “Ke, Kelvin? Oh that’s his letter. He’s a close friend of mine’s.”

“How close?” Nick’s voice drops, sending chills down Yasmine’s back.

“It doesn’t matter. We used to date a while back. It didn’t work out, but it’s all cool now.” Yasmine whispers, cracking her knuckles nervously.

“All cool? Like friendly cool?” Nick questions, eyeing Yasmine.

Yasmine sighs angrily, “Get off my back already. He’s just a friend of mines or I can’t have any guy friends now?” She growls out, flinging her arms in the air.

“It’s not that, but Yasmine, did you even read this letter? He sounds alittle off to me…”

“You don’t even know the guy. He’s a great friend of mines. We dated but I called it off. I just needed time and didn’t want to be in a steady relationship. There! You happy now?” She whispers, her voice dropping.

Nick gulps and nods his head, “Yeah, sure. Whatever.” He whispers, leaning over to stare at her directly in the eyes to see if there is anything else she needed to say and if she was telling the whole truth.

“Yasmine, you wouldn’t lie to me right?” He whispers gently, brushing away a stray hair off her delicate face. She gulps and shakes her head.

“N, n, no. I wouldn’t do that to you guys. If something was up, you and Alex would be the first to know and you know it.” Yasmine whispers tenderly, smiling at him. “But enough of this, I want to see what I’m having…”

“Why don’t you just tell me?” Nick interrupts her as he leans close to her, inches away from her face.

“Tell you what?” She croaks out.

“I don’t know. That maybe you’re scared. I heard when you and Anya were talking. Yasmine, I understand you’re afraid. That bastard is out there and you feel helpless.”

“Stop it ok! Just stop it!” Yasmine sobs out, tears staining her golden cheeks as she furiously wipes them away. Nick sighs and pulls the woman into a strong embrace.

“I’m always here. If you ever need to talk, you can always talk to me ok?” Nick whispers as Yasmine buries her head into the nook of his neck.

She chokes out a shaky, “Ok.” And sighs, loving the feeling of man’s arms around her body. She felt protected and it felt good to know she had someone to rely on.

“She’ll look just like you I’m sure.” Nick whispers into her arms, as Yasmine pulls away confused.

“Huh?” She squeaks out.

He smiles and whispers into her ears, “You heard me, it’s a girl.”

Yasmine smiles and throws her arms around Nick’s neck, giggling in happiness, “A girl? A girl?! Oh man this is so cool. She’ll be so beautiful. Oh man Nick, I can’t believe it. A girl. What am I gonna name her?”

Nick shrugs his shoulders, “I don’t know, you know maybe Nicole or Alexandria?”

Yasmine sucks her teeth and pushes away from him playfully, “You’re no help. I’m not naming the kid that!”

“I’ll think it’ll be cool, think about it Yas. The kid will carry on our names!” Nick beams happily.

Yasmine shakes her head the entire time and yanks the letter out of his hand, “No and I’ll say it again, No. She needs to have a beautiful name, something that will stand out and capture her beauty and uniqueness.”

Nick pulls her closer and lets her cuddle up to him as he smirks, “Well maybe she can have your name.”

“Na, I said something unique. Not lame.” She whispers as sweet chills sweep down her spine as she stood, taking in Nick’s scent.

Nick smirks, “Ok, fine. Well we’ll see what A.J. can come up.”

“A.J.! That’s right. Man, he’s gonna kill me! I was suppose to call him this morning.” Yasmine breathe out, racing over to the phone in her bedroom. Nick flops onto her bed and yawns, watching the little woman holding the cradle of the phone in her hands.

“Holler if you get this message, its cause I’m doing something or I just simply don’t want to talk with you. So drop a message after the beep, peace.” The phone message plays as Yasmine shakes her head:

“Fine, whatever. I see how you are. I call and you don’t want to talk. I get the message, you brat. Fine. I was gonna talk to you about the baby. Nick opened the letter up today and you’ll never believe what sex the baby is. That’s right J, I said sex. Call me back now. Bye.” She mutters with a smirk and hangs up the cradle.

Just as she walks away from the phone, she hears it ring.

“Wow. That was fast, even for A.J.” Nick states, leaning on his side on her bed, his long legs hanging off the edge of her bed.

“Hmmm.” And she answers the call. “Hello?”

“Oh hey, is this Yasmine speaking?” The male voice on the other end asks.

“Yes, she’s speaking, how can I help you?”

“Oh hey. It’s me Kelvin, I found your number in my phone book and decided to hey give you a ring and see how everything is going.”

Yasmine eyes Nick and without saying a word, directs her eyes to the door and back to him. Of course he didn’t catch the cue and remained unmoved on her bed. Growling quietly, she indicted with her hand and points to the door and to him. Finally Nick’s eyes lit up and he nods his head, standing up and moves his way slowly towards the doorway.

“Hey, listen, I’m gonna be right here k.” Nick smirks, remaining on the threshold of her doorway, he knew who ever was on the phone wasn’t A.J. and Nick was too curious to just walk away. Besides there was something in his soul that was bothering him, like he can feel that something wasn’t right with the call. Call it crazy, but his natural instincts were kicking in big time at the moment.

Yasmine sighs and concentrates on the call. “Well hey, wow it’s a surprise. You called, wow. How long was it been since we talked last time?”

She can hear Kelvin sigh and answer her question, “Oh about seven or eight months ago, the day you broke up our relationship.”

“Ohh.” Was all that came out of her as a sliver of guilt washed over her.

“Hey don’t get the wrong idea, I didn’t call to remind you of the past. What happened: happened k. I was just curious if maybe I can see you, you know to just see how you’re doing and all.”

“Oh ok, well I don’t know. I haven’t seen you for a while and it would feel weird to see ya after so long.”

“Totally understandable. Hey maybe if you’re around school we can meet up. It’ll be in a public place and you’ll feel more comfortable in that atmosphere.” Kelvin tries to persuade the woman, hoping she can fall for his ploys.

“Hmmmm… Well see I’m not attending classes at the moment. I mean I can stop by but maybe for a few minutes or something.”

“You’re not going to school? I thought…”

But she cuts him off, “You thought something else. I’m still part of the course, just not there in class k. I’ll leave it at that. Anyways. I’ll be dropping off a project tomorrow, maybe you can meet me at the lobby at around one.”

Kelvin smiles and his thoughts swirl excitedly, “Excellent. So tomorrow at one, cool. I’ll be there. Hope to see ya there.”

“Ok, is there anything else you wanted to talk about or was that it?”

Kelvin smirks and responds, “Well, I’ll see ya tomorrow so we’ll talk then k.”

“Oh ok. Then. Thanks for the letters by the way. It was sweet and all.”

“Ah girl no prob. You know I feel horrible and I just feel that maybe writing a letter to an old friend would cheer you up.”

Laughing, Yasmine nods her head, “Yeah you did. Thanks man. It was sweet. It’s just weird to hear from ya after so long.”

“Same here girl. But I’m so glad to hear your voice, you sound good. I hope your spirits are up high cause its been pretty crazy recently for ya right?”

“Somewhat.” Yasmine smirks, feeling the prodding of Nick’s eyes on her, “Listen, its sounds cool to chill with you. But I gotta go, I got company. I’ll talk to ya later k. And thanks so much for calling me, it was cool to hear from ya.”

“Same here Yasmine, take care. See ya tomorrow then. Adios.” And the phone hangs up. Yasmine smiles and slowly hangs up her phone. She feels a hand on her shoulders and turns to see Nick.

Tilting his head and without saying a word, he stares at her.

Sighing, Yasmine licks her lips, “Oh that was just an old friend of mines.”

“Kelvin?” Nick asks with raises eyebrows.

“And what if it is?” She asks, brushing pass Nick to head into the living room.

“Just asking. So why would this guy suddenly call you up?” Nick asks, trailing the tips of fingers above him on the ceiling.

“To see how I’m doing. And Nick why are you so nosy all of sudden. You act like I never had a friend that was a man.” Yasmine asks annoyed.

“No it’s not that, I mean you have me and A.J. who are guys…”

“Like I said, friends that are men, not guys.” Yasmine jokes, letting the statement rub in on Nick’s ego.

Nick exhales, shaking his head. “Whatever. I’m just saying when A.J. gets here tomorrow, he’s not gonna be thrilled about you meeting a guy.”

“Nick, he’s not my dad nor is he my boyfriend. I can go see a guy if I want and I don’t need to ask anyone’s permission ok?” Her harsh remarks almost belittling Nick: at the moment.

“Damn, fine. If you feel that way, I’ll stop. I’m just looking out for you.” He murmurs, flopping on the sofa as Yasmine joins him. Her soft eyes touching and searching through his hurt soul.

“Forget what I’m doing tomorrow. I think its time me and you talk.” Yasmine asks, clasping her small hands against one of his hands.

“Uh, we’re talking. But what about?” Nick asks.

“Mmmmm: what about, us or whatever there is of us?”

“There was never an ‘us’ Yasmine.”

“Exactly and I think you’re bitter about it.”

“Bitter?! I’m not bitter.” Nick speaks up.

“Really? Could have fooled me?” She teases as Nick rolls his eyes in annoyance.

“I respect you Yasmine and I would never try anything on you and you know that and if it was about the silly joke on the kiss earlier today, then my bat. I was just trying to make you smile.”

“And you did!” She whispers happily, her dark tresses flow down her pass her cheeks.

“Ok well good. See there’s nothing to talk about then.” Nick mumbles and leans back on the flowered sofa quietly.

“Yup, so…” Yasmine states, feeling the tension rising in the room suddenly. She fans herself and gulps: somehow talking about what they were feeling was making it extremely uncomfortable for her. She watches Nick eye her and smile.

“I would never do anything to you ‘cause I respect you and A.J. too much.”

Yasmine smiles and pats his hand, “Thanks. But what if I told you I wanted you to.”

“To what?” He asks confused, his head resting on the sofa.

“To you know…” She trails off.

Nick raises his eyes and smirks, “Please tell me Bible girl isn’t thinking about having sex at the moment?”

Yasmine growls and narrows her eyes, “Well not anymore and less with you now.”

Nick bolts upright and takes her hand, her back now facing him as she nibbles her lip. “Why would you say that Yasmine seriously? You’re not that type of girl. You have morals, values, you respect your body more than any girl I’ve ever dated. You care for it so well cause like you said it’s God temple, so now why would you feel you want to share that with me let alone with any guy until you’re married?”

Yasmine plays with her finger, refusing to look into Nick’s eyes. “Forget it, you’re right. I don’t know what came over me. It must be the hormones acting up. I’m sorry. God must be so pissed at me at the moment.”

Nick smiles, tracing his fingers gently over hers, “No He’s not. He loves you even if you act up, you said it yourself.”

A grin spread over her cinnamon colored lips, “You listened to me! I told you that over a month ago and you still recall that.”

“Yeah well I’m learning a lot about life through you. I’m starting to learn to appreciate everything and its all cause of you.”

Yasmine breams, revealing her glorious smile. “If Alex finds out that I was trying to pass a move on you, he’ll be so pissed.”

“That and I’ll have a missing limb and it won’t be my arms.” Nick whispers, pretending to be frightened as he clamps his hands over his jean covered crotch.

Yasmine laughs and gets up from the sofa, “Anya’s out for a while so Nick you have to entertain me.”

Nick gives a soldier’s salute and rummages through his belongings that were lying jumbled up in his suitcase and finds what he was looking for. He finds his leather black guitar case and opens it up, pulling out his beautiful dark rich mahogany guitar onto his lap and begins playing. His fingers strum over the guitar strings gracefully as music seeps out. Smiling, he begins singing off the top of his head:

“God has granted the greatest wish to man;
Sending angels to watch over those in need.
Using those angels, they heal with a delicate hand;
And I’m so glad to stare into one who can do that deed.”

Nick stops and pouts, “Uh, that’s all I got.”

“Cute! I like it!” She breaks into a smile and hugs him gently.

“Thanks, you inspired it.”

“Well that was lovely. I feel honored, really I do.”

“Good to know girl. I didn’t want to make an a…” Nick begins but is cut off when she places a gentle finger over his lips.

“Uh, uh now. Shhh. How about since its getting a bit chilly, I cook us up some soup. You down with that?” She states, making her way over to the kitchen.

“Sure that sounds nice. And I can help.” Nick leaps off the sofa with a smirk on his face, as he gathers two small glass bowls and two spoons, preparing for the snack.
~*~

A.J. sighs, shaking his head, “Ok, Nick, so you found this letter unopened in her room?”

“Yeah, she was too caught up in her having a girl that she forgot about the letter. But there’s problem besides that letter, he called her house yesterday.” Nick leans over the table, staring at A.J. who just arrived from the airport a few hours ago.

A.J. narrows his eyes and spreads out the paper before him at the diner. A waitress came by to pick up the dirty plates and carries them away as A.J. stares at the written letter. “So this Kelvin guy calls her place and wants to meet her today, huh?”

“Yup. At around one, that’s an hour from now. Maybe we can sneak up at the school and see what the deal is.”

A.J. feels his grin broaden at that idea and sighs, “Na, we do that and she’ll never talk with us. She’s a grown woman, if she wants to see the guy and we’re her friends, then we have to let her go, no harm done right?”

Nick shrugs his shoulders, “I don’t know, but if you’re ok with it, then I guess we won’t bother with it. Though…” Nick pauses, finding A.J. shifting in his seat uncomfortable, “It’ll be hard to not think what could be happening.”

“Shut up Nick. You’re not helping. I have to respect her boundaries and privacy. I don’t think she’ll find it convenient that we’re tracking her down like a criminal. She’s an adult and she doesn’t need the supervision.” A.J. crosses his arms across his chest, staring outside to the cool spring day.

“You’re right. You meet that Kelvin guy right?”

“No, she never introduced me to him when they were dating, but she seems cool with the guy though I can’t say I trust the guy.” A.J. whispers, tapping his foot.

“Well judging by that letter, I say he’s up to something.” Nick raises his eyes brows, throwing darts at A.J.’s curiosity.

“Pshhhh, please Nick, it’s nothing big. This letter is innocent, but it’s not the first one, he sent one before which had me thinking.”

“You think he’s some kind of obsessed guy. You said he wrote one before, was it like this?” Nick gazes at his friend across from him.

“Nope, more strange than anything else, but it seems he has a connection with Yasmine that neither of us have.” A.J. fiddles with the metal spoon in his hands, twirling the coffee in his mug with it.

“That’s not bothering you now, is it?” Nick slides his hands down the wooden table, grabbing the letter.

“A little. I kind of wish, I wasn’t feeling the way I am about her. It just makes it so much more harder than anything I had to deal with. I respect her but then there’s that hope that hey maybe I can win her heart and get her to feel the same way I do for her, but I can’t. There’s nothing you can do to make someone love you back like you do to them.”

“I don’t believe that. She loves you just not in that way.”

“I know she does and I love and care for her too, but I’m starting to feel different towards her, I want to care for her, take care of her child, be apart of her life now more than ever.” A.J. states, dropping his hands onto his jean-clad lap, finally expressing his feelings to Nick.

“So tell her, not me. Dude, she’s a sweetheart, and I know that kiss was more than anything.”

“Nick, a kiss can’t tell you what’s happening.”

“But it can tell you what’s gonna happen.” Nick states, watching A.J. raise his dark eyebrows at his direction.

“Nick that’s the stupidest thing you said so far, you know I think you should start a book and write down all the ridiculous remarks you ever said. It’ll be a seller I tell ya!” He jokes, teasing Nick, his dark eyes glittering in glee.

“Hey what’s with the jokes! You know it made sense J, what I said! That kiss didn’t show at the moment what you’re feeling, but afterwards it left you to think about the relationship you have with her. I say, be a man and tell her. Grab her in your arms, tell her you love her and sweep her off her feet.” Nick smiles, his eyes glittering.

“Easier said than done my friend.” A.J. mutters, staring at his palms on the table top.

“Anyways, I wasn’t gonna tell ya but she tried to make a move on me yesterday.” Nick begins and hears a snort coming from A.J.

“Ha! Really now? I heard a different side to that story.”

“Uh oh, look if it was the joke on the kiss, I was just messing with her.” Nick defense himself, raising his arms up in innocently.

“Besides that, she told me you were a great friend. And she needed that. So I wanna thank ya for watching out for her. You’re a great kid Nick and it’s cool to know that even with all this cynical crazy stuff we dealt with, I can trust you.”

“Uh thanks I guess.” Nick mumbles out, leaning back on the plush blue booth. And both men sit quietly, watching the other customers go about their business in the restaurant.
~*~

She drops off the project at the professor’s mailbox and wobbles her away over to catch the elevator. Once she reached the main lobby, her heart pumps faster as she stands around deciding to meet Kelvin. “This is stupid, what am I doing?” She mumbles to herself. After ten minutes of waiting, she was about to head out the doors and catch a bus to head home but someone caught her left arm as she sliding through the doors.

“Wait Yasmine! You’re not leaving now are you?” A familiar voice rings through her ears.

Smiling, she turns around to see a tall tan man with jet black hair and dark mysterious eyes to match. That was one of the reasons she had dated him, because those eyes held something, a secret that she wanted to know but never found out. Sighing, she realized he was quite the attractive man and no wonder the guards at the campus confused him with her friend A.J, there was the same style of hair and goatee design. Though no tattoos on this man, he was still a match for A.J. She smiles and steps back into the lobby, following him to an empty table.

“Wow.” His eyes room over her body, “You’re more beautiful than the last I saw you. It’s like your glowing.”

“I blame it on the pregnancy, but thanks. So what have you been up too?” She takes off her jacket and carefully sits down on one of the hard seats.

“Ahh, nothing much. I’m almost done with my media major and I plan on starting a job either working backstage or in front with the camera on maybe one of the music shows. MTV is looking for experienced camera men or back stage production and that’s my specialty, so I’m looking into that.” Kelvin states, his eyes glittering.

She smiles and nods her head, “Wow, really? That’s so cool! Imagine that, you on TV!”

“I know, how awesome is that?” Kelvin beams.

“Real nice. So what’s with us meeting? You said so yourself that you wanted to see me.”

“Yeah, I just wanted to look at how amazing and stunning you have become, so how’s that boyfriend of yours doing? He’s a celebrity right?”

“Huh? Boyfriend? What? Oh you don’t think I’m dating him now are you? We’re just friends.” Yasmine states clearing up any cobwebs for him.

“Oh really? I thought the way he was hanging all over you that…”

“Whoa, wait. Hanging all over me? Sorry, he respects me, he doesn’t HANG all over me.” She defends her case, helping A.J. out.

“Oh right. Well I didn’t mean anything wrong by that, its just well I was just curious.”

“Yeah well aren’t we all?” Yasmine mutters starting to consider their meeting was a big mistake. She personally didn’t want to meet him at the moment, she had other concerns like if A.J. arrived at the airport alright and what is he doing that he didn’t call back.

“So…” Kelvin states, “Are you interested in something to eat? Maybe we can grab something to eat. I want to see what’s up with your life.”

“Oh that’s sweet, but I have plans today. I didn’t think we were gonna go somewhere else, plus with this stomach of mines, its hard to really walk around anyway.”

“Oh right, sorry. I guess another time. But I don’t want to stall you from your plans so I guess I should let you go now huh?” Kelvin whispers gently, his smile spreading over his butter pecan cheeks.

“Yeah, though it was nice seeing you again.”

“Oh no prob, hey write back and let me know how that writing thing went ok?” Kelvin whispers, nervously leaning over her and throwing his arms around her to pull her into a quick embrace.

“Uh, ok. Take care then. See ya later Kel.” And with that the woman dashes through the doors and walks away leaving a smug Kelvin behind.

“Soon Angel, we’ll play. For now though you behave. I promise we’ll meet again before you know it.” Kelvin whispers, keeping his eyes on the figure until she disappeared into the crowd and turned a corner.
~*~

“Alex? Woo hoo, you here yet?” Yasmine calls into the vacant living room as she slips through the front door of her apartment on campus.

No answer.

‘Great, all alone. Guess Nick and A.J. are out celebrating something.’ She thinks as she heads to her bedroom and flops herself on it. Since her pregnancy, she was beginning to feel more fatigue and she wanted to just drop and close her eyes to help cover that it. As she was closing her eyes, she opens them to see a smiling A.J. standing over her.

Gasping happily, she sits up and hugs A.J. “Hey you, I was just about to go to sleep.”

“Really? Cause I got here an hour ago and found you sleeping away.”

“Huh? That can’t be, I just closed my eyes.”

“Nope you were sound asleep when me and Nick got here. You must have been so tired you didn’t even know you went to sleep.” A.J. whispers, stroking her locks gently.

“Wow, anyways, this baby wants food and I’m down for some grub.”

“Well that’s good to hear, Nick is in the kitchen making us dinner.” A.J. whispers gently, tracing his fingers over her cheeks.

She smiles and gazes at the bed sheets next to her, “So how was the flight?”

“Perfect. And how was it with the meeting of your friend?” A.J. blurts out, knowing he might have sounded like a jealous boyfriend right there.

Laughing Yasmine smirks and places her hands on his shoulders, “Ok, a bit weird considering I was the one who broke up with the guy a while back. But he’s a cool guy, you guys should meet, maybe I’ll try to work that out.”

“Uh, how about not. I’m sure he’s alright and stuff but maybe it wouldn’t be right.”

“Oh hush now Alex, it’ll be cool, I’ll see when he can make a visit, so he can see you.”

A.J. shrugs his shoulders as his breath caught his throat, he didn’t want to meet any guy, especially any guy that touched his angel. If anything, he might break the guy’s neck if he ever met him, not that he was jealous of that man cause he never meet him before, but just the thought that he managed to make his Yasmine fall for him and she went for it: boggled him. Sure pictures were shown about him, but in all reality, he never really paid mind to them cause personally he didn’t care.

He helps Yasmine off the bed and the two head to the kitchen with a grinning Nick and now Anya, both preparing dinner.

“Well hello people, what’s with the smile Nick?” A.J. states, helping Yasmine onto a barstool.

“Nothin.’ Just that I made dinner and it didn’t burn up.” Nick grins happily and peers over to Anya who lets out a small laugh. “Of course with some help though.”

“Sure, cause there’s no way, you could have made this fantastic dinner all by yourself. In fact if I didn’t know any better, I’d say this looks more like Anya’s cooking.” Yasmine teases, raising her eyebrows at her room mate.

Anya giggles, nodding her head, “Made it just for you, I know how much you love steak.”

A.J. licks his lips hungrily and smiles, “Well done Anya, thanks. If we left Nick alone, we might not have a place to eat at all.”

“Hey, enough with the Nick jokes. I helped out, I made the mashed potatoes!” He playfully pouts, sticking out his lower lip.

Anya scoops a spoonful of the white mush into her mouth and smiles, “And its great mash potatoes Nick.”

“Why thank you. At least my gifts are recognized to some people.” Nick huffed and grabbed a plate, serving himself the grand banquet that Anya so graciously made.

“Well you’re right about that.” A.J. blows out air, “Some of those people feel straight up pity for you.”

Nick playfully stands up and grabs his plate, “Well I know when I’m not wanted. Come Anya, let us rendezvous over to the sofa, where these rude people can enjoy our tiring yet amazing dinner.”

Yasmine laughs and drops her head, concentrating on her plate, yet it seemed that her mind was elsewhere, else where at the meeting with Kelvin today
~**~

**~To Be Continued…~**