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Madeline's View

"OK, I'm eager to hear what this is all about," Melanie said as she sat down across from me.

"You won't be after I tell you," I said.

"What is it? Can it really be that bad?"

"Yes, it can, anything can be THAT bad," I said, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Will you spill it already?"

I sighed and nodded, "You know Brian right?"

Her eyes got wide and she put her hand on her chest, "No! Of course not! I've only been watching him for the past 2 months!"

"Ha ha, funny, but seriously Melanie," I said looking at her sternly.

"Sorry, I was trying to lighten up your mood, it's not a good sign to be acting the way you are."

"And you think that I don't know that? It's just the living conditions that are affecting me, you know it happens sometimes."

"True, but what is wrong with Nicole?"

"Well, I'm not really sure but I have a few theories."

"Like?" she pushed.

"She's been really emotional lately," I stated. Melanie's eyes grew wide with panic.

"Has she been crying!?" she exclaimed. I looked around to find a few people looking at us oddly.

"Sorry, sorry," I apologized, looking at all of them. I then turned to Melanie and whispered, "No, not yet."

"YET!? Maddy! This isn't good! What's going on!? Tell me this instant," Melanie demanded.

"Melanie, will you calm down? This isn't THAT big of a deal," I said, looking around us nervously. People were giving us odd looks again.

"Not that big of a deal? NOT that big of a deal!? This is definitely a big deal!" she burst. I rushed to my feet and grabbed her hand, "Come on."

"Where are we going?" she asked, picking up her jacket before exiting Starbucks.

"Where people won't give us weird looks," I said walking down the sidewalk.

"Maddy! You have to tell me, what do you mean by emotional? I hope to God that she hasn't cried."

I looked over at her and saw her panic stricken face.

"She hasn't started crying OK?"

"Yeah, YET. When you say emotional, that's something very bad," she said. "Fill me in on the details please before I die again. One death is enough for me Maddy, I don't need another!"

I couldn't help but smile at her last remark.

"I never fully noticed it until today when she came banging on my door. She was frantic. Her face was full of worry."

"What was she worried about?"

"Sleeping with Brian," I said. Melanie nodded and said, "So you're saying she was upset?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"Ooooh, this isn't good, this isn't good at all," Melanie said quickly rushing over to a bench and sitting down. I followed right behind her.

"How upset was she?"

"She was...well..."

"Don't tell me she was near tears," Melanie shook her head. I sighed and nodded my head slowly, "She was near tears."

"NO! This can't happen! I knew I shouldn't have gotten her this project, I just knew it! This is going to ruin my reputation...oh my gosh, this is going to ruin her!" Melanie exclaimed jumping to her feet.

"What do you mean? This can't possibly harm her can it?" I asked quickly, staring at Melanie bewildered.

"Didn't you take the classes Maddy? You've been doing this for how long? This could seriously harm her."

"You don't think she's fall..."

"That's the only explanation Maddy," Melanie interrupted.

"But, couldn't the sleeping with him just be affecting her a little? Since it was her first time..."

Melanie looked at me thoughtfully for a moment and slowly sat back down, "That could be true. Has anything unusual been happening? Like anything out of the ordinary."

I looked down and thought hard. A lot of things have been happening, but not enough for me to really notice. I've been keeping a watch on the two of them, but not as closely as I probably should have. Things have probably been going on that I don't even know about.

"Maddy, are you sure this just started today?" she asked putting her hand on my hand.

I looked up at her and as much as I wanted to tell her yes, I knew I couldn't.

"No," I said. Melanie sighed deeply.

"We have to get her off this project," she said. I looked at her in surprise, "Melanie, you can't!"

"I don't see why not, it will protect her AND Brian."

"But what if this is a good thing?"

"It's only a good thing when everything is followed through correctly and if it's actually supposed to follow through."

"This has happened before hasn't it?"

"Yes, once, but it didn't work out."

"What happened?"

"Man, didn't Bill ever tell you stories? He's been there longer than any of us, he's seen and heard everything. You've never heard of what happened with Leslie and Joshua?"

I shook my head slowly and said, "No."

"Leslie was one of us and Joshua was some prince or something back in the old days, but anyway, things happened, like the things that are beginning to happen now. They were happy for a little while but something terrible happened, I don't know exactly what, but she went...well...you know."

"Oh my gosh, that's horrible!"

She nodded and said, "I don't want to see that happen to Nikki."

"You don't know for sure that it will," I said.

"So? It's better to be safe than sorry."

"But what if something good can come out of this? I mean, what if it's meant to happen?"

"I would have been notified if it was meant to happen Maddy," she said. I sighed and said, "Just give her a couple more weeks, a month, 2, but please don't take her off of it now. She's just starting to warm up..."

"A little too much if you ask me."

"Melanie come on, this is her first time, and she's doing a rather good job. She's on her way to fixing Brian. Please."

Melanie sat there for a moment and finally sighed, defeated, "Fine, but if something happens that I'm definitely not comfortable with, I'm pulling her out, got it?"

I smiled gratefully and said, "Thank you Melanie."

A Few Days Later

Brian's View

"Wakey wakey," I whispered as I tickled Nicole's nose with a white rose. She shifted where she laid in the middle of my white covers and groaned.

"Come on, wake up," I smiled. I saw a smile form on her face and then her eyes began to open.

"Why did you wake me up? I was having a nice dream," she said poking my chest. We laid in my bed facing each other under my white covers.

"Oh really? And what were you dreaming about?" I asked as she took the white rose out of my hand. She smelled it and looked into my eyes smiling. She then whispered, "It's a secret."

"A secret you can tell me," I grinned. She shook her head and said, "Nope, if it's a secret, it's meant to be kept from you."

I stuck out my bottom lip and said, "Secrets don't make friends!"

She laughed and began to get out of bed.

"Oh no you don't," I said, wrapping my arm around her bare waist and pulling her down next to me, planting a soft kiss on her lips afterwards.

"We can't lay in here all day," she giggled.

"I don't see why not," I said draping my arm across her bare body and setting my head on her chest. She laughed and wiggled out of my grasp, "Come on, get up, lets go see a movie or something."

I looked over at the clock on the in table next to my bed and said, "At 9 in the morning?"

"I didn't mean like right now! I mean later. We can go to the beach or something," she said gathering her clothes from the night before. I propped myself up on my shoulder and stared her.

"What?" she smiled a little shyly.

"You're beautiful," I said softly. She bit her lip and said, "Thank you."

"But hey, I was going out with Nick and AJ today anyway to go shopping or something since I haven't hung out with them for a while. Is that cool?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not. It's not like we're in a relationship Bri," she said pulling her shirt over her head. I frowned when she said that.

"Nicole, I've been thinking..." I began, but stopped.

"About what?" she asked as she pulled her jeans on, buttoning and zipping them.

"About us."

"What about us?"

"Well, you know I wasn't too open for a relationship before all this right?"

"Right," she said slowly.

"I really like you Nicole and I was hoping that maybe we could start a relationship, maybe one that could turn serious. I know this kind of came out of the blue, but it's been bothering me and I wanted to talk to you about it. So, what do you say?"

She stood there and stared at me with her mouth hanging slightly open. She was shocked, that was apparent.

"I...um..."

I sat up in bed and said quickly, "I'm sorry that I brought it up. It's just that I think we have something good going on, and I think that we should do something about it."

She shifted her eyes nervously away from mine and quickly gathered the rest of her things.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she said hurriedly exiting the room. I looked after her shocked, "What...WAIT!"

I scrambled out of bed, quickly pulling my boxers on. I ran out of the room and down the marble staircase.

"Nicole! Wait! Stop!" I yelled flying out the door.

"Brian, I need to go," she said, frantically trying to open her door. I walked up to her and couldn't help but smile, "Maybe it would help if you unlocked the door."

She stopped pulling on the handle and stood there a little embarrassed.

"Nicole, please don't be mad at me, I was only asking," I said. She fiddled with her hands and said, "I know, I was just surprised."

"Something tells me there's more to it than that," I said.

"There isn't," she shook her head. I knew she was lying. I could tell because whenever she talked to me she would look me in the eye, and right now, she wasn't. This is the first time she hasn't looked me in the eye while talking.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked

She shook her head and said, "Of course not!"

"Then what is it? Why don't you want to be with me? I see something great between us but obviously you aren't seeing anything! Are you just using me for the sex or something!?" I said, getting a little angry. I was more upset than anything.

She looked up at me with surprise, "No! I would never do that!"

"Then what the hell is going on!? All I did was suggest we start a relationship, a relationship that I'm willing to do! I'm not willing to do this with anybody else Nicole! I like you, I like you a lot, but it's like you don't feel anything towards me! If you did, you would have at least given me a straight answer up there! It was a yes or no question! So what is it? Yes or no?"

"I have to go," she said unlocking the car and pulling the handle. I pushed the door shut and said a little more calmer, "What do I have to do? What do I have to do to get you to be with me? I want to be with you Nicole, can't you see that?"

"Brian, you don't understand!" Nicole said looking up into my eyes. Looking at her face shocked me. I have never seen a person have that much pain in their eyes. It was like she was trying to let something go, but that something couldn't be let go.

"What don't I understand Nicole!?"

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand!"

What she just said made my anger explode.

"I wouldn't huh? How would you know!? You wouldn't! You haven't told me one fucking thing about you! I know NOTHING about you! I don't even know your last name! I don't know where you came from! I don't know anything about your family except that Madeline is your sister! I don't know who your friends are! I know nothing about your life! I don't know anything! So why don't you enlighten me a little huh? Why don't you tell me something about yourself for once!? Why does it always have to be about me!? I want to know stuff about you Nicole! God, I don't know why, but normally I wouldn't want to be with someone I didn't know anything about, but I want to be with you and when I tell you, you freak out on me! What the hell are you holding back!? What is that you're keeping to yourself!?" I yelled. She stared at me with those pain filled eyes, flinching now and then at the words I was saying.

"You wouldn't understand," she softly said.

"Fine! Go! I don't care!" I yelled angrily, taking my hand off the door and stomping up the steps to my house. I slammed the door behind me, clenching my fist and punching the wall next to me.

What did I do wrong? What is it about me that lures girls to hurt me? All I wanted was to be with her, that was all. Just when things started to get better for me, this had to happen. I'm back at first base again, a place that I was at for a very long time. I was running toward home plate. I would have been there right now if Nicole had just said yes, but instead, she didn't answer me at all. She ran out on me. What am I supposed to do with that? I have never been rejected like that before in my life. It hurt me terribly that she wouldn't give me a reason, saying that I wouldn't understand. I just don't find it fair how I put my trust in her and I told her almost everything about me, but yet, it was like she didn't trust me enough to even tell me her last name. So why do I still feel the same strong feelings for her?

"Because you fell in love with her," I whispered softly to myself as I slid down the wall and put my head in my hands, letting the tears that I haven't cried in weeks, start to flow.