| Chapter 4 Lyn opened her eyes and looked around. She was on one of the couches, snuggled up next to Brian. He was still asleep with his arms firmly wrapped around her. She looked over and smiled. Kevin and Howie had taken the other couch, and were in a similar position. Howie was resting his head on Kevin's chest, and Kevin had his arms around him. A.J. was curled up in the recliner. They had all watched the monitors until one by one they had fallen to sleep. Lyn glanced at the monitors, seeing that Nick and Tara were still sleeping. She sighed. This whole situation was taking its toll on her. She knew that when she and Brian told Tara and Nick about their feelings for each other, that whatever progress the two had made could be compromised. She hated that, but she also knew that they couldn't hide it from them even if they wanted to. Tara and Nick were to good at reading them, and would know immediately that something was wrong. Lyn felt Brian stir and looked up at him. He opened his eyes and looked at her, smiling. "Morning," he said. "Morning, you sleep well?" she asked. He nodded, "Yeah, you?" "Pretty well," she said, sitting up so Brian could get up. He sat up and rubbed his face for a moment, then looked over at the other guys. He put his hand over his mouth to stifle the laugh when he saw Kevin and Howie. "They been that way all night?" he asked. Lyn shrugged, "I don't know. But I think they're both missing their wives a little to much," she said, having to quiet her own laughter. "God, what I wouldn't give for a camera right now," Brian said. Lyn grinned at him, "Ask and you shall receive." Brian watched her as she made her way into her bedroom and came out with a camera. She turned it on, waiting for the flash to ready, then snapped a picture. Neither one of them moved, so she moved to a different angle and took another. A.J. sat up rubbing his eyes and looked at her, "What are you doing?" Lyn pointed and A.J.'s eyes widened. "Oh my God, that's damn funny," he said a little to loud. Kevin stirred, looking over at A.J., "Bone shut up, I'm trying to sleep." That was it, everyone in the room burst out in laughter. Kevin looked at them, "What the hell are you.....?" Then he looked down and realized what they were laughing at. He rolled his eyes, "God.. D get up," he said, thumping Howie on the top of the head. Howie moaned and turned his head, "Five more minutes," he mumbled. "Dude, get the hell off me," Kevin said, trying to sit up. Howie looked up blinking his eyes, "Kev?" "Yeah man, now get off me," Kevin said. Howie sat up and Kevin quickly got up and walked over to the other couch, sitting down. "I thought something wasn't right," Howie said, running his hand through his hair, "Kira is never that still." Laughter sounded throughout the room. Even Kevin found it funny. A.J. looked at Lyn, "I want doubles when you get those developed." Kevin and Howie both looked at her, realizing she had a camera in her hand. "Oh Lord," Howie said, putting his face in his hands. Brian laughed at him, "I've seen worse pictures of you D." Howie just shook his head and headed to his bedroom to get ready for the day. "I'll go put some coffee on," Lyn said. Brian got up to follow her, "I'll help." Kevin and A.J. looked at the monitors, making sure nothing was going on, then they both headed to their rooms. Brian stood in the kitchen watching Lyn make the coffee. She smiled at him as she put the pot in and turned it on. They both glanced into the other room, making sure the coast was clear, then laughed at each other. Brian walked up to her, pinning her against the counter with his body and quickly stole a kiss. "Bri, we could get caught," Lyn whispered to him. "We need to find a time where we can be alone," he said. "I know, but just how do you suggest we do that? It's not like we can just leave together, and the chances of them leaving the house now are zero," she said. Brian thought for a moment, "What about a walk on the beach? They wouldn't think anything about that." "No, but we were told not to go near the other house," she said. "We can go the other way, you own all that to right?" he asked. "Yeah, but during the day? Someone will see us," she said. "Tonight then. Say something like you need to get out of the house, and ask me to go for a walk with you. They'll be so engrossed in watching the monitors they won't think anything about it. They know this is hard on us, and even if they do wonder why we're off together, they'll just think that we're helping each other through this," Brian whispered. Lyn looked at him for a moment, then nodded, "Tonight." Brian smiled, leaning down and again quickly kissing her, "Tonight," he whispered in her ear, then bounded off to his room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick woke to the sun in his face. He turned his head, looking out the window. It had to be midmorning by the position of the sun. He still had that foggy feeling, and guessed that while he was sleeping they had given him more of the drug. He sat up and stretched, then got up and walked into the bathroom, ignoring the guards in the room. He took a quick shower, then shaved and brushed his teeth. He noticed when he'd gotten out of the shower that someone had taken the clothes he was wearing and replaced them with clean ones. He put them on, recognizing Lyn's emblem on them. He half smiled, and sighed. He hadn't thought about her much until now. He looked at himself in the mirror and tried to block her from his mind. The last thing he needed was another distraction, his mind was foggy enough already. When he stepped out of the bathroom, Gideon was waiting for him. "Morning Nick," he said. Nick just looked at him, then walked back over to the bed and sat down. "Why don't you come over here and sit," Gideon suggested. Nick looked over, seeing that while he was in the shower, they had set up a small table in the room. There was a breakfast tray on it. Nick got up and walked over, taking a seat. He stared at the food, then looked up at Gideon. "Go ahead," he urged. Nick picked up the fork and started eating. He didn't know why, but he was starving again, and quickly ate everything on the tray. He then sipped his coffee, staring past Gideon and out the window. "I trust you slept well," Gideon said. Nick nodded, lost in his own thoughts. "Good," Gideon said, motioning to one of the guards. Nick watched as they took the tray away, leaving the decanter of coffee for him. "Do you feel like talking?" Gideon asked. Nick glanced at him and shook his head no. Gideon sighed. Nick was giving him the silent treatment, and he hated it, but he couldn't make him talk either. He got up, "Alright, if you need anything or feel like talking later, let one of the guards know," he said, turning to leave. "You're just leaving?" Nick asked. Gideon turned around, "Yes, you said you didn't want to talk." "But you aren't going to push me? Drive me insane until I do talk?" Nick asked. Gideon smiled at him, "No Nick. We would never force you to do that. We want you to come to us on your own, not because we forced you." "But you're forcing me to stay here, and you know that I don't want to," Nick said. "Nick, we can't let you go. We love you to much not to try and get you back," he said. Nick looked down into his coffee and sighed heavily, "Can I at least talk to Tara?" "Not yet," Gideon said. Nick looked up at him, "Why?" "Because she is dealing with her own demons right now. When she is ready we will let you two talk, but not before then," Gideon answered. Nick looked at him, concerned, "Is she alright?" "She will be. She just needs to take her time, and work it out for herself," he said. "OK," Nick said, staring back out the window. Gideon watched him for a moment, then left the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tara sighed and looked out the window. She had been up for hours, her mind not letting her sleep. She sat in the floor next to the window, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. She'd been sitting like that for hours, and had lost the feeling in her feet, but she didn't care. She had to work through her feelings. Try and figure out what was real and what wasn't. She couldn't go back to Brian still not knowing how she felt. It wouldn't be fair to either one of them. She looked down at the beach, watching Angel play with a few of the guards. She laughed when Angel tripped one, snatching the ball from his hand and running down the beach with it. "She's been a life saver," Tracy said. Tara looked up, seeing Tracy standing next to her. "Yeah," she said. "Honey, you've been sitting here for hours. You want to talk about it?" Tracy said. Tara looked down at her wedding ring, then back up at Tracy, "Only if you turn the camera off." "Alright," she said, walking over and pulling the plug on the camera. "OK, they can't see or hear you now, so what's up?" Tracy asked. Tara turned to face her, stretching her legs out. "I've just been thinking about what happened, and about what's happened between Nick and I over the past few months," she said. Tracy sat down in the floor facing her, "Just start from the beginning and we'll go from there." Tara nodded, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. "Well, I really think it all started when Nick and I started training together. We naturally drew closer to one another because he was looking for me to teach him how to control his abilities, but it became more than that," she said. "How so?" Tracy asked. "I never realized that's what we were doing until just now, but we spent more time in training than it should've taken. We both started distancing ourselves from Brian and Lyn, spending more and more time with each other. I should've known what was happening, but I never looked past the fact that I needed to get him ready, to see what was really going on," Tara said. "So what was really going on?" Tracy asked. "We started falling in love with each other again. Now that I'm looking back, I can see it, but when it was happening, I never even entertained the thought," she answered. "Are you sure?" Tracy asked. Tara looked up at her, "I'm positive. I see it all now, and it makes sense to me." "Does Nick feel the same way?" Tracy asked. Tara shrugged her shoulders, "That I'm not sure. I mean, he told me he did, but I'm not sure if that was his real feelings, or if he just did that to get to me. I need to talk with him, we need to figure this out together." "You know he's not turned yet. He's cooperating with us, but he doesn't trust us. I'm not sure when he'll be ready to talk to you," Tracy said. Tara sighed, "Is there anything I can do to help with him?" "I'm not sure. We're afraid to put you with him until he's realized that he made a mistake and he comes back to us. Plus anything he tells you until then probably won't be the truth anyway," she said. Tara nodded, "I understand." Tracy looked at her with compassion, "Honey, do you want to talk about what happened while you were gone?" Tara shook her head, "Not yet." Tracy smiled at her, "It's alright, you take your time. I'll let you know how things with Nick are going, alright?" "Thank you," Tara said. Tracy stood up and plugged the camera back in, leaving the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat in the floor with the blanket wrapped around him and over his head. He knew it was childish, but he'd finally discovered the camera, and hated the fact that the guys were watching him. At least this way, they couldn't see his face. He'd spent the day alone with his thoughts. He ate when they brought him food, but other than that, he kept to himself, not talking to anyone. He stared out at the ocean as the sun sat. He loved watching the waves, getting lost in their motion. He marveled at the how the colors changed and danced across the water. He'd been fighting with himself all day. He started doubting himself, questioning what he was led to believe. Maybe God really didn't leave him? Maybe Jered and Ephah just made it seem that way to get him to give in? That's what they had wanted, and Ephah even said that they would do anything to accomplish their goal of getting him on their side. Nick sighed, rubbing his temples with his finger tips. His mind running non stop. He couldn't get past the fact that even if he did walk away from God, how could He just sit there and let him suffer like he had? He could just hear it now, someone telling him there's a reason for everything. How could there be a reason for that? What good could ever come from it? Then his mind took him to Tara. In his zeal to get her, he'd done the most unthinkable things to her, and he felt so guilty for it. He did truly love her, he'd known for a long time that what he felt for her was more than their friendship. He never stopped to think about it until now, he'd never had the time, but now that was all he thought about. He leaned forward and placed his forehead on the glass, closing his eyes. The glass was still warm from the sun, and he felt so cold. He knew it wasn't cold in the room, it was just him. He pulled the blanket tighter around him, fighting the tears that were welling up. Somehow his brain had made the connection. Of course this happened for a reason. If he hadn't had gone through the torture, he wouldn't have turned. If he hadn't have turned, he wouldn't have sought out Tara like he had. He would still be standing back, watching her be with Brian. But now that she knew how he felt, maybe things would change? Maybe she felt as much for him as he did for her? Maybe God let this happen to get them back together? Nick stood up quickly frantically wiping the tears from his cheeks. He looked at one of the guards in the room. "Get Gideon please," Nick said. The guard nodded and left the room. Nick paced while he waited, turning to face Gideon as he walked in. "You wanted to see me?" Gideon asked. Nick nodded and pointed to the table, "Have a seat, we need to talk." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone was in tears. They had watched Nick talking to Gideon for the better part of three hours now. No one understood what they were telling each other, but just by the looks on both their faces, they knew it had to be a step in the right direction. When Nick broke down in tears and reached out for Gideon, they all lost it. Hoping beyond hope that he was finally back. Brian held Lyn as she cried, knowing how relieved she felt. He felt the same. Even though they were hiding what they felt for one another, he still cared deeply for Nick, and was happy to see him coming back to them. Jade popped in the room, "I just wanted to come over and let you know what happened." Everyone looked at her through their tears. "Nick has finally realized that he made a mistake, and that God still loves him. He's asked to come back," she said. "Thank God," Kevin said. Everyone agreeing to that statement. "He still has a lot to deal with, but we are finally all on the same side now," Jade said, "I need to get back. This is a difficult time for him, and we can't leave him alone now. He's realized everything he's done, and now has to learn to forgive himself for it, and ask those he hurt for forgiveness as well." "Tell him we love him, and we're proud of him," Lyn said. Jade smiled at her, "I will. You guys get some rest. We may need you in the following days." Everyone nodded as she vanished from the room. Howie passed the tissues around, and they all settled back in watching Nick with Jade. Brian squeezed Lyn's hand, and she looked at him. He smiled at her as she got up and nervously paced in front of the windows. "You OK hon?" Kevin asked, watching her. Lyn shrugged, "I think I just need to get out of the house for a little bit. I'm gonna go for a walk." "You don't need to go by yourself," Kevin said, in that fatherly tone he got sometimes. Lyn sighed and looked at them, "Alright, Bri do you feel like taking a walk?" He stood up, "I guess so." They walked to the door and she pitched him his jacket on the way out. They slipped their jackets on as they walked. Even though it was summer, the night air still had a chill to it. They walked in silence as they headed away from the lights of the house. Finally they were in the dark, the moon the only thing giving them light. Brian reached out and took her hand in his, looking into her eyes. The moon cast a silver blue hue over everything, giving her hazel eyes an angelic look. "Bri, do you feel guilty about this?" she asked. He sighed, "Yes. I never thought that I would ever do anything like this, but I can't help it. When I look at you I just have to be with you. I love you so much that it hurts not being able to show it," he said. Lyn leaned against him, putting her hands around his waist and resting her head in the crook of his neck, "We're going to hurt them so much. I'm not sure if I can take it." Brian wrapped his arms around her, "You won't be alone, we'll do this together." She sighed and pulled away from him, taking his hand and sitting down in the sand. Brian sat next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. They both stared out at the water. "Who would've thought that things would have ended up like this?" Lyn said. "Yeah, I don't understand it, but here it is," Brian said. Lyn nodded, looking over at him, "I don't know if I've told you this or not, but...... I love you. I have for a long time, and our friendship means more to me than anything." Brian smiled at her and reached up and gently touched her cheek, "I feel the same way. I can't say how I feel because there aren't enough words to do it. All I know is that my heart won't let me let you go...I love you, Lyn." She smiled as they both leaned in, their lips meeting in the softest of kisses. Lyn pulled away, trying to catch her breath. Even though the kiss was soft, it was the kind that took your breath away, leaving you dizzy and wanting more. Brian pulled her to him, stretching his legs out and letting her sit on his thighs. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her as close as he could, then he took her mouth in his, parting her lips with his tongue. Lyn moaned as they explored each others mouths, wrapping their tongues together in an erotic duel. Brian ran his hands down her sides as they kissed, reaching under her jacket and shirt. Lyn laughed when he hit her ticklish spot on her stomach. Brian broke the kiss and looked at her, asking her with his eyes if she was sure. Lyn smiled and pushed him down on his back, letting him know she was. Chapter 5 |