Tired of walking, she decided to sit down. Sighing, she sat down carefully in the sand drawing her legs close to her chest. For the first time since she had ventured outside, she soaked in her surroundings. The surface of the water rippled slightly in the breeze. The water shimmered in the moonlight as it moved.

She shuddered slightly in spite of the breathtaking view. The scenery reminded her too much of Justin and what he had done to her that horrible night on the beach. Suddenly it all came rushing back to her in the blink of an eye. Justin�s face loomed in front of her as his voice boomed in her ears.

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, willing herself to erase all thoughts of Justin. Opening her eyes, she took in a deep breath. Her mind suddenly shifted gears and she was taken back to the day Nick had arrived in LA.

Her daydream was so vivid. Nick�s smile, his voice, the way he looked when a lone strand of hair fell into his eyes all came rushing back to her. The image of Nick�s perfect blue eyes flashed through her mind repeatedly. She saw something in them. Something so honest so trusting. What was it?

Her heart beating quickly, she began taking long deep breaths to calm herself down. �Forget about him. He�ll just hurt you Jess,� she whispered to herself.

�Forget about who?� came a soft voice from behind her. Jessica sucked in her breath sharply.

Jessica turned slowly, willing her eyes to look at him. As she came face to face to him, her heart started pounding. She stared intently into his eyes; a feeling of relief washing over. She was suddenly glad that he was there. Now she wouldn�t have to be alone anymore.

Nick�s question went unanswered as Jessica averted her eyes. �Couldn�t sleep either?� she asked quietly.

�Yeah. Do you come out here often?� he asked sitting down next to her. He sat close to her. They were so close and yet so far away from where he wanted them to be.

� I used to. Not much anymore,� she replied praying that he wouldn�t probe the subject any further.

Nick looked over at her as she spoke. So many questions were on the tip of his tongue, but somehow he couldn�t manage to ask any of them. He studied her carefully as she instinctively reached up to brush a strand of hair from her eyes. She was so beautiful. �How�s Liz holding up?� he asked changing the subject.

�She�s okay. She�s really upset. She really cared about AJ. Liz didn�t ever mean to hurt him as badly as she has. What about AJ?

�Not so good. He�s miserable, but he won�t admit it. He loved her so much Jess. Liz was AJ�s whole world and now he has nothing,� Nick responded.

Jessica flinched slightly at Nick�s words. Justin had been her whole world. She had loved him so much and he had left her alone with nothing as well. With a sigh, she opened her mouth to speak. She shut it firmly before saying anything. What could she say? That AJ would be all right? She couldn�t do that. Even if he found someone new he would never forget what Elizabeth had done to him. Just like Jessica would never forget about Justin and what he had done to her. No matter where she went he would always be in the back of her mind, haunting her, tormenting her.

�Do you ever wish that you could turn back time?� Jessica blurted.

Nick looked at Jessica inquisitively before answering. �Yeah. I do. All the time. What about you?� If I could turn back time I�d take away all your pain, he said silently.

�I would have done so many things differently,� she said hoarsely. I never would have got involved with Justin, was her silent thought.

The two sat side by side totally unaware of their surroundings as they talked. They talked about old times, their hopes for the future, their fears - everything. Jessica had never felt so at ease with anyone. She opened her heart to him. She told him everything about her � almost everything. She didn�t tell him about Justin or what he had done to her. They didn�t speak at all about the pain, the hurt, or the sadness he had inflicted upon her.

Nick on the other hand was falling more in love with Jessica with each passing minute. He told her things that he had never told any other girl. He told her things that even he hadn�t realized about himself until then.

When the two finally looked away from each other for a second, they realized just how long they had been sitting there. The sun was beginning to rise above the horizon. Hues of pink and orange emblazoned the sky. The sun shone brilliantly, casting an amazing glow on the water ahead of them. They watched together in total silence, each perfectly content to be there with each other.

Jessica tiptoed carefully back into the house. Thankfully she hadn�t locked the door so she was able to enter without awaking anyone. She crept up the stairs and into her room. Once in her room, she collapsed on her bed. She hadn�t realized how exhausted she had been.

She climbed into bed, snuggling under the warm covers. She closed her eyes sighing happily to herself. She was still reeling from what had just happened. She couldn�t believe that she had actually spent the whole night with Nick. Images of Nick as he spoke flitted through her memory. The way he ran his fingers through his hair when he was thinking of something, the way he smiled sexily at her, the way his voice could take on different tones depending on his mood all came back to her. She smiled again as she remembered the tingle of electricity that had shot through her when he had helped her up. His touch had sent shivers up her spine.

Just as quickly as her smile appeared on her face, it disappeared. Forget him Jess! You�ll just end up getting hurt again.

Closing her eyes, she could feel her eyelids getting heavy. Her thoughts were still consumed by Nick. Although she told herself repeatedly that she should forget him, she couldn�t.

The sun shone brightly through Nick�s window. Even with his eyes closed, he could still feel its glare beating down on him. Swearing under his breath, he got up and snapped the blinds shut roughly.

He flopped back down lazily on his bed. A small smile playing upon his lips as his mind relived last night�s events. There was no use in going back to sleep now. He was wide-awake.

Last night, he had wanted to kiss Jessica so badly. He had almost done it too. He had been so close, but he had stopped himself. In a way, he was glad that he had exercised self-restraint. On the other hand though, he longed to hold her warm body in his arms so badly.

He was so confused. Again he questioned himself as to why Jessica was so scared. He wondered why Brian had cautioned him so many times about taking things slow between them. What could Justin have possibly done to hurt her so badly? What could have made her so terrified?

Nick thought of the old Jessica he used to know in high school. The old Jessica faded from his memory quickly as the new Jessica entered it. This Jessica was scared of her own shadow she was quiet and reserved. She lived in her own little world, which she refused to let anyone else into. It was a pathetic existence consumed by fear and sadness. He ached to bring the old Jessica back. He knew she existed, he just didn�t know how to get her back.

Sighing, he crawled out of his cozy bed and clambered down the stairs. He found Brian in the entertainment room stretched lazily across the sofa flicking channels with the remote aimlessly. �Finally,� Brian commented without looking away from the set. �What time did you go to sleep last night?�

Nick smiled in spite of himself. He couldn�t keep his whereabouts last night a mystery for too long. �Actually I was out,� Nick answered quietly.

�Out? With who?� Brian asked taking his eyes off the set. Looking at Nick�s face he knew right away exactly who Nick had been with.

�Bri � she�s amazing. I think I�m in love with her,� Nick blurted out. He knew he didn�t have to tell Brian who he was with. Brian had known the second Nick had told him he had been out.

Brian sighed inwardly to himself. Nick was definitely taking things too fast. If he kept up at this rate he would end up hurting her. Jess has come so far these past months. I can�t let Nick ruin it for her. Maybe I should tell him what he did to her. Brian shook the thoughts from his head. He knew that Jessica would be furious if he betrayed her confidence. He couldn�t do that to her.

�Nick,� Brian said his voice suddenly becoming serious. �I�m warning you man. Take it slow. If you rush things she�ll end up getting hurt. I told you once and I�m telling you again that she�s not ready. Trust me on this one bro,� he warned.

Nick stared at Brian slightly taken aback. Brian�s expression was grim and Nick could tell he was dead serious. Why is he getting so worked up about this? Somehow it seemed more than a friendly concern. This was serious.

Lila closed the door to Elizabeth�s room silently making sure that she didn�t wake her up. As soon as she had woken up she had gone to Elizabeth�s room to make sure that she was all right. She had found Elizabeth sleeping soundly with her bedding strewn all over the floor. �Poor girl. She must have had a hard night,� Lila said aloud to herself.

She hated to see her friends in anguish. These girls were like sisters to her. Whenever they were sad she felt it too. She quietly tiptoed towards Jessica�s room next. She hesitated for a few seconds before knocking lightly on the door.

Much to Lila�s surprise Jessica replied softly, �Come in.�

Lila walked in and found Jessica still lying in bed the covers pulled up to her chin. She was gazing mindlessly out the window. She was so deep in thought that Lila�s presence didn�t seem to affect her. �A penny for your thoughts,� Lila offered taking a seat at the edge of Jessica�s bed.

�Sorry. I was thinking,� Jessica replied sheepishly.

�What about?�

Jessica looked down at her bed sheet fiddling with the corner of it. She was so confused. She wanted desperately to tell someone about her feelings for Nick. She needed to share them with someone so that she could figure them out herself. �I was thinking of Nick,� she replied truthfully.

Shocked and slightly unprepared for Jessica�s response, Lila remained silent for a few seconds. At least she�s not sitting here wasting away over Justin, she reasoned with herself. �Why did something happen between you two?� Lila asked in confusion.

�Yes... No�I don�t know,� Jessica replied in exasperation. �I�m so incredibly confused Li.�

�What happened? Tell me everything Jess,� Lila said gently.

Jessica inhaled deeply before letting everything spill out of her. �Last night, I couldn�t sleep. I was too scared. Scared of the images that greet me when I close my eyes, scared of seeing his face, hearing his voice,� Jessica paused as her voice wavered. �So I decided to go down to the beach. I thought maybe it would help. I didn�t really know what I was doing. I just knew that I had to get out of the house.�

�Go on,� Lila coaxed. This was the first time that Jessica had actually gone into detail about her feelings.

�When I got to the beach though, it all came back to me. Everything Justin did to me that fateful night, everything he said to me all came back to me,� she paused to take a breath. �I forced myself to forget about Justin and how badly he had hurt me. I began thinking about Nick,� she confessed. �And suddenly, Nick��

�Nick appeared,� Lila finished cutting her off. A small smile appeared on Jessica�s face as Lila said the words.

Nodding emphatically Jessica continued �Suddenly, I wasn�t scared anymore. Somehow with Nick there, I felt safe. I can�t quite explain it, but somehow I just knew that with Nick there with me I would be all right,� Jessica finished.

�I know the feeling exactly,� Lila replied without hesitation. She felt like that about Brian. With Brian by her side, she was never scared of anything and she always felt like she could conquer anything the world threw at her.

�We talked the whole night. I told him things that I�ve never told anyone else before. We talked about our hopes and dreams for the future, old times � everything. It�s so easy to talk to him.�

�Did you tell him about Justin?� Lila asked.

Jessica�s face immediately became clouded. � I wanted to tell him so badly, but I couldn�t. He�d look at me differently for sure I don�t think I could handle that.�

Lila listened attentively as Jessica droned on about Nick. She was secretly pleased that Jessica had finally admitted her feelings about Nick. Now maybe she�d be able to move on and put the past behind her.
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