-make it alright-
-chapter thirty-one-

�Shit, Mand.� Nick muttered once he realized how late they were running. He picked up his pace, moving down the hall at a more rapid clip. �Brent�s plane got in three hours ago. I didn�t mean to leave him this long. I thought we were just going out for a short shopping trip.�

Mandy rolled her eyes. Her long legs easily caught up with Nick�s within a few strides. �Brent�s a big boy. He can take care of himself.�

�I don�t know, Mand. He seemed pretty upset the last time I talked to him- that�s why I flew him out here. And what do I do? Abandon him at a hotel in a foreign country. I think he has a reason to be upset.�

�He should be lucky to have a friend as nice as you.� Mandy scoffed. �Not many people get flown overseas to hang out on tour. I think he should be the one aiming to please you, not the other way around.�

Nick bit his tongue. He knew if he opened his mouth, he�d be asking for trouble. Maybe Mandy had a point. But then again, she�d been traveling with Nick on tour for months, and he still had to cater to her every need.

Luckily, Nick didn�t have to say anything. He reached the door to the hotel suite he�d booked for himself, Mandy and Brent. The bigger the room, the less interaction that would have to occur between Mandy and Brent. Hopefully. Dropping Mandy�s shopping bags on the floor, Nick hurriedly unlocked the door.

�Brent? Ya in here, bud?� Nick asked upon entering the room.

�The best friend shows up and you forget all about the girlfriend.� Mandy pouted as she gathered up the discarded shopping bags.

�We�re in the kitchen, Nick!� Brent yelled back.

�We?� Nick questioned.

�AJ�s been entertaining me.�

Uh-oh. I don�t like the sound of this. Cautiously, Nick approached the kitchen. Sure enough, his worst fears were confirmed. Note to self: never leave a friend alone with AJ for long periods of time. Barely mid-afternoon and Brent and AJ were already giggling in a drunken stupor.

�Did you know that in Europe, beer is cheaper then water?� Brent greeted Nick.

Especially not in Europe. Nick turned to AJ, prepared with his scolding face. �You�re so lucky we don�t have a show tonight�

It wasn�t as if Nick were opposed to drinking. In fact, over the course of current tour, AJ had been schooling Nick and Mandy in the art of club hopping and drinking. But it was the middle of the day, and the boys hadn�t hung out in months, and Nick was looking forward to spending time in Spain with Brent. From their short phone conversations, Nick knew that Brent was going through some pretty serious turmoil back in Florida. But as past experiences with a wasted Brent and AJ had taught Nick, the current situation reeked of trouble.

�Calm down, Nicky boy.� Said AJ nonchalantly. �You weren�t around, so someone had to entertain Brent. That someone was me. We were just having a good time.�

�I�m sorry I wasn�t here when your flight got in,� Nick said to Brent. He sat down with the boys at the table, randomly collecting empty beer bottles. Mandy waltzed into the room just then, for once juggling her own shopping bags. She looked around a minute, taking in the scene. After realizing what was going on, she continued on into the room she and Nick were sharing.

�Hello to you too!� Brent shouted at her disappearing figure.

�Mandy made me go out and run a few errands with her,� Nick began to explain. He ran a hand through his summer sun-bleached blonde hair. �And Brent, you know how things go with Mandy. The shopping trip took a little longer then I expected.�

Brent shook his head, and his beer bottle at his friend. �Girls, man. I�m telling you- they�re nothing but trouble. You need to get rid of her, Nick. Things are a lot better that way, trust me.�

Sensing something was wrong, Nick blurted out, �Did something happen between you and Melissa?�

�No, nothing happened between me and Melissa.� Brent said as he shook his head reluctantly. �That�s the problem.�

�Brent, man�� Nick tried to reason. �You�ve known that all along. Melissa told us years ago that she was waiting until marriage. I thought you were okay with that.�

�And I was,� Brent nodded his head vigorously. �I wasn�t happy about it, but I dealt with it. I dealt with it because I loved her, Nick. I loved her. I still love her. I just don�t trust her.�

�You don�t trust her?� The notion completely perplexed Nick. What wasn�t there to trust about Melissa? She had never intentionally hurt a person, well, except for that fight with Mandy and I. Melissa was the most honest person Nick had ever met. �Why not?�

�Tell me, Nick.� Brent clamped a hand down on his friend�s shoulder. �Would you trust a girl who told you she was waiting until she was married, and then went out and slept with another man?�

�Melissa slept with someone?!?� Nick stood up in shock. The thought was so foreign to him. Melissa�who still covered her eyes during movie sex scenes. Melissa�who spent every Wednesday night and Sunday in church. Melissa�who�d been so concerned when Nick first slept with Mandy. Melissa had cheated on her boyfriend.

Nick sat back down, coming to grips with what Brent had just told him. �Fuck, man. I know I haven�t talked to her in two years, but I still thought I genuinely knew Melissa. But then she goes out and does something like this��

Nick didn�t really know where he was going with his rambling speech. That was usually the case. So many thoughts would be swimming around in his head, and for some reason only the idiotic ones would come out of his mouth. Yeah, we haven�t talked in two years. And yeah, my life has gone through a million changes since we last talked. But for some selfish reason, I never thought about the fact that Melissa�s life had been changing too. I guess I just wanted to remember her as that the same girl I knew when I was seventeen, just older.

�Hell, I was dating her when she slept with this other asshole. I was her BOYFRIEND. She knew me better then anyone else in the world, and I thought I knew her just as well. Shows you how smart I am. No wonder I failed out of high school.�

�You failed out of high school?!?� Nick explained. Jesus, where on Earth have I been?

Brent nodded his head miserably. �Yes, Nick. While you were out selling a million albums in a week, touring the world and having millions of girls throw themselves willingly at you, I was busy failing out of high school and breaking up with the only girl I�ve ever loved.�

Nick massaged the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. It was a lot of shocking information to take in all at once. �Shit man, I�m sorry. I�ve been a really shitty friend to you lately. I had no idea you�ve been going through all of this. I should have been there for you, or something.�

Brent shook his head at his friend. �Nah�dude. Don�t stress out about it. See, I�ve realized a few things recently. It wasn�t really your fault you�ve been an asshole. You couldn�t help it. You�ve been pussy-whipped by Mandy.�

�Excuse me?!?� At the mention of her name, Mandy marched angrily out of the bedroom. She loomed over Brent- hands on hips, jaw clenched.

Brent continued on. He hadn�t seemed to notice Mandy- or if he did, he was ignoring her. �See, women are the sole reason this world is so fucked up. Why? Because they are evil bitches. They�re only good for one thing- and that�s sex. You see Nick, one-night stands are the way to go. Use �em for what they�re worth, the ditch �em. Because as soon as you let them think they have ownership over you, that�s when it all goes to hell.�

�Are you going to let him talk to me like that?� Mandy demanded of Nick. He looked around for help, but noticed there was no one to turn to. At some point in the conversation, AJ had quietly slipped out of the room, unnoticed.

�He�s drunk, Mand. And upset. He doesn�t mean what he�s saying.� Nick offered as an explanation.

�Yes I do! I may be drunk, but I know what I�m saying. I�ve spent that last couple of months figuring this out.� Brent insisted. �Women are evil. And you know what? You, Mandy. You and Melissa are the worst of them all.�

�Oh? And why is that?� Mandy asked angrily. �And I can�t believe you�re comparing me to your slutty ex-girlfriend.�

�You can�t call her slutty!� Brent exclaimed. �Only I can call her slutty. But lemme explain to you�You see, Nick and I were two carefree kids- best friends. But then Melissa came along, and then you. And you know what you girls did? You tore us apart. You tore best friends apart. That�s why you, Mandy, are a dirty cunt.�

Before another thought could be formed, Mandy reached out and slapped Brent across his face. Hard. It shocked both Brent and Nick, neither of whom could picture so much force coming from willowy Mandy Williford. �Don�t you ever call me a dirty cunt again. Don�t you ever call ANY woman a dirty cunt even again!�

Brent had fallen back in his chair, clutching his ever-swelling, red cheek. A few shocked tears even began to form in his eyes. He was speechless, too stunned to even respond. Luckily, he didn�t have to.

�Mandy, I can�t believe you did that?� Nick exclaimed.

�Well, I can�t believe you�re taking HIS side!� She retorted. The slap he thrown out finally began to resonate with Mandy, and she too appeared a little shocked by what she had just done.

�Its not about taking sides, Mand. It�s about the fact that my best friend has been through a helluva lot a shit lately. And instead of helping him out, or even leaving the two of us alone, you go and ruin the situation even more.� Nick didn�t stand up for himself very often. Most of the time, he just didn�t care about anything enough to take sides on an issue. Mandy was the decisive, opinionated one. They evened each other out. But here he was, asserting himself against the one person he never had before.

�Didn�t you hear what he said to me?� If Mandy wasn�t shocked before, she sure was now.

�Of course I did. And some of his drunken ramblings did make sense. If he�s right about one thing, he�s right about the fact that we let women get in the way of our friendship. I can�t believe he�s been through all this shit and I didn�t have a clue it was going on.�

�So what am I supposed to do?� Mandy said in a low, soft-spoken voice. Ever since she and Nick moved in together, the two went everywhere together. Mandy had gotten used to being by Nick�s side at all times. It was comforting to never be alone. Nick thought so too. But here he was, pushing her away to be close with someone else. Mandy was being demoted to number two. And she didn�t know what to do with herself.

Nick reached into his back pocket and tossed his wallet at Mandy. �Why don�t you go home�spend sometime with YOUR family and YOUR friends. I think we both need to spend some time apart�indefinitely.�

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