~* Chapter Three *~

    Upstairs, AJ was shuffling through his CD stack. "Where is it?" he 
muttered to himself, as his dark brown eyes skimmed the titles of each CD 
cover. Ah-ha! Triumphantly, AJ pulled out his Eminem CD and grinned 
victoriously. 
    He turned to shove the CD into the CD player when a soft knock sounded at 
his door. He glanced over at the door, glanced at his CD player and rolled 
his eyes. "Come in," he called out in an irritated voice. He watched as his 
bedroom door slowly opened and Nick popped in, a hesitant smile on his face. 
AJ scowled at him. "What?"
    Nick immediately stepped in and closed the door behind him. "I need to 
talk to you."
    "What about?" AJ wanted to know, slipping the CD in the CD player.
    "April."
    AJ slowly turned around and stared at Nick. He casually leaned against 
his desk and slid off his sunglasses. "What about April?"
    Nick eyed AJ, wondering why he was suddenly getting into big brother 
mode. "Well..."
    "Well, what?" AJ barked out suddenly.
    "Well," Nick continued, glaring at his  friend. "I like her. A lot. I'm 
in love with her."
    "And...?"
    "And...I want to tell her. But I don't know how."
    "Simple," AJ replied, standing upright and slipping on his glasses. "This 
is what you should do." Nick leaned forward with interest as AJ looked over 
at him. "You open your mouth and you let words come out, duh stupid."
    Nick frowned and glared at AJ. "That's not funny," he muttered as AJ 
began to chuckle.
    "Yes, it was," AJ grinned. He shook his head. "Look, I was serious 
though, just tell her."
    "No," Nick replied, a desperate tinge to his voice. "I'm too scared."
    "Don't be a baby, just tell her!"
    "But what if she laughs at me?"
    "She won't laugh at you, where'd you get that idea from?"
    "Just a thought."
    "Nick, she won't laugh at you, she-"
    "Hey."
    The soft voice at the doorway stopped their argument, and both turned to 
see April peeking in, her head halfway in the room as she smiled at them. 
"Hey guys, keep it down a little? I'm trying to read in my room, please?"
    "Sure, April," AJ nodded at his younger cousin. "Sorry."
    "Yeah sorry," Nick mumbled.
    April smiled. "It's all right," she replied. With one quick grin, she 
turned and closed the door. After they heard the soft sound of her bedroom 
closing, Nick turned back to AJ. "Well?"
    "Just tell her," AJ replied, staring at him.
    Nick gave him a hesitant look. "Well..."
    "Just go!" AJ grabbed him by the shoulders and practically shoved him out 
the door.
    "I'm not going to tell her now!" Nick cried, grabbing a hold of the 
doorway's frame and pushing against AJ's hands.
    "Why not?" AJ demanded to know.
    "No, I'm too scared. I'll tell her when I'm ready," he replied, glancing 
over his shoulder at him.
    "Well, in that case," AJ paused as he shoved Nick fully out of his room. 
"Go ready yourself somewhere else. I'm busy." With that, he slammed the door 
in Nick's face. 
    Nick stared at the closed door for a few moments before turning around 
and heading into his bedroom. Closing the door behind him, he walked over to 
his bed and flopped down on his back, his blue eyes penetrating into the 
ceiling as he let his thoughts wander. A strand of blonde hair disturbed his 
baby soft cheek, and he impatiently brushed it away.  
    A soft knock sounded at the door. "What?" he called out, an impatient 
tinge in his voice.
    “Nick?” the soft feminine voice cause the hair on the back of Nick’s 
neck to rise. He immediately sat up straight and ran a hand through his hair.
    “Yeah,” he gruffly replied. “It’s open.”
    The door slowly swung open and April peeked in, a tiny smile on her face. 
“Hey Nick,” she cheerfully greeted. “Busy?” 
    Nick shook his head. “Of course, not. Come in.”
    April smiled and stepped in his room, closing the door behind her as she 
did. A hesitant look crossed her face. “Can you talk?”
    Nick tilted his head and studied her. “Sure, come over here,” he 
replied, patting the spot on the bed next to him and smiling encouragingly at 
her. April smiled and sauntered over to him, plopping down on the mattress 
besides him.
    Nick leaned over and instinctively wrapped his arm around her. He 
immediately regretted the action. Her pleasant smell of country apple lotion 
assaulted his nose and he leaned closer to sniff at her neck. April suddenly 
let out a laugh, startling him.
    “Nick, are you sniffing at me?” 
    Nick’s head jerked up and he smiled at her, a red blush blooming on his 
cheeks. “Sorry, you smell nice.”
    April raised an eyebrow. “It’s how I always smell.”
    Nick’s face flushed more. “Yeah well...I...uh...yeah,” he stuttered.
He 
playfully glared at her as she threw back her head and started laughing. 
“What did you need to talk to me about?”  
    April glanced up at him and smiled, a curious glint appearing in her 
eyes. “AJ said you needed to tell me something, actually.”
    Nick froze. AJ, I am going to kill you, he thought to himself as April’s 
violet eyes peered up at him. “Nick...?”
    “Um...that new movie with Jennifer Lopez is showing tomorrow. Want to 
go?” Nick stalled, looking down at her.
    April furrowed her eyebrows at her. “Um, sure. Is that all you wanted to 
tell me?”
    Nick nodded.
    “Okay, what time tomorrow?”
    “Um, twelve thirty?” Nick asked, looking down at her.
    April nodded. “Okay, I’ll be ready.” She stood up to leave and glanced 
down at him. She smiled. “The Wedding Planner, right?”
    Nick smiled back. “Yeah.”
    April nodded, turned and walked out of his room.
    As soon as the door to his bedroom closed, Nick flopped back down on his 
bed and stared at the wall. That was close. I can’t believe AJ- Nick sat up. 
He growled under his breath and walked across the hall to AJ’s room and 
banged on the door. “AJ!” he yelled.
    The door swung open and AJ peered out. A mischievous grin appeared on his 
face. “Hey, did you tell her? Are you guys going out?”
    Nick glared at him. “No, I had to make up something up and tell her I 
wanted to see a stupid movie with her.”
    “Oh,” was AJ’s disappointed reply. “Sucks to be you.” He began to
close 
the door only to step back when Nick barged into his room. “Hey, what do you 
think you’re doing?”
    Nick glared furiously at him. “AJ, I almost told her what I was feeling 
and I wasn’t even ready.” He reached up as if to strangle him. AJ took a 
step back.
    “Chill, man,” he replied, staring at Nick with wide eyes. He’d never 
seen him like that. “I was just trying to help.”
    Nick lowered his arm. He stared at AJ for a moment. “Next time, don’t 
bother,” he gruffly replied, before turning back around and walking back to 
his room. 
    As AJ closed his door, he muttered under his breath, “If I didn’t know 
any better, I’d say Nick was actually PMSing.”