Dawn quietly entered D’s room. She was glad to see she wasn’t sleeping.

"Hey! Did you take a nap at all?"

"Not really, I couldn’t sleep."

"I know the feeling. I’m exhausted, but I can’t seem to sleep for very long."

She wheeled herself into the room and positioned herself next to the bed.

"You need to take care of yourself. The baby is really gonna take it’s toll on you, especially in your condition."

"Yeah, I know. The doctor has given me strict orders to stay off my feet and watch my stress. Yeah, right," she chuckled.

They were both quiet for a minute, then D spoke.

"J came to visit me today."

Dawn looked at her with a scowl on her face.

"What did he say? Wait, I don’t want to know. I just hope you didn’t buy his bullshit."

"Actually, he didn’t really give me any. You were right, he did sleep with that stripper a couple years back."

"I told you….."

"But, he did not sleep with her on the last tour."

"You believe him?? I thought you were my friend? How could you choose his side over mine?? You know how he is…his track record with women…"

"How he was…..he’s not like that anymore. And I’m not choosing his side over yours. You two are both my friends. I’m not choosing sides at all." Dawn sighed.

"D, the letter….it was so graphic, it was disgusting. The things in it, they were him. I know. I’ve been sleeping with him long enough to know."

"He never denied that he slept with her. If that’s the case, then she does have some fact to back her up. As much as I hate to say it, she knows a few things about him, too."

"Well, I don’t care. He still cheated on me," Dawn folded her arms.

"You’re right. The fact that you guys weren’t together at the time is no excuse, and I told him that. But, you have to remember that no one’s perfect and you two love each other."

"If he loved me so much, he wouldn’t have fucked someone else."

Sometimes she just wanted to shake Dawn, she could be so stubborn.

"Haven’t you ever made a mistake?? Oh, wait, I know you have. I saw you and Noah kissing with my own eyes!"

Dawn looked at her in shock.

"What? Kissing? Me and Noah?? What are you talking about??"

"It was the day of the accident."

"Why don’t I remember?"

"I just remembered myself when I came into your room and saw you and Noah hugging."

Dawn sat and thought for a minute, trying to remember. She vaguely remembered asking Noah to leave, but she couldn’t remember why. That must have been the reason. She also remembered that D seemed to be mad at her when she got into the van.

"So that’s why you were mad at me….."

"Probably."

"Oh my God, I can’t believe that I would do such a thing….and Noah, of all people…"

"Yeah, I was shocked myself. You and J are letting too many people come between you."

"But, he slept with someone else, D. I’m not saying what I did wasn’t wrong, I still can’t even believe I would do such a thing, but he actually slept with her. And not just once, but twice."

"I honestly don’t believe he did, Dawn. He loves you so much. He’s so happy about this baby……….and Arianna….you guys are a family."

"I know. I want us to be happy, I want us to be a family…"

"You are a family." D took a deep breath. "Listen, you two belong together. You love each other. You’re both miserable without each other. Don’t do this. At least hear him out, talk to him."

Dawn didn’t say anything.

"If it’s any consolation, he looked like shit when he was here. Eyes all red and puffy, hair all over the place…."

Dawn laughed.

"That’s my baby," she felt like she was going to cry. "I don’t know, D."

"At least think about it. You guys have a baby on the way and I know you both want to go through that together…..don’t make him miss that. You guys have wanted it so badly."

"I know. I just don’t know how I’ll ever be able to trust him."

"Both of you will have to learn to trust each other again. You both screwed up."

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Can I come in?" Nick asked, peaking his head in.

"Sure, Dawn and I were just having a little talk."

"If you’re not finished I can come back."

"No, it’s okay. We’re finished," Dawn said, turning her wheelchair towards the door.

"Dawn? At least think about what I said."

"Yeah, I’ll think about it. I’ll see ya later."

"Bye."

She smiled at Nick and left the room.

"So what was all that about?" Nick asked, sitting down in the chair next to her bed.

"She and AJ broke up."

"WHAT?!?!" Nick looked at her in complete shock.

There was no way that the two of them weren’t together anymore.

"Do you remember when Dawn left J when she was pregnant?"

"Yeah, he was miserable. We were really worried about him."

"When you went on tour he met someone named Stephanie at a bar, actually, a strip club. He ended up sleeping with her."

"Wow, and he told Dawn this now? Why?"

"No, he didn’t. That hoochie sent her a letter telling her all about it. She also said that they hooked up again a few months ago in Louisiana, which AJ denies. He says he hasn’t seen her since the first time."

"Man…so Dawn is pissed at him for sleeping with this chick while they were broken up?"

"You could say that. She was off pondering their future and he was off fucking some whore. That’s how she sees it. He was supposed to be in love with her and he does this. She feels betrayed and I don’t blame her. What he did was wrong."

"I agree with you. But you should have seen how miserable he was. Maybe he needed the affection. He was pretty lonely."

"Nick, he could have hung out with you or Howie if he was so damned lonely. He didn’t have to go out and fuck someone."

"I know, I’m just saying that he wasn’t really thinking clearly, and he was drinking quite a bit."

"He still should have known better."

"So you talked to him?"

"Yeah, he was waiting for me when I got back from visiting Dawn. He was pretty upset, he looked like hell. He told me his side of the story…that he did sleep with her the first time, but not on the last tour. I believed him but I don’t think Dawn does."

"She’s got room to talk about cheating."

D looked at him strangely.

"What are you talking about?"

"You don’t remember the night we beat the hell out of Noah? He told us he and Dawn slept together that night they got really drunk."

She thought about it for a minute. She vaguely remembered that night. The accident still left her mind all foggy.

"I kinda do. I remember you dragging me off of him."

"Yeah, that was classic," Nick laughed.

"So Dawn slept with Noah while she and J were together and J slept with the hoochie while they were broken up."

"Right. So they cancel each other out. They both cheated so Dawn can’t be angry with AJ because she did the same thing. Of course Dawn was drunk so she doesn’t remember it. Only we know she slept with him."

"Dawn is just as guilty as AJ, if not more because her and AJ were actually together. She wasn’t drunk when she kissed him the day of the accident."

"What are you talking about?"

"It’s still kinda unclear but I remember coming into our room and seeing Noah and Dawn kissing on the couch. It looked really intense. I was in shock so I just left. I talked to Dawn about it today. She said she didn’t really remember much about it but she was surprised she did that. I don’t know if it went any further. I hope it didn’t."

"I can’t believe she actually kissed that sleazeball…voluntarily."

"I know, but remember, she knows nothing about what a scum he really is."

She sighed.

"So neither one of them are right in this whole thing. The only problem is J not knowing about Dawn and Noah. He thinks he’s the only one to blame…he’s the only one that’s made mistakes."

"God, what a mess, should we say something to him?"

"No, let them work it out themselves. Dawn’s aware that she kissed Noah, so, hopefully, she’ll be honest with AJ…..This is a really bad situation. She’s pregnant now. She can’t just leave him."

"I know. J wanted me to talk to her. He wanted me to convince her to talk to him…give him a chance. They belong together. She got pregnant out of some miracle. I told her to talk to him, not to let anyone come between the two of them. That hoochie-mama is just out to break them up…that’s obvious because she lied about Louisiana."

"I hope she thinks about it and decides to talk to him."

"I think she will."

Nick was quiet for a minute. He looked like he was deep in thought.

"What’s going on in that cute little head of yours?"

"I was just thinking about Dawn and Noah sleeping together. Do you think maybe this baby could be his?"

D looked at him surprised. The thought never crossed her mind.

"Wow, I don’t know. I suppose it is possible."

"AJ would freak if this baby was Noah’s."

"Oh God, it can't be Noah’s. This baby is a miracle. It has to be AJ’s."

"I hope you’re right. AJ would be shattered."

He ran his hand through is hair and sighed.

"They can’t break up. They’re the spokespeople for happy couples."

"Yeah, I once told Dawn that I wanted someone to love me as much as J loved her."

"Looks like you found that someone, baby," he said, leaning in and kissing her softly.

"You’re all I’ve ever dreamed about. I’m so happy I ran into J again. He brought me to you," she smiled.

Nick smiled back and kissed her deeply. They pulled away breathless.

"I want you so bad right now," he said, leaning his forehead on hers.

"Me too baby, but I don’t think I would be very…um…flexible."

They both laughed.

"It’s okay. We’ll wait until you’re better. I don’t want to hurt you."

"You could never do that. When am I getting out of here, anyway? I’m feeling much better."

"I’m not sure. Why don’t you take a nap and I’ll go find the doctor."

" Okay, that sounds like a plan."

Chapter 39
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