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Chapter Five



"What's going on?" Erin whispered as she came up next to Lori at the sink.

"What do you mean?"

"Between you and Nick?"

"Nothing." she said as she went back to the dishes she was wasing.

"You guys are actually talking to each other."

"Well, yeah. Did you expect us to ignore each other all night?"

"Well, no." Erin said crossing her arms over her chest. She leaned back against the counter. "I guess I was expecting a little drama."

Lori laughed and shook her head, "We talked, and decided to make this less awkward as possible." She put the rag down and looked over at her friend, "He wants to be friends again."

Erin smiled with delight, "Honey that's great."

"I can't just forget everything that's happened though." She said as she grabbed the rag again and started washing the last plate. "Things arent going to be like they used to be. We still have a lot to talk about."

She rinsed off a plate and sat it in the drainer. "I'm not going to push the issue though."

"Good." Erin said as she grabbed the rag and began to wipe off the counters.

"What are you two gossiping about?" Nick asked as he walked into the kitchen, and grabbed two bottles of water out of the ice box.

"If it concerned you don't you think you'd know?" Erin said smiling at him.

"Sorry, I asked." Nick said as he laughed. "Hey Lori?"

"Yeah?" Lori said as she turned in his direction.

"When you're finished here, do you think you'd like to come out with me for some coffee?"

Lori quickly glanced over at Erin, "Um, sure. Why not."

Nick smiled, "Cool. Just let me know when you're ready." He said as he walked in the hallway toward the living room.

Lori looked at Erin with a bewildered look on her face. "I definetly wasnt suspecting that."

Erin giggled, "I'm so staying up until you get home. I want details."

Lori laughed at her friend, "It's just coffee."

Erin poked Lori in her stomach, "You know somewhere in there those butterflies are itching to dance."

"They are." Lori said smiling.

"I knew it."


Lori and Erin walked into the living room once they were finished in the kitchen.

"You ready?" Nick asked

"Sure. Let me go grab my purse, and change real quick." She said motioning toward the stairs.

"Ok."

Lori began to walk up the stairs, and pulled Erin with her. "Think you could slow down?" Erin said smiling.

Once they got to the top of the stairs, they both ran into the room Lori was staying in.

"Tell me he thinks this is just coffee." Lori said as she fell back on the bed.

"It's only coffee." Erin looked her over questioningly "Unless, you want it to be something else."

"I want it to be just coffee." she said pointing at herself as she leaned up on her elbows, "He thinks it's going to be more than just coffee."

Erin laughed and sat beside her, "Girl, chill. It's fine. Dont over analyze."

"Did it look like he wanted it to be more than just coffee?"

"Lori, it looked like he just wanted coffee. He looks like he really wants to catch up. You guys were friends at one time."

"So, I'm just over analyzing?"

"Yes," Erin said smiling at her as she patted her hand, and got up to grab her purse. She walked into the closet that she was currently occupying and looked over her clothes. "And when you get home we're going to talk, watch chick flicks, and just do girly things." She finally decided on a pair of gray knit capris, and a light pink tank. She walked out of the closet, and handed Lori the items.

"Put these on." She said as Lori took the clothes out of her hand. "Here's your purse, and I'll be downstairs with the boys. Everything will be ok, I promise." Erin said as she kissed Lori on her cheek, and walked out of the room.


"Do you want to get it to go, or do you want to stay here?" Nick asked as they pulled up to the Starbucks.

"Can we get it to go?"

"Sure, you want to go to the beach?"

"Sounds nice." Lori said as she smiled and made her way out of his car.

Nick walked around to her side, and waited for her to get out.

Nick nudged her with his elbow, "We have a lot to talk about huh?"

"Do you want too?"

"Yeah."

Lori smiled up at him, they were off to a fantastic start so far.

"Here you sit here while I go get our coffee." Nick said motioning to the booth closest to the door.

"Alright, could you get me a, uh,..." She was about to tell Nick what she wanted, but Nick finished for her.

"A Verde White Choclate Mocha Frappicinio, I got ya." Nick said as he winked at her and walked to the counter.


"Damn it." Lori said as she wiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. She tried to see through her tears to dial out on her cell phone, but it wasnt working.

Finally able to see clearly, she dialed Erin's phone number.

"Hello?" she heard AJ's voice come through the other end.

"Hey, J?" Lori said as she tried to hide the sound of her tears in her voice, "Can I, um, talk to Erin real quick?"

"Sure. Is everything ok?"

"Not really." she said as the tears began to fall.

"Hold on babe, let me get her."

She chewed on her bottom lip, as she waited the few seconds that it took Erin to pick up the phone.

"What's the matter?" Erin said in a concerned, frantic tone.

"I'm leaving." Lori said as she wiped at a stray tear rolling down her cheek, " I'm going to New York to stay with my brother."

"Why? What happened?"

"Nick and I are breaking up. I cant stay here. My flight boards in twenty minutes."

"What?! Honey, you can stay here. You dont have to go all the way to New York."

"No, no. This is NOT fixable. It's over." Lori said as she pushed her fingers through her hair, and closed her eyes.

Erin was silent for a few moments, listening to Lori cry. "Is there anything that I can do?"

"I dont know. I can't get into the details right now."

"Call me when you land?"

"Yes. I promise."

"I love you. You know that right?"

Lori smiled for the first time within the last three hours, "Yes. I love you too."

They said their good byes, and Lori put her phone back into her purse.


"Here we go." Nick said as he handed her her coffee.

"Thanks." Lori said as she got up to walk out the door.

"No problem." Nick said as he opened the door to let her out first.

"How's your family?" Nick asked as he unlocked the doors. He paused questioning whether or not he should open the door for Lori. Deciding he might be pushing it to far ahead, he walked around to his side.

"They're fine." Lori said as she got into the car. "My brother is married, and has three kids now."

"No way?" Nick said curiously. Wow, time really had flown by.

Lori smiled, she really like the subject of her family. It took the edge off of what was to come once they got to the beach.

Nick couldnt help but think that that could have been them. "Well, tell him I said hi and congratulations."

"I will. Thanks."

Nick drove out of the parking lot, and began their trek to the beach.


"Wow, it's just like I remember it." Lori said as she got out of the car. She pulled on the little jacket that she brought with her, and grabbed her coffee off the hood of the car. She waited for Nick, and they began to walk down.

They walked in silence for a few moments, and Nick decided to break it. "How's New York treating you?"

Lori smiled up at him, as the water rushed up to her ankles. "Really good. I'm a nurse at a children's hospital."

"A nurse huh?"

"Yeah. I really enjoy it." Lori said as she pushed a peice of her our of her face that the wind had blown.

"I never thought you'd ever leave Florida." Nick said smiling.

"Well sometimes you need a change." Lori said as she looked out toward the ocean. "I never thought that if I left, I would go to New York. My brother was there though, so, that's where I went."

Lori stopped as sat down on the sand facing toward the ocean. She never knew how much she missed this. New Yorks beaches couldn't compare to Florida. Maybe she was biased, but it just wasnt the same. Nick sat down beside her.

God he hoped that he could salvage whatever was left of their friendship. He missed her so much.

Lori could tell that the conversation was about to take a bumpy turn. She was willing to take it, if it meant they could be friends again. She watched Nick as he played with the sand in front of him. She could tell he was questioning whether he should say whatever he wanted to say next. She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Whatever it is you want to say, just say it."

Nick looked at her for a few moments, and turned to face her completly. "I know it's not going to fix what's in the past. I know you heard me say it so many times the night you left, and maybe I didnt mean it then, but I know I mean it now. I'm sorry."

She looked at him, and she could tell he was sincere. She grabbed his hand, "I know you are."

"When I said I wasnt ready for a big commitment, I really wasnt. Looking back I'm glad I didnt go through with taking our relationship to the next step, because it would have made things a lot worse than they are."

"Yeah, you're right."

"But I didnt mean that I didnt want to commit to you." Nick said as he pulled his hand away from hers. "God, if there was anyone in the world that I would want to commit too, it would be you. I regret everything that went wrong, because it ruined everything that we had before we got together."

Lori wrapped the jacket around her tighter, and a stray tear rolled down her cheek. She missed her best friend.

"Yeah. Even before we were together we were attatched at the hip." Lori said laughing as she wiped away the few tears that had escaped.

"Becoming a couple just gave us more reason to be attatched." Nick said as he smiled.

"Yeah, it did."

"I can understand things won't ever be the same way they were between us, but I would really like it if we became friends again."

Lori smiled, "I would really like that."

"So," Nick said as he picked up his cup of coffee, "Here's too our new beginning, and hopefully more to come."

Lori laughed, and picked her cup up too. "Here, here."