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Nick wrapped a towel around his waist, stepping out of the steamy shower. His leg was on fire, the warm water was burning his wound, yet soothing it. There was a soft knock on the door, and he reached over to open it slightly.

“Hey.” Brian said with a small grin. “Um, here’s Kevin’s clothes.” He passed Nick the neatly folded clothes.

“Thanks.” Nick muttered, grabbing the clothes and placing it on the counter.

“Do you need anything else? Help with anything?”

“No.” Nick sharply replied. “I definitely don’t need help from you.”

“Geez Nick, I know things are still not cool between us, but you don’t need to treat me like shit when I offer you help. It’s a simple yes or no question; I could really do without your sarcastic remarks!”

Nick scoffed. “Well, I could’ve done without a lot of the shit I had to put up with you.” He turned to walk further into the bathroom, but froze in place when he felt a sharp pain hit his leg. “Shit.” He growled through gritted teeth.

Brian rushed into the bathroom and helped him to sit on the toilet. “Would you stop pushing me away? I’ll help you, but after that I’m gone… I swear.”

“Which one would be, gone out of this house, gone out of my sight, or gone out of my life?” Nick retorted, venom dripping from his voice. “I would really want you to choose the third option.”

“Shut the fuck up Nick!” Brian exclaimed, causing Nick to fall silent. He knew whenever Brian cursed; he was either mad or annoyed. “I really don’t understand why you’re acting this way!”

“Yeah, you don’t understand… and you never will understand how it feels to lose a brother, your only brother at that!”

“You need to stop acting like you’re the only one who lost someone. We all lost someone Nick… I only have one brother, have you forgotten? I may not know how it feels to lose a brother, but I’ll tell you one thing, Aaron was like my little brother! He was all of our little brothers. We’re grieving just like you are… like I said, we all lost someone. And if you keep this up, Aaron won’t be the only one we’ve lost. We’re going to lose you too…”

Tears were streaming down Nick’s face at this point. “Then why did you lie to me Brian? You can’t expect to just say sorry, because that one word won’t erase what happened and what I feel towards you right now. You can’t expect to do what you did, apologize and just think we can be best friends again! Sorry Brian, it doesn’t work that way! You attacked me at the hotel for crying out loud, what best friend would do that?”

“I think that’s a question you need to ask yourself!’ Brian sneered. “What best friend would attack someone who’s in the hospital, still trying to recuperate? Have you forgotten that you attacked me too? Think about it Nick… your turning this whole situation around to make you look like the victim and I the criminal. This all isn’t about you… but your sure doing a good job in making it seem that way.” He took a pause for a while, giving Nick time to wipe his tears away. “Now, I’m gonna help you with this, and like I said, after this I’m gone. Not out of this house, not out of your sight,n and definitely not out of your life. I’m gone as in I’ll never cross your path anymore, never offer you help, I won’t say another word to you. I’m done with begging for your forgiveness, and I meant it.”

Nick sighed and raised the bottom of his towel a little so he could see the wound. Brian opened the cabinet under the sink and began to rummage through it, looking for the first aid kit. As soon as he found it, he pulled it out and opened the box, staring at the contents. He pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a gauze bandage.

“Oh hell no.” Nick said, pulling his leg away from Brian. “There is no way I’m gonna let you pour that shit on my leg.”

Brian rolled his eyes, “Stop being such a wuss Nick! You were in a bus accident for crying out loud, this should be nothing. Now, just take a deep breath in and relax.”

Nick grabbed the upper portion of his leg and had squeezed it, causing a clear, red liquid to ooze from the wound. Brian uncapped the bottle and poured the liquid over his wound, causing it to sizzle and bubble. Nick gritted his teeth together, squeezing it tighter as the burning sensation became too much for him. He began to blow on it, but Brian slapped his uninjured leg. “Don’t do that…” he warned.

Nick sighed and had looked away, trying to take his mind off the pain. Brian took a small hand towel and began to dab away the excess peroxide that was running down his leg. He grabbed the gauze bandage and placed it on the wound, taping it down on his leg. He then grabbed an ace bandage and began to wrap it tightly around his leg. Nick winced when the stinging pain was replaced with a dulling throb.

“There… done” Brian muttered, gathering the first aid contents and placing it back in the box.

Nick tried to stand up, but the ace bandage was wrapped too tightly around his leg. “Dude, I don’t know who the hell taught you first aid, but are you sure your supposed to wrap the bandage this tight?”

“It’ll eliminate the pain and reduce the bleeding… I didn’t wrap it too tight where it’ll cut your blood circulation off.”

“It sure does feel that way.” Nick muttered, turning to the side so he could grab the clothes off the counter.

Brian began to walk out of the bathroom and turned to grab the doorknob so he could close it behind him. “If you need anything else, just let me know.”

“I thought you said you were gone after this?” Nick snickered.

Brian chuckled, “Keep being a smartass…” he turned and closed the door behind him, letting his head fall back against the closed. He grinned and shook his head; this could possibly be the first step in renewing their friendship.