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Nick sat in Emily’s room for over nine hours that day. He met all of her nurses and even her doctor in that time. One nurse even recognized him, to his complete surprise.

“You look very familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?” Janet, one of Emily’s nurses asked puzzled.

“Um… I don’t know. I don’t think we’ve ever met,” Nick avoided confirming his identity.

“Wait, what did you say your name was? Nick?”

“Yea…”

“You wouldn’t happen to be Nick Carter, would you?” She asked suspiciously.

Reluctantly, Nick confirmed his identity. “Yea… I am.” He continued, “Listen, could you try and keep this under the radar. I don’t really want thousands of fans showing up every day, you know?”

“Oh, yea! I know, I know. I won’t tell anybody. It’s just that one of my friends is a huge Backstreet Boys fan, and I think that’s why I recognized you.”

"Yea, that happens pretty often, believe it or not.”

The nurse smiled, “I believe it. So is she your girlfriend?”

Caught off guard, Nick fumbled for an answer in his mind. “No,” he said rather sternly. “No she’s not,” his voice was normal again. “I went out of my way to prevent that from ever happening.” Softly, he continued, “Now I know that was the biggest mistake of my life.”

The nurse was surprised by the confession he had shared with her. “You can always start over,” she said reassuringly.

“I really hope you’re right.”

The conversation with the nurse only reminded Nick of how much he truly loved Emily. The whole idea of being in love with her still felt extremely overwhelming, though. Only twenty-four hours ago, Emily was just Nick’s friend he saw on occasion, and love wasn’t even a thought in his mind. Now he couldn’t get it out of his head. He continuously thought of all the Backstreet Boys concerts she had gone to over the six years they’d know each other. Sometimes it seemed like Emily went to more than Nick did. He smiled when he thought of all the times she refused the free tickets he’d offer her.

“None of your other fans get free tickets. Why should I be any different?”
The thought brought a sense of warmth over his body. He had always known it was little things like that that made him feel so comfortable around Emily. She never wanted anything from him except for friendship, and for the most part, he failed her.

“Because you’re not just a fan, Emily. You’re my friend. Why waste your money?”

He always knew the argument was pointless, but he still felt obligated to try and convince Emily to accept his offer. She never did though. Not if she could help it, at least. The only times she’d ever take free tickets is when she couldn’t find any to buy. Emily was by far the most stubborn person Nick had ever met, and while he respected her for following through in what she believed, he also hated how she never let him do anything for her. After while, he just stopped trying.



“Hi,” an unsure voice rang through the air.

Nick looked up to see a familiar body standing in the doorway. He stared at her for a moment, trying to place her identity in his memory.

“Sam?” He asked in an unsure tone.

“Yea,” she paused. “I didn’t think you’d actually come.” The confession hurt Nick more than he would admit. Emily knowingly had strong feelings for him, and the fact that her friends thought of Nick as such a heartless person was the worst feeling in the world. If only Sam knew how he felt inside. He couldn’t tell her though. It wouldn’t be fair to Emily. Though his heart was hurting more than ever, he tried to redeem himself.

“I’ve been here since 9:30.” He wanted so badly to confess his love for Emily to her best friend, but instead, he let the comment stand alone with no further explanation.

“Oh…” Sam replied with a hint of surprise in her voice. After noticing Nick’s blank and pained stare, the guilt began to tug at Sam’s mind. “I didn’t mean that. It’s just,” She tried to explain herself, but realized she was at a loss of words. Almost in a tangent, she suddenly continued, “Nick, Emily loves you. She has for years. And all I can honestly remember is her loving you, and you coming and going as you pleased. If she really does matter to you, you have a strange way of showing it.”

Nick began to wonder if he could take anymore of the assault on his heart. He wanted to run. The door was less than ten feet away, and all he wanted to do was run and run and keep running. He wanted to leave the room full of pain, he wanted to leave the attack, and he wanted to leave his shattered heart behind. The tears in his eyes were surfacing faster than he could hide them. Running never seemed more appealing than now.

“Nick?” Sam’s voice sounded worried as she stared at Nick who was clearly deep in his thoughts. “Nick? Are you ok? I didn’t mean to offend you or anything.”

As he was pulled from his thoughts, he finally replied.

“I’m fine,” Nick lied to hide the pain. He turned around and walked over to the window. As he stared at the happening world in front of him, he wished he could join in and just forget about reality.

Sam remained silent, unsure of what to say. When Nick began to speak, she was uncertain of what to think. She barely even knew the man that stood before her.

“Sometimes I really hate myself. I feel like I’m the most selfish person on the planet. Since you’ve walked in here, all I’ve wanted to do is run away from all of this. Like I can’t handle it? Look at what Emily is going through, and I can’t handle someone who doesn’t even know me judging me.” He realized he was beginning to feel hostile, so he turned around to face her. Calmly, he continued, “I understand why you feel that why. I really do. I was no Prince Charming, and honestly, I probably never will be. I just don’t think I’m capable of sweeping anybody off their feet. But I can guarantee you I’m capable of caring for Emily. I know that because the pain I’ve been feeling all day has mad it very clear that she’s more than just a friend. I know I messed things up in the past, but that was the past. All I care about is right now, and right now someone who means the world to me needs me, and I’m gonna be there. Today, tomorrow and every day after that until she wakes up and tells me that she’s sick of me, I’m gonna be there. I let her down so many times before. I’m done failing her.”

Nick was surprised by the obligated feeling he had to explain himself to Emily’s friend, but after it was out in the open, he felt relieved. In some ways, he did owe Sam an explanation. After all, it was her best friend that he had hurt in the passed. But it was the explanation that he gave himself that really seemed to have an impact. For the first time, he admitted to himself that he failed Emily, and that he regretted it. Thinking it and hearing it were completely different. For the first time, Nick felt like he was on good terms with himself. Now, he could make things right with everyone else, most importantly Emily, but starting with Sam.