When Nick arrived at the studio early the next morning, he found Kevin waiting for him. "Train, hey man, what's goin' on?"

Instead of replying, Kevin simply handed over a cell phone. Nick took it from him, surprised.

"Is this mine? I didn't even know I had forgotten it. Thanks, Kev." Kevin still hadn't said a word, but just looked curiously at Nick. Nick played with the buttons, checking to see if there were any messages on his voicemail. Kevin coughed softly, and Nick looked up at him.

"What?"

"Did you talk to your sister? Is everything okay?"

"My sister? Which one?" Nick was puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not sure, they all sound alike to me, but one of them called yesterday looking for you. I heard it ringing and answered it, it's how I found your phone."

Nick shook his head, "Oh. No, I didn't talk to any of my family yesterday. What did she say?"

"She wouldn't leave her name or a message. Just said something about seeing your name pop up on the caller ID the previous night and was just calling you back. . ." Kevin trailed off as he saw Nick pale for a moment, then regain his composure.

"Oh, uh, yeah, now that you mention it, yeah, I called, uh, BJ. Thanks, I'll uh, call her back," stammered Nick. He started to walk past Kevin, but he caught Nick's arm and stopped him.

"Nick, you have got to be the world's worst liar. It wasn't your sister calling, was it?"

"Yes, it was. . ."

"Nick! Don't ever lie to me," said Kevin, getting angry. "It wasn't your sister, it was Molly, wasn't it?" The anger and betrayal were clearly evident in Kevin's voice. "What the hell do you think you're doing with her?"

Nick froze, the words he had been about to say stuck in a lump in his throat. His eyes were wide open as he finally managed, "But how. . . how did you know?"

"I didn't until just now. Not for sure, anyway. It was a guess." Kevin still had a stern expression, but his words were tinged with concern, not anger. "Nick? What are you doing? Do you even know?"

It was Nick's turn to be angry and defensive, "Believe it or not Kevin, I am not a child anymore. Quit acting like I don't have a brain in my head. I do know what I'm doing. And at the moment, what I'm doing is none of your business."

"I'm not so sure of any of that. Do you even remember what Molly did to us, what she tried to do? We almost ended up in prison because of her!"

"Well, we're not in prison, so just chill. It wasn't her fault. . ."

Kevin was dumbfounded. "Not her fault? If it wasn't for her, we'd never have been arrested!"

"Look man, there is so much about that whole situation that you just don't understand. . ."

"I understand enough to know that you shouldn't be talking to her, what more do I need to know?"

"Just drop it okay, you're gonna have to trust me on this one."

"No Nick, I'm sorry, I can't do that, not this time. Molly Coughlin has been nothing but a liar and big pain in our ass, do you even realize what could've. . ."

Nick held a hand up to forestall Kevin. "Lou made her do it okay, you know that. But she didn't have a choice. She's not like that."

"How the hell would you know what she's like? Don't even tell me you've been friendly with her since the trial?"

"Kevin, you don't understand. Just let it go, forget you heard anything." Nick started to walk away, but Kevin hadn't released Nick's arm.

"I am not going to forget it. God, think Nick, use that brain you claim to have! She tried to destroy you, me, all of us. If it hadn't been for Jamie and Taylor. . .oh my God, Nick, tell me you haven't been sneaking around on Taylor! And with Molly! You are insane, you know that?" Kevin's tone took on a protective air as the potential gravity of the situation hit him. "Taylor is having enough problems at the moment, when she finds out about this. . ."

"She's not going to find out anything, because there is nothing to find out. Kevin, you really don't know what you're talking about."

Kevin exclaimed in frustration, "Fine, explain it to me then." He let go of Nick and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Nick closed his eyes, trying to figure out what to say to Kevin that would get him to back off.

"It's not what you think, I swear to you Kevin. Molly and I have been friends for a long time now."

"You think she's your friend? God, Nick, with friends like her who needs enemies? What do you think the people who don't like you would do to you?"

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up and listen to me for a minute." Nick began pacing back and forth in the hallway. Kevin realized where the two of them were, and pulled Nick into one of the conference rooms. Nick started to protest, but thought better of it. They needed to be somewhere private, where no one could overhear them. The less the others knew, the better it would all be.

The room was dark except for a lone lamp in the corner which cast a dreary light across part of the room. Kevin leaned on the conference table for a moment and then pulled out a chair and sat down. He looked up at Nick expectantly, with a 'if-you-really-think-I'm-gonna-buy-any-of-this-you-better-start-talking,' look.

Nick sighed and started pacing slowly as he spoke. "Kevin, I met Molly when she first started at Trans Con. Yeah, I thought she was pretty, and we went out a couple of times. But it didn't work out that way, we decided that we were better off just being friends. I don't know why no one realized we were friends; we weren't really hiding it from anyone. I guess our schedules were just so different and we were both so busy that no one else paid attention, I don't know. I guess I just never thought about it before.

"When the shit hit the fan with Trans Con, and we left, Molly was still under contract with Lou. She was miserable there because Lou was taking out his anger with us on everyone else still working for him. I met her for lunch once, and we talked about all of this. Neither one of us knew Lou saw me come get her."

Kevin interrupted him, "You went back to Trans Con when you were specifically told not to?"

He held up a hand, "Yes. I was only going to be there for a minute, just to pick her up. We didn't think anything about it." Kevin muttered under his breath, "You got that right."

Nick ignored him, and continued, "Anyway, when she came back, Lou called her into the office. He basically fired her right then and there for being a 'traitor'. Then he changed his mind, sort of."

Kevin narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean sort of?"

"I mean, he blackmailed her. Told her she could keep her job if she would make up charges against us. Anything to discredit us, to break us up. You know how furious he was that we left him. She was barely making ends meet as it was, and he offered her more money. She didn't have a choice, Kevin. She thought she had to do it. And that promotion at the record store, well it was a perfect place to do it. By being alone like that, we made it so easy for her."

"In case you forgot Nick, I was with you at the time. You two didn't act like you knew each other. What the hell was that all about?" asked Kevin.

"She called me before the promotion. She had some story made up about how she'd been contacted by The Firm and they asked her to act like one of our fans, that they were going to photograph it and use it for publicity. At the time, it sounded okay. I know that's not how The Firm works now, but I didn't back then. So I went along with it. And when she was acting all weird by the bathrooms, I was completely confused, so instead of doing anything, I just reacted. She told me later it hadn't even mattered which of us had been there, it all would have happened anyway. It just happened to be me and you."

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better," snarled Kevin. "What about afterwards? Why didn't you say anything?"

"By then, it got all out of hand, and I couldn't. I was so scared Kev, I wasn't thinking right. And she had said, that if either of us had said anything to you or anyone else, Lou would have left her out to dry, denied any part in it, and cut her off completely. I couldn't do that to her."

"But she was perfectly okay with accusing us of raping her? Nick, you certainly have some wonderful friends."

"Knock it off, Kevin! She wasn't okay with it. She wanted to tell someone, but she was afraid of what would happen to her. If we had been convicted, she would have said something then. She wouldn't have let us go to prison."

"If you believe that, then you're a bigger fool than I think you are. If she was afraid of what would happen to her before, she certainly wasn't going to say something after the trial," said Kevin.

Nick looked as if Kevin had just punched him. Kevin felt bad that he was hurting Nick, but he had to make him understand that Molly was not someone he needed in his life. Molly had already hurt them once, and Kevin was convinced she would hurt Nick again.

"She's not like that," Nick whispered. "She's helped me more than you ever could imagine." Kevin gave Nick a 'yeah, right,' look, convinced that his little brother had totally lost his mind and his perspective.

"I'm serious, Kev. If it weren't for her, I don't know if I could have gotten through all this with Taylor. Molly listens to me, she lets me say whatever I need to, and she doesn't judge me, not like some people." He eyed Kevin, who looked away with a guilty look. "She lets me get it all off my chest, gives me advice if she thinks I need it, and I feel better afterwards. You don't understand Kevin, she's the only one who is completely outside this whole thing. We are all involved in some way, you, me, Jamie, Taylor, and even Brian, Howie, and AJ. No one here is objective. Molly is. She sees things as they are, not how we all want them to be. Not like how I want them to be, and she'll tell me when I'm in fantasyland. No one else does that for me, and I need that. I need to be able to talk to her, Kev. Don't ever tell me I'm a fool for wanting someone to listen to me." By this time, Nick was sitting down at the far end of the conference table, head resting on his folded arms.

Kevin got out of his seat, walked over to Nick's end slowly, and sat down next to him. "I'm sorry, Nick. I forget sometimes you aren't 14 anymore. And I guess I didn't realize just how hard this whole thing with Taylor has been for you, for all of us."

"You know, there were so many times over the past few months when. . .when I just wanted to give up. I just couldn't take it and I wasn't so sure that it would ever be worth it. Taylor's made it so hard sometimes. . ."

"Nick, this isn't all Taylor's fault, she's. . ."

"Damnit Kevin, I know that, trust me, I know that now. But still, sometimes I felt like. . . I don't know, like it wasn't right."

"Is that how you feel now?" Kevin asked quietly.

"No." Nick whispered, "Now I know it's the most right thing in the world. I love her Kev." He looked at Kevin with tears brimming his bloodshot eyes. "I love her. . . like you love Jamie."

Kevin closed his eyes and took in the entirety of Nick's statement. At that moment he was reminded how much Nick had matured, and that embracing love for the first time, no matter at what age, is something life-altering. He spoke with an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry Nick, you're right, you do need someone objective to talk to. I just don't think that person is Molly Coughlin. She's only going to hurt you again, Nick."

"I don't think she will. She knows what she did last time was wrong and she feels bad about it, and she knows how lucky she was to have only gotten probation. She's not going to risk it again."

"Nick, by talking to you, she's risking it. Do you know what would happen if anyone found out you two were friends?"

"Nothing would happen. We're not breaking any laws, Kevin."

"Hello? Do you remember the restraining order? Not to mention the terms of her probation. Nick, there's a whole lot that could happen. I'm not sure exactly what, Jamie would know better than. . ."

"Please say you didn't tell Jamie about this, did you?" Nick pleaded.

"No, like I said, it was just a guess that it was Molly on my part. I wasn't even sure until you lied about it being BJ, and the way you got really pale when I mentioned the call you had made. I wouldn't have said anything to Jaim unless I was sure. I didn't want her going ballistic for no real reason, and she's got enough to worry about right now. Why, does Jamie know about this?"

"As far as I know, no one knows. Molly and I do know that we can't be seen together, publicity wise or because of the restraining order. But we call each other and talk that way." Nick sighed, "Maybe deep down I did know this would be everyone's reaction, but we are friends, and I'm not changing that right now."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Nick."

"Yes, I know. You've made that crystal clear. But no else knows, and I need to be able to talk to someone about all of this. I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything either."

"Nick, I don't know if I can or should keep this to myself," said Kevin.

"Please. I'm asking you to do this for me."

"I can't promise you that, I need to think about it," said Kevin. "It's not just you, there are others to think about, like Jamie and Taylor. And Nick, what if Taylor does find out, what is she going to think?"

"She won't find out, she hasn't yet, and she's been with me for a couple of weeks. And if she does find out, Taylor will understand once I explain it all to her. She isn't going to be upset by this."