Jamie found it difficult to get back to sleep after her conversation with Taylor. Although she wasn't sure it was the best thing to do, she knew that Taylor wouldn't have asked her to talk to Nick if it weren't important to her. Jamie thought about her friend, wondering just how bad it really was between Taylor and Mike and exactly what she should and shouldn't say to Nick. Before she fell asleep, Jamie decided that she needed some advice herself before she actually talked to Nick about this.

Jamie was definitely distracted the following day at work. Her clerk and her secretary both noticed and made comments after Jamie had given them the wrong assignments and case files for the third time in an hour. Jamie tried to laugh it off, but she realized it would bug her until she at least attempted to resolve this thing with Nick. She picked up the phone and dialed an all too familiar number.

"Kevin's House of Honeys, and exactly who is your pleasure today?" a laughing voice answered.

Jamie snickered, "Okay AJ, why are you answering Kev's cell phone?"

"Oops, hey Jamie, um, sorry about that. I was. . . was just. . ." AJ stuttered, clearly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it AJ," Jamie said still chuckling, "but seriously, is Kev around?"

"He's in the middle of a photo shoot right now. Can I have him call you back? He shouldn't be too much longer."

"Yeah, just tell him I'm at work, he has the number."

"No problem sweetheart," AJ said. "Hey, how are you by the way, I haven't had a chance to talk to you much since you went back to Cincinnati."

"I'm doing okay I guess, I miss you guys though."

"Well you know how it is, we're all just so freakin' irresistible."

"Yeah I know, I know, especially that tall dark-haired Kentucky boy you got there," Jamie grinned. "Actually, AJ, can I ask you something?"

"Of course I'll go out with you," AJ quipped, "but you gotta break up with Kev first."

She rolled her eyes. "Funny, Bone, very funny. But I'll file that little bit of information away for future reference. Seriously though, I need a somewhat objective opinion. . ."

"Okay, on what?" asked AJ.

"How has Nick been lately? Does he seem okay to you?"

"Nicky?" AJ paused for a minute, thinking. "Well, he's been okay I guess. He doesn't go out much at all, just kind of keeps to himself. And he's a lot quieter than he used to be. Other than that, he seems to be okay. Why do you ask?"

"I guess I'm just worried about him, that's all."

"It's funny you should ask though, because today he seems a little better than usual. He's been bouncing all over the place, almost back to his old chaotic self."

"Oh really?" Jamie thought about it and realized Nick's behavior was most likely a result of his conversation with Taylor last night. "Well thanks a lot AJ, and just have Kev call me when he gets a chance."

"I will sweetheart. Take care and I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Sure thing Bone. Oh, and have Kev call me on my cell, I think I'm going to get out of the office for a bit." The conversation ended and Jamie gathered her things and told her secretary that she would be out of the office for at least a couple hours.

Jamie walked along the downtown streets of Cincinnati, not paying careful attention to the crowd around her. Her thoughts wandered to everything important in her life. Her family, Kevin, Taylor, her career. She had a good life and for that she was grateful.

She wondered what Taylor thought about in her more pensive moments. It was difficult for her to imagine such a strong person seemingly giving in to a difficult situation. But Jamie also knew that there were things about Taylor's life right now that she knew nothing about. Finally, Jamie walked over to Fountain Square and sat at the foot of the fountain. Staring up into the water, the ringing of her cell phone broke her thoughts.

"This is Jamie Saxon. . ." She answered professionally.

Kevin's rich smooth voice greeted her from the other end. "Hey baby. . ."

"Hey darlin', how did the photo shoot go?"

"It went fine, what are you up to?"

"Not much, but I kinda need to talk to you about something, do you have few minutes?"

"For you? Always. . ."

"Good answer," she teased.

Kevin gave a short laugh, "So what's up?"

"Well, I got a phone call from Taylor last night. . ." Jamie began telling Kevin about the phone call. She also explained everything she knew and suspected about Taylor's relationship with Mike.

". . .Wow. Jamie, I really don't know what to say. Hunh," Kevin said, with a slight shocked tone in his voice.

"What I don't know is if I should tell Nick about any of this or if I should just try to convince him not to call her. What do you think?"

"To be honest Jamie, I think that he should know what's going on. Even though I don't really know much about their relationship, Nick obviously feels something for her."

"I know, but. . ." Kevin stopped her.

"I can tell you this though, he's been happier today than I have seen him since. . ." he paused.

"Since before the trial?" Jamie finished. "Yeah, that's what AJ said. Damn, Nick is not going to want to hear this, and I hate to do this to him."

"Do you want me to talk to him first?" asked Kevin.

"No, I don't think that is such a good idea. He'll think that we are talking about him behind his back."

"Uh, Jamie, we are talking about him behind his back."

"No, really Mr. Obvious?" Jamie said sarcastically. She thought for a minute. "How about this: See if you can get Nicky over to your place tonight for dinner or something and I'll call and talk to him then. That way, if he wants to talk about it with you or I need help with him, you'll be there."

"Okay, I think I can do that. What time do you think you'll call?"

Jamie mentally ran through her DayPlanner. "How about 8ish?"

"Okay Jaim, I'll have him at my place then, okay?"

Jamie breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Kev, this makes it a little easier on me. I love you, you know that right?"

"Of course I do, and you know I love you more, right?"

"You've been watching Forces of Nature again, haven't you?" she grinned. "Bye darlin'."

"Bye baby," answered Kevin. Jamie clicked her phone off, and stared vacantly into the fountain, trying to decide how she would approach this with Nick.

As promised, Kevin had Nick at his house that evening. It wasn't too difficult considering that Nick was finally in a good mood. They ordered a pizza and just hung out talking, like they all used to do before the trial. Kevin actually broached the subject of Taylor, and Nick confided in Kevin that he had in fact talked to her the night before.

Kevin was about to answer Nick and ask what they had talked about when the phone rang. Sighing, he answered, "Hello?"

"Kev, it's me. Is Nicky with you?"

"Yeah, Jaim. How was your day?"

"Sucked right up until I spoke to you, then improved slightly."

Kevin laughed, "Glad to know I can brighten your day anytime."

"You know you can. So are you going to make this harder on me, or are you going to let me talk to Nick?"

"Not much. Just having dinner with Nick."

"What?" asked Jamie. "Oh, you're trying to make it seem like we didn't plan this."

"Exactly."

"Fine, well now that you've done that, can I get this over with please?"

"Oh sure, you call my house, and you want to talk to Blondie? I'm thinking I need a new girlfriend," Kevin teased.

"Oh you think so, eh? Well, I'm thinking you can just as easily be replaced, Richardson, so knock it off and let me talk to Nick."

"Promises, promises. Fine, hold on." Kevin looked over at Nick and pouted, "She wants to talk to you."

Nick laughed, "I knew she'd come around eventually, and realize I'm the better man for her than you are." Nick ducked as Kevin cuffed him lightly on the back of the head.

"Hey Jaim, what's up?"

"Hey there Nicky, how are you doing?"

"I am great, thanks for asking."

Jamie laughed, even though she could feel her heart sinking. "Oh really? And what has brought this on? You get signed by the Magic?"

"Nope, although actually that would be good too. Actually, I called Taylor yesterday and didn't get blown off."

"You sure you dialed the right number, Nicky? Last thing I knew, you thought you were never going to hear from her again."

"Ha ha, yes I dialed the right number. I decided to try and talk to her, see if we could work something out."

"Oh," Jamie said softly. God, this was going to be harder than either her or Taylor thought. He sounded so happy, so animated, that Jamie almost decided not to say anything.

"Oh, what? You don't sound too happy," asked Nick, suddenly worried. He had a feeling something was going to shatter his happiness, but he didn't know what that something was.

"I talked to Taylor, and she told me you two had spoken," Jamie said finally.

"Okay, so what's wrong?"

"Nick, she didn't sound as glad as you do about it."

Nick's voice got quieter, "What do you mean? What are you saying, Jamie?"

"I'm sorry, Nick, there's no real way to say this without hurting you. She doesn't think it's a good idea if you two talk again. She doesn't want you to call her again."

Tears appeared in Nick's eyes, then he got angry. "You're lying Jamie! Why are you doing this, don't you think I'm good enough for her? What gives you the right to say who I can be with?"

"Nick! Oh God, no, that's not it at all. It's not me, I swear to you, Nicky. Taylor's life is very. . . complicated right now, and she doesn't want you to get involved with her. She asked me to tell you, because she thought it would be easier coming from me." Jamie said, devastated by what Taylor was making her do to Nick.

"Please, Jaim, tell her she can't shut me out like this. Please talk to her for me, I know you could convince her to talk to me again. Remind her she promised me, and she said she doesn't break her promises." Nick was very close to breaking down completely. Taylor meant more to him than he realized, and the anguish he was feeling was obvious to both Jamie and Kevin, who had just come back into the living room.

"Nicky, believe me, I tried. She's adamant about this, she thinks it would be better this way."

"I care about her, Jaim," he said quietly. "A lot more than I thought I did. Please, Jamie, tell her to talk to me just once more. I know I can convince her. Please, for me?"

Jamie tried to talk but could only manage a small distressed noise. She loved Nick as if he really were her younger brother, and she couldn't take much more of this. Nick heard her, and looked over to Kevin. "Talk to her, Kev. I didn't mean to upset her too."

Nick handed Kevin the phone. "Baby? Hey, it's me, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Jamie sniffled. "This is so hard, I can hear his heart breaking, Kevin. What am I going to do?"

"I'm sorry, baby. But I think you know what you have to do," he said gently.

"You mean tell him everything, don't you?"

"It's the only way. You shouldn't have been put in the middle like this, I don't like that she can do this to you. But since you are in the middle, you need to do what will make you feel better too." Kevin said soothingly.

"Oh, I hate it when you're right," Jamie muttered. Kevin smiled, and she sighed again. "Alright, I'll tell him everything I know. Taylor isn't going to like this, but this is her fault. Maybe next time, she'll do her own dirty work."

"Maybe, but in the meantime you are the one who has to deal with this. Here, I'll put him back on."

"Thanks, Kev. I love you."

"Me too, baby. Here, hold on." Kevin handed the phone back to Nick, who had been listening to Kevin's end of the conversation with a confused and hangdog expression. "Jamie has something to tell you."

Nick sniffled into the phone, "Is she okay Jamie? Please just tell me what's going on."

"Nicky. . ." Jamie hesitated, unsure of how to continue. She had no idea how Nick would react to all of this.

"I need to know, please I need to know why she thinks she can't talk to me anymore. . ." Nick pleaded.

"I know, Nick and I'll tell you everything I know, okay? But please, give me a little leeway here. Just listen to what I have to say and then we can talk about it. This isn't going to be easy for you to hear. . ."

"It can't be any worse than hearing she never wants to see me again," he said miserably.

"Okay, Nick. . ." Jamie gathered herself and slowly explained what she knew. She was careful as she spoke about the abuse she suspected but Nick knew exactly what she was getting at. His expression was stoic as he listened to Jamie but as she told him more and more, a flush of anger came over his face.

Finally Nick took the phone away from his ear and thrust it at Kevin. "I can't take anymore of this Kev. . .I've got to get out of here. . ." He got up and started to walk towards the door.

Kev grabbed the phone from Nick. "Nick wait. . .we need to talk about this. . ."

Nick didn't turn around, he just walked out the door.

Kevin went back to Jamie and explained to her that Nick left. They talked for a few minutes and figured that Nick needed some time to himself to absorb all of this. Both were a little relieved that at least it was out in the open now, although there was still an ominous cloud over everything.

If only they knew what Nick and Taylor were thinking right now.