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Jennifer walked slowly off of the airplane into the airport, feeling like every step she took was one step closer to her doom.

"Don't worry," Nick told her confidently, squeezing her hand and pulling her into the terminal.

"Hey!" Kristen ran over to them when they emerged with the crowd, grabbing first Nick, then Jennifer in a hug. "How was your flight?"

"Fine, thanks," Jennifer followed Kristen out to the car she'd parked outside the terminal, waiting until they were settled and driving away before speaking. "How are you?"

"Very glad to have my husband home, thanks," She grinned, pulling onto the highway and driving towards Jen's house. "He doesn't know I came to pick you two up, by the way."

"Does he know I'm here?" Nick asked from his spot in the back seat.

"Nope," Kristen shook her head. "I keep waiting for Brian to say something, but he thinks Kevin knows, so nothing yet."

"Tomorrow, then," Jennifer sighed heavily, the weight in her chest dragging her down. "Can we get him drunk first, or something?"

"I think you're better off just coming out and telling him," Kristen replied with a chuckle. "You know what a lousy drunk Kevin is. After he's had his little fit, which he's bound to have, then you can get him good and drunk. But after, please, I'd like to keep my house in one piece."

Jennifer snickered, remembering exactly how lousy of a drunk Kevin could be. A very violent, angry drunk, when the moment was right. "Gotcha."

"And his mom's gonna be there?" Nick confirmed. He'd rather liked that part of the plan, Kevin's mother always seemed to like him, anyway, and Jennifer was positive Anne would be on their side.

"I told her about you two," Kristen said with a smile, "I figured you don't need to be wasting time tomorrow explaining it to Anne as well."

"What did she say?" Jennifer asked, curious.

"I believe her exact words were 'it's about damn time.'" Kristen laughed. "She said, if for no other reason than Kevin has probably been the most influential person in both of your lives, it makes perfect sense. You have him in common, if nothing else."

"That we do," Jennifer conceded with a grin. "He drives both of us nuts."

"I just hope he's talking to us after tomorrow," Nick said softly, as Kristen pulled up to Jennifer's house and stopped the car.

"He will, it'll just take him some time," Kristen reassured them. "I'll see you two tomorrow, ok?"

"Thanks, Kristen," Jennifer hugged the older woman, hoping she was right. "Tomorrow it is."



Jennifer sat in her car in Kevin's driveway, gripped in the throes of a panic attack, clutching the steering wheel in front of her with her fists, unable to move. "He's going to kill us both."

"We're here, Jenny, we should go in," Nick tried to pry her hands off of the steering wheel with no success, looking at her in frustration. She'd been like this since they'd arrived in Kentucky last night, absolutely terrified. "Come on, it's just Kevin."

Jennifer's eyes widened, and she stared at Nick in frustration. "JUST Kevin? We shouldn't be doing this, Kristen is right, this is wrong..." she started the car again, and reached for the gear shift.

"Don't you dare," Nick reached over and pulled the keys from the engine before she could put the car into reverse. "You're the one who doesn't want to be my whore, right?"

"What?" Jennifer tried to grab the keys from Nick, letting out an angry squeal when he held them away from her. "Fuck you, give me the keys!"

"Jennifer..." Nick couldn't help but smile at Jen's angry reaction. In some ways, she was so much like Kevin, it was hysterical. "I want to go in there and tell Kevin I love you, and preferably before he looks out of a window and wonders what the hell I'm doing in his driveway, not sit here and fight with you."

She stopped struggling for the keys and sighed, letting Nick pull her into a hug. "I don't want to fight you either, I just can't believe how scared I am."

"So let's go." Nick bent down and kissed her deeply, feeling her relax a little. "Ok?"

"Now I don't want to go anywhere." Jennifer grinned, before nodding and pulling away. "Ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." She got out of the car and straightened her dress, checking her appearance in the car window. "Do I look ok?"

"Is Kevin going to care about what you look like?" Nick walked around the car and took her hand, laughing at her nervousness.

"Good point," Jennifer took his hand and squeezed it tight, before slowly walking up the steps to the door. She took a deep breath and looked at Nick before pressing the doorbell, bouncing up and down impatiently while waiting for Kevin to answer.

"Relax." Nick told her, just watching her dance all over the place was making him nervous.

"I can't." She leaned onto the door to look through the peephole just as it opened, sending her falling into Kevin's arms with a startled cry.

"Hey!" Kevin caught her right before she hit the ground, setting her upright with a laugh. "What were you doing?" His head whipped around when he caught sight of another figure standing in the doorway, his eyes nearly popping out of his head when he recognized the blond man. "Nick?"

"Hey Kevin," Nick stepped inside of the house and took Jennifer's hand, noting how Kevin's eyes watched his every move. "What's up?"

"What are you doing here?" Kevin asked in surprise, staring at Jennifer's hand in Nick's. What the hell...

"I wanted Nick here, Kevin," Jennifer explained, her voice calm and smooth. She felt Nick's hand squeeze hers reassuringly, and shot him a quick glance before continuing. "I know you didn't want this Kev, but I'm in love with Nick...we didn't mean for it to happen, but it did..."

"You're what?" Kevin repeated, his face draining of color as he stared at her.

"I love Nick," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears at the expression on his face. "Kevin, please..."

"I love Jennifer," Nick added, not knowing how to read Kevin's expression, figuring he might as well step in. "We want to be together, and we don't want to hide anymore."

"You two have been hiding this from me?" Kevin's voice rose as he tried to grasp what they were telling him. Jenny...and Nicky?!

Jennifer cursed softly before stammering an explanation, "we didn't mean to, Kevin, we didn't know what else to do."

"Hey Jen, hey Nick," Brian came around a corner and spied the two of them, giving them both hugs before noticing Kevin's stunned expression. "What's with him?"

"Nick's been fucking my best friend, so it appears," Kevin spat out, glaring at Nick angrily. "Behind my back."

Nick just met Kevin's gaze calmly, knowing the best thing to do at this point was to keep quiet.

Brian's mouth fell open, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at Jennifer. "Really."

"Kevin, I want to be with Nick, please...don't be mad..." Tears falling down her face openly now, Jennifer walked over to Kevin and grabbed his hands in hers. "Richie, talk to me, please..."

"No," Kevin shook his head and pushed her away, still looking at Nick, the anger on his face clear to see. "She's my best friend, man, all I ever asked was that you didn't touch her."

"I fell in love with her, Kevin, she told you we didn't mean to," Nick tried to explain, but Kevin just shook his head at him angrily.

"You were not supposed to touch her! Ever!!" Kevin shouted, smacking Brian's hands away when he tried to calm him down. "You didn't know about this?" He turned on his cousin, accusing him with a finger to the chest.

"No," Brian shook his head before staring at Jennifer again. "You lied to me."

"I didn't have a choice," Jennifer argued, her eyes shooting around the room, from Kevin's angry face, to Brian's hurt one, to Nick's sad one...this was going so wrong... "We didn't know what else to do."

"So you lied to me, you lied to Kevin," Brian frowned, looking up at Nick sadly. "Nick lied to us because of you."

"Don't blame Jen, it isn't her fault," Nick cut in, hugging her when she doubled over in tears. "Look at her, do you think this is easy on her?"

"Get off of her," Kevin told Nick firmly, his green eyes turning dark in his anger. This wasn't happening...

"No," Nick wrapped her arms around Jennifer tighter, pulling her into his chest. He wasn't going to let her go, not while she was crying like this...

Jennifer looked at Kevin from within the safety of Nick's arms, shuddering when she saw the look in his eyes. Why was he reacting like this... "Kevin, please..."

"Fuck, Nick!" Kevin's hands were bunched into fists at his side, and Jennifer was scared to let Nick go, for fear that he would hit him. "Of all the women in the world!"

"She's older, she knew better," Brian interrupted, gesturing to Jennifer.

Jennifer bit her lip to stop herself from telling Brian just to fuck off, that wouldn't help the situation much now, would it. Well, at least he'd warned her about who's side he'd be on in a battle like this, right? "I'm standing right here, and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't talk about me as if I weren't," she wiped her eyes and looked at Brian sadly. "I swear to you, I did not intend to fall in love with your best friend. But I did, and we want to be together. We make each other happy, isn't that what matters?"

"No," Kevin shook his head angrily. "Not you, Jennifer, you're MINE, goddammit."

"Now, tell me I did not just hear my son claim to own a woman," Anne Richardson came upon them in the hallway, her eyes widening with concern when she spotted Jennifer crying in Nick's arms. "And what on earth has been happening here?"

"I was trying to explain to your son that I'm in love," Jennifer said, rolling her eyes when Kevin made a face. "He's just being a little pigheaded at the moment."

"You were hiding this from me!"

"With good reason!" Jennifer shot back, smiling up at Nick when he rubbed her back consolingly. "Both Nick and I were terrified to tell you."

"I wonder why, Kevin," Anne shook her head with a laugh, before pulling Jennifer into a hug. "I'm happy for you two, I think you look cute together."

"Thanks," Jennifer smiled, glad her assumption about Anne had been correct.

"Come on into the house, you shouldn't be stuck in the foyer all day," Anne led Jennifer further into the house, leaving Nick alone with Brian and Kevin. They joined Leighanne and Kristen in the kitchen, who were chattering away. "Look who I found!"

"Did you tell him?" Kristen walked over to Jennifer, her face falling when she saw the younger woman's red eyes. "Oh, I guess you did..."

"Hopefully he's not killing Nick right now," Jennifer sighed, shaking her head slowly. "We knew he was going to react like that, right?"

"Yeah, we did, although I don't for the life of me know why," Kristen chuckled when Anne laughed at her. "What?"

"He's just like his father, don't try to understand. What's his is his, and don't anyone dare mess with it," she explained with a shrug. "Jennifer's a Richardson possession, Kevin doesn't much like sharing."

"It's touching, really." Jennifer groaned, "but sometimes the big boys just have to learn to share."

"He'll get it, he will," Kristen reassured Jennifer with a smile. "If he doesn't, just beat it into him, he'll figure it out eventually."

"Yeah, I guess."