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Jennifer jumped up and ran to the door when she heard the knock, throwing it open. Her face fell when she saw Kevin standing on the other side, and she took a quick step back, her expression quickly becoming one of confusion. "Where's Nick?"

"I have no idea," he shrugged, peeking past her into the room and waving at Carly. "Come to my room?" He asked her, as if nothing was wrong.

Jennifer stared at him in amazement, her eyes narrowed. Did he really think she wouldn't have seen TRL? "What happened on TRL, Kevin?"

"Nothing," Kevin shrugged. "Nick got a little possessive, got a little upset when I told the truth."

"Nick got possessive?!" Jennifer repeated, the sarcasm dripping off of her voice. "Kevin, what the hell, I taught her everything she knows? That's a bald faced lie!"

"Baby, you know I did..." Kevin said soothingly, reaching out and pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Don't touch me," she smacked his hand away, stepping away from him. "One night, Kevin, ONE NIGHT."

"And a wonderful night it was," Kevin smiled, moving forward and closing the distance between them.

"A mistake," Jennifer replied evenly, shaking her head. "One big mistake I'm just never going to stop paying for, am I." She sighed, and pointed to the door, "please, Kevin, leave, before Nick comes back?"

"Why do you want to talk to Nick?" Kevin's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Didn't she get it? Nick had proven on TRL he was a child. She needed a man....

"I love him, Kevin, I want to try to explain!" Jennifer rolled her eyes in frustration, and pushed him towards the door. "Try to repair some of the damage you've done."

"I love you, Jenny," he said quickly, as she shoved him into the hallway.

"Don't, Kevin," Jennifer warned him, shaking her head. "You're married, you'll regret saying anything else."

"No, I won't," Kevin caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eyes and couldn't help but grin, hoping it was the rest of the gang coming off of the elevator. He continued speaking as Jennifer closed the door in his face, practically shouting through the door, "I love you Jenny Lynn, I always will, and you WILL be mine. Nick knows you're mine, you'll see." And with that, he turned his back and returned to his room, not looking at the figures he was seeing in his peripheral vision.

Nick had stopped dead in his tracks when he'd seen Kevin, his stomach knotting at the mere sight of him. He'd heard Kevin proclaim his love for Jennifer, and was unable to stifle another sob, Billy's arm slipping around his waist to hold him up when his tears overwhelmed him again. He'd never felt so completely and totally betrayed...he'd trusted her. He'd trusted Kevin. With a soft cry, he pushed Billy away, digging in his pocket for his room key. Opening the door, he walked inside, turning when Brian followed him in. "I need to be alone," he told his friend quietly, sitting down on the bed and resting his head in his hands. He needed to think.

"I'll come check on you in a little while, ok?" Brian told Nick, before leaving and closing the door quietly behind him.

Nick lay back on the bed when he heard the door close, his hand over his eyes, frowning as he felt salty tears run down his face. She'd told him she loved him...she'd told him she'd never been with Kevin...she'd told him a lot of things. Right now, he didn't know what to believe, beyond the pain in his heart. That was real, and true, of that he had no doubt. The pain...at least that was his, he thought, as another pang shot through his heart. All his. All thanks to Kevin.



Jennifer paced back and forth across the hotel room, shaking her head in frustration. "He must be back by now, are you sure I shouldn't just go to his room?" She looked at Carly, her blue eyes bright in her emotional state. She wouldn't sit down, couldn't sit down, not until she talked to Nick, told him she loved him, made sure everything was all right.

Carly sighed and waved towards the door. "You're going to wear a hole in the carpet, and knocking can't hurt, right? Go for it."

Jennifer was out the door, down the hall and knocking on Nick's suite before Carly could finish her sentence, the tone of approval in her voice had been all she'd needed. She knocked again impatiently when nobody answered, frowning and checking her watch. He had to be back by now...her eyes narrowed suspiciously when she heard a soft sniffle from inside the room, and she pressed her ear to the door, listening carefully. "Nicky?" She called, hearing another louder sniffle, followed by a cough. "Baby, is that you?"

Nick opened the door slowly, a sad, resigned expression on his face. "I thought you would be with Kevin," he said softly, stepping back from her when she walked into the room.

"Nick, I love you, not Kevin," Jennifer started, then stopped when she saw his face turn cold at the sound of her voice. "What?"

"You lied to me," Nick turned around and walked back into the room, sitting down on the couch with a sigh. "Kevin's right, you were his first, always will be."

"No, Nick, I want you," Jennifer protested, following him into the room and sitting down next to him. "Please, Nicky, look at me..." she begged him, tears filling her eyes when he refused, his gaze firmly fixed on the floor in front of him.

"Every time I see you, or him, I think about the two of you together," Nick's voice was cold and distant, and the words cut through Jennifer's heart like a dagger. "The things I did with you....he did them too...before me. I see him touching you, think about him being inside of you, it makes me sick."

"It was over ten years ago, Nick, do you realize how long that is?" Jennifer argued, her heart pounding in her chest as she stared at him. "I barely even remember what it was like..."

"You just keep lying, don't you," Nick's lips turned up in a sneer as he shook his head. "You told me about losing your virginity, or don't you remember, Jenny Lynn?"

Jennifer's breath caught in her throat at the scornful use of Kevin's nickname for her, and she wiped at the tears now streaming down her face. "I remember it was wonderful, but not the details, Nick, it was so long ago..."

"Kevin has no idea you were pregnant with his baby," Nick said, sighing heavily. "I wonder what he'd say, if he found out...you killed his child without even telling him."

Jennifer gasped as a sob shook her at Nick's turn of phrase. He had to have known how much hearing him say that would hurt her. "Oh god, Nick, he's never known, why would he have to know now..."

"Don't you think it's time everyone found out the truth about everything?" Nick asked her, finally raising his head to look at her. "Including Kevin?" He had a feeling finding out about Jen's abortion would hurt Kevin dearly, which was exactly what he wanted at the moment.

"No, please Nicky, not that..." Jennifer pleaded, her hand going over her mouth in her desperation.

Nick bit his lip as another tear rolled down his face, and he looked away from her, having seen, and heard, all he needed to. "You come here to tell me you love me, and yet you still protect him."

"I do love you," Jennifer argued, her eyes widening in horror when Nick pushed her away from him. "Nicky..."

"Get out," he shook his head and waved to the door. "You love Kevin, you've made that pretty clear, once and for all."

"Nick, please," Jennifer tried one last time, but stood up when he refused to look at her, his eyes again firmly fixed on the ground. "I'll see you tomorrow?" She said hopefully, before turning to leave when he didn't reply. "I do love you, so much, Nicky," she said softly as she walked out the door. She turned around and stared at the door as it closed firmly behind her, feeling like another door had closed in her life as well...one she desperately didn't want to close.

She walked back down the hall to her room, dragging her feet every step of the way, wondering what in the world she could do to make this right again. Nick hated her, Kevin would hate her when Nick told him what he knew...the two most important men in her life had turned, or were about to turn on her. Somehow, someway, she had to fix this, and before it got much worse.

She just wasn't sure how she was going to do that.