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"Any change?" Jennifer asked the crowd in the waiting room, sighing when she only received dull looks in reply.

"Kevin talked to him," AJ told Brian, turning to Jennifer in surprise when she gasped in horror.

"What did he say?" She asked, her face white as a sheet.

AJ shrugged, "hopefully that he loved him, wanted him back, same stuff we're all saying."

"Who's in there now?"

"Howie," AJ hadn't even gotten the name out before Jennifer was past him, walking into Nick's room.

"Hi Howie," she said softly, seeing the man sitting on the side of the bed, looking at Nick intensely.

"Jenny," Howie stood up when he saw her approach, waving her to the bed. "I'm sure he'd rather be with you."

Jennifer's eyes filled with tears, and she nodded slowly, hoping that would always be the case. "Thanks," she said as the door closed behind him, before crawling up on the bed and wrapping her arms around Nick. "I'm so sorry, baby," she whispered, sobbing into his chest. "Nicky, please...I'm so sorry...." She couldn't believe what had happened...Kevin...he'd...god...

"What are you sorry for?" AJ asked her softly, standing in the open doorway.

"I hadn't heard the door open," she said in surprise, sitting up to look at him.

"Why are you sorry?" AJ walked to the bed and sat down, looking at Nick. "Why are you apologizing to Nicky?"

"Don't...AJ..." Jennifer ran her hand over Nick's chest, shaking her head. She couldn't say it, much less in front of him...not when he could hear her.

"We almost called the cops, before," AJ told her, his eyes widening when she turned to stare at him. "You have a problem with that?"

"On Kevin?" She said, her blue eyes wide in surprise.

"He tried to kill Nick, he raped you..."

Jennifer gasped and jumped off the bed, backing away from AJ. "Don't say that."

"He did, didn't he," AJ said softly, standing up and walking towards Jen. "Jenny, he's sick..."

"No...not in front of Nick," Jennifer said, sharply, waving her hands at AJ. "God, he doesn't have to know, not now..."

"Kevin raped you," AJ repeated, his face falling as he saw Jennifer dissolve into tears. "Oh, Jenny, I'm so sorry..."

Jennifer felt AJ pull her into a hug, and she shook her head, "no, AJ, I'm the one who's sorry. So, so sorry..."



"Check it out," Howie looked at the television in surprise. "Kevin did the press conference alone." He hadn't even noticed Kevin leaving to go speak with the cameras, but evidently he had, there he was on the news, telling the world that their thoughts and prayers should be with Nick tonight.

"He looks very concerned," AJ said with a sneer, shaking his head. "Where the fuck is he now?"

"Who cares." Jennifer said softly, she'd been sitting quietly in the corner for nearly an hour after leaving Nick's room so someone else could visit.

"I'm here," Kevin was standing in the doorway, looking at Jennifer with a concerned expression. "You alright, Jenny Lynn?"

"The cameras are outside," Howie told him, frowning when Kevin's face fell. "What?"

"I did that press conference because I had to, none of the rest of you are in any shape to do it," Kevin shook his head in frustration. "I love Nicky just as much as the rest of you do, but I also want to see that he has a group left to come back to."

"Bullshit," AJ hissed, his eyes narrowing when Kevin just disappeared into Nick's room. "His sister's in there..."

"Guess not anymore," Brian said, seeing BJ walking out of the room, closing the door behind her. "What do you think he's saying to Nick?"

"He better be saying how sorry he is," AJ said, shaking his head. "He fucking better..."



"The fans are going nuts, Nicky, you wouldn't believe it," Kevin said with a wry smile, sitting in the chair next to his bed. "They love you so much, they're all outside, holding candles, half of them are crying non-stop, it's amazing. So you gotta come back...you see?"

He took a deep breath and wincing at the sound of the awful clanking of the respiration keeping the younger man alive. "I think Jenny told them what happened...they keep looking at me all weird. Did they tell you?" His green eyes narrowed, and he looked at Nick closely, bending close to him. "What did they tell you, Nicky? That I fucked your girlfriend? Or that I raped her..."

Kevin sat back up, running a hand through his hair slowly. "I didn't, you know. I mean, I guess she said no, and yeah, I guess she was crying, but you know, she hasn't stopped crying since the day you got hurt, so it's not like THAT meant anything..." he paused, realizing what he'd just said. "So she said no...but it's me...she never really can say no to me. You knew that, didn't you, Nicky. I was always the one who loved her more than that, you knew it, and it was killing you..." He stopped and shook his head, "sorry, bad choice of words."

His eyes widened in surprise when he heard the steady rhythm of the respirator pause, and he stood up, staring at the machine. "Nick?" He held his chest as he felt his heart pound, holding his breath until it resumed a normal rhythm again. "Oh jesus, Nicky, don't scare me like that. I love you, man, you gotta come back, ok?"

Kevin had just walked into the waiting room when the respirator stopped working behind him, the shrill peal of the monitor by the bed flatlining piercing the air. He turned around to stare back into Nick's room as hospital personnel appeared as if from out of nowhere, charging into Nick's room at top speed.

"Oh god, no!" Jennifer cried, jumping up and running to the room, only stopping when Brian grabbed her tight to stop her from getting in the way of the doctors.

"Let them save him," Brian said to her softly, holding her tightly as she sobbed, watching the doctor's frantically work on his friend. He turned his head away when he saw one of the doctors crack Nick's chest, the sight not being one anybody needs to see, ever.

"No," Jennifer whispered when she heard the monitor turn off, turning around just in time to see a doctor covering Nick's blond head with a sheet. "NO!" She screamed as she fell, Brian unable to support her weight as he broke down as well. The two of them ended up on the floor together, each holding the other tight as they sobbed, the awful truth beginning to settle in. "I love him, Brian, how can I live without him?" she whispered, feeling like her heart had just been ripped out of her chest.

"I don't know, Jenny," Brian replied, tears streaming down his face as he watched the doctors wheel Nick's body out of the room. "I don't know."

"I'll be here for you, Jenny Lynn," Kevin pulled Jennifer up and into his arms, noting in her grief she was unable to fight him. "I told you I'd always love you...I'll never say goodbye...I promise..."