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A/N: Hey I’m back with another chapter to the story, thanks so much for taking your time and reading this. It would be nice to for you as the readers to leave a review and tell me what you thought of the chapter. Thanks and enjoy.
“Love Can Save”

-“You don’t know how you touched my life
Oh, so many ways, I just can’t describe
You taught me what love is suppose to be
And saw the little things that made you beautiful to me.” ~Backstreet Boys, “What makes you different”(Makes you beautiful to me)

**~A Step Back~**

She watches the door close and smile the moment A.J. left her dorm. She sighs and wipes away a soft cool tear that managed to escape and scroll down her flushed cheeks. Who was she fooling? Not A.J. and surely not herself. She was in complete torment and agony, her inside screaming to be free of the invisible yet heavy burden that consumed her heart. She stands up from the couch and nervously fiddles with her fingers. Anya went to the store recently after A.J. arrived to pay her a visit. And right now, Yasmine couldn’t stand the feeling of being alone. Maybe it was the incident that brought about the sick mentality that being alone equals danger. Taking a deep breath, she steps into her bedroom and makes her way over to her suitcase to finish taking out some small items that the guys had brought her to the hospital yesterday. She smiles when she sees a photo of herself about a year ago embraced in a man’s arms lovingly. That man now was her ex-boyfriend but they so called ended on a friendly notion which suited fine for both parties. She hasn’t talked to him since nor did it matter. She was so busy in her life, she didn’t need a deep relationship getting her unfocused, though she couldn’t deny she wanted the love she felt back then. But after what she just experienced, men and a loving relationship seemed so far off. She smirks and pulls the photo out of the old rickety mahogany frame by her night stand, tossing the picture into her trash bin besides the bed.

She walks over to a pile of letters on the nightstand and flips through the white envelopes quickly stopping on one from her lawyer. Ripping it open, it pertained to an appointment she would have to attend. It was a rehab center dealing with the experiences of victims in a sexual assault. She noted the center was located in the out patient section of the hospital she was in just a day ago. Sighing, she sits on the edge of her small twin bed and tosses the letter aside. She was standing up when she hears the front door creek open in her dorm. Gulping, her heart races as she clings to the side of the bed tightly. Tears break into the corners of her eyes as she shakes her head. “Oh God no! He can’t be here! No! Please no!” She sobs, her body losing control as she falls to her knees and clutches her legs tightly onto her chest into a fetal position. She hears the footsteps inching closer to her bedroom as she dares to look up, her vision too blurry to recognize anything. All she knows was it was man and he was reaching out to grab her. She thrashes around, screaming hysterically as the man tries to pull her to her knees.

“NOO!” She screeches out, pelting him with weak punches on his chest. She feels the man cup her face and forces her to look at him as she screams out and closes her eyes.

“Yasmine! Oh God! Yasmine! It’s me Nick! Open your eyes!” Nick shakily whispers out to the frighten woman. Yasmine cries out and shakes her head roughly against his grip. Anya rushes into the bedroom and gently pushes Nick aside to embrace Yasmine in her arms.

“Sweetie. No one here is going to hurt you. Look at me Yas. You’re safe, ok. It’s just me and Nick. No one else here.” Anya whispers, placing a soft kiss on Yasmine’s wet forehead.

Yasmine trembles weakly in her friend’s arms as she raises her eyes to see a shattered Nick standing by the threshold, his face crossed with deep anxiety.

“Yas, sweetie. Things will be alright. Don’t be afraid. I won’t leave you alone, do you hear me?” Anya whispers, pushing her snowy colored fingers though Yasmine’s black locks. “Nick just came by with a bouquet of sunflowers. He wanted to see who you are doing, ok Yas?” She asks, wiping away the falling tears that stained Yasmine’s tan cheeks.

Nick tries to smile but fails miserably as he pulls out from behind his back a lovely dozen sunflowers, each brightly open: its gentle yellow petals stand out in strength. “Hey girl. I know you love these. I just thought I bring it to you. I was going to buy you some yesterday but with all the stuff I had to carry for you, I left them behind.”

Anya looks up from her kneeling position and smiles, “She’ll love it. Thanks. Nick, you can put the flowers in a glass vase on the kitchen counter.”

Nick gulps, the silent peace in the dorm floats in the room. “Ok. Anya listen, I have to tell you something about Yas.”

Anya sighs deeply and strokes Yasmine’s locks as she helps the shaking woman back to her bed. “Alright. Hold on. Meet me in the kitchen.”

Nick nods and leaves the room, walking towards the small kitchenette. Anya lies Yasmine on her back on the bed and throws a thin white cotton blanket over Yasmine who was shaking terribly. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Anya gulps: her hazel eyes brimming with tears, “Yas, you get some sleep ok?”

“What does Nick have to say about me?” Yasmine croaks out, her voice cracking after all the yelling she did.

“I’ll find out and tell you as soon as I can ok? You just worry about sleeping ok?” Anya gently instructs, pointing to Yasmine’s nose which creates a small smile on her friend face.

“I’ll try.” Yasmine whispers out as she closes her wet eyes and takes a deep breath.

Anya smiles and quietly leaves the bedroom, slowly closing the bedroom door. Anya sighs and reaches the kitchenette just as Nick places the clear glass vase full of the bouquet of sunflowers on the kitchen counter.

Nick gulps guiltily and keeps his eyes on the mahogany counter, stuttering he speaks out, “I, I’m, I’m so sor, sorry. I, I should have known better. It was too soon, too fast.” He stops talking when he feels a small hand grip his arm.

“It’s ok. Its not your fault. She had a breakdown. This will happen more often while she’s healing. It’s something that can totally devastate her when she leaves the rehab and enters the working world. But Yas is strong and lucky to have great guys like you in her life. She’ll make it, she’ll just need time.” Anya whispers.

Nick nods his head and roughly wipes away a lone tear that traced down the corner of his face, “It’s ok. I’ll just leave now. A.J. is waiting for me downstairs.”

“Ok, but what is it that you wanted to tell me?” Anya asks, her hazel eyes trying to interrupt Nick’s gaze.

“It’s well. A.J. found out yesterday from a nurse that she’s pregnant.” Nick whispers, hearing a gasp from Anya.

“Oh God! Are you sure?” Anya gasps out as Nick nods his head.

“Yeah. The tests done on her proved it.” Nick chokes out as a soft sob escaped his throat. He couldn’t be here. Not after what he did to poor Yasmine: she had a break down in front of him all cause he showed up. A.J. would freak out and rush up here to see Yasmine once he found out. He knew how much A.J. loved her, she was like a sister he never had and he would be so over protective of her.

“Oh God. What am I gonna tell her? That’s the last thing she needs to be hearing. Why wasn’t she informed of this yesterday?” Anya whispers loudly.

Nick shrugs his shoulders, “Don’t know. Figured it was too much for Yasmine to handle all at the same time I think.”

Sighing, she walks around the kitchen counter in time to hear phone ring. She rushes over to the small phone and grabs the silver cradle off the hook from the wall.

Nick watches as Anya gasps and begins talking in Russian, her native language. Anya hangs up and wipes her eyes quickly with her hands.

“I’m so sorry Nick, but I have a family emergency. I have to catch a flight down to Moscow now. My uncle passed away and we need to set up funeral plans for him.” Anya whispers softly, her gaze on the carpeted floor below her.

“Oh I’m sorry Anya. I don’t know what to say.” Nick mumbles guiltily, his sapphire orbs moving rapidly over Anya. If circumstances were different and none of the traumatic events had occur, he was sure he would have loved to hang out with her for she was attractive, slim and tall with fiery red locks down her neck.

Anya sighs and nods her head as she rushes around the small apartment, quickly throwing items into a suitcase she pulls out from the closet.

“Here let me help.” Nick whispers as he folds some clothes and places it into the open suitcase. Anya nods her head and looks up at Nick.

“Thanks, listen since I’m going away, I might be out for maybe two weeks. I don’t know what to do with Yasmine, but I can’t leave her alone. There’s no way she’ll survive. I was thinking…”

Nick cuts her off, “Already covered. You don’t need to say no more. A.J. has an old friend who has an apartment left for rent, but for Yas, she can stay in the room for free. The room is across the street from the hotel we’re staying at, but A.J. will be there 24/7 so you don’t need to worry about it, plus she has me and the other guys. She won’t be alone and she’ll be with the support of her friend’s, -us.” Nick states receiving a small smile from Anya.

“Thank you so much. I, we both really appreciated. I hope she won’t be trouble though, cause I know you guys have quite a schedule and she might conflict with it and…” Anya stops talking when Nick interrupts her,

“And she’s the most important thing now. Who cares about our schedule? Screw that, we’re talking about a person needing help, a friend, our friend and we’ll do whatever is needed for her safety and recovery.” Nick whispers, zipping up the suitcase and wheeling it over to the front door of the apartment. “Hey I’ll drop you off while A.J. gets everything ready here to take Yasmine with him.”

Anya lets out a deep sigh and nods her head, “Thanks again. I’ll go wake Yasmine up, she has to know about her condition and I’ll feel guilty if she didn’t know she was impregnated.”

Nick scrolls his eyes over the closed bedroom and watches Anya disappear as she enters the bedroom, slowly closing the door behind her. Nick pulls out his cell phone and quickly dials A.J. from downstairs.

“Hello?” A.J.’s raspy voice answers to the ring,

“Yo J, Something happened with Anya, she has to fly back to her home in Russia for a family emergency. She didn’t want to leave Yas alone so I told her that we’d take care of her. I told her about the vacant apartment your friend has across the street from where we’re staying and said that she can stay there for a while till Anya comes back here.”

A.J. smirks and nods his head, “Alright. I’ll be right up then to pack some things for Yasmine. What is Yasmine doing right now?”

“Uh well she was taking a nap.”

“A nap? She was tired?” A.J. asks innocently not knowing it was from the break down she had that took her energy away and that it was all caused by Nick.

“Yeah, she uh had a break down when she saw me. I…” Nick hears the other line click off and knew A.J. was racing up here already. “Oh man, me and big mouth.” Nick mutters opening the front door waiting for A.J. to arrive.
~*~

Anya walks quietly over to the bedside and gently shakes Yasmine’s sleeping arm. “Yas, Yas. Hey girl. Its time to get up.”

Yasmine sleepily opens her eyes and gazes at her friend, slowly getting up from the bed, “Where am I going?”

“With A.J. You’ll be staying with him at a friend’s house. I got a call about half and hour ago about a family emergency, Uncle Jovovich got ill and just passed away this morning. I have to go meet my family in Moscow and won’t be back for a little more than two weeks.” Anya whispers, helping Yasmine off the bed and over to her suitcase.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.” Yasmine whispers out, patting the tall woman on her shoulders.

Sighing, Anya smiles weakly, “That’s all right. He lived a good life.” And both women begin Yasmine’s packing.
~*~

In a few minutes, A.J. rushes through the front door and looks at Nick, “Dude, where is she? I can’t believe she broke down like that!” A.J. whispers out worriedly.

“J, its ok. She thought I was someone else and she freaked out. She just gets scared more easily now.”

“Wait, you caused her to break down?” A.J. asks curiously, his muscles tensing under his shirt.

“Somewhat. She thought for moment when Anya left her alone that the guy came back for her. She screaming out, ‘No, not again.’ I went to get her off the floor where she was bawling and she freaked out, pounding me and stuff.” Nick rushes the sentence out feeling the thick tension in the room suddenly.

A.J. lets out a deep sigh and relaxes, “The doctor told me about such things. That’s just part of her dealing with what happened. She’ll start dealing with things better when she starts rehab tomorrow. It’ll help all of us out to see that she can get better.”

Nick sighs and nods his head, “Oh ok. Sorry about freaking you out like that. You didn’t let me finish telling you what happened before you hung up with me.”

“Oh sorry about that. Instincts took over for a moment. Just next time tell me quickly what the deal is before I freak out and hang up k?” A.J. smirks, raising his dark eyebrows at his friend.

Nick smiles and pats A.J’s shoulders, “Let’s help out the girls. K.?”

“K.” A.J. mumbles as he steps into the small apartment dorm room and closes the door behind him.
~*~

A.J. steps into the bedroom to see Anya and Yasmine bending over a half -filled suitcase. “Hey girls, thought you needed a man to help you out.”

“Hey that would be nice. Just tell me when he gets here.” Yasmine whispers seriously as A.J. smiles and breaks into a laughter.

“Funny. I like that. I see you got your humor back.” A.J. whispers tucking a towel and tooth brush into the small compartments of the suitcase.

“But it never left.” Yasmine smiles, a stray of black locks tickled her cheek as she brushes it away, tucking it behind her ear.

“Ahh nice.” A.J. whispers as Anya stands up and whispers into his ear that she was going to break the news to Yasmine now about the pregnancy.

A.J. inhales and holds his breath as Anya tells Yasmine to listen to her. Leading her over to a bean bag seat, Anya stands in front of her as A.J. kneels next to Yasmine.

“Why all the suspense? What is it? What did Nick tell you about me?” Yasmine smiles, her face reflected the purity and innocence of it all.

God, it was killing A.J. to see that and yet to know what she is enduring.

“A.J. I think maybe you should tell her what the nurse told you yesterday.” Anya whispers, her hands on her hips.

“Me?!” A.J. cries out.

“Yeah.” She responds.

Yasmine fidgets in her seat feeling extremely uncomfortable at the moment, “Ummm, guys what’s going on?” She stares at A.J. as he looks at her face and strokes her long black locks gently through his fingers. “Nurse Warden told me that after some serious testing and such, they found that you, you uh…”

“Just say it A.J. Why is it so hard? You used to tell me everything when we were younger.” Yasmine’s voice cuts into his thoughts.

A.J. nods his head and gulps, “Yeah, you’re right. But this news is surprising to all of us. Do you feel different at all by any chance?”

Yasmine sighs frustrated and shakes her head, “No why? Though in a few I’ll feel pissed off. Whatever it is, is something serious cause you’re both looking at me like something’s up.”

“Something’s up or in you I should say.” Anya whispers softly out as Yasmine cringes to hear the words.

“Huh, what was that?” Yasmine asks, her heart banging on her chest as what she think could be happening.

“You’re, you’re pregnant.” A.J. whispers out, his eyes staring at her in sympathy.

“Wha, what?! Did you just tell me that, that I’m gonna have a baby?” Yasmine loudly whispers out.

Anya nods her head, “Yeah. It’s up to you on what you chose to do with the child. You can always consider adoption or maybe abortion.”

“No, No! Why wasn’t this told to me before?!” Yasmine yells out, standing up and pushing A.J. and Anya away from her. She lets out a deep sigh and covers her swollen eyes with her hands, rubbing them gently.

“Yas I wanted to tell you yesterday but I didn’t feel it was right. You have too much to deal with and this news just adds on to the pressure.” A.J. whispers out as Nick knocks on the closed door to let Anya know which flight she wanted to take.

“Oh wait. Yas, I gotta go fix my flight. But I’ll leave you guys alone to talk about it, ok?” Anya whispers as she exits the room, the door slightly ajar.

A.J. gulps and watches Yasmine stare at him quietly, “What are you thinking about?”

“How I have a life living inside me now. I don’t know what I’m gonna go J. I don’t want to be pregnant but if god give me child, how can I destroy its innocent life. The child doesn’t deserve to die. But I don’t know if I can bear to look at the baby knowing that the sick man, who ever he is, will be reflected in some of its features. God, A.J. why is my life so screwed up now? Just when was going perfect as I planned, God decided to throw a wrench and give my life a complete makeover, one in which I didn’t need!” Yasmine calmly whispers out.

“Screw the father, that man will get caught. Cops are close to nabbing him. You decide what you’ll do. Whatever you decide, I’ll be right behind you 110 percent.” A.J. whispers into her ear, sending her small shivers in her body. He smiles, he had to watch his actions around her. He was tempted at that very moment to plummet her with rows of kisses on those soft lips that will seal her to him, that will bring her assurance. But he blinked and gazes down at his friend. Nick was right through all the teasing and joking, but now is when he realized that he indeed was slowly falling in love for his friend but he couldn’t act on his feelings. He needed to be reasonable about it. Right now Yasmine didn’t need a boyfriend, she needed family and he was as close as she had at the moment and he wasn’t going to ruin it by listening to his heart.

“Thanks J.” She whispers softly as he threw his arms around her and squeezes her tightly.

He looks down and smiles, “No problem short stuff.” And he feels her laughing causing him to chuckle quietly.
~*~

The white solid door flings opens as the music filled hallway followed them into the nice modeled apartment.

“Oh I love this song!” Yasmine giggles, her light green eyes lit up in excitement as she dances into the vacant apartment. A.J. and Nick laugh as they trudge through the entrance along with Howie dropping off Yasmine’s two full suitcases and three gym bags along with her back pack, a large cardboard box filled of paper work and textbooks. They dump the belongings in the center of the apartment. The dark rich mahogany planks creek quietly beneath them as the apartment was a display of the dark brown wood and white furnishing.

“WOW!! Look at this place!” Yasmine’s eyes grew wide as she jiggles her hips to the song down the hallway, singing the last part of the chorus she giggles it out, “Uh oooh, Uh oooh. Uh oooh, Uh oooh.”

“Uh oh is right girl. Look at all the stuff you got. You act like you’re moving in.” Howie grumbles dropping off a heavy leather black suitcase onto the polished floor.

“Hey I have needs you know and being a woman in this day and age requires a lot of cuteness. You don’t think I wake up looking this good. Well I do, but besides the point…” Yasmine was greeted with laughter from the guys. A.J. was glad to see her more like herself and after the trauma and the unexpected news, A.J. felt her laughter was like an angel laughing, heavenly in every way.

“Well its close to dinner time. How about we order some Chinese food and hang out here setting stuff up. What do you say Yas?” Howie smiles as Nick rolls his eyes.

“Dude, Chinese food again? Didn’t we just have that yesterday?” Nick complains, sticking his tongue out.

A.J. laughs and raises his hands, “Hey, D has an infatuation for the food, what can I say? He’s a growing boy.”

Nick tries hard to withhold his joke but couldn’t resist, “HA! Really now. Could’ve fooled me. I thought he stopped growing already and by the looks of it he didn’t grow that much at all.”

Howie sneers at Nick’s direction as Yasmine breaks into a sweet laughter, “Ohhh, Nick that was low even for you.” She joins in the joke causing the group to chuckle quietly.

“I thought Howie was as low as the joke can get.” Nick smiles winking at Howie.

Howie fakes a smile, “Ha, ha. Enough of the short jokes, I’m not exactly the smallest here.” He states staring at Yasmine while Nick whispers something to A.J. “What was that you just said?” Howie’s ears perk up.

“Oh nothing, the joke went right over your head.” Nick chuckles as A.J. grins making his way over to the black cordless phone hung in the hallway.

It was nice to see that things were getting back to normal at least for now and he was even happier that Yasmine was able to laugh and not bring her down after the news of her sudden pregnancy. He’ll make sure he’s there for every moment of her pregnancy. She needed all the support and her decisions for bearing the child and he was the one she can trust and depend on.
~**~

**~To Be Continued…~**