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"My entire life has been spent trying to find the next adrenaline rush and you decide to treat me to a spa retreat for our vacation… Are you trying to kill me, Allie?" Alana inquired seriously as she walked through the Mandara Spa, conveniently located at their resort, with Natalie at her side. She fussed with the ties of her lush, white robe as her feet made a sharp clicking noise from the white flip-flops on her feet. She had been fully content with the idea of spending the day in bed as Brian and Nick rushed out in the early morning to enjoy some time together. But Natalie had rushed her as soon as the men had parted, insisting she get up and dressed in her favorite bikini. Aaron, AJ, and Howie were watching the children in the expensive pool area made specifically for children while Natalie took Alana to the spa. At this point, watching all the women circling with their absurd chatter, Alana decided that maybe she'd be better off with the kids.

"Everyone deserves one day of total relaxation," Natalie pointed out with a shrug, smiling at the attendant as she slipped into the chair for a pedicure. Leaning back with a pleased sigh, she glanced over at Alana. "Alright, alright… Next time we can go diving in shark-infested waters or dive off cliffs…"

"Can I go now and meet you later? Or does Nick have some goofy rule set up that I'm not allowed to be alone for this entire trip?" Alana inquired, watching as a woman hurried to Natalie's feet. Gently removing the flip-flops, Natalie helped ease her feet in a warm porcelain basin of floral water. Alana immediately wrinkled her nose at the sight, shifting precariously on her feet, knowing she was extremely ticklish.

"And run the risk of having him blow into a jealous rage because AJ corners you somewhere? Do I look stupid to you?" Natalie questioned abruptly, wriggling her toes in the water as another woman approached with sample polish shades. Waving to the chair next to her, she gave Alana a bright smile. "Sit, please?"

"Him being so jealous is so ridiculous," Alana sighed as she moved to take the plush chair beside her friend, making sure to tuck her feet beneath her so no one would be tempted to give her a pedicure.

"Why do you say that? I think it's adorable," Natalie mused with a thoughtful smile, biting back a giggle when an attendant rushed forward to offer Alana a manicure. Reaching for a magazine, she settled back in her chair. "If only Bumpkin got that jealous over me…"

"No thank you, I don't-No, really, I can't-No--" Alana was at a loss as the woman continued to reach for her hands. She flailed them uselessly till the woman sunk her bright pink talons into her hands, pushing them into the lemon scented water. Alana scowled when she heard Natalie giggle. "--You better not put colored nail polish on my nails or I swear to God…" Alana exhaled in attempts to calm herself, glancing over toward Natalie. "Brian does get jealous over you… Howie won't even come in a ten foot radius of you when Brian ain't around…"

"Get a French manicure," Natalie suggested, barely glancing up from her magazine. "Brian doesn't get anywhere near as jealous as Nick does. You should have seen him the other day on the beach… I thought he was going to have a heart attack when he saw you and AJ jet-skiing--"

"That's because Brian has Howie whipped to obey," Alana objected, nodding in confirmation at the French manicure when the woman held up a white polish that would line her tips. "…Nick was having a heart attack over me jet-skiing with AJ?"

"Maybe a little clear coat on those toes?" Natalie added hopefully as Alana began to relax in the chair, one foot dangling over the edge. "Yes, he was… Apparently he thinks everyone is trying to - How did he put it? - Cock-block him?"

"Well that's hysterical considering that I give it to him whenever he wants," Alana mused, yelping slightly when her other foot was pulled from beneath her to be set in a matching porcelain basin as Natalie's. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, Alana still complied as she glanced over to Natalie, suddenly blushing. "Guess you don't want to hear that though, huh?"

"…Just don't go into graphic details about his anatomy and I'll be fine," Natalie assured her with a smirk, tossing the magazine aside.

"Well, Hell, that's the best part…"

"You've got to be kidding me… He can't be packing that much…"

"Nah…" Alana trailed with an unconvincing shake of her head, her lips curving into an impish smile. Why should she tell Natalie the delights of her sex life? Nick's length and thickness should be her personal secret. The way he loved on her something to be kept in the bedroom. So, no other woman could tempt to steal him away.

"Tease," Natalie muttered under her breath. "Ain't like I never saw it before--"

"You've seen him naked?"

"Once--"

"Why?"

"Jealous?"

"No!"

"'Lana…"

"Maybe?"

"I was drunk--"

"And needed the money?" Alana guessed with a soft laugh, turning to catch Natalie's gaze, though she sobered slightly at the seriousness of her friend's facial features. "…What?"

"'Lana… Promise you won't tell Brian? …And that you won't be mad at me?" Natalie questioned seriously, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

"…Because that's a good way to start off a sentence…" Alana trailed, leaning back in her seat as the woman finished the first clear coat on her nails, which she kept in perfect shape anyway. But she was more concerned about the look crossing Natalie's paling face. "What's wrong?"

"Well… First of all, you have to realize that this was years ago… He'd just broken up with that toothpick with no tits and meanwhile I was deciding, 'cause Bay was on his way, that Brian was truly gone from me. And… Well…" Groaning, Natalie covered her face with her hands, unable to even look her friend in the eye. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, she told herself that everything would be okay. It was always good to let things out in the open. "I ran into Nick at the Playboy Mansion… He was plastered, I was alone, and… We… We…"

"We?" Alana encouraged, pulling her hands away from the woman trying to finish the French manicure.

Heaving a deep sigh, Natalie let her hands fall to her lap. "…We had… That is, we… Ugh… He was my first…"

"Your first--" Suddenly Alana's deep teal eyes widened in realization at what Natalie was referring to and she felt her heart sink into the pit of her ribcage. Just the very idea that Nick had been intimate with Natalie made her stomach churn. Not that she was mad, but more or less hurt. Why hadn't someone confided to her the ins and outs of these interwoven relationships? She never would have thought to become involved with Nick if Natalie had some kind of claim on him… God, why did it hurt so much? "But Brian said you were-You never told him 'cause Nick's his best friend... Oh…" Alana fought to muster some kind of smile. "Guess my joke about Nick's lower anatomy was pretty lame…"

"I'm sorry," Natalie whispered faintly, covering her face again. "It only happened once, it's not like he and I had this wild affair…" Peeking through her fingers at Alana, she groaned, regretting her decision to tell her. "I'm so sorry, 'Lana."

"Why should you be sorry?" Alana laughed, voiding all emotion from her facial expressions as she watched the woman at her feet begin to paint her toenails. "I've only known the man for a few weeks and it's not like it's anything serious. Why should I care who he's been with? Much less that you two were involved? No big deal, honestly…"

"It is a big deal, though… You're falling in love with him, and I know Nicky, he's already fallen in love with you, and… Damnit, I shouldn't have told you--"

"I ain't falling in love with him," Alana immediately disapproved, sending the beginning of her whatever adoration was beginning to build for Nick deep into the cold depths of her heart. "And I won't tell Brian if that's what you're worried about--"

"I'll tell him," Natalie murmured, pursing her lips with worry at the thought. "And don't even try that, Alana Marie. You are so falling in love."

"Hardly…"

"Well, Hell, I guess the bomb I just dropped kicked the love thing in the ass…"

"Drama Queen, how 'bout you take that crown off and get it polished some more before you start raving? I told Brian the same damn thing the other day. I ain't falling in love with Nick, nor will I ever. He's a great guy. He's really nice and a complete goofball, but not for me. I told myself when Colt died and Jeremy left that I was done. I don't want anymore hassles. I like being by myself. Besides, as soon as the Bahamas' trip is over, Nick will be going back to Florida and I'll be going back to work. It was just something to get my mind off the stress. Now stop worrying that you're the fall of human civilization as we know it," Alana chided in a superior bluffing method, knowing inside every word she said was somehow twisted and misspoken. How she worried if Nick really enjoyed being with Natalie, but gave her up because of her inevitable tie to Brian. If he thought of her often. If he measured her against Natalie. Because she certainly wasn't prettier...

"Just something to get your mind off the stress," Natalie murmured softly, appropriately chastened by Alana's words. "So… He's just a different flavor?"

"More like a stolen treat in a strict diet plan…"

"And if his heart gets broken as you sample the goods?"

'You'll be there to glue the pieces back together,' Alana thought as she sat quietly in her chair, her nails pulled back into the woman's hands to finish the strips of white in her French manicure. "He'll be the one to let things go, Allie."

"Alana…"

"What?"

"If you don't want to be my friend anymore, I'll understand. I mean--"

"Where the Hell did you get that from?" Alana exclaimed as she turned away from the woman who had just finished her nails. Not caring out potentially harming the recent work, she brushed a hand down Natalie's shoulder. "I'm not just your friend, Allie. I'm your best friend, right?"

"Yes, of course you are, but… If someone I was growing close to suddenly confided that she'd whored herself out to Brian one night, I don't think I could--"

"You ain't a whore and we're completely different people. Don't worry about it, Natalie. It isn't a big deal. Nick's good at getting his freak on, why should I be surprised?"

Natalie snorted back a giggle, mortified that she was having this conversation. "Well… I… Damnit, you've got me there."

"Hell, maybe he should have been doing shots off of you instead of me."

"Alana… God, no… And please God, don't mention this to him, he'll kill me--"

"It'll stay between us."

"And, don't get all wishy-washy on him?"

"Good God, I've always been wishy-washy with him."

"You can sleep with Bumpkin if you want?"

"Hell no… AJ on the other hand… Please tell me you haven't dipped into that pot?"

"Are you kidding me? I've no desire to contract something from that cesspool of… Disgusting stuff…"

"Figured," Alana laughed, stretching out in her chair.

"Are you seriously interested in him?" Natalie questioned as her feet were propped on a stool to dry. Glancing over at Alana curiously, she wriggled her toes.

"No," Alana answered easily, closing her eyes as she undid the sash of her robe, feeling the heat of the terry start to consume her. Resting her drying hands on her bare abdomen, she released the softest of sighs. "He's just a great guy to hang out with. He's hilarious and tends to follow through with my outrageous stunts. I haven't had that in forever. Even Nick skitzed when he found out I rock-climb, not that it matters--"

"Admit it, 'Lana… Seeing Nick's jealous fits when you're with AJ give you a kick, don't they?"

"Bullshit…"

"Right… And I play-flirt with Howie because he rocks my socks--"

"Like everyone in the group didn't already know that."

"Didn't already know what?"

"That Howie rocks your socks--"

"Bullshit!" Natalie yelped in shock, jerking so hard that she knocked over the stool.

"Because, yeah, Ms. Smooth, like that ain't obvious denial--"

"Bumpkin is all the man I need," Natalie ground out with a deep frown.

"But Howie will be the man you fantasize about," Alana recounted dramatically before bursting into a round of giggles.

*~*~*

"Y'know, Brian… Remember when you said last night that you wanted us to go hang out for the day and have some fun?" Nick questioned, squinting under the bright sun as he mopped his forehead. Leaning against the nearby fence, he watched as his friend meticulously lined up for his putt.

"Uh-huh…" Brian trailed, glancing up from his concentration. "What about it?"

Nick sighed, taking a long swig from his soda as he glanced at their surroundings. "Somehow the image in my mind wasn't of a putt-putt course by the beach," he explained, frowning slightly at the vivid pink golf ball in his hand.

"And what exactly is so wrong with putt-putt?" Brian inquired, scowling when Nick sneezed from the glaring rays of sun and disturbed his concentrated swing. When his ball went bouncing over the green turf and into a deep bit of sand, it was all Brian could do to keep from releasing a loud string of curses. Only Nick could interfere with such an easy putt. Turning with every intention at swatting at Nick, Brian raised his putter as means of a threat. "I'll have you know that Scooper loves playing putt-putt with me-What the Hell is on your hip?" Pointing his putter toward the bared portion of Nick's lower torso where his shirt had rose from his stretch and his pants lowered, Brian detected a purple heart inked in pen on the inside of Nick's pubic bone near the right cresting of his hip.

"Nothing's wrong with putt-putt - Huh?" Looking down, Nick grinned when he saw the heart Alana had so meticulously created in the wee hours of the morning. "What the Hell does it look like? It's a heart! …My shot?"

"Well, yeah it's your shot, but how did you get a heart there of all places--"

"Come on, B. I know you snuck in my room in the middle of the night to prove how much you love me," Nick interrupted with a wicked grin, stepping forward to line up his shot. Whistling under his breath, he swung the putter, sending his pink ball sailing perfectly towards the hole.

"You can be such a jackass-It's in the Bible!" Brian hurriedly defended when Nick shot a curious smirk toward the older man. Grunting with displeasure at being behind in the game, he waited for Nick to stoop over to retrieve his ball, sending a foot into his cushioned backside.

"Jackass is in the Bible huh?" Nick questioned with a loud yelp, leaping away when Brian's foot lifted again. Grinning, he pulled out the card to record his score. "So, you handcuffing the Gnat to your hotel bed is in the Bible too? 'Cause don't think we didn't hear all that noise last night, and I totally saw the cuffs this morning - And dude, I'm three strokes ahead of you--"

"Jackass is in the Bible," Brian defended as he snatched his ball from the sand dune, scowling at the jubilant adult male standing beside him, ticking off the appropriate amount of strokes. "And I didn't handcuff Natalie to anything last night and-Where the Hell did you get that?!" Brian groaned in disbelief as he gestured to the opposite side of his pubic bone where a unbeknownst red flaming heart peeked. "What is it with all these hearts? Isn't your sketchbook enough?!"

"Would you calm down before I have to do CPR?!" Nick cried, jerking up his pants after glancing down. Knowing his face was as red as the heart that Alana must have drawn as he slept, he shoved the scorecard into his pocket.

"If it came down to you giving me CPR and going to Heaven, Buddy, just let me go," Brian insisted with a shudder, watching Nick hurry along the path to the next obstacle. "What is wrong with you? Who drew the heart? You?"

"Do I honestly look like the type of person to sit around doodling red and purple hearts all around my cock region?" Nick questioned with a snort of laughter, pausing to allow his friend to catch up.

"If you get that bored in the middle of the night, then--"

"Alana did it."

"…Why?"

"Because the Devil made her do it? Jesus, I don't know," Nick shrugged, rolling his eyes. "I think it's sweet…"

"Sweet?" Brian chuckled as he allowed Nick to putt first on the next hole. "Nick Carter actually thinks something that the opposite sex does is sweet? Instead of sexy or other improper words?"

"It's sweet, Brian," Nick answered with a smile, leaning against his putter as he glanced out at the ocean. "Like, the way she gets into bed and has this whole routine of brushing her hair and putting it up in a ponytail and putting lotion on her hands and legs while we talk about our day and puts on some chapstick… Totally sweet, 'cause when I'm watching her do that I know that she'll be curling up next to me all night long, and that… Well, that's the greatest feeling in the world."

"…Then she draws on you and it's like having a personal message decoder… What do you think it means?" Brian questioned curiously as he lifted Nick's shirt once more for a peek, perhaps learning far too many mannerisms from his toddler.

"I think it means that you are way too damn intimate with me," Nick grumbled, slapping Brian's hands away. Heaving a sigh, he looked down at his ball, idly moving it forward with his putter as he pretended to line up his shot once more. "I'm hoping it means that she loves me--"

"You're really serious about her, aren't you?" Brian interrupted softly, returning to a serious state of affairs. Leaning on the nearby fence, he studied his friend's back, chewing haphazardly at his thumbnail. When he had spoken to Alana earlier, he had tried to impress upon her the seriousness of Nick's feelings, but he hadn't a clue. The depth of Nick's clear ocean blue eyes warned him that it was more than just a fancying.

"Yeah…" Nick trailed, paying no attention as he swung the putter. "You know, when we get back from this trip, I'm really going to need her more than ever. Snot Sucker's going to need a Mommy--"

"Never thought you'd be the next one walking down the aisle-Wait, Snot Sucker? Mommy? What?" Brian blanked at the trails of incoherent information Nick was bringing to their conversation. They were just simple strings of complex issues. He needed help in tying the knots.

"Huh?" Nick turned after watching his ball land in the small sand trap halfway to the hole. Seeing Brian's confused expression, he raised one brow. "What are you talking about, man? It's your shot."

"Who is Snot Sucker?"

"Oh. Snot Sucker is Zachary."

"And Zachary is?"

"Hopefully, if all works out, going to be my son when we get back."

Brian tripped as he moved to swing his putter, causing him to twirl as if an ungraceful ballerina interrupting the ugly swan in Swan Lake. Landing on his backside as he stared up at Nick in bewilderment, he narrowed his eyes in an accusatory squint. "Son? Your son? Without a mother? Your son?!"

Nick grinned as he reached to pull the older man up. "Well, yeah. I’m adopting him--"

"Why?!"

"Because… I… Um… Damnit, Brian stop looking at me like that! When Bay was in the hospital I kept going up to the nursery to see all the babies and I fell in love with this little guy who'd been abandoned. He just, I don't know… Touched something in me, I guess. I knew I couldn't leave Kentucky without at least trying to adopt him--"

"Most people would just get a damn snowglobe!"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!"

"Nick, you aren't ready to have kids--"

"Well thank you for your insight! Glad to know that everyone else thinks they know what I am and ain't ready for!"

"Well you aren't even married and if you think Alana is going to step up and be that baby's mother you are just sadly mistaken--"

"Tell me what the fuck being married has to do with Zach! And you don’t even know Alana, how can you say that?!"

"I know her better than you think--"

"If she left me tomorrow, Brian, it wouldn't change anything. I'm adopting Zachary," Nick informed his friend seriously.

"You can hardly handle your siblings let alone a small human being that is going to need you for everything. To guide him and nurture him and love him and-God, Nick, you're not ready! How could you possibly be so careless?!"

"Because, damnit, I've learned that if you love someone you hold onto them and don't let them slip away!"

"And how did you possibly learn that, Nick? When? Amongst the hordes of women? Or are you adopting this kid because you're scared that Alana is going to slip away? To force her to stay?"

"I'd never do something like that," Nick seethed, jabbing at the turf with his putter angrily. "I'm not you--"

Brian's jaw jutted out at the poisonous sting of Nick's words. At first, he wasn't sure what to say. The angry flames licking at his soul caused every muscle to tense within his body. He felt sick to his stomach as his hands clenched into fists. "You son of a bitch--"

"What? You so conveniently gave your little toy a job at your Charity, knowing you'd be working with her all the time, and yet you call me a son of a bitch for adopting a kid? Fuck you--"

"Natalie has been my best friend--- Why am I explaining anything to you to begin with?! I don't care, Nick! Screw up your life! Make Alana run away when you expect her to be a mother to a kid you don't even know she wants! God, I've tried to be a brother to you! But you just don't seem to understand--"

"When are you going to get it through your stubborn redneck head that I don't expect a fucking thing from her?! And some damn brother you've been, leaving me to fend for myself for six years while you played the happy husband!"

"I did not leave you--"

"Do you know how I found out that you were going to be a father?" Nick questioned abruptly, flinging his putter to the ground before he was tempted to use it.

Brian was at a loss to remember how Nick had discovered his step into parenthood. "I had to have called you--"

"Bullshit, Brian. A fan asked me what I thought about it when I was in London for my solo gig. In London, Brian! You hadn't told me shit about Leigh being pregnant for six months. Not that you even bothered to call me at all--"

"Nick, I didn't…" Brian's voice trailed into an inevitable loss as Nick shoved the scoring cards into his chest, knocking him back a few steps. He wanted to reach out and grasp Nick's t-shirt, but he was hurrying too fast to be caught. And, in a few moments, Brian was surrounded in an empty loneliness, wondering if Nick had done that intentionally to make him feel the pain. And he did.