Brian arrived at Hardin Promotional Group and went to Brittany’s office. He saw her sitting at her desk looking over paperwork.

       “Where’s Brizee?” Brian asked.

       “I don’t know,” Brittany said.

       “I think you do,” Brian said.

       “No, she didn’t tell me where she was going, all I found on my desk was instructions from her on what to do, she didn’t tell me where she was going, I haven’t heard from her,” Brittany said.

       “My best friend is crying his eyes out right now,” Brian said.

       “Well, I can’t help you, okay, because I don’t know where she is,” Brittany said.

       “Find her, Brittany, and tell her to come home, Nick needs her,” Brian said. He left her office. She called Brizee’s house in Paris but Madeline told her she wasn’t there. She called the other houses and got no answer. Mark came in.

       “This is not good,” Brittany said.

       “I’ll help any way I can, Britt,” Mark said.

       “I know you will, you are our dearest friend, Mark,” Brittany said. Mark smiled.

       “You two are like sisters to me,” Mark said.

       “Brian Littrell was here looking for Brizee, seems that Nick is upset and wants her home,” Brittany said.

       “I can’t believe she left, I mean, she needs to be with Nick now, she is still feeling the loss of their baby, she needs to be with them so they can get through it together,” Mark said.

       “I know,” Brittany said. She went back to the paperwork.

Chapter 1

Nick sat out on the deck of his house, watching the ocean. He watched the waves.

       “Hey Frack,” Brian said.

       “Hey Frick, find out anything?” Nick asked.

       “Brittany doesn’t know where Brizee is, she hasn’t heard from her, I don’t think Brizee told anyone where she was going,” Brian said. Nick closed his eyes.

       “I love her so much, Brian, she is the only one for me, why would she leave me, why, I know she is still upset for losing our child, I feel the loss, too, she could have come to me, she didn’t have to run,” Nick said.

Three years later…

Nick was backstage at a concert in Paris. He sat there playing video games. Brian, Howie, AJ, and Kevin talked.

       “It’s been three years, he’s still moping,” AJ said quietly.

       “He won’t go out, he won’t do anything,” Howie said quietly.

Brittany came in with Mark.

       “Hey guys,” Brittany said.

       “We received word from home, there is a new CEO,” Mark said. The guys looked at each other.

       “I thought Brizee was still CEO, and that you are in charge of the company,” Kevin said.

       “Yeah, I thought so, too, the CEO wants us to come back to go over the company,” Brittany said.

       “We have three days off, why don’t we all go,” Kevin said. Brian, Howie, AJ, and Nick nodded. Brittany pulled Brian aside. They have been dating for a year now.

       “Hey, what is it,” Brian said.

       “There is no new CEO, Brizee is back,” Brittany said.

       “Oh boy,” Brian said looking at Nick.

       “Yeah, she just called and told me she was back in Orlando, she’s been here in Paris for the last three years,” Brittany said.

       “But you called here and the housekeeper said that Brizee wasn’t here,” Brian said.

       “I know, but the housekeeper has known Brizee all her life, she would do anything Brizee asked, I guess Brizee told her that if anyone called, including me, that she’s suppose to say that Brizee wasn’t there,” Brittany said.

       “I hope Nick will be happy, he still wants her back, but a part of him is angry at her for leaving him,” Brian said.

       “I hope he doesn’t attack her, emotionally, she’s still emotional about things, but she couldn’t stay away forever, she has to face the past and everyone,” Brittany said.

       “I was mad at her, but now I realized what she went through,” Brian said.

       “Yeah, she needed to be alone, but she wants to be with everyone she cares about again, I just hope Nick forgives her for leaving and gets back together with her,” Brittany said.

       “Me, too, Britt, me, too,” Brian said hugging her.

Chapter 2

The next day, Brian, Brittany, Mark, Nick, Kevin, AJ, and Howie arrived back in Orlando and went to the office. Brittany and Mark went to Brizee’s office while Brian, Howie, Kevin, AJ, and Nick went to the conference room. Brittany walked in and saw Brizee sitting at her desk. Brizee looked up and saw her and got up and they hugged.

       “Thank god you are back, we really missed you around here,” Brittany said.

       “I’m back for good, I’m through running away,” Brizee said.

       “The guys are waiting in the conference room,” Brittany said.

       “How is Nick?” Brizee asked.

       “He still wants you back, but a part of him is mad at you for leaving,” Brittany said.

       “I regret leaving, I shouldn’t have left,” Brizee said.

       “You didn’t know how to deal with everything, you needed to get away,” Brittany said.

       “Anything I should know about?” Brizee asked.

       “Brian and I have been dating for a year, I am in love with him,” Brittany said.

       “Wow, congrats, girl,” Brizee said smiling.

       “Thanks, let’s go, are you ready?” Brittany said.

       “I think so, I’m so nervous, what if they hate me,” Brizee said.

       “Brian understands, I am sure the other guys do, too, even Nick,” Brittany said.  They went to the conference room. Mark hugged Brizee while Brittany went in. Mark went in.

       “So where is this new CEO,” Nick said. Brittany and Mark sat down. Nick looked at the door just as Brizee walked into the room. She sat down in her chair. She looked at the guys.

       “Hi guys, I’m back for good,” Brizee said. Kevin, Howie, AJ, and Brian smiled and got up and hugged her. They sat down. Nick sat there. He got up and walked out of the room. Brizee watched him go and closed her eyes.

       “I guess he wasn’t happy to see me,” Brizee said.

       “I think he is still angry with the fact that you left him, we understand why you did, but I don’t think he does,” Kevin said.

       “I know me leaving wasn’t good, but I needed to deal with the pain alone,” Brizee said.

       “We will be home tomorrow but we have to head back to Europe tomorrow night,” Kevin said.

       “I’m going to join the tour this time,” Brizee said.

       “Mark, you can handle things back here, can’t you,” Brittany said. Mark nodded. Brizee went to her office and she didn’t notice Nick sitting there on the couch.

Chapter 3

Brizee sat down and she felt his presence and she folded her arms on her desk.

       “I’m sorry for leaving,” Brizee said.

       “I don’t get why you did,” Nick said.

       “It’s because of the pain I was feeling in the loss of the baby, I needed to deal with it on my own, I needed to get away, if I told you I was leaving, you would have begged me to stay, I needed to get away from everything and be by myself until I came to terms with it and that the pain would be gone,” Brizee said.

       “Don’t you think I would be in pain, too, it was my baby, too, Brizee, or have you forgotten that, the best way of dealing with the pain of a baby that you and I created, would have been if we dealt with it together, but no, you had to take off and leave me, worrying if you were okay, worrying if you still cared about me, worrying if you were ever coming back!” Nick said.

       “You had no idea what I was going through!” Brizee said.

       “You wouldn’t talk to me!” Nick said angrily.

       “I couldn’t deal with it with anybody but myself!” Brizee said.

       “You could have talked to me about it, Brizee, I would have listened!” Nick said.

       “I couldn’t talk to you about it, I was too ashamed!” Brizee said crying.

       “Ashamed of what, that I would hate you for losing the baby, it was not your fault, your stepmother pushed you into the chair, that is what caused you to lose the baby!” Nick said.

       “It wasn’t your baby!” Brizee said crying.

       “What,” Nick said.

       “Dr. Kelly made a mistake, the baby was Adam’s, I was five months along, I just said it was yours to get him to divorce me, I didn’t want to be with him,” Brizee said crying.

       “So you lied to me, you lied!” Nick yelled. Mark came in.

       “Is everything okay in here,” Mark said.

       “No, it isn’t, she lied to me, it wasn’t my baby she lost, I was feeling a loss for no reason, because the baby was Adam’s,” Nick said. Brizee looked at her desk.

       “I wanted it to be yours,” Brizee said softly.

       “But it wasn’t, was it, you lied to me, Brizee, you made me think I was going to be a father, when you knew it wasn’t mine, I cannot forgive you for that,” Nick said. He walked out the door. Brizee sat there crying. Brittany came in and hugged her. Brizee told her everything and Brittany held her as she cried. Brian, Howie, AJ, and Kevin came in and Mark told them everything. AJ and Kevin left to find Nick.

Chapter 4

Kevin and AJ found Nick at the beach. They sat down beside him.

       “Kaos,” AJ said.

       “She lied to me,” Nick said.

       “Nick, you have to understand she was going through a divorce, if he found out it was his, he would not let her have the divorce, so she said it was yours, okay, she should have told you the truth, you were so happy, Nick, I bet she didn’t want you to be hurt by the truth,” Kevin said.

       “How do you know this,” Nick said.

       “Brian, from Brittany,” Kevin said.

       “And Brizee tells Brittany everything,” AJ said.

       “It just hurts,” Nick said.

       “I know it does, man, but you have to move past it, you want to be with her, don’t you,” Kevin said.

       “Yeah, but not now, not after she lied to me,” Nick said.

       “So you aren’t going to go be with her?” AJ asked.

       “No, not now,” Nick said. AJ looked at Kevin.

       “Okay,” Kevin said. He got up and took off.

Three weeks later, Nick decided to go see Brizee and talk about their problems. He walked in and saw Kevin and Brizee kissing. He quietly went back out and closed his eyes.

       “Nick?” Kevin asked. Nick turned and punched Kevin and sent him crashing through the door of Brizee’s office, knocking it open and he laid on the floor.

       “Nick!” Brizee said.

       “How could you, I came here to see if we can work this out, whatever was left of what you and I had is over, you are nothing to me, both of you,” Nick said angrily.

       “Nick, no, you don’t mean that!” Brizee cried.

       “I do, I love you, Brizee, but if you are going to be with Kevin, you are nothing to me,” Nick said. He stormed off. Brizee looked at Kevin.

       “We can’t do this, Kev,” Brizee said.

       “I know,” Kevin said. He got up and hugged her and left. Brizee went into her office and closed the door and sat down. She got her purse and went out to her car and got into it and drove home. She crossed an intersection and heard a crash and everything went black.

Brittany and Brian were sitting on his couch, making out when Nick came in.

       “You two make me sick,” Nick said sitting down.

       “Sorry, man, my house,” Brian said. Brittany’s cell phone rang. She picked it up and answered it.

       “Hello, yes, this is Brittany, yeah, she’s my best friend, is she okay, oh god, okay, I’ll be right there,” Brittany said.

       “Britt,” Brian said.

       “That was the hospital, Brizee was in a car accident on the way home, she’s on life support, she isn’t expected to make it,” Brittany said getting up. She got her purse and ran out the door. Brian looked at Nick. They went to the hospital.

       “Excuse me, I’m Brittany Harris, someone called me about Brizee Hardin,” Brittany said.

       “Yes, Dr. Kelly will be right out,” the nurse said.

       “Do you know anything about her condition?” Brittany said.

       “She is in critical condition, on life support, that’s all I know,” the nurse said. Brittany sat down. Brian sat down beside her.

       “Brittany,” Dr. Kelly said coming towards them.

       “Dr. Kelly,” Brittany said.

       “How is she?” Nick asked.

       “She’s on life support, she might not make it, we almost lost her when she first came in, that’s why she’s on life support,” Dr. Kelly said.

       “Can I see her?” Nick asked.

       “Sure, room 55, down the hall there,” Dr. Kelly said. Nick ran down the hall and went into the room and saw Brizee lying there in bed with tubes everywhere.

Chapter 5

Nick sat down and watched her and listened to the machines. He took her hand and held it.

       “God, Brizee, please don’t die, we can work everything out, I was upset, I shouldn’t have told you that you were nothing to me, because you are everything to me, you have to fight, you have to live, please, I can’t go on without you, please don’t leave me, baby, you have so much to live for, you can’t die now,” Nick said. He kissed her hand.

Three days went by. Brizee was still on life support and Nick never left her side. He sat there holding her hand and watching her. Dr. Kelly came in.

       “Nick, you should go home and rest,” Dr. Kelly said.

       “I’m fine, I want to be here when she wakes up,” Nick said.

       “Nick, don’t make us admit you to the hospital for exhaustion,” Dr. Kelly said.

       “I’ve been sleeping, I’m fine, Dr. Kelly, I just don’t want to leave her,” Nick said.

       “She’ll be fine, go home and go to bed, sleeping here isn’t helping things,” Dr. Kelly said.

       “I want to be here with her,” Nick said.

       “Nick, I’ll stay with her, you go home,” Brian said coming in.

       “Are you sure?” Nick asked.

       “I’ll call you if anything changes,” Brian said. Nick nodded and kissed Brizee’s hand.

       “I’ll be back later, Brian’s here, he’ll stay with you,” Nick said. He kissed her forehead and left. He went home and found his mother sitting there.

       “Nick, where have you been!” Jane said.

       “The hospital, my girlfriend, she was in a car accident and is on life support, they sent me home to rest, Brian’s with her,” Nick said heading for the stairs.

       “Nick, we need to talk,” Jane said.

       “We will talk later, I need sleep so I can get back to the hospital and be with Brizee,” Nick said.

       “Your father and I are getting a divorce, he has custody of your brother and sisters,” Jane said.

       “Why,” Nick said.

       “Things weren’t working out, the kids wanted to live with him so they went to live with him, I’m alone on the compound,” Jane said. Nick looked at her.

       “Mom, as much as I want to talk about it, I’m tired and need sleep,” Nick said. He headed upstairs and went to his room and went to bed.

Chapter 6

Later that night, Nick went to the hospital. He saw Brian sitting there. He looked up and saw Nick.

       “Hey, they took her off life support, I tried calling you but you didn’t answer, she woke up, she asked for you,” Brian said.

       “Dammit, I should have stayed,” Nick said.

       “Nicky,” Brizee said softly waking up. Nick went to her and took her hand.

       “I’m here, baby,” Nick said.

       “I’m so sorry, for leaving, for being with Kevin,” Brizee said.

       “Baby, shh, it’s okay, we can work all this out when you fully get better,” Nick said.

       “I love you, Nick, always have,” Brizee said.

       “I love you, too, baby,” Nick said kissing her hand.