Chase 

Throwback

Present

Nicole slipped the sunglasses up and over her head, her eyes adjusting to the figure that stood above her in swim trunks. Justin smirked down at her. “I was about to poke you with my foot to see if you were still alive.” he joked, sitting on the beach chair next to her.

Nicole followed him with her eyes, giving him a long look before placing the sunglasses back on her face. “I was taking a small nap.” she informed him. “The villa is beautiful. The view from here is amazing.” she murmured.

“It is. The location couldn’t have been better.“ He poked her side with his bare foot. She pushed his foot away. “Shouldn’t you be out in the water with Jake?” he asked her sarcastically, resting his foot on the side of her chair. He knew he should keep his mouth shut. He just hadn’t expected on Nicole bringing along a friend on the trip. Not that he cared.

“His name is Chase.” Nicole corrected, pushing his foot away again. “And I don’t feel like it right now.” she paused. “I could say the same about you.” she retorted.

“What?”

She sighed as she looked up at the sky as before speaking. “Shouldn’t you be with your girlfriend?”

Oh. Right. He hated when she turned everything back to him. He glanced down at her, his eyes quickly doing a once over at her bikini covered body. He wouldn’t be a straight man if he didn’t think she looked good. Yep. She still looked good. Especially in red. “She’s out golfing.” he explained blinking back to reality. “What does that have to do with anything?”

She lifted her head up, the sunglasses falling down to her nose. “It doesn’t.” smirking.

He didn’t say a word, as he laid back against his own beach chair. The trip to Mexico had been a great idea when Rachael had suggested it a week ago. With the holidays behind them, Justin and Jessica had been talking about going somewhere warm and Mexico had been the perfect fit. They decided the more the merrier. Inviting a few friends along. Nicole had agreed to come along, but showed up a day later than everyone else because she had a final.

Now, it was a day later and Justin had been a little more than surprise when his oldest best friend had shown up at the Villa- where they were all staying at- with Chase. Who the hell was Chase? Justin had no fucking clue. He knew it shouldn’t bother him, that Nicole brought along a friend. But it would have been nice if someone had informed him she was bringing someone.

Justin had apparently made his thoughts outloud without even realizing it. Thankfully Rachael had been the only one that had heard him.

That didn’t stop Rachael from giving him a long curious look. “I didn’t think you would care. The villa has enough room for everyone.” Oh. So his assistant/cousin knew Nicole was bringing along a guest. That was fucking dandy.

“It would been nice to been informed.” he mumbled.

“I’m sorry. Geez.” Rachael apologized. “I don’t get what the big deal is.” Thankfully Jessica had appeared so Justin didn’t bother to asnwer.

Neither one spoke. Justin laid there, eyes shut. Trying to figure out the best way to ask about the guy. He knew he shouldn’t pry, but he couldn’t help it damn it. For some reason, whenever a new guy entered her life, Justin’s overprotective side came out in full force. He did it with Rachael too, but it was worse with Nicole.

“Go ahead and ask.” Nicole murmured, laying back against the chair.

“Ask what?” Justin asked innocently, pulling his arms back, and resting his head on top of them.

Nicole gave a short laugh. “Ask whatever your going to ask about Chase.” she stated. “Isnt that why you came over here for?” shifting slightly in her chair.

Justin clinched his jaw. Was he that predictable? “You think that’s why I came over here for?” he asked, trying his best to play it off. “I havent seen you in a week Nic.” he reminded. “I just want to catch up.” shrugging. Yeah, that wasn’t fucking obvious.

Nicole slipped the sunglasses back over her head, and turned her head to look at him. . “I think I know you well enough to know when you are trying to be nonchalant.” wrinkling her nose. “Besides we talk and text everyday.” she reminded him with a small smile.

Justin frowned up to the sky. “Yeah and you think you would have mention him.” he muttered under his breath.

Nicole snorted back her laughter. “Whoa. That was fast.” she teased.

He raised his eyebrow at her. “What was?”

She took in a deep breath, and turned her gaze from him, shutting her eyes before speaking up again. “Nothing.” she answered simply.

He took in a deep breath. He hated when she would drag out the conversation. He hated it. “You know you could have mention you were seeing someone.” he blurted out. Fuck. Fuck. That was not what he entended to say. He was thinking it, but hadn’t mean to blurt it out.

“You could have asked.” Nicole shot right back, her eyes still shut. “And the reason why I didn’t mention it before is for this exact same reason.” she added.

Justin quickly sat up, his gaze glaring down at her. “What reason is that?”

“The interrogation.” she stated without hesistation. “From you, Trace, even Rachael.”

“Well shit it should have been a cake walk with me. Rachael knew.” he said dryly, a hint of hurt in his voice. It irritated him that she hadn’t mention anything to him about the new guy. “Wait-” he started. “Did Trace know?”

“Not until a week ago.”

“He fucking knew and didn’t tell me?!” he exclaimed. “That fucker.”

Nicole looked back at him. “I made sure to threaten his life if he said anything.” she paused, yawning before speaking up again. “And just so you know-he isn’t my boyfriend. We are just… getting to know each other.”

Justin snorted. “I bet you are.”

Nicole took her sunglasses fully off and glared. “Why is this such a big fucking deal?” she asked a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Its not a big deal.” Justin replied quickly. “But you think you could have mention you were seeing someone new. I know we havent seen each other a lot in the past couple of weeks, but that is a sure damn big piece of your life you’ve left out of our conversations.” he spat out.

Nicole continue to glare. “Its not like you havent done it before.” Bitting her lower lip, wishing she hadn’t said that. That was in the past. “That was stupid. I didn’t mean that.” she murmured.

Before either one had a chance to speak up again, they heard the voices of their friends getting closer. Nicole gave him one more look before putting the sunglasses back on. Justin didn’t say another word as he got up from the chair and made his way toward his friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that afternoon…

Rachael plopped herself on the couch across from Nicole. “Where the boyfriend go?” she asked teasingly.

Nicole resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “He isn’t my boyfriend.” she stated for what seemed the hundredth time in the past couple of hours. She didn’t even know why she bothered, it wasn’t going to stop Rachael or anyone on the trip from calling him her boyfriend. But damn it, he really wasn’t. “Will you stop calling him that?” she murmured, reaching out for the plush pillow a few inches away from her and holding it up to her chest.

Rachael chuckled lightly, “I know he isn’t. I just love seeing you squirm when I say it.”

Nicole stuck her tongue out at her. “Bitch.” she stated.

“Slut..” Rachael shot back with a grin. She brought her knees up to her chin. “So if he isn’t a boyfriend…then what the hell is he?” she asked, changing subjects.

Nicole sighed. She knew that question was non avoidable. Truth of the matter was, she really didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know.” she murmured. “We havent talked about it.” she finished.

“Do you really like him?”

Nicole nodded. “Yeah.” grinning from ear to ear. She really did. She hadn’t expected to. In fact the only reason why she had gone out with him in the first place was because one of her co-workers had pressured her into it. She had planned on cutting the date short, but somehow Chase had charmed her. She still wasn’t sure how-maybe it had been his dimple smile…

Rachael reached for the pillow next to her and threw it at her. “The girl is sprung.” she observed.

Nicole ducked before the pillow her head. “Shut up, I’m not.” she retorted. She paused for a split second before speaking again. “He really is a great guy.” she told Rachael. Nicole couldn’t help it, for the first time in months, she found someone she could really have a conversation with and hang out with. It was nice to have that type of someone in her life again. Nicole had never been the type of girl that needed to be in a relationship. Infact she was the opposite of that. She rather be alone than be attached. The funny thing was whenever she did attached herself to someone, it was always to the same man…

Maybe that’s why things always ended up so screwed up at the end. She wasn’t the attached type, even when she tried. But Chase was a great guy. He was the first guy-besides Justin-who she felt she could open up with. She had already told him more in the past month than she had told her past boyfriends. Then again her longest relationship had lasted ten months.

She looked over at Rachael. Rachael grinned back. “Good.”

Before Nicole had a chance speak up again, she heard Chase’s voice. “Whats good?” He asked sitting himself next to Nicole on the couch. He smiled over at Rachael. “Have a good nap?”

Rachael nodded. “Awesome. Siestas are the best.” smiling. “And the ‘good’ is you.” she informed him.

Nicole glared over at Rachael before looking up at Chase. She felt her stomach flutter when her eyes met his chocolate ones. He was handsome, there was no denying it. With his dark short hair, and chocolate eyes, and the dimples on that man’s face. Whenever he smiled and showed them off…

Oh god, maybe she was sprung.

“The good is me huh?” Chase asked, grinning from ear to ear. Man, those dimples were just too cute.

Nicole found herself smiling back. “I don’t know what she is talking about.” she stated with a shrug. “Rachael likes to talk without thinking sometimes.” she retorted, glaring over at her friend playfully.

Rachael rolled her eyes before looking back up at Chase. “Are you sure you want to get involve?”

Chase chuckled lightly, locking eyes with Nicole. “Yeah…” not breaking from her face. “I think I do.”

Rachael made a retching noise. “Oh god.” she teased. “Can we please stop.” she begged. Chase only chuckled and Nicole rolled her eyes. “So…” Rachael started. Nicole gave Rachael warning look. She knew Rachael had been waiting for the perfect moment to start asking 100 questions. Rachael ignored Nicole’s look and sat up against the couch. “What do you do? Do you go to school too?”

Chase shook his head. “No, no school for me-at least not anymore. I uh, actually just started a job  at a law firm in LA.”

Rachael nodded, giving Nicole an approving look. “Congratulations! You're going to be one of those top lawyers.” she concluded.

Chase rubbed his chin with one of his fingers as he laughed. “Not right now, but hopefully in the future.” he stated. Rachael laughed and Nicole let out a small sigh of relief. She would be lying if she said the opinion of her friends didn’t matter to her. She wasn’t sure of what Chase and her were, but she wanted the people that she loved the most to like him, just in case. And Rachael already seemed to be warming up to him. At first it had been obvious she had been skeptical of him, Nicole knew the reason for it had been because she had brought him along on the trip. Nicole knew Rachael was just looking out for her cousin. She knew the type of people that were out there, always trying to get into Justin’s business. Yes, it had been sudden, but Nicole wanted to spend time with Chase. She also knew she should have mention something to Justin about it, but realistically she didn’t think he would mind. He had never minded, whenever Trace or Rachael brought along new people they were seeing on trips. And it was not like Justin was paying for Chase.

Nicole frowned to herself, thinking about the conversation she had with Justin earlier that day. She was interrupted out of her thoughts when she heard Justin’s familiar voice boom through the room. “What the hell are y’all doing?” Nicole followed his voice, turning around to find him standing a few feet away from the couch, Jessica in tow. Jessica rolled her eyes behind him, mouthing the word ‘sorry’, as she made her way toward one of the couches.

“Baby, you don’t have to yell.” Jessica said sitting down. She looked at all three sitting around her. “He had a shot or two of tequila with Justin before we left the golf course.” she explained.

“I’am fine.” Justin stated, giving his girlfriend a long look. “Besides we are in fucking Mexico, I should be allowed to be drunk all fucking day if I want to.” he stated. He looked between Nicole and Rachael. “Shouldn’t y’all be getting ready for tonight?” he glanced over at Jessica. “That includes you to baby.” smiling widely over at her.

“We will J. But dinner isn’t for another 2 hours.” Jessica responded.

They heard other voices getting nearer. Justin’s friend Justin and his girlfriend walked into the living room as well. The girfriend held on to her boyfriend’s hand, giving them a small smile. “Hi.” she greeted.

Her boyfriend grinned widely at the people in the room. “Hey, Rach. Hey, Jessica. Hey Nicole and…hey… Chase right?” he greeted.

His girlfriend tugged at his hand. “We are going to get ready for tonight. See you all in a bit.” she stated, and without saying another word, they both disappeared down the hall toward their room.

Chase smiled and nodded calling out after them. “Right...” It was pretty obvious he found the scene in front of him amusing. Nicole felt the same way, she glanced over at Justin, who quickly turned to look at Chase, as if he seeing him for the first time. Uh, oh. Great, she had a feeling she wasn’t going to find whatever he was going to do next amusing. She saw the look in his eyes. It was a look that was reserved whenever he was about to do or say something smartass, regardless on whether or not he was drunk.

Justin grinned. “Chase? Man, I’m sorry dude. I kept thinking your name was Jake. Ha,ha.”

Chase shook his head. “It’s okay dude.”

But Justin wasn’t going to drop it. He walked over to him, giving Chase a light slap on the back. “No, man its not. I’m sorry.” he glanced over to Nicole, a light gleam in his eyes. “But you know we would have not had that confusion if we would have known ahead of time about you man-”

Jessica quickly got up from the couch. “C’mon babe, why don’t we go take a nap before tonight?” reaching out for his hand. Justin moved his eyes from Nicole’s glare and looked up at his girlfriend. Jessica tugged on Justin’s hand, pulling him down the other hallway. Before they dissapeard fully, Jessica turned around meeting Nicole‘s eyes and, giving her an apologetic smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later on that night….

“Are you sure your okay?” Rachael asked worriedly, following Nicole out into the terrance of the club. She glanced over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow when she saw Justin step outside as well.

Nicole took in a deep breath, thankful for the fresh air. She nodded slightly. “Fine. I just needed some air.” she gripped the rail with of the terrace with one hand, while the other held on to her drink. She let out a small moan, her back to Rachael. “Whoa…is the room spinning or is it just me?”

Rachael took a step closer, reached out and took the drink from Nicole’s hand. “I think we’ve had enough cocktails for the night.” she stated with a light frown. Nicole turned around and faced Rachael wrinkling her nose. Completely ignoring Justin. “How many have you had?”

Nicole shrugged. “I don’t know. Three? Maybe four…” trailing off. She leaned against the rail. “Whoa…” she repeated, closing her eyes.

“Maybe she should go back to the villa.” Justin suggested, speaking for the first time since he stepped into the terrace.

Nicole’ eyes flew open. “Why the hell would I want to do that?” she demanded, glaring over at Justin. “Weren’t you the one that said earlier we should be allowed to be drunk all day?” she snapped. She sucked in a breath. “Besides I’am not drunk.” looking between her oldest friends. “What I really need is another drink.” giggling.

“Why don’t we pace ourselves for a bit?” Rachael suggested.

Nicole shook her head, taking in another shaky breath. All of a sudden her stomach felt queasy and the fresh air wasn’t doing what she thought it would do. Both of her hands gripped a side of the rail. “I just need to stay out here for a little bit longer.” she murmured.

Justin couldn’t help but frown. He knew her better. And he knew she wasn’t okay. The alcohol was starting to catch up with her. Nicole had never been much of a drinker. In fact, she was a lightweight. Usually by the third or fourth drink, she was ready to quit. He was surprise she had lasted this long.

“What else did you drink?” Justin asked.

With her eyes still shut, she responded snidely. “That’s really none of your business.”

“It is when you look like you are about to puke.” Justin shot back. And she really did. The color on her face had began to fade. “You look pretty pale there sweetheart.” he observed. He watched as her eyes flew open and glared deathly over at him. He didn’t care. If she didn’t get out of here, Justin had a feeling she would be puking her guts out in that terrace. Rachael looked over Justin helplessly. It was pretty obvious they were both thinking the same thing. “I can walk her back to the villa.” Justin offered. The villa was only a few blocks from the club.

“Like hell you are. I don’t need to go anywhere but back inside.” Nicole spat out. “Who made you my guardian?” she asked Justin.

“Nic.” Rachael started. Ignoring Nicole’s last comment. “You don’t look so good right now.”

Nicole opened her mouth to speak, but shut it when she felt the queasiness back in her stomach. That last cocktail had probably not been the best idea. This was not how she planned on spending her night. Feeling sick. Her planned had been to enjoy her night with Chase and her friends. Maybe have a few drinks, and do a little dancing to celebrate that she was almost half-way done with school. She hadn’t been out in a long time damn it.

She sighed. “Fine.”

“Good.” Justin stated. He looked back at Rachael. “Can you tell Jess for me?” he asked.

Nicole stopped him, shaking her head. “I don’t need for you to walk me back.”

“Okay, then I will.” Rachael stated.

Justin shook his head. “No. It’s okay, I will.” His protective side kicking in. He wanted to be the one to make sure she made it okay. He glanced back at Rachael. “I got it. I’ll make sure she gets back.” he reached out and took Nicole’s hand. Nicole pulled her hand from his grasp.

“Are you sure?” Rachael asked skeptically.

Justin nodded. “Yeah.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Will you slow down?” Justin called out a few steps behind Nicole. They had been walking for the past fifteen minutes and Nicole had not said one word to him. Infact, she had made it a point to be a few steps ahead of him. She stopped for a split second and looked over her shoulder at him, a small frown on her face, before she turned back around and continued walking. Justin let out a sigh, as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

Okay, so it was obvious she was mad at him. He had an idea of why she was upset with him. Justin only frowned to himself as his eyes fell on the back of her. Damn, even from the back the little black dress looked good on her. It was a short dress for Nicole. But it did wonders for her hour glass body. It fit tight in all the right places. All the way down to her ass. She had also pulled her hair up, exposing her neck. He swallowed, he knew he shouldn’t be doing it. But he would be lying if he didn’t think she looked good. He quickly moved his eyes toward the street, trying to keep his mind distracted from the woman in front of him.

After a few more minutes of walking Justin looked over Nicole’s shoulder, hoping they were getting closer to the villa. So far, Nicole seemed to be doing okay, but he would feel a lot better whenever they made it inside.

He gave her ass a quick glance before speaking again. “Is there a reason why you aren’t speaking to me?” he blurted out behind her as they neared the villa. Nicole didn’t respond she only continue to walk. Justin smirked to himself. Fine. “What else where you drinking?” he asked as he continue to follow her. She didn’t reply. “Why are you in such a bad mood?” he pushed.

Nicole stopped her steps as they reached the front of the villa. She glanced over at him, speaking for the first time since they left the club. “Happy? You made sure I made it okay, I think I can take care of myself from here.” she said sarcastically. He locked eyes with her for a second. Her eyes didn’t look as glaze over as they had about 25 minutes earlier.

Justin watched her turn back around. He expected her to walk toward the front door instead she walked around and toward the ocean a few feet away from the villa. He watched as she took of her heels and let her feet sink beneath the sand. “What are you doing?” he asked after her.

Without turning around she answered. “I’ am fine.” her heels in one hand.

“Fine. But what the fuck are you doing?” he repeated.

Nicole stopped walking and turned around to face him, glaring. “Oh I’ am sorry. I forgot. I need to tell you about every move I make.” she answered sarcastically. “If you must know, I’m not ready to go inside just yet.” she snidely said with a pretend smile. “Happy?”

“I know you’ve been drinking, but don’t be a bitch Nicole.” he snapped. He didn’t even now why they were fighting. But it was pretty obvious that’s what they were doing.

She looked surprisingly at him. Obviously that had not been the response she had expected from him. But Nicole bounced back quickly. “Screw you Justin.”

Justin clinched his jaw. “If you have a problem with me than just fucking tell me.” He paused. “Did you and the new boyfriend have a fight already?” he asked dryly. Shit. He knew he shouldn’t have said that. But fuck it, she was the one being a bitch. “Where was he anyway?”

Nicole took a step back toward him, facing him. She opened her mouth as if to speak but pressed her lips together instead. Without saying a word, she turned on her heels ready to walk away from him. But Justin grabbed her elbow. Nicole pulled away from his grasp. “What is your deal?!” she exclaimed. “Don’t touch me.” taking a step back from him. She paused for a split second before speaking up again. “What is your fascination with Chase anyway?”

It was Justin’s turn to glare. “Fuck you Nicole.” he spat out.

Nicole took a step back closer to him. “No, really. Whats the fascination?” she asked, tilting her head to lock eyes with him, a light smirk on her face.

Justin clinched his jaw. “You should go inside.” he stated. He knew better than to answer her.

“I’am not drunk.” Nicole stated. “C’mon J, answer the question. Whats your fascination with Chase?” she repeated.

He licked his lips. “I don’t know what your talking about.” He paused, his gaze still locked on her. “I’m not going to argue with you.” And he didn’t want to. They’ve had plenty of blow outs before and always seemed leave one or both wishing they could take back what they said. He watched her close her eyes. She wasn’t completely drunk, but he knew she wasn’t all there at the moment. “C’mon, lets go inside.” he suggested, reaching out to grab her elbow again.

Nicole was quicker and moved her elbow away. “Don’t.” she murmured. They faced each other, neither one saying a word for a few moments, except for their eyes locked on each other. She bit on her lower lip before finally speaking up. “He’s not a bad a guy.”

Justin knew she was referring to Chase. “Then where is he?” Justin blurted out with thinking. Fuck. What the hell is your problem? He asked himself.

She shook her head in disgust. “Oh I’m sorry. Your right, it does make him a bad guy because he didn’t walk me back. You on the other hand are Mr. Perfect.” she finished dryly.

Justin ran a hand over the top of his head. “That’s not what I mean. Don’t turn it around Nicole." He paused for a brief second. "But you think he would be worried about you-”

Nicole stopped him. “You wouldn’t let me go back inside!” she yelled. She let out a shaky breath. “You know what? I don’t even know why I’m even bothering to try and defend him to you. It’s obvious that it bothers you that he came on the trip.”

“What the hell are you talking about? He’s still here isn’t he?”

She rolled her eyes. “We wouldn’t have that confusion if we would have known about you sooner.” repeating his words from earlier that day in a mocking tone.

“I was drunk!” he defended.

Nicole pointed a finger at him. “No. Don’t give me that shit. I’ve seen you in worse states than that.” she reminded him. Nicole knew she should just keep quiet, but damn it, Justin was being such an ass about the whole thing and she was still a bit drunk. But she wasn’t going to admit that to him. She glanced away from him, her gaze falling on the ocean waves a few feet away from them.

Justin followed her gaze, not saying anything for a few moments. He had so many things that he wanted to tell her, but wasn’t sure if it was the right time. Letting out a sigh, he murmured. “I don’t want you to think that I hate him.” he paused. “I don’t know him to hate him.” And that was the truth. Other than that, he wasn’t sure of what else he was feeling at that moment.

She looked back up at him. “Then what’s the big deal?”

He pressed his lips together before speaking. “You didn’t bother to tell me.”

“I didn’t tell anyone Justin. I wasn’t purposely trying to keep it from you.” she stopped for a brief moment. “Its new-whatever it may be…” trailing off.

Justin clinched his jaw. He knew she hadn’t meant for it to hurt his feelings. But it had. He didn’t know why, but it had. “You could’ve have mention him.”

Nicole let out a small laugh. “Are you listening to yourself right now?” she asked him. “I’m not going to appologize for it. I have nothing to appologize for.” she told him.

“It would have been nice to have some kind of heads up about it.” he retorted.

“You’ve never had a problem with Trace and Rachael doing it-”

“Trace and Rachael are not you.” Justin blurted out, interrupting her. Did he just say that? She looked wide eyed up at him. Damn, he had just said that. He cleared his throat, looking anywhere but her face. “I just mean-it would have been nice if you would have mention something about it.”

“Why?” Nicole asked with a wrinkle of her nose, but her stomach flutter anxiously. She knew it shouldn’t, but it was.

Justin shook his head. Not sure how to answer. He did not have an answer, that was problem. He didn’t know why it bother it him so much that she had met someone new, but it did. Maybe it was the protective side of him that it bothered, he really didn’t know. “I just don’t understand why you felt you had to keep it so quiet.”

“I wasn’t. God. Don’t you understand that?”

“No, no. I guess I cant.” he stated.

“Why?” she repeated. She didn’t give him a chance to replied. “You lost the right to ask me questions like that two years ago Justin.” she whispered, locking eyes with him again. Nicole bit her lip wishing she could take that back. Why had she said that? They had an understanding. An understanding that had not failed them in almost fifteen years.

“I didn’t realize I had that right at one point.” he retorted. Knowing exactly what Nicole was talking about.

Nicole snorted back her laughter, shaking her head. “No. No. I’m not going there. Forget it.”

“Why not?” Justin challenged. “You brought it up for a reason right? Hell, we never actually talked about it did we?” he paused. “Is that why you’re doing this? Is that why you kept it quiet? To get back at me?”

Nicole tossed her head back and let out a small laugh. “Are you sure you’re not drunk?” Turning on her heels and walking away from Justin once again.

Justin ignored her question and followed right behind her. Maybe it was time for them to let it out in the open. To finally talk about what happen two years ago. They had moved past it, but never truly talked about it. It seemed pointless to talk about something they both knew they couldn’t change. “C’mon Nicole. Why not huh?” he pushed.

Nicole came to a halt, her feet a few inches away from the water. “Why not what?” she retorted, her back toward him. She turned around again and starred over at him. “How is this getting back at you?" She breath in deeply before speaking again. "I least waited more than a few hours before finding someone new.” she blurted out.

Justin winced. And there it was.

Silence hit them again, except for the waves crashing against each other, a few feet away from them.

“That’s not fair Nicky,” Justin started. “You didn’t give me the chance to even explain.” he answered defensively.

Nicole shook her head. “It doesn’t even matter. I mean we have an understanding. You had every right to keep it quiet. I mean- I should know better, with the press always wanting to be in your face.”

No. Damn it. That was not the answer he wanted. He wanted to know why she had not let him explain. Why she had decided to just drop it. Why she had quickly backed out of everything they had talked about. God damn it, two years ago, he had been ready to be with her. Truly be with her.

“And its for the better.” she finished.

“Is it?”

Nicole took in a deep breath. "You’ve made up your mind remember?”

“No, Nic, you made that choice for me.” he answered. He took a step closer to her. Screw it. He was just going to say it. He knew he had no right, but he didn’t care. He loved Jessica, he did, he loved her more than anything in the world. But him and Nicole still had some unfinished business. He didn’t wait for her to answer. “I love Jessica, I do.” he started, wanting to make that clear. He swallowed. “But yes, Chase being here does bother me to an extent. And I wish I could give you an answer to why. But I don’t have one. I don’t. I wish it didn’t bother me, but it does.”

Nicole scoffed. “You think I like seeing you with her all the time?” she confessed. “I wish I didn’t care, but I do.” she licked her lips. “But I deal with it.” She let out a shaky breath. “The last time around J, I really thought…” trailing off. Not wanting to continue.

“We could have.” Justin said simply, knowing exactly what she meant.

“But it doesn’t even matter-”

Justin stopped her. “It doesn’t matter?” he repeated. “After everything-you were okay to just let it go just like that?” he asked her.

“God, why are we even having this conversation?” Nicole asked outloud. “You made your choice-”

“No, no Nicole. You made the choice. You wouldn’t even let me try and explain. You just assumed that’s what I wanted.” he stated.

“What was I supposed to do?” Nicole exclaimed.

“Nothing happened that night.”

“That’s not the point Justin. The point was, as soon as you saw that things weren’t perfect, you had to go out and find someone new.” she replied. “Relationships don’t work that way.” she paused. “So all I kept thinking was, if one stupid fight had already made you want to find someone knew, then what did that say about the future? And then you didn’t even bother to tell me, until after I confronted you about it. How do you think that made me feel?!” she exclaimed.

“You could have said something.”

“I was scared!” she confessed.

“Scared of what?”

“Of losing you okay?” she stated. “I rather keep you as my best friend than lose you over a stupid fight.” She choked back the tears, taking a step toward him. “I don’t know if I could handle losing you. As much I -” she stopped herself. Where was all this coming from? She had lost it. But she couldn’t seem to control the words that were coming out of her mouth. “You mean too much too me okay?” she stated. “There. Happy? Is that what you wanted to hear?” Turning on her heels.

“Nicole-”

“What?!” she yelled, turning to face him again..

Justin took a step in her direction. “You-you-cant just-”

“What?!” she repeated.

Before Justin had a chance to think twice, he took a closer step toward her, wrapped his arms around the small of her waist, and kissed her forcefully. Nicole kissed him back for a few seconds before pushing him off her. She moved her fingers to her lips. Not sure of what had just happened. She breathed heavely for a few moments as her eyes locked with his.

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done-” Justin started.

Nicole didn’t wait for him to finish as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Forgettting about everything and everybody at that moment. All that mattered was them, wrapped in each others arms.