CHAPTER SIX

Nick stood at the bar waiting for his and Luci's drinks. He could fell the presence of some at his shoulder and he turned toward his right to find Allie. "Hey." he greeted.

"Hey. Do you know where Luc and A.J. went? I went to the bathroom and now I can't find them. It's total confusion." Allie responded.

"I know, but I have no idea where they are. I went to get drinks for us." Nick replied, as the drinks came. He turned back around, but his elbow caught Luci's martini, and sent it flying. The drink covered Allie. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

Allie rolled her eyes, and reached for napkins at the same time Nick did. Luckily, no accident happened this time. As Nick stepped closer to help Allie their glances met and the next thing Allie knew they were kissing. It was an incredible, emotion felt kissed. When Allie realized what was happening, she pulled away. Before she could say anything, Luci was standing next to her.

Luci looked totally scared, upset, and not really sure of everything. "Al, We...uh, we need to go." she mumbled, shifting her weight, and not meeting either of their gazes.

Both Nick's and Allie's faces were red, but she clearly hadn't seen what they were just doing. Allie looked up at Nick. "Okay." she agreed. "Tell A.J...I'll call him."

"Alright..." Nick muttered, "I'll call you tomorrow Lucinda."

"Uh..yeah.." Luci agreed, before abruptly kissing him on the cheek and nearly running out of the rave.

~+~+~+~+~

The next night, Allie and Luci sat on the couch both pretending to watch TV, even though their minds were light years away. Neither girl had talked to their respective boyfriend since going to the rave, even though both guys had called numerous times.

"Luci?" Allie asked quietly, "Are you okay?"

Luci wanted to reply 'No. No I'm not okay. I made out with your boyfriend and I liked it. Of course I'm not okay!', but she kept her mouth shut. Allie had always thought that Luci was trying to steal her boyfriends and this would give her more ammunition, but Luci wasn't trying. "Yeah, I'm okay...why?" Luci lied, putting MTV on.

"I don't know...you look upset." Allie answered, twisting her hair around her index finger. She felt horrible. She wanted more than anything to tell Luci about what happened with Nick. Luci was her best friend and Allie told her everything, but didn't want to upset her.

"I'm not." Luci responded. "I'm just bored."

"Oh..do you-" Allie began to suggest, but was cut off by a knock on the door. "Did you order pizza or something?"

"Nope." Luci replied, "Come in. It's unlocked."

The door swung open and both Nick and A.J. stepped in. "Hey." they both greeted in unison.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" Luci responded quickly as Nick walked over and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"What? We can't come to see you?" A.J. teased. "You weren't answering the phone and the way you booked it from the rave we wanted to make sure you were okay."

Luci shot him a look that said 'You know exactly what's wrong.', but said nothing. "So what are you doing tonight?" Nick asked, casually sitting down on the couch next to Allie.

"Luci and I are going to Sunday night dinner at my house." Allie informed them, sliding slowly away from Nick. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to do that.

"That sounds fun. I don't remember the last time my whole family sat down and had dinner together." Nick replied.

"We do it every other Sunday night. Every Tuesday we have dinner with Luci's dad." Allie stated, watching Luci warily. Something was definitely wrong. Luci had to know that she and Nick had kissed last night. She had to know. "You can, uh, come if you want."

Nick and A.J. glanced quickly at each. "Sure that fine. If you family doesn't mind." A.J. told her.

"Yup, I bet they would love to meet your boyfriend, Al." Luci piped up, looking pointedly at A.J.

Allie felt her heart jump. What did she mean? That proves she knew.  "Sure...I'll go call to make sure." Allie said nervously, before walking into the kitchen.

"I'm gonna get a drink." Nick informed everyone following Allie into the kitchen, leaving Luci and A.J. alone.

"We need to talk." A.J. announced.

"No we don't." Luci responded, stubbornly.

"Lucinda, yes we do."

"A.J. you are Allie boyfriend, and I'm Nick's girlfriend. I won't take my best friend's boyfriend. So in other words we have nothing to talk about."

"Luci...I told Nick last night. He understands." A.J. protested. Nick had also told him about what had happened with Allie, but he didn't feel it was his place to tell her that.

"You what?" Luci gasped, her eyes bugging.

"I'm not going to lie to him. You should tell Allie too."

"Mind you own business."

"Luci, I know you felt what I felt last night. We belong together."

"I am not taking my best friend's boyfriend."

"What if we broke up?"

"I am not taking my best friend's left overs."

"Left overs?"

"You heard me."

A.J. sighed. He didn't think Luci was going to be this stubborn. "Fine, Luci, be that way, but you realize it soon."

Luci rolled her eyes. She wanted him, but she wouldn't do anything to hurt Allie. Why had he gone and done this? She stood up and walked out of the room.

~+~+~+~+~

"Nick you really need to stop flirting with me in front of A.J. and Luci." Allie stated, after she got off the phone with her Mom.

Nick took a deep breath. "A.J. knows." he said quietly. He didn't feel it was his place to tell her about A.J. and Luci's kiss. "He asked if I knew why you guys left and I told him."

Allie sighed. "I think Luci knows too....but I haven't told her," she replied, shaking her head. She hadn't wanted to do this. She felt so guilty.

"So are you and A.J. going to break up?"

"Nick...I don't know...okay? Let's just leave this alone. I need to go get ready."