"emma would you hurry up! were supposed to be at the carters in five minutes!" amanda yelled in the direction of her room.

"im almost ready!" emma yelled back.

amanda glanced at her other roommate and rolled her eyes,"were never on time for anything because shes always 'almost ready'."

faye laughed,"be nice. you know every hair has to be in place on her precious head."

"i heard that," emma said coming into the room.

amanda rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag,"lets go before they leave without us."

the other two nodded and followed her out to the car.

"aj i need your help," nick said walking into the guest room aj was staying in.

aj looked up from fixing his new blue dyed hair,"with what?"

"what shirt to wear. the girls will be here in like five minutes."

aj rolled his eyes,"nick, your gonna be wearing a jacket, what does it matter?"

"but if i take off my jacket i cant be wearing some ugly shirt. just help me please."

aj sighed and followed him to his room. nick opened the closet,"okay, pick something."

"well is your jacket black too or a different color?"

"its dark green."

aj reached into the closet and pulled out a shirt as the doorbell rang. he tossed it to nick,"hurry up." he went downstairs and opened the door,"hello ladies, come in."

the three girls walked in. emma said,"aj, this is my friend faye. faye-aj."

"nice to meet you," aj said holding out his hand.

"you too," she said taking his hand. he kissed her hand softly and amanda rolled her eyes.

"hey aj, is th...yeah its them. hi girls. hi, im brian," he said introduing himself to faye.

faye laughed slightly and nodded,"i know. im faye."

brian laughed,"sorry. sometimes i forget people know who i am." he turned and yelled up the stairs,"come on guys!"

"how are we getting there?" emma asked.

"um...im gonna drive and nick is gonna drive. so four in one car and five in the other."

kevin and howie came downstairs and were introduced to faye. kevin took faye's bag for her while brian took both emma and amandas. "nick! aaron! two minutes or were gone without you!"

both aaron and nick came running downstairs. aaron barreled into amanda almost knocking her down.

aj quickly caught her,"whoa...aaron slow down."

"sorry, lets go! lets go!"

amanda blushed and quickly moved out of ajs arms. aj frowned and mumbled,"sorry."

"okay, lets do it this way," kevin said starting to take charge.

brian rolled his eyes and elbowed nick,"here he go..." his voice trailed off when he realized the only thing nick was paying attention to was the fact that emma had on the same ski jacket as him.

"nick, faye, emma, and me. aj, howie, amanda, aaron, and brian. is that okay?"

nick blushed and nodded. brian nodded,"okay, lets go."

they piled into the cars and headed up to the resort. nick kept up nervous chatter with emma who was sitting beside him in the passenger side while kevin and faye sat in the back talking like old friends.

once they reached the resort they rented their ski equipment and split up. emma, nick, aj, amanda, and aaron in one group and faye, kevin, brian and howie in the other.

"okay, amanda and aj. you take the lift in front of us," emma said.

amanda gave her a look but sat beside aj on the bench. emmas sat on the bench behind them. nick lifted aaron and set him down beside her then sat next to him.

emma glanced at aaron,"sweetie, are you sure you want to try snowboarding?"

aaron nodded and swung his feet back and forth kicking both emma and nick who had on skis.

amanda leaned over the side of the lift as they went up the mountain. aj glanced at her,"um...sorry about that stupid line yesterday."

amanda sat back and nodded,"im sorry about what I said. force of habit."

aj nodded and tried to think of something else to say without sounding flirty.

amanda made a face and wrinkled her nose,"dude your hair smells."

"yeah but look how good it looks...."

amanda glanced at him, eyebrows raised,"yeah, okay."

he smiled,"you know you want me."

amanda couldnt help but laugh and shoved him lightly. aj who was sitting on the edge of the bench lost his balance and fell the last foot in the snow.

amandas eyes widen in surprise and she got off the lift and waited for him. he came up brushing the snow off his jacket,"what was that for?!"

"im so sorry! I didnt know you were sitting that close to the edge!"

"yeah, yeah," aj mumbled.

the other three got off the lift and came over to them. "okay aaron, you can go by yourself but be careful," nick said holding onto emmas arm so she wouldnt fall a fourth time.

aaron nodded and took off down the mountain. aj bumped amanda making her wobble. "race you to the bottom," he said taking off.

she glared at him and followed him down. nick let go of emmas arm slowly,"you balanced?"

she nodded and promptly fell on her butt. nick bent down to help her up and fell on her. emma laughed,"i dont think this is what were supposed to be doing."

nick blushed and got up, pulling her to her feet. she shook the snow out of her ponytail and helped him brush it off his jacket.

he blushed again and smiled,"lets try again." she nodded and followed him down the trail. they managed to make it down a couple of times without causing any major accidents.

"hey, theres aaron," emma said.

nick nodded and elbowed her,"ill race you..."

"okay. ready, set..." she took off,"go!!"

"hey! cheater!" he went down after her.

she slowed to a stop about half way down the trail. nick crashed into her, sending them both into the snow.

"why'd you stop?" he asked pulling her up.

"someones hurt," she said pointing to the crowd of people with an ambulance parked near by.

"i hope the-"

emma grabbed his arm and pointed in the snow a few feet in front of them,"thats aarons board."

nicks eyes widened and he popped off his skis and ran over to the ambulance. emma took off her skis, grabbed his and followed him. she caught up to him after he talked to the paramedic.

nick turned around teary eyed,"its aaron."

emma sighed and hugged him. "will they let you ride in the ambulance?"

nick wiped his eyes and nodded. "okay, im gonna find the others and tell them what happened. we'll meet you at the hospital okay?"

nick shook his head and watched as they put the stretcher in the ambulance,"can you come with me? please...."

"yeah, come on." she took his hand and led him to the front of the ambulance and climbed in. emma used nicks cellphone to leave amanda a voicemail about what had happened.

they got to the hospital and waited while the doctors took care of aaron. nick paced the waiting room still crying, biting his nails.

emma came over to him,"i called your parents and their on the way."

nick nodded distractedly. emma sighed,"nick, hes gonna be okay."

nick wiped his face with the back of his hand,"but what if hes not not. what if hes hurt too badly."

emma hugged him and rubbed his back,"but he will be nick. he'll be FINE."

nick sighed and rested his chin on her shoulder,"i hope your right."

the others rushed into the hospital as the doctor came over. he explained to them that aaron had a broken leg and was unconcious from bumping his head but should be fine in a couple of hours.

jane and bob went into aarons room while the others sat in the waiting room. emma looked up at nick and smiled,"i told you he would be okay."

nick and nodded and blushed suddenly realizing he was holding her in his arms. he moved his arms and stepped back a little,"thanks."

she nodded and kissed him on the cheek,"im glad i could help."

nick watched her walk over to the others and sit down with a small smile on his lips before joining his parents in aarons room.