nick stumbled into brians room, favorite blanket in hand, and laid down.

brian put his baseball hat on and turned around,"nick what are you doing? we have rehearsal today."

"i dont feel good," he said with his nose stuffed up.

"oh, this is gonna make kevin happy."

nick made a face,"you tell him for me."

brian called kevin into the room and shook his head,"im not getting yelled at for YOU not dressing warm enough yesterday."

nick pouted and sat up. kevin came into the room,"yeah?"

"nick has to tell you something."

nick took a deep breath and said in one word, "kevimtoosicktogotorehearsalandimjustgonnastayhome." he flinched waiting for the wrath of kevin.

"okay, just as long as your resting and not playing video games."

"huh?"

"well we cant have you sick so just rest and ill see you later. bri, ill meet you downstairs," kevin said. brian nodded in shock as kevin left the room.

"okay...that WASNT kevin."

brian shook his head,"i wonder what ma..."he started to smile,"i know what it is..."

"what?"

"he was gonna aske faye out last night. she must have said yes. thank goodness for small miracles."

nick laughed and stood up,"im gonna go back to bed. ill see you when you get back." brian nodded and nick left, bumping right into emma.

"whoa, im sor...nick...are you okay...?"

he blushed,"im just a little sick."

she put her hand to his forehead,"yeah, you have a fever. why dont you go back to bed. i need to drop a few things off with your mom for aaron and then ill come visit you."

he nodded and went back into his room. he crawled into bed, hiding his stuffed bear under the other pillow. emma came in a few minutes later with some asprin and a bottle of water. she sat on the edge of the bed and handed it to him,"your mom said to take these."

he nodded and took the asprin,"thanks."

"lay down. do you want me to stay or leave so you can rest?"

he laid down,"stay...please."

she nodded and went to grab a chair. he grabbed her hand,"you can lay on the bed if you want."

"are you sure?"

he blushed and nodded. she laid down beside him,"whats wrong with this pillow? its all lumpy..." she reached under it and pulled out his bear. "aww...is he yours?"

nick turned red,"um...uh..."

she smiled,"i think its cute. im not gonna tease you so dont worry." she set the bear down between them.

nick smiled slightly,"um...so you want to watch tv or something?"

"sure, whatever you want."

he smiled and turned the tv on. within 10 minutes they were both fast asleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"hey amanda," aj said opening the front door.

"um...aj...you are aware of the fact that this isnt your house right?"

"isnt it?" he asked pulling her into the house and closing the door.

she rolled her eyes,"no. do you know where emma is?"

"i think jane said something about her keeping nick company. come on...."

she followed him upstairs,"wheres everyone else?"

"um...brian went with the rest of the carters to the hospital, kevin went to see faye, and howie..." he paused and rolled his eyes,"howies on his cell."

"so basically your unsupervised."

he smiled innocently and opened nicks bedroom door. he peeked in,"awww...how cute..."

amanda stuck her head in and couldnt help but smile. somehow during their nap, they had moved closer. nick had one arm around her and she was resting her head on his chest.

"has he asked her out yet?" aj whispered.

amanda shook her head and grinned evilly. she whispered something to aj who smirked and nodded. they stood in the doorway and amanda nodded.

"FIRE!!!"

emma shot straight up in bed while nick rolled off and hit the floor. emma looked around and glared at the two laughing hyenas in the doorway. she leaned over the side of the bed to nick who was still in a state of shock laying face down on the hardwood floor. "nick, are you okay?"

"...ow..."

she knelt next to him and rolled him over,"whoa, okay...your gonna have a really attractive red mark on your forehead."

nick sat up, wincing slightly and glared at amanda and aj,"thanks alex. you to mandy."

amanda stopped laughing and glared at him silently. "nick...if you want to live to see 20 dont ever call her that again," emma said helping him to his feet. "lets go get an ice pack for that bump."

aj and amanda tried not to laugh and followed them down to the kitchen. they sat at the kitchen table and emma held the ice pack to nicks head.

nick sighed and closed his eyes,"so was there another reason you two came to annoy us?"

"i just came to see if emma needed a ride home," amanda said.

"oh yeah." she took nicks hand and put it up to his head to hold his ice pack. "ill see you guys."

nick opened his eyes,"no wait. um...are you busy tomorrow?"

the shook their heads and aj looked at him curiously. "do you maybe want to go on a picnic tomorrow? maybe to the beach..."

aj looked a little surprised that nick had been so forward. emma glanced at amanda who shrugged. she nodded,"sure, i havent been to the beach in a while."

nick smiled,"cool...the i guess we'll see you tomorrow."

emma smiled and kissed him on the cheek,"bye guys."

the two girls left and aj glanced at nick, still a little blushy from the kiss. "okay carter...where did that come from?"

nick shruged and tilted his head back still holding the ice pack,"i dunno...it just came out."

"you do realize that means emmas not gonna be wearing much..."

nicks eyes shot open and he turned bright red. aj laughed and stood up. "at least now it wont be a total shock," he said patting him on the back before going upstairs.