She took a deep breath and sank down onto the couch when she heard the door creak open. "Come on in guys," she yelled.

"Hey Nic," Isaac said, avoiding her eyes. He had been very distant since the trip, but she had no idea why. He kissed her forehead absently and sat down beside her.

"Hey," Taylor said, waving and sitting down in the armchair across from the couch. Then Zac bounced in, said his hello, and began his game on the Nintendo. She was very relieved that he wasn't pissed at her anymore; the worst thing in the world was to have Zac Hanson mad at you.

"What did you want to talk about Nic?" Isaac asked, meeting her eyes for a second. And at that instant she had absolutely no idea what she was going to say to him.

"Well," Nicole began, "um...Ike, I have to say this. This is going to change everything forever, and we'll never get it back. But I'm afraid that it's already gone."

She knows, he thought. "Nic, I have to say something," he said. "Before you start, you have to know how unbelievably sorry I am. I didn't mean to do it. Like you said, we may have lost everything already. But I'm so sorry Nicole."

"Isaac?" she said quietly. "What are you talking about?"

"I want to say it didn't mean anything Nic," he said, frantic now. "But I can't. Because I think it did. And I can't help that. I just hope you'll forgive me for what I've done."

"What did you do?" she asked, completely confused. Why is she doing this? he wondered. Why doesn't she just tell me that she knows?

"You know what I did Nic," he said. "And I can't take it back. Because I don't want to. I don't regret kissing Christen. But I do regret cheating on you."

"Excuse me?" Nicole asked, choking on the words. "Kissing Christen? What the hell are you talking about?"

Isaac looked into her eyes for the second time and realized something. She had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. "Oh man," he whispered, putting his face in his hands.

When he looked back up, all eyes were on him. Taylor had sat up straight in his chair and was eyeing him with suspicion. Zac had stopped his game and turned around, his mouth hanging open in surprize. And Nicole was clutching the arm of the couch with shock, staring wide-eyed at him.

"I kissed Christen," he whispered, knowing that he had to tell her now. "On the slope. Right before you saw us."

Nicole let go of the couch and seemed to deflate, right before his eyes. "Ohmygod," she said, a smile spreading across her face. "I don't believe this."

"I'm sorry Nic-" Isaac started.

"Hush Ike," she said, laughing now. He looked at her with interest. Why was she acting so relieved? "Now it's going to be a lot easier to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Isaac asked, remembering why she had invited them over in the first place.

"I wanted to tell you that I think we should end this," she said. "Our relationship has been on hold for months, and we shouldn't let it drag on if we don't want it to. Agree?"

"I...I agree," he said slowly. Had she felt the same way as he had the whole time?

"Okay, then here comes the hard part," she said, taking another deep breath. "Ike, would you mind if...me and Tay...we want to see...aaaaagh!" she cried. "Let me try this again. There have been things happening between me and Tay lately," she said, nodding toward Taylor. "And we want to know if you'd be upset if we...you know, got together. To see if there's anything there."

Isaac took a moment to let this register, and slowly stood. He walked toward Taylor and raised his hand. To his surprize, Taylor shrank away from it. But when he offered his outstretched palm, Taylor shook it.

"I thought you were going to hit me man," Taylor said, laughing.

"You finally did it," Isaac said, ignoring the comment. He may have very well hit Taylor, for how he was feeling now. But he kept the anger inside. That wouldn't help anything. "You finally told Nicole how you feel about her."

"Wha...," Taylor mumbled, his eyes growing larger. "How did you know?"

"Taylor, you've been following her like a puppy for fourteen years. How could I not notice? I just didn't say anything about it. But anyways, now that you have her, I wish you two the best. I love you two and I wouldn't want to see Nic with anyone else." Isaac turned and headed for the door.

"What about me?" Zac said curiously, from his place on the floor.

"Sorry man," Isaac said, laughing. "You couldn't handle her. Now if I can go, I need to make a call."

"Five five five, one four two four," Nicole said. Isaac looked at her curiously. "That's Christen's number," she said sadly.

"Thanks Nic," Isaac said. He walked back to where she was sitting and kissed her softly on the cheek. "Come on Zac, let's go."

Zac obediently stood and followed Isaac out the door. As soon as it shut, Taylor and Nicole both uttered sighs of relief.