The next morning after Elise came out of the bathroom she heard the phone downstairs ringing. She ran down the stairs and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi Elise. It’s Erica, I was searching for this number for months and I just found it this morning. How are you?" the voice on the other end said.
"Oh my god! Erica where have you been? I haven’t talked to you since the day I got out of the hospital." Elise was so surprised to hear the voice of her long-time friend.
"Hey Baby! Who’s on the phone?" A.J. asked coming down the stairs pulling on his boxers and a pair of pants.
"Oh Elise is that A.J.? I heard a lot about you two from fans. That’s the only way I’ve been able to keep up on some stuff you do. Isn’t it ironic?"
"Yes it’s A.J., would you like to say hello?" Elise smiled and turned to A.J. "Baby, it’s Erica, say hello."
"Hi A.J. how you been?" Erica asked when she was certain that he was on the phone.
"Oh I’ve been great Erica, I’m married and soon I will be a daddy." he winked at Elise.
"You’re lying to me. You can’t be married. I would have heard of it online." Erica gasped.
"Erica, you should know by now that A.J. is spontaneous." Elise said picking up the other phone.
"Well I guess that’s true… so when did it happen?" Erica inquired.
The couple told Erica everything and she just sat back and "took notes" on all they were saying. "You two are crazy… anyways I just called to tell you I’m in town but since you’re newly-weds I’ll call later."
"No! You are going to join us for lunch, we’ll invite Nick, you can’t say no." A.J. insisted.
"Well… ok fine I’ll come." she gave in.
"Nick will pick you up from your hotel then, I think you should stay at his house while you’re here too ‘cause when people see you with us they’ll get into your stuff." A.J. said and winked at his wife. He was only joking.
After they hung up the couple got cleaned up and dressed. "Alex! Hurry up, please, I haven’t seen her in forever!" Elise pleaded with him to hurry and finish his "trimming".
"I’m coming," he said and kissed his wife, "What’s the rush, another half hour won’t kill you." He winked and led her to the car.
When they arrived for lunch they found a very content Nick and Erica. "Then he said… oh there they are, where have you been? Doing a little something, something?" Nick said smiling.
Elise slapped the grin off his face and sat down next to her friend and they began to whisper to each other. "Ouch, god what was that for?" Nick rubbed his cheek.
"That’ll teach you to mess with a McLean," A.J. said as he sat down. "Besides god had nothing to do with it."
Elise laughed and apologized to Nick. "It’s ok I probably shouldn’t have said that anyway. I was rude." He responded.
By the end of lunch the suggestion A.J. had made as a joke came up and surprisingly it was accepted. "You really wanna live with me?" Nick said surprised.
Blushing Erica said, "Yes, I mean if you don’t mind."
"Well it’s fine with me. I would love to have you stay with me." Nick smiled at her and they just sat there smiling at each other.
"Would they just kiss," A.J. whispered to Elise who kissed him.
"You are such a sweetheart." He smiled at her and they watched as Nick moved in for the kill.
They both leaned in and just as they were about to kiss the waitress came over with the check. "Dang it!" Nick said when they had walked out and Erica was up ahead of him.
"Nick it’s ok, you have all the time in the world. Just let this one go." A.J. told his friend.
The girls dropped back and walked next to A.J. and Nick. They sat down on a bench and A.J. pulled Elise onto his lap. As he kissed her neck Nick and Erica watched. They both wanted each other but it was like something pulled them apart.
"I wanna love you like I’ve never loved you tonight if it’s alright…" A.J. sang softly in her ear.
When he lifted his voice, he picked her up and they began dancing, soon Nick and Erica had joined in. When he finished singing he stopped and watched Erica and Nick. Elise knew what he was doing she kissed him.
Nick pulled Erica close to him and he could feel her heart beating. "Can I kiss you?" he whispered.
She smiled up at him and nodded. He lifted her face to his and his lips brushed against hers. She kissed him back and they turned to the couple standing next to them. ‘Thank you’ Nick mouthed to them. A.J. nodded and made them go home. "I wanna be with my wife now. Don’t bother us at all this next week." He warned, "That goes for all the other guys too. This is our honeymoon."
The couple walked off and didn’t turn back to say good-bye. They knew A.J. and Elise had already slipped into the thick trees surrounding them. "Come on Erica, we’re going home." Nick put him arm around her.