TIME TO BREAK

---
Calm things down
I need a break
From everything
Around me
---

Nick looked at the address Vida scribbled on his hand and checked if he was at the right place. He was riding his bike through Briarwood looking for a friend's house.

Finally finding the right door, after several minutes of searching, Nick knocked and waited for a response. Nothing. He knocked again, this time a little harder. When he was about to turn and leave, the door opened a crack, Nick wasn't sure if he should walk in. Peering in slightly, Nick saw a scantly clad woman leaning against the wall with her hand barely on the doorknob. It look like she didn't have the energy to open the door completely. Her eyes were partly shut and everything else about her appearance was unnerving. Nick thought he probably knocked on the wrong door until he saw Xander standing on the staircase with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"You should have warned me you were coming…" Xander's voice was dejected, as a heavy sigh could be heard in his words. He came down the stairs and dragged his mother very gently back to the living room where she fell into the sofa and passed out again.

Xander walked back to the door and let Nick in, without once looking at his face.

"You know, maybe this isn't a good time?" Nick questioned as he climbed the stairs to Xander's room.

Xander remained silent. He opened the door and offer Nick a seat at his study desk.

Nick noted that Xander's room was a lot emptier than he'd imagined. Just a bed, a study area and that was pretty much it.

"Is something wrong?" Xander asked, after a long moment of silence.

Nick snapped back to attention and answered, "Uh, I was just wondering how you were doing?"

Xander sat himself down on the edge of his bed, leaning his elbows on his thighs and rubbing his temples slowly while eyes were shut. "I'm super." He chuckled darkly.

"A couple of years ago, I was in a similar situation," Nick began when he stopped. Xander lifted his head slightly and arched an eyebrow skeptically.

"Oh really? You've got a Mother who brings home a different man almost every night after getting drunk at another bar. Then spends the rest of the day drinking herself into the ground and passes out every few hours. You live in a dump practically alone every day and night with nothing but your bloody thoughts slowly messing you up--" Xander stopped. His voice suddenly giving out and he ducked his face back under his hands and shook his head slowly.

Nick sat back, stunned, raking his brain for something to say.

"Yeah, something like that." He finally said and Xander chuckled again, as darkly and humorlessly as before.

"Xander, I've lived with some crazy people in the past, and I know how hard it can be to cope in your situation. Trust me on that." Nick was leaning forward now, resting his elbows on his legs now as well.

Xander remained silent and just continued rubbing his temples.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind, but he wasn't sure he should ask.

Nick thought for a moment on how to phrase his question, "Xander, there's an extra room at my sister's place if you want to get out of here for awhile…" Nick's voice was unsure as he watched Xander's head slowly look up at him.

"What?" Xander's face was confused.

"Do you wanna stay with me and my sister for awhile, until things here blow over?" Nick was starting to regret he ever asked this when Xander's face was still pinched in a confused expression.

"I can't." Was all he said.

"Why not?" It was Nick's turn to be confused.

"Who is gonna take care of my mom?" Xander simply said, his eyes drained of any feeling.

"You can check up on her as much as you want. But Xander, you can't stay locked up in this room alone. Just listen to me on this one time." Nick insisted.

"I dunno…" Xander was thinking now, sitting up straight he considered the offer properly.

"What about your sister, I mean it's her place…I don't want to intrude--" Xander began to say but was cut off by Nick who waved a dismissing hand. "Don't worry about that," Nick added.

"I need go talk to my mom for a second." Xander got up and left quickly.

Nick followed him out the door and waited outside. He felt horrible, wishing he'd come here sooner, if only he had any idea what Xander was really going through. He hid it so well, Nick thought sadly.

A short while later, Xander came out with a hint of a smile, "You still sure you want me to stay with you guys?" Hope in his eyes that he hadn't heard wrong.

"Yeah man, when can you come over?" Nick said, looking surprised at the slight change in Xander's mood and then questioned whether it was genuine or not. He couldn't be sure.

"I need some packing all my things and stuff…" Xander began and was once again cut off by Nick's excited voice, "Hey, I'll call the others and see if they can help?" He was already on his cell-phone morpher.

----

It was getting late, but all the bags and a couple of boxes were loading into Vida's jeep and they were off to Nick's place.

A medium sized house in the middle of your usual suburban neighborhood was their stop of the night. Everyone got out and carried the bags and boxes into Nick's place.

Chip ran out and grabbed the last bag, and shut the front door behind him. After dropping the bag in front of the stairs, he headed to the living room where everyone else was.

"Hey, you guys feel like some pizza tonight?" Nick was in a good mood, standing in the front room wearing a tight dark red t-shirt that was on display after shrugging off his leather jacket.

Vida immediately ran to the phone and called for the pizza, mostly because she had a very specific order and didn't want Chip to get there first. The last time he ordered a pizza, they got smelly blue cheese instead of mozzarella. Chip claimed it was the more healthier and organic way to eat.

It was a hot night and Madison was glad she wore her shorts and tank top, as she stretched out on the double-seated sofa. "Hey, Xander…" She whispered in his direction, he looked around and leaned closer.

"I want you to fill me in on life with Nick, okay?" She said this with a naughty smile on her face. That brought a smile to Xander's face and couldn't help him from smirking in his usual way.

"Anything specific?" Xander whispered back, still grinning.

Madison started to laugh and that caught the attention of Nick. "Hey, what are you two whispering about?" Nick came over and crossed his arms across his chest with a suspicious look on his face.

Both Madison and Xander looked in different directions, with absolutely innocent faces.

"Hey, while we wait for the pizzas to arrive, wanna play a game?" Vida thought she'd lighten up the mood even more.

"Ooh, that's sounds good!" Chip's face lit up and he sank into the seat next to Nick with ease.

Madison sat up quickly when she caught the sneaky look in her sister's eye, "No way Vida!" She threw a cushion at Vida's head.

"Oh, c'mon, it'll be fun!" Vida yelled back, insisting her idea was great. She sat on the ground near the fire place where Xander was lounging near by. His face looked doubtful and that made Vida grin even more.

"Lets play Truth or Dare!" She squealed.

The room was silent, only Madison moved when her head dropped in defeat.

"Who wants to go first?" Vida's excitement was hard to ignore and Xander's hand shot up in the air. Nick glanced over at him with surprise, but was happy he was in a better mood now.

Next thing you know, Xander's voice was shrill as he answered, "DARE!"

Vida sat back for a second and thought about what she'd say. "Hmmm."

Her eyes lit up and her big smile was back, "Oooh! I'm gonna blow you away?" She leaned forward on her knees clapped her hands together really loud.

"You are gonna blow. me…um…away?" Xander's words sounded strangled as his eyes couldn't stop blinking.

"Xander, you're blushing!" Madison laughed. Nick and Chip joined in too. Vida's smile faded as she looked confused. "What do you mea--" and then she clapped a hand over her mouth. "I didn't mean it like that!" She threw a cushion at Xander's head, hitting him hard as he fell backwards and snapped out of it.

They were all laughing now.

-----

It was a few hours later, the pizzas were eaten and everyone was in the living room sprawled on the ground in a cozy circle.

It was strange, to feel this at ease when things were getting so bad with The Master. An unsettling feeling griped Madison as her face suddenly became more serious. I should be at Rootcore researching or doing something more productive than just laying around and having fun.

I felt a gently nudge on her right side, she looked over and concerned Nick staring her. Getting a little embarrassed by the intensity of his stare, Madison looked away and let her hair fall across her face, creating a barrier of sorts. Her face was flushed and she didn't have any control over it.

I decided to escape to the kitchen, picking the boxes of pizza up, as an excuse to be alone for a moment. My emotions were out of control. One minute I was upset and the next, she had butterflies in I stomach. What is going on with me?

"I'll help you." Nick got up and gathered the rest of the boxes and cups that were scattered everywhere.

I took a deep breath and headed for the kitchen. Be cool, be cool… I thought quickly. Ew, why am I all jumpy and nervous? I asked myself.

"It's gonna be interesting having Xander living here," I said casually, trying to hide my discomfort. The kitchen was bright, and very big. I set the boxes on the table near the garbage and walked off to the other end of the kitchen to set on a chair. Nick was busy putting things away, and went to stand near the sink to wash his hands.

"Yeah, I hope I made the right decision." Nick's lips were pursed, his hands were and he couldn't find a towel dry off. I found one on the table in front of me and threw it at him. He caught it naturally, and grinned over at me. I ducked my head and tried not to smile.

"Hey, you forgot this last night when you came over unannounced…" His voice was teasing as he handed me my hair clip, it must have fallen out when I fell asleep on his couch yesterday. I don't know why, but I blushed.

I mumbled a embarrassed 'thank you' and stuck the clip in my jean pocket.

"I don't know why, but I get the feeling you're a little, um…" Nick leaned against the counter, arms crossed, as he chose his words carefully, "…edgy around me. Did I do something wrong?" His question sounded innocent enough, more concerned than anything else.

I sat up, feeling even more uncomfortable, mostly with myself, for letting him think that.

"No, it's no you Nick. I dunno what is bothering me… but I know it's not you," I laughed, awkwardly.

Nick took a deep breath, "Then how come I feel like you're not telling something?"

"What? What do you mean?"

Nick paused, studying the shinny white floor of the kitchen. Suddenly, his expression changed, his eyes became more hard.

"I'm going to look for Koragg tomorrow…" He looked up at me with serious eyes.

"Okay, I didn't see that coming. Why would you do that?"

"He warned us The Master was free and we haven't seen him since. If he helped us once, maybe…" Nick trailed off, his eyes growing very reflective.

I sat back, realizing he had a good point. Koragg had disappeared ever since The Master came back, maybe something happened to him.

"You think he might be in some kind of danger? Maybe even…dead?" I said this slowly, gauging Nick's reaction as I spoke quietly.

"Perhaps." He looked like he'd thought about that possibility and for a strange reason he seemed really pained by it. Koragg had been an enemy we fought for months prior to The Master's arrival.

"You know, I'm coming with you." I stood up, my face lighting up when Nick glared at me, already shaking his head in protest.

"No way," He began, but I was already standing in front of him, arms crossed just like his, with a a stubborn expression on my face. Seeing this, Nick backed down, perhaps realizing it would be a waste of time trying to convince me to not go with him. I wasn't backing down and he knew that.

I smiled in response and dropped my hands to my sides, "You have any idea where we should start looking?"

"At the beach," Nick grinned, he looked more relaxed now.

"Why the beach?"

He shrugged and before he got a chance to say anything else, Vida and Chip walked in, "OH! We're going to the beach tomorrow? Awesome!" The two of them bounced into the kitchen.

Nick glanced at me nervously, shaking his head and giving up when he heard Chip talk about getting Xander tomorrow. The two of them were planning and plotting ways to prank Xander, Vida was being very creative. Nick couldn't help but smirk at her ideas. "Shhh, he might hear us."

I moved around Vida and Chip and snuck out of the kitchen, Nick was right behind me. I could still hear them planning. "This is gonna get out of hand," I giggled and Nick just nodded in agreement.

Xander was standing near the living room door, looking out the window, his face was expressionless.

Nick went over and nudged him. They talked for a brief moment and Xander cheered up, but I knew he was just putting on the act. I sat on the arm rest of the sofa near the door, and waited for Nick to leave the room. He did when he said he was going to see what Vida and Chip were doing in the kitchen, loud clanking noises started up and he looked worried something might happen. "You guys, don't break anything!"

I waited some more, and then saw Xander throw me a nervous smile.

"You gonna be okay?" I asked, slowly approaching him.

"Of course." He simply said, smiling his usual way, and winked when I looked a little suspicious. I wasn't buying it.

"Tell me the truth," I could feel my eyes turn more worried and I could see the reaction in his own face. Slowly, his façade was fading and he took a deep breath.

"It'll get better." He finally said, honestly.

I really hope he was right.

---
Put me on pause
I need a break
Some time to really
Take a breath
---

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