Thank you for all your reviews, they really keep me going, and I'm getting slack, so this chapter is longer, and there will be more updates more frequently. Anyway, chapter 9, I don't own anything.

Chapter 9—Fell While Holding Diamonds

"You can't be serious," Madison said incredulously as Xander recounted his and Nick's events.

"I wouldn't joke about something like that."

"Well, did you apologize?"

"Profusely."

"Well…what you did was kind of…I dunno…bad?"

"What I did?"

"Yes Xander, what you did. For someone to be so responsible you like to put the blame on someone else…" Madison said quietly.

Xander sighed and slumped down on the couch. He was glad the others had noticed anything between himself and Nick; that was all he needed.

"Look, my advice to you: Go to his house, talk to him about it. He can't hold a grudge that long…and if he does…well, maybe it isn't meant to work?"

"What's not meant to work?" Vida asked.

Xander blanched, "Uh…" his mind and mouth threw up an answer, "The Mystic Morpher ring tones."

Vida bought it quickly, "Oh I changed mine a long time ago," She replied.

"Mind doing mine for me?" Xander asked genuinely.

She smiled a half grin, "Why should I?"

"Please?" he said with a pleading smile.

With a roll of her eyes, Vida grabbed his phone and slumped off.

"Too close…" Xander breathed heavily.

"I still don't see why they can't know," Maddi said.

"Because that's the way Nick wants it."

"What ever happened to 'no more secrets'?" she asked cleverly.

Xander cast her a sour look, "That's different."

"How?" Madison wondered.

"I don't know…it just is. The guy's had a rough life; I'd hate it if that continue here."

"You can be such a romantic," Madison giggled.

Xander tossed a pillow at Madison, successfully hitting her in the face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nick kicked at rocks in his way as walked around the neighborhood. He could easily have ridden his bike, but a walk seemed necessary.

I just don't understand…why is it so hard for people to trust me but so easy for me to trust them?

He aimlessly walked down the road, silently coming to the diner he and Xander had gone to not long ago. He suddenly remembered how close to the shop he was and how that was that last place he wanted to be near.

He turned on his heel and began the walk back to his sister's.

You have no reason to trust them. So they've bailed you out a few times…you've done the same for them. Apparently I need to start living in survival mode again…because this trust thing is just too out of line and—

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice and clasp on the shoulder "Hey Nick, you alright?"

Nick looked back startled to see Toby with a concerned look on his face.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, just…" he pauses waving his hand in front of his face absently, "Got a lot on my mind. What about you, why you out here?"

"Grocery shopping," Toby replied with a smile, holding the bag up.

"Oh, I see."

"Well if you're sure everything's okay then I'll leave you to your thoughts," he said as he lifted a hand in farewell.

Nick repeated his action and kept walking.

Can I trust him?

He turned to look at Toby's receding figure.

Nah…

When he got home, he went to the kitchen, got some food, retreated to his room, and sat, watching some TV.

"Pretty depressing…" He said to himself, turning the TV off.

With a sigh he got up and walked over to the spare computer sitting in the corner.

Ah what the hell…nothing better to do.

With that he turned on the computer, searching around for nothing in particular before stumbling across MySpace.

"I always wondered what the big fuss was about these things…"

He clicked the link and slowly but surely, was sucked into making one. Once he had a basic layout he decided to search Briarwood for Vida, Chip, Maddi, and Xander…it was only necessary to have some amount of friends.

When he could only find Madison's he sent her a request and slouched back in the rolling chair before an idea struck him.

I could…look him up…

He leaned forward as he debated. Finally, with all the will power he had, he typed in a name he hadn't written in years.

And up popped a single window.

"The life of Brice."

Nick sat in awe. What could he possibly do? Could he confront Brice after all these years, somehow apologize and make up for something he wished he'd never done?

For some reason, a voice in Nick's head, not quite like Koragg's, told him to do it. As masochistic as it was, Nick clicked the link and wrote a message, explaining himself and his actions…

"Hey…um…you might not remember me, it's been a while…but you probably won't want to remember me. Uh, anyway, I kinda just wanted to know if you were able to let everything go. I mean, I didn't really know much at the time, not as much as I do now. But in all honesty I have to say it was my fault completely. I just don't understand why it happened. I guess part of me knows it was wrong, and the other part tells me I was too young to understand, when it was only 3 years ago. I know I'm not your favorite person in the world, and I'm sure you and you're friends make fun of me everyday, but at least this way I'm trying.

--Nick Russell"

With some hesitation, Nick clicked send to user. Over the span of 30 minutes he frequently checked back, hoping for a reply. In the meantime, he 'decorated' his personal page, proving more difficult than normal, and how he'd somehow gained an unusual attraction red since becoming a ranger.

After his page was done, he checked one last time for a reply, but nothing was there.

With a sigh he X-ed out of the page and clicked on whatever music his sister had on her media player.

Everything she had he wasn't really big on, he never really listened to much music, but when he did it was something more 80's rock. What she had was more…well…'jam rock' and things of the sort. With no resolution in sight, he played some Phish and laid in his bed, slowly dosing off into a nightmare filled sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once her shift was off, Maddi performed her usual ritual at home: Shower, eat, TV recordings, computer.

Having many things to do on the computer, she went through her favorites list until she came across MySpace. Upon seeing Nick's friend request, she gladly accepted and looked over his profile.

About Me:

I'm just looking to make some actual, real, trusting friends.

That single sentence had Madison deeply hurt. What were they to him? They'd given him one reason not to trust them, and he was taking it all too far.

"We'll see…" she said a bit spitefully, turning the computer off.

If that boy didn't learn to play well with others, he would get himself in a whole lot of trouble at Briarwood High.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Okay, so, I don't think Nick really has a MySpace profile, it was something I threw in there so he and Brice could talk, it's a major part in the plot. Um, also, we see more of a budding relationship with different characters instead of focusing solely on Nick and Xander, I used some other characters to show how they were feeling…I think it worked pretty well, but that's your decision to make. Leave me a review and tell me what you thought. Later,

---------------------- Patrick