The next morning Easton awoke to the sound of rain pummelling the roof of the apartment, the windows slashed with droplets of the cool water and the sky filled with dark clouds, blocking out the sun completely and making the city an eerie grey colour of smog, and in Easton's state of mind, complete misery. She rubbed at her eyes, scratching at the caked-up mascara underneath and realizing that she was lying on the floor, cuddled up to one of Greg's unwashed dress shirts.

She pushed herself up with her hands, realizing how tight her muscles were from lying in a tensed fetal position all night, the carpet's pattern burned into every inch of exposed skin. The cordless phone lay at her feet, it's battery dead from being left on all night. Not that she'd called anyone. She'd just sat there, her tears blurring the call-display screen and her finger doing a rotating hover over the first digits of Greg and Nick's cell phone, not knowing who to call, or if they would even want to talk to her. How could she have been so stupid? Greg had been the best thing to happen to her in a long time, and now she wasn't sure if he'd ever even look at her again.

Suddenly a shrill ring burst out and Easton felt her body jump slightly, looking around, trying to determine where the sound was coming from. Spotting her Marc Jacobs bag flung onto the floor a few feet away, she lunged for it, yanking her cell phone from it's pouch and clicking the talk button before the sound could bore into her already pounding head even more.

"Hello?" her voice was raw and hoarse and she unsteadily climbed to her feet, catching a quick glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror that hung on the wall. She looked awful, her silky red halter top wrinkled around her pregnant belly, and her Louboutin's hanging crookedly on her feet, the straps that managed to keep them on there half undone. Her once perfectly styled waves were now a knotted mess and her make-up smudged across her face.

"Hey East, I'm happy I finally got a hold of you," Nick's voice came through. " I wasn't sure if I should call the home number in case Greg answered. I heard you told him."

At the mention of Greg's name, Easton felt herself begin to crumble apart again.

"Easton, you there?" Nick asked as Easton tried to put her emotions into check.

"Yeah, Nicky, I'm here." No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her voice from cracking and the tears from flowing.

"East, we'll work through this. Greg will talk to you, you just need to give him time."

" I destroyed him." She knew she sounded like a two-year-old who'd just had her favourite toy stolen, but she couldn't help it, her emotions were flying around too many places for her to keep any sort of cool.

"Easton, you didn't destroy him. Give him some time, he loves you, this will be fixed," Nick attempted to reassure although he didn't quite believe his own words.

"Nick, I think I'm still in love with you."

There was silence on the other end, the only break was the beep of Nick's call waiting.

"East, I have to get that. I'll talk to you later."

She didn't want to lose him, she needed to keep hearing his voice.

"OK, East, I'll call you later today."

She nodded even though she knew he couldn't see her.

"OK, East?"

"OK, Nick," came her warbled response before the line abruptly cut out. She dropped the phone, still trying to get a handle on how to piece the life she had ruined so badly back together. It all seemed like a nightmare, some stupid dream that she'd had that she could just completely erase from her memory like it never happened. But Easton knew she was wrong, she knew it had happened, and she had no idea what was going to happen next.

"Easton?" a voice called, followed by a knock at the bedroom door.

Easton froze, staring at the door as if whoever was on the other side was just going to magically walk through the wood any second.

"Easton, are you in there? It's me Raleigh. If we don't leave in five minutes we're going to be late for rehearsals with Britney."

Raleigh. Shit. Easton had completely forgotten she was due in the studio to help Britney Spears choreograph some new routines to co-inside with the release of her upcoming album.

"East, c'mon, I know you're in there."

Easton could tell from Raleigh's tone she was getting annoyed. Before she could nag anymore, Easton pulled herself to her feet and swung the door open, ignoring Raleigh's shocked expression at Easton's obviously haggard appearance.

"I didn't know the grunge look was in for maternity," she quipped. "You going out like that?"

"What do you think, Spence?" Easton suddenly snapped. She didn't need to trade sarcastic banter with Raleigh, she just wanted to go to bed and forget that her whole world was spinning out of control. "I told Greg last night. Everything."

"You told him that you slept with Nick?"

"No, I just spent the night sleeping on my floor looking like I spent my time pregnant and drinking because I needed some excitement."

"You kind of made your own mess, East," Raleigh so kindly pointed out.

"Don't remind me," Easton droned, allowing herself to fall back onto her bed. She managed to move her throbbing head to the side to glance at the digital clock on the bedside table. "He should've been home by now."

"Do you think he's actually going to come home?"

She hadn't really thought about that, the fact that they shared a home, that this was Greg's place to, that everything he owned was here. Where else was he supposed to go now that she'd so successfully destroyed what used to be their sanctuary. But as she caught sight of her engagement ring still on her left hand she felt fresh tears spring to her eyes. What was she thinking she was still in love with Nick? It was Greg she was marrying, him the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, him the one she loved to lie with in the early morning hours when he came home from a long night at work, feeling his balmy skin against hers, running her hands through his sandy, close cut hair, hearing his breathing slow as he fell asleep against her.

But why couldn't she get Nick out her mind? His masculine physique, his Southern charm and sensitivity, the history she shared with him, the way one look from those intense dark eyes turned her into a puddle.

"Look, let's just not think about it for now." Raleigh took both of Easton's hands and pulled her up off the bed. "Let's just head to the studio and get this meeting with Britney done and then maybe we can go shopping after, forget about your problems for a bit."

Easton laughed at Raleigh's feeble attempt to cheer her up and she let her friend pull her to her feet and out of the room into the hallway. She and Greg had encountered problems in their relationship before, yet the more Easton thought about it, the more she wasn't sure this one was going to have a happy ending.