“Ann,” Ben says as he walks in carrying a bag full of groceries. He looks up and stops in his tracks as he sees Ann crying with Andrew holding the hand of the woman he loves. As Andrew and Ann move away from each other, Ann looks concerned about Ben’s reaction to the situation. Ben stands there filled with rage as he stands there silently with a deadly gaze, his eyes fixed on a man he now detests.

“Ben,” Ann says worried about how Ben might react.

“Ann was just telling me about her rough day at work,” Andrew lies trying to explain the situation.

“I’ll keep these in the kitchen,” Ben says as he turns around and walks away. Ann immediately rushes after him while Andrew is left alone in the other room. Andrew knows he might say the wrong thing in this situation and decides to give the couple their space.

“Ben?” Ann says as she enters the kitchen.

“You had a rough day huh?” Ben says sounding disappointed. “I just thought you’d tell me about it like you normally do.”

“Ben,” Ann says. “Andrew just asked me a few things and…”

“You got carried away,” Ben says knowing how emotional Ann can get listening to people’s problems all day. He hugs Ann passionately wanting to comfort her and Ann sighs in relief. Despite his warm behaviour, Ben could not contain a certain emotion that was now very evident to him. Though he knows he has to act as he normally does, he cannot look at Andrew anymore the same way. The couple then goes about the rest day like normal and Andrew decides to not pursue the subject, happy everything has been resolved.

A few days later Andrew is now having another session with Emma.

“How is everything going Nick, I mean Andrew,” Emma says smirking.

“Everything is great, I started applying for jobs yesterday. Hoping to hear back from them soon,” Andrew says now comfortable sharing with Emma.

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“Everything ok with Ben and Ann?”

“Yes,” Andrew replies. Emma always asks him about the couple since Ann has been shying away from giving her more detail. “There was this incident though. Did you know I look like Ann’s ex-boyfriend?”

“No,” Emma replies in one word as he continues.

“That’s why Ben named me Nicholas,” Andrew adds. “I thought they had a good relationship with that Nicholas but turns out that wasn’t the case.”

“How so?”

“Ann started crying when I asked her about him,” Andrew says seemingly guilty for opening old wounds. “I thought they were close but I guess not. I mean she just said that he was amazing and started crying and… I don’t know but I think this guy might have done something terrible. It’s a good thing she had Ben now, he’s so understanding of her.”

“You think he’s understanding?” Emma remarks in a slightly sarcastic tone.

“Of course,” Andrew says delightfully. “He walked in on me comforting Ann when she was crying, though he looked furious Ann talked to him and everything was all right after that.” Emma raises her eyebrows knowing this wasn’t like Ben at all. Whether he suddenly matured, had a lapse of judgment or was just playing stupid, Emma knew something was strange.

---

“That is not a good idea,” Tom says as he eats a snack with Ben at the gym.

“I’m convinced Tom, this guy is Nicholas,” Ben replies stuffing his face with a sandwich.

“Because of that ‘lie’ he told?”

“No,” Ben says abruptly acting like he doesn’t want to talk about it. “I just felt it, I know it’s him,” Ben says as he continues eating.

“Ok,” Tom says knowing his friend won’t say anything further. “But isn’t doing this going to just put him in more danger? And if Ann finds out…”

“She won’t,” Ben says defensively. “I know Ann is protective of this guy but if we just get the truth out then…”

“Then what?” Tom asks and Ben abruptly looks at his friend seriously. “Ben, you know Ann hasn’t admitted to anything. She’s not ready to talk, what if she just defends him like she always does?”

“I don’t know ok. She still says Nicholas is innocent and,” Ben says sounding frustrated. “I just need her to see the truth.”

“I think she already did,” Tom remarks. “Didn’t her brother find her in some abandoned cabin with dead bodies and a missing Nicholas?”

“Maybe he threatened her?” Ben says trying to wrap his head around why his girlfriend’s behaviour. A few months after the incident she never told anyone about what happened, she would always just avoid the subject. Wanting to desperately know the truth, Ben wants to desperately take matters into his own hands. “Will you help me or not?”

“Fine, but this is the last time.”