After making up with Andrea, Nicolas walks down by the beach, fretting a little over how he's going to tell Mary it's over. Not once has he ever been able to leave her before she was done with him, and he's not sure he can even do it in person. Jackie comes down & meets him, Nico can see in her eyes she's disturbed by all his fighting with Andrea today, and probably wants to know what's going on. "Jacklyn," Nicolas sighs & looks into her eyes, "Let's get married here, on this beach," he says, wanting so much to move forward like the past had never happened. "Nico, what were you & Andrea fighting about? What happened last night?" Jackie asks, not letting Nico off that easy. "Nothing," Nico answers with a sigh, "We worked it out, it's okay." Jackie bites her lip, "Nicolas, I need to know what your brother is so upset about," she says, "I heard him say my name, I want to know why you're fighting about me." Nico shakes his head, "We weren't fighting about you, Andrea just thinks he has to protect you, that's all," he says. "Protect me from what, Nico? You're not making any sense," Jackie says. Nico shakes his head at his own stupidity, he's just digging himself into a deeper hole with every word. "It doesn't matter now, Jackie, okay? It's taken care of," he says, trying to just push the past into the past & start over, like it never happened.

Jackie isn't satisfied with his answer, but she doesn't press him.

It must be some kind of miracle, he's being given this second chance to clean up his act, without having Jackie find out. As the sun begins to set over the Pacific, the couple head inside, and enjoy some time together.

He was going to meet with Mary tomorrow evening after he finished taping, but now that he's given that up, he invites Jackie out for an evening, just the two of them.

Nicolas makes love to Jackie with a passion stronger than anything he's experienced: she's the one that matters, she's the one he can't lose, and if she finds out what his brother figured out in one evening, he would lose her.

NEXT