A good trade

Not wanting to end their precious evening out on such a bad note, the now calmed down Nick changed his comforting tactics from patting her hair and back to lifting her tear stained face and kissing her while she tightly held onto his back. Through some remaining sobs, Elizabeth asked "Are you not angry with me anymore?" Nick didn't answer her question but just smiled faintly as he said, "Let's get you in the shower before you catch a cold." But as he let go of Elizabeth and was headed towards their bedroom to turn on the shower for her, Elizabeth grabbed the back of his shirt stopping him in his movements. When he turned back to ask what she was doing Elizabeth asked him in a voice that was more emotional than usual, "Will you take one with me?..." Nick let out a puff of air from his nostrils as he smiled at the endearing Elizabeth. He grabbed the hand that was holding his shirt and kissed the back of her hand. He softly responded, "Of course" as he pulled her along into the bathroom that was adjoined to their bedroom and they washed up as they made up.

While Elizabeth and Nick took care of problems on their side, the remaining friends took care of the mess at the restaurant before cutting their evening out short as well. With all that had happened, no one was in a very partying mood anymore and though this would be a very funny story some time down the line, right now it wasn't quite so funny. As the friends said their goodbyes, they each went their own way as they headed towards their homes. Ending their night a bit earlier than planned but they all felt it was for the best once they landed in their beds. Each being tired in their own ways from the rest of the week, including the only couple that weren't parents yet but had all the lack of sleep that came with parenthood because of the many deadlines they were having and with exams being around the corner.

The next morning an even more embarrassed Elizabeth woke up with a heavy hangover. With a throbbing head and strong feeling of nausea, she forced herself to lift her phone and open their group chat. She stared at the screen for several minutes, trying to find the right words to say and finding none of them. When Nick walked in to see if she was awake yet, he found her on the bed with pulled up covers, looking intently at her phone. "It's hard to know where to start, isn't it? So much to apologize for, yet only one chance to say it." Though Nick's words weren't said with any malice, Elizabeth looked up with a glaring look. "Are you really starting with me again? You lost your chance to stay angry with me after what you did last night in the shower."

Nick chuckled. "Oh right, I almost forgot about that. That was a good trade indeed." He said with a wink as he walked over and placed a kiss on top of her messy hair. After Elizabeth turned her attention back to her phone, Nick said, "Why don't you eat some breakfast first. Maybe getting some food in your system will help you find what to say." Elizabeth let out a sigh and dropped her phone on the bed before throwing herself back on the pillows as well. "Yeah, let's do that because I have got zilch right now." With that she pulled herself back up and followed Nick out of the bedroom to the full spread he had prepared for her. Elizabeth felt touched by him preparing so much. Being happy that regardless of whether he was upset with her or not, he always did his best to take care of her. When she glanced at the clock on the wall, she noticed that she had to hurry along because in just one short hour, Sam would be returning from her mother's home and the opportunity to think of a proper apology in peace would be lost until his next nap.

It was almost noon when breakfast was finished and Elizabeth's message had been sent. The friends who were preparing for lunch read it one by one and agreed with Nick's rule. If she would abide by that, then all would be forgiven and forgotten. Elizabeth quickly replied 'Deal!' and felt relieved that the matter had been settled.

Jenny and Jason on their end had been surprised with another day alone as Susan and Stephen had taken little Charlie and Mary along to visit Jason's grandparents. They had been missing their great-grandson and Susan and Stephen happened to have the day off and didn't mind going on a drive with their grandson. Charlie had been sleeping in Mary's room because Jenny and Jason didn't know what time they would be back and didn't want to disturb his sleep nor have him disturb theirs. So, they didn't find out about their son not being at home until they woke up that morning and headed downstairs to greet their son after spending a day away from him. Instead of finding their son, they found a note on Mary's door, informing them that the greeting would have to wait till the next day as they had taken their son away for an outing.