Background for this one:
-In this universe, the Nancy Drew Files were followed by the Nancy Drew On Campus series, so Nancy has a slightly more complicated back story than she would otherwise. If you've read one without the other, the changes are pretty clear. If not, this is all new to you anyway. (I really hate the On Campus series. I read them just in case Ned popped up. More often than not, when he did pop up, Nancy's crazy behavior just made me angrier. I have been known to make exclamations of disgust and throw the paperbacks while forcing myself to read them.)
-This story is set a year after Nancy breaks up with Ned, so it begins with her sophomore year at Wilder. (That may not fit in with the timeline of the On Campus series; see below.)
-Some of the elements of the On Campus story arc I
kept; some things I couldn't be bothered to keep, and modified for my
own uses; some things I just entirely ignored. Strictly speaking, this
would be alternate universe, then. In keeping with the On Campus
series, Nancy and Ned (and Bess and George) behave in a somewhat more
adult way than they did in the Files. Therefore:
-This story contains mild coarse language and suggestive adult situations (UST). If the thought of that scares you, turn back now.
He told himself he just wanted to see her again. That he didn't necessarily need to talk to her, just see her one more time.
Ned had at least four other assignments he needed to be working on. But he made the drive anyway, without calling first. He could always change his mind, turn around. Stop somewhere, eat dinner, head back to school. Because he had no idea what would happen if he went through with it.
He had no idea how Nancy would respond if he saw her.
He had no clear recollection of when they had last spoken. He knew it had been soon after she had started college, but before Christmas; after the distracted telephone conversations where they barely found things to say to each other. They were drifting apart, she'd told him; they had different priorities, different interests now, and the relationship was just too long distance.
Somehow that hadn't seemed to bother her when she was back in River Heights and they spent months at a time apart, separated by her detecting and his schoolwork.
But he'd taken it in stride, reminded himself that Nancy had prevented him from exploring the many opportunities he could have had. Through his classes, through his rabid female fans.
Erika was working as a teacher's assistant for Ned's chemistry teacher, and led his lab section. He'd missed one of his labs during the time of weirdness with Nancy, and had gone to her to make it up. She'd invited him out for a coffee after. They'd ended up getting a few drinks. When the semester was over, they caught a couple movies together. A few dates later and, after a party, they had gone back to her place for a few more drinks and he'd found himself with her, in her darkened bedroom, in the situation he and Nancy had found themselves in all too many times. He had pulled back, looked at her.
Noticed how much she looked like Nancy. The same hair. The same cool intelligence.
He had made some excuse and left. Stopped returning her calls and made excuses to get off the phone with her as soon as he could. He was no longer taking chemistry, so she couldn't dock his grade in retribution. His frat brothers had warned him of such a possibility when he'd started dating Erika.
Dating. He'd been with Nancy so long that he'd almost forgotten what it was like, to learn someone else. Not that it had seemed to matter so much, with Erika. He hadn't analyzed it, the way she looked so much like the only other girl he'd ever loved, and how he didn't really want to hear about her personality or likes and dislikes, he just kept wondering when they might be alone.
And then he had freaked out. He'd left her.
Now he was driving fifteen miles over the speed limit, to see the girl he'd tried to replace.
--
Nancy dug through the pile of clothes in the middle of the room. She had a lab report she should have been working on, research for a hundred papers, but Bess's sorority was holding a dance over the weekend and she couldn't find the dress she'd been planning to wear.
Sure enough, she found the metallic mint green dress in a wrinkled heap near the bottom. She brushed it off, held it a few feet from her face and sniffed delicately. Well, nothing the dry cleaner's can't fix. She found her car keys and purse and, dress folded over her shoulder, locked her room and headed to the lobby.
"Hey Nancy! Great dress, is that what you'll be wearing?"
"Yeah. You coming?"
Gina tossed her curly dark hair back and nodded. "I'm gonna head to the mall after I grab a burger. Gotta find something to wear." She grinned. "My history term paper can wait. You wanna come?"
Nancy shook her head. "Thanks, but I don't think my French homework will be able to stand another trip to the mall. And my teacher is definitely gonna kill me if I'm not ready for the oral tomorrow."
"I don't envy you." Gina waved. "See you later."
Nancy waved back, then turned her attention back to the stairwell. She glanced down.
A guy with dark hair was standing at the receptionist's desk.
Ned turned his head just as her hand touched the front doorknob. She drew in a breath and blinked a few times.
"Nancy?"
She swallowed. "Hey," she replied, forcing a smile over the sudden wave of nervousness and anger that swept over her. "Been a while, hasn't it."
"Yeah." His eyes didn't leave hers as he stepped toward her, his voice gentle but unsure. "You're on your way somewhere?"
She looked down at the dress hanging over her arm. "Oh. Yeah. On my way to the cleaner's. You... Ned, why are you here?"
He smiled. "Can we talk?"
She ran a hand through her reddish blonde hair. "I guess so. If you want to go with me to the cleaner's. And if you remember any of the French you learned in high school. But those are the rules."
He climbed into the passenger seat of her Mustang and shut the door. "Yeah, I do remember a little French. Mostly from that cooking course we took."
She smiled. "Probably not enough for my purposes. So... what's up?"
"I've missed you," he whispered.
She negotiated a turn and glanced in his direction. "When was the last time we talked, Ned? It's been almost a year."
He nodded. "I think so."
She smiled thinly, fighting to keep her voice steady. "I thought we'd taken enough of a break, that we could maybe try again, and then I called your frat and found out you were with some girl."
He ran a hand over his face. "When was this?"
"Does it matter?"
"I guess not."
"I guess you're not with her, since you're here." She glanced down. "Or maybe you decided to deliver the wedding invitation in person."
"I'm not with her anymore."
She stopped the car in front of the cleaners. "I'll be right back," she said. She gave him a wary look and vanished inside.
Ned looked around and thought about getting out. He saw a phone booth. He could call a taxi and get back to his car, and be gone. Maybe that would be better.
But he didn't move, and she slid back into the driver's seat. He was thrown backward as she put the car in gear and spun out of the lot.
"Could we get a burger or something? In a place where you can't kill me?"
She sighed. "I'm not going to kill you. But can it be quick? I have a lot of homework to do tonight."
"So do I."
She glanced over at him. "All right."
--
"You were ready to try again?"
Nancy took a sip of her smoothie. She and Ned had a table in the school's food court. "I was. But I've had some time to think about things."
"And?"
She folded her arms and watched him take a bite of his burger. "I'm working at the school newspaper," she said, watching his face carefully.
He merely raised an eyebrow.
"How do you feel about that?"
He shrugged. "Do you like it?"
She nodded. "My time is stretched but I really enjoy it. Makes me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile with my time."
He smiled. "Not just earning a degree."
"What do you mean by that?"
He held his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Nan, I'm not attacking you."
She chuckled darkly. "Yeah."
"I'm not. I swear. I just came here to talk."
She sighed. "Ned, you've never been comfortable with what I do."
"That's not true."
She raised an eyebrow. "Answer me honestly whether you thought that when I went to college, that I'd be able to spend more time with you because I wouldn't be going off to Europe or the other side of the country on a case."
He dipped his head. "Yeah, I did think that."
"But it didn't happen, did it."
"No. And I didn't like it."
"You're not going to like what I'm doing now," she told him softly. "When I'm not doing my homework, I'm at the newspaper. Honestly."
"Bess and George are cool with that?"
She smiled slightly and looked away. "Bess is really into her drama classes. George is running marathons every other weekend."
"You don't miss them too?"
She released a breath. "I do miss them. But this semester is just so busy."
"How was last semester?"
"Busy too," she admitted. "Maybe once I'm done with my math classes, and George has decided on a major that doesn't involve mountain climbing..."
He shook his head. "It doesn't get easier," he told her. "Maybe your last semester."
She smiled. "So I have two more years of this to look forward to," she said.
He nodded. "At least. No grad school included."
She shook her head. "I think not."
He bit into a french fry. "All work and no play, Nan. You need someone to come take you out every now and then."
"How long were you dating that other girl?"
He took a long sip of soda. "Not that long."
"Were you serious about her?"
He shrugged. "Not really."
"Were you going to tell me about her?"
He met her eyes. "Yeah," he said. "But I didn't know if you'd even talk to me. You seemed kind of final before."
She shook her head impatiently. "You should have told me immediately."
"You mean called you and have you hang up on me?"
"No. Today. When you saw me."
"I didn't have much time to do anything other than notice how beautiful you are."
She shook a finger at him. "Don't try to butter me up."
"You know me better than that."
She half-smiled. "Ned, you and I... have a lot of history together. You know how I am. You know how you couldn't take me anywhere without my finding a case. Now... it's like that times two."
He shrugged. "You say that like it changes the way I feel."
"How do you feel?"
"I want to try again."
"But you didn't while you were with that other girl."
"We were broken up, Nan! You were the one who said so!"
She shook her head. "But you had to be with her when I was thinking about trying again."
"Remember Brad?"
"So you found yourself another Belinda?"
He tilted his head. "Did you find yourself another Brad?"
She looked down.
"You did." He pushed his chair back, crossed his arms. "Before or after you wanted to try again?"
She looked up. "Does it matter?"
He shrugged. "You tell me."
"Ned, I can't just be your friend. That's not the way I feel about you. It's all or nothing. I've spent a year with it being nothing."
"What was his name?"
She closed her eyes. "Peter."
"Before or after?"
"Before."
"So what went wrong, if I can ask?"
She shrugged. "He was a little too needy. Too sensitive. And then he told me he had a call from the mother of his child and had to go back home."
"Sounds like a real winner."
Her eyes flashed. "Go to hell."
"It's not like you're still with him." Ned's arms were still crossed. "And that was all?"
She looked back down.
"Someone else? Are you seeing someone right now?"
She still didn't meet his eyes.
"What, is this one married?"
She scowled at him. "No. He's my editor."
Ned pushed his chair back. "You have work to do. And so do I."
She didn't stop him as he walked out of the room, without looking back.
--
You're coming with Jake, right?
Nancy kept hearing it in her head. Even between her angry repetitions of Ned's completely unfounded accusations, as though she would date a married man, as though he had any way of knowing Peter or how sensitive and sweet he had been… everyone kept saying that she'd bring Jake to the dance as though it was a matter of course.
But she hadn't even mentioned it to him. When Jake became involved in a story, he lost sight of everything else, schoolwork and personal business, everything.
Including her.
They hadn't been able to work together on a case in a while. It was when they were together, solving some puzzle, putting something together, that she was attracted to him most. In the past few days, or had it been weeks… the most she'd gotten from him were slow smiles across the newsroom, cute comments on the margins of her stories. He seemed distracted, but she herself was, too; after a series of voicemails she'd received, she was sure she was onto a story. A story that might make Jake notice her again.
But now some other brown-haired guy was drifting back into her thoughts.
After the way Ned had left, she wasn't even sure she would hear from him again, or if he would appreciate hearing from her. Seeing his face, hearing his voice, remembering, he had brought it all back. The piece of herself that she'd thought no longer existed, the hope she had felt rising in her when she knew for sure, for sure, that he wasn't with someone else anymore.
A determined smile lit her face. Maybe the timing had been just a bit off, but now, maybe, she could remember what it was like to have a best friend again. Even if she and Jake did have some sparks fly outside the newsroom.
--
"There's a dance this weekend," she said into the receiver.
He exhaled. "I might be busy," he replied.
She chuckled. "I thought as much."
"But maybe I could swing it. Give me the time and place and all that."
She obliged. "It's not formal or anything."
"So you're not going with your editor?"
She sighed. "No. To be honest, I don't think things have ever been worse between the two of us."
"You move quick in so short a time."
"Look, why don't you just—"
"I'm sorry. But I think we do need to talk."
She nodded. "I think so too," she said quietly.
--
"You know, I look at you and it's hard to remember that it's been over a year since I've seen you."
He smiled in reply and dipped her backwards. She tossed her hair back. "I think we should save conversation until we leave here, or until they play something with a little less bass," he said into her ear.
"You look nice," he told her a few hours later when they slid into a booth at an all-night diner near campus, all gleaming chrome and red leather naugahyde seats. "You look good in green."
"You look good too." She scooped her hair back from her glowing face and smiled at him.
"So how involved are you with this guy?"
Nancy shrugged as she glanced over the menu. "Let's just say that if it were very serious I wouldn't be seeing you right now."
"Is that true?" he asked softly.
She looked up and met his eyes. "I don't know." She smiled to herself. "I forget how right it feels to be with you."
"And I'm sure he'll hear that you were dancing with some mysterious handsome guy at the party tonight."
She snickered. "I bet he's at the office right now, working on something."
"So you're not on a c— story right now?"
"Case?" she finished what he'd stopped himself from saying. "I'm always on a story. Some of them are more... hands-on than others. No, I'm not on one that's really like a case, right now."
"So what stories are you writing now?"
"One about daycare for students on campus, another one is the perpetual story about whether SAT scores really are a good indication of how well a student will do in college. I think Jake's punishing me."
"Is that his name?"
She nodded. "He and I had a really big fight..."
He waited, and she shifted in her seat. "I bet you don't really want to hear about this."
He shrugged. "This is up to you."
"What do you mean?"
"You said it was all or nothing. I don't think it can be all with you seeing another guy."
"It doesn't bother you?"
He chuckled. "Of course it bothers me. I don't know this guy. Not that I'd want you to be with him even if I did know him."
"He wears cowboy boots," she said. "He's an arrogant bastard."
"And you like him because...?"
"For a long time I didn't. I thought he was a complete prick. He asked me to go out with him while I was still seeing Peter, and he knew that."
"Just to get things straight..." Ned took a sip of his coffee. "Did you know Peter had a child when the two of you started dating?"
Nancy shook her head. "He didn't tell me until about three days before he finally decided to leave."
"So, did Jake sustain a severe blow to the head and have a complete personality overhaul?"
"No. He just started growing on me. He and I were working together all the time, discussing stories and theories about things. Like the cheating ring we found on campus."
"There was a cheating ring?" He shook his head, incredulous. "Though I shouldn't say anything, considering how many thieves and criminals you've found at Emerson."
She smiled. "Yeah. I was a little surprised too. Anyway. I didn't want to date him. I'd had enough with Peter, I just wanted to concentrate on work and school for a while. But he was persistent."
He took another sip of his coffee. "I bet he's really supportive of your work."
She toyed with a sugar packet. "We fight over it all the time," she admitted. "And I mean fight. Screaming and everything. He makes me so mad sometimes, when he assumes I can't handle things."
He smiled. "I'm tempted to ask if that's how you feel about me."
She shook her head. "You never questioned my abilities as... a detective, and being an investigative reporter is almost the same thing. There were a few times, but with us..."
He propped his chin on his hands. "I just wanted to be with you," he said softly. He watched her smile again, eyes cast down, the glow back in her cheeks. "Damn, I missed you so much."
He was surprised to see tears in her eyes when she looked up. "Even after you were with... her..."
"Erika," he filled in.
"I almost called you so many times. Just to bounce ideas off you. With Jake I'm always competing. He stole a story right out from under me once."
Ned opened his mouth, then shook his head and shut it.
"What?" she asked.
"Why are you with him?"
She shook her head. "With you in front of me I can't think of a single reason," she said.
--
Ned left around four in the morning, even after Nancy offered him a place to sleep. Not in her room, but a spare bed in the room of a guy she knew. She was concerned that he might fall asleep at the wheel. He turned her down with a smile and a promise to drink gas-station coffee until he got back to Emerson.
Nancy sat down in the hallway, carefully, the late hour finally catching up with her. She leaned against a cream-colored wall and called Bess's cell phone.
"Hmm?" Bess answered.
"I have frosted sugar cookies," Nancy said distinctly. "Are you awake?"
"Why do you have cookies? Where are you?"
"Right outside your room," Nancy said. "We need to talk. I'm sorry."
--
A group of freshmen were watching Cartoon Network Adult Swim when they walked into the lounge. Bess made a face and settled on a couch as far away from the melee as they could get.
"You better hand me a cookie right now, Drew," Bess said crossly. "Ten nerdy boys just saw me in my bathrobe."
Nancy handed over a pink-frosted cookie and Bess closed her eyes in bliss as she chewed a bite. "Good?"
Bess opened one eye. "Either Jake got you pregnant or you need me to pose as a stripper."
"I'm not pregnant and I don't need you to pose as a stripper."
Bess snapped her fingers in mock regret. "Either way I'd better be getting another cookie out of this."
Nancy handed one over. "Ned came to see me."
Bess opened both eyes. "I was wondering when that would happen."
Nancy tilted her head. "You knew he was going to?"
Bess shrugged. "Nan, he's not over you. He'll never be over you. Remember when I was talking to him, after the whole thing with Paul?"
Nancy nodded. "I remember. I remember being jealous."
"You didn't need to be. Much as I like Ned, I think half the reason he called was to see how you were doing. Not that he didn't care about what I was going through. I still owe him a dinner for all that."
"Maybe we should all go out sometime."
"All of us? Even Jake?" Bess raised an eyebrow.
Nancy shook her head. "I don't know what to do about that," she said.
"About what? You two are pretty serious, I thought. From the last time you two saw each other, before this..." Bess shrugged. "Whatever you two are arguing about now."
"I didn't argue with Ned like this."
Bess shook her head. "No, you didn't. One could argue that you might have, if you'd been around him this much. But you and Ned did spend a lot of time together over the summer and nothing happened like that nuclear meltdown you have with Jake."
"Maybe that's why I like him."
Bess shrugged and reached for another cookie, then closed the plastic case and pushed it toward Nancy. "Don't let me have another one. Yeah, you two are pretty volatile. You and Ned never really were. Maybe you just wanted some excitement."
Nancy shrugged. "He's not going to like it."
"Who won't like what?"
"Ned's not going to like me working at the paper. He won't like all the time it eats, he won't like my working on stories... What are you laughing about?"
Bess swallowed the last of her cookie. "You're talking like you're already back with him," she replied gently.
"But how can I go back to him like this? Maybe Jake and I are supposed to be together. We work so well together."
"When you're not screaming at each other or fuming, sure." Bess glanced at the cookies, then looked away. "But yeah. He's a good reporter and editor."
"He's interested in the same things I am."
"And you step on each other's toes."
Nancy shook her head. "And Ned... this is the longest I've ever gone without seeing him. Ever. I thought this time it was for good."
Bess shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe he's just trying one last time. I doubt it, but it's possible. You're leading him on, Nan."
"How am I leading him on?"
"What were you doing right before you came to my room?"
"I was at the store buying those cookies for you so you wouldn't kill me."
"Was he with you? Did Ned take you there?"
Nancy nodded. "We were talking."
"How long had the two of you been 'talking'?" Bess made quotes in the air with her fingers.
"It wasn't like that. We were catching up on things."
"Sure you were." Bess smirked.
"I'm not leading him on."
Bess shrugged. "Fine. Look... is Ned pressing you to make a decision, or does he just want an in back into your life? Does he want to be friends, or is he asking you to be his girlfriend again?"
"He's not asking me that. Not point-blank. I was the one who said I could never be just friends with him."
"Why can't you?"
"It really hurt me when I thought he was with someone else. I don't think I can do that. Even if he can sit on the sidelines and watch me with Jake somehow, I don't think I can do the same for him."
Bess smiled. "You've made your choice."
"No I haven't." Nancy spread her arms. "Jake is exciting and dangerous and fun to be with. And we have chemistry."
Bess nodded. "I'm not arguing that."
"What does Ned have that can top that?"
"The ability to turn your head away from an exciting, dangerous, fun guy."
"He'll probably always be able to do that."
"Maybe." Bess gave her a probing glance. "You said you thought he was with someone else?"
Nancy nodded. "I mean, he was. But I get the idea that he wasn't that serious with her."
"You mean not serious the way you are with Jake. The way you were with Peter. You've told him about Peter?"
Nancy nodded. "He wasn't impressed."
Bess snickered. "Ned's never very impressed with the guys you choose over him."
"Oh come on. You say it like this happens all the time."
"More times than I can count. Nan, you're a flirt. Not like me, but you still are. I think Ned was sick of it, and that's why he went along with it when you said you should take some time apart. I think maybe you two needed that. You, to be free and hang out with other guys. Him, to see that even with all your faults, he still wanted to be with you."
"What faults?" Nancy gave Bess a dimpled smile. "Me, less than perfect?"
--
"That story better be on my desk, Drew." Jake glanced over his shoulder at her before vanishing into his office.
Nancy followed him and shut the door behind her. "That story is bullshit and you know it. I'm working on the grade-purchasing ring in the Chemistry department."
"No, you're not. You are going to work on the day care story. You haven't shown me enough proof to let you waste your time on that story."
"Then give me time to go find some."
"I need copy I can use. That day care story, I can use." His expression softened. "Nancy, I'm trying to give you a break here. I know that classes are getting tough right now, I know you've been wearing yourself out. If they are buying grades, they still will be in a few weeks when you can devote all your time to that story."
"So you will let me do it?"
He nodded. "Just not right now."
"I've already talked to a few people. What if they talk to the people involved and there's no evidence in two weeks, Jake?"
He shrugged and walked behind her, put his hands on her shoulders. "There will be, Nan. Have faith. I'd rather have a less convincing story than you in the student health center with a nervous breakdown." He started rubbing her tense muscles and she let her head hang forward.
"I'm not going to have a nervous breakdown," she muttered. "Unless you don't stop giving me bullshit stories."
His hands stopped. "Stop saying the stories I give you are bullshit."
"Stop treating me like I'm five." She turned around, her eyes flashing. "When have I been unable to judge my own stress level before, that I need you to do it for me? Why can't you let me make my own decisions?"
"Because your decisions are getting me in trouble."
She folded her arms. "And what does that mean?"
"Jackie went to the faculty coordinator. She told him that she suspects me of giving you favors and preference over the other members of the staff."
Nancy shrugged. "There's no basis for that accusation."
"Are you saying that just because she didn't take Polaroids when she walked in on us that one time?"
Nancy flushed slightly. "But she didn't tell him you and I were..."
Jake shook his head. "Not yet. And if we want to keep our jobs I think we should keep a lower profile for a while. Much as I appreciate that passion in other ways," he said, winking, "I think we should be good little children for the next few weeks. I'll give her a few stories, calm her down."
"Are you going to give her the Chemistry grade buying story?"
"Nancy, you said that was one teacher's assistant buying one student a drink."
Nancy opened her mouth, then tilted her head. "Answer my question, Jake."
--
"We will talk later, won't we?"
Nancy nodded. "Keep a lookout for me. I'll be right back."
Ned turned so he was blocking anyone else's view of her and looked out at the deserted courtyard. "Be careful."
She smiled. "Always."
An hour later Ned wrapped his hands around a warm cup of cocoa and met Nancy's eyes. He swiped a hand under his eye in a calculated gesture. "You gonna tell me about that?"
She looked down, averting her red-rimmed gaze. "Jake and I had another fight."
"Is that why he wasn't your boy in black for the evening?"
She nodded slightly. "Part of it. He basically forbid me from doing what we just did."
"He's not cool with a little light B&E?" Ned smiled.
"More like he didn't want me even working on this story. Not so much the B&E part."
"Why not? It sounds like a pretty serious story."
Nancy swiped a hand over her cheek. "I'm sorry. Um... I think it is pretty serious. I think he's an idiot for not wanting me to follow it. To be honest I don't know what his real reason is. He gave me a lot of b.s. today, and that was most of our argument."
"Do you think you have enough evidence there?" He gestured at the manila folder of documents she'd carried into the diner with them.
She looked away. "You know what," she said softly, "I was just trying to figure out if it would be enough to convince him. Not the campus police, not anyone else. Just him. I don't know what's wrong with me."
She reached up and started rubbing her temples, and Ned reached across the table. "Hey," he murmured, smiling when she slid her hand into his. "It's all right."
"I'm afraid he's going to give this story to someone else," she admitted. "Give someone else attention for it. And I can't stand the thought of that. And it's stupid. I'm the one who got the anonymous tip."
"And now you're the one with the evidence to write the story."
She smiled at him. "You're listening to me complain about another guy."
He shrugged. "I feel like I'm on probation," he admitted.
"I haven't even given you an answer yet," she said curiously. "And you keep coming back."
He slid his thumb down the side of her hand, and she didn't pull away. "You just gave me an answer."
She pulled back then, propped her chin on her hands and met his gaze frankly. "If, and it's a big if I'm talking about here, I were to decide to give you another chance, since obviously you have—"
"Hey, when did I say that?" he asked, smiling.
She laced her fingers between his and he squeezed gently. "Just now."
"What were you saying?" he asked, finding it difficult to look away from their joined hands.
"What I said to you when we broke up hasn't changed."
He shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe."
"What do you mean, maybe? If anything I'm even busier than before."
"Close your eyes, Nan."
She cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Just do it." She obliged. "Remember a summer in the Hamptons, with us standing on a beach in a situation not dissimilar to this one..."
She half-smiled, eyes still closed. "But his name was Sasha instead of Jake."
Ned ran his thumb over her palm and watched her startle. "Remember a certain devastatingly handsome guy standing there with you?"
A wide grin stretched over Nancy's face. "No, can't say I remember Johnny Depp being there."
Ned's fingers tightened on hers and Nancy's eyes opened. "I told you then that I couldn't stop loving you. No matter what."
"Even while you were with her?"
He nodded slowly. "Even right now, when you're with Cowboy Boots."
She laughed. Then she met his eyes, serious again. "There was also a time when you told me how hard it was for you to give me love and support and that kind of thing."
"It is hard," he admitted. "You are amazing, and brilliant. And independent. Almost intimidatingly so."
She chuckled.
"I'm not saying that everything will be easy if we do get back together. But I do agree with you. The two of us were not meant to be just friends."
"I thought I'd accepted not having you at all," she murmured.
"You thought?" he repeated.
"Seeing you here, it's like breaking up with you was just a nightmare I had. But there's still Jake. Cowboy Boots," she said, chuckling again.
He tilted his head. "There is still that. And even though I will love you forever, that doesn't mean I'm willing to be second best."
"Are you asking me to make that decision tonight?"
He looked down at his cocoa, then shook his head. "As much as I want to, no. I have a deadline in my head and tonight's not it."
She looked at him quizzically. "My father's getting remarried this Saturday," she told him.
Ned looked a little dazed. "I remember seeing that in the paper," he said. "And not really comprehending."
"I know," Nancy said wryly. "Try it from this side of the table."
"Want someone there for moral support?"
"Well, I'll have several someones," she told him. "But I won't object to you being one. And no, to answer the question I can just see in your eyes, he won't be there."
"Good." Ned visibly relaxed. "You have a date."
--
George tossed a popcorn kernel into her mouth. "I ran into Jake at the dining hall the other day. He was acting a little weird."
"Weird how?" Nancy asked carefully.
"He asked if I'd seen you, and how you were doing. Mentioned something about a story."
Bess couldn't hold back any longer and started giggling. Due to Nancy's distraction, she put on a burst of speed and passed her on the video game they were playing in Nancy's bedroom. The three girls were spending the night at Nancy's father's house the night before the impending wedding. Nancy had asked them over, for moral support.
"What did you tell him?"
"That I hadn't seen you recently but I was sure you were doing fine." George took a sip of her iced tea. "In fact, the only reason I'm here is because I passed on doing a tennis charity benefit this weekend. Not that I don't love you guys," she said as Nancy paused the game and tossed a pillow at her.
"I've seen you a grand total of maybe, what, three times this semester?" Bess protested. "Sure, that's love. I don't even know when you have breaks from class."
"And you're playing Mario Kart when I could be telling you about my new boyfriend."
Bess's hair flew as she stared at her cousin. "Your what?"
"Maybe I don't have one." George blushed and looked down.
"You do!" Bess started laughing. "I can't believe it!"
"Is it so hard to believe?" George asked, defensive.
"No," Nancy said gently. "It's just that after Will and everything..."
"Yeah," Bess piped back up. "You took Will pretty hard. So tell us about this new guy. Is he hot?"
"Of course he's hot," Nancy nudged Bess. "And I'm going to beat you again."
"He's actually coaching at the tournament this weekend," George admitted.
"Hey, to see a hottie maybe we can go check out this tournament. After the wedding?" Bess glanced at Nancy. "And no you're not going to beat me again."
"With that one wussy mushroom?" Nancy laughed. "Yeah, maybe we can go check it out. If I'm not checked into a mental hospital after."
"You're not going to a mental hospital, Nan." George took another sip of tea.
"So, stats?" Nancy asked, cheering as she crossed the finish line in front of Bess.
"Dark blond hair, green eyes. And he's great with kids."
"How did you meet him? Hey!" Bess started another race and cackled as she caught Nancy off-guard.
"I was supposed to play winner," George protested. Nancy paused the game and George caught the controller Nancy tossed in her direction. "He came over for a tennis tournament during the summer. That's how we met. Then I ran into him again and…" she shrugged.
"Is he going to school around here?" Nancy stood up to let George have her place on the bed, then folded her legs under her in the floral papasan chair.
"He's actually already graduated."
"You gonna talk or race, Fayne?" Bess asked, leaning forward on the bed to stare at her racer.
"Oh watch me, Marvin," George grinned.
"Thanks for doing this," Nancy said to them both, watching them jockey for position on the screen. "You really didn't have to."
Bess shrugged. "I was dying to ask you how things were going with Ned."
"Ned?" George asked, darting a look at Nancy quickly so Bess wouldn't get a lead on her. "What? Aren't you with Jake?"
"Kinda," Nancy said, twisting her hands in her lap. "Kinda. Things have been going..."
"Well, why don't you start at the beginning," George said. "Because you've just completely blown my mind."
Nancy filled them both in on recent events, up until she'd invited Ned to the wedding.
"I hate to say it, Nan, but I have to agree with Bess here. You've already made your choice," George said.
"No I haven't," Nancy protested.
"Well..." George tossed the controller down as she beat Bess over the finish line again. "Let's weigh the positives and negatives here."
"Jake is good looking," Bess began.
"So is Ned," George said.
"Jake is dangerous and flirty and exciting."
"Ned is dependable and flirty when he wants to be, and helps you on cases when you need him to."
"Jake helps you when he wants. And he's already on campus."
"Ned's not on campus. But you've known him a lot longer."
"But Jake is new and different. And fun to hang out with."
"And you have arguments with him that you never could have had with Ned," George pointed out, then laughed when Bess smacked her with a pillow.
"Ned does have a temper," Nancy said. "But not like Jake."
"What does Jake want out of your relationship?" Bess asked point-blank.
Nancy shrugged. "I don't know. We don't really talk about it. I kind of think he wants it to end up in bed."
Bess wrinkled an eyebrow. "Hasn't it?"
Nancy colored slightly. "Not really."
"Hey, you're among friends," George said. "I'm the last person who would tell you it's wrong. Except if the guy's name is Will."
"We haven't really done anything."
"Haven't really," Bess repeated. "Haven't really means kinda. Kinda means something."
Nancy held her hands up, palms out. "Hey. It's mostly that he's gotten to third. But no more than that."
Bess and George exchanged glances. "How does Ned feel about that?" Bess asked, snatching a handful of popcorn from the bowl.
"Ned doesn't know."
"But you said Ned knows about Jake, right?"
Nancy nodded. "I told him about Jake. But I told him it wasn't that serious."
"If third isn't that serious I wonder what is," Bess snickered, then winced when George hit her with the pillow. "Do you think it will upset Ned, is that why you haven't told him?"
"Is it any of his business?" Nancy asked defensively. "It's not like I've asked for details about Erika."
"But you're going to, aren't you?" George asked. "I mean, I'm dying to know and I was never his girlfriend."
"But if Nan asks about the other girl then she has to tell about Jake," Bess pointed out.
Nancy flopped backwards in the chair. "I don't know," she said. "And I don't really want to think about it. Until his little internal deadline passes."
"But you have no idea when that will be," George said. "It could be tomorrow."
"Or a month from now. But either way you need to make up your mind. And the fact that you're even wondering whether he'll forgive you, well... sounds like you're already thinking about telling him."
--
"I need to ask you something," Nancy whispered to Ned.
He blinked. "Okay," he said. "Now?"
She was leaning over him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, in her bridesmaid's gown. The ceremony was about to start, and Ned was seated on the groom's side of the church.
"No, not now. After. I'll catch up with you at my car, okay?"
He nodded wordlessly.
An hour later Nancy had cleared the receiving line and was walking through the dance floor, following Ned to the parking lot. Her father and new stepmother were dancing, Iris in a tailored ivory two-piece that set off her dark hair and flawless makeup. Her father was in a dark formal suit with an ivory vest.
"Nancy," Iris said, halting Carson. Nancy turned to her expectantly.
"I was wondering if you and I might be able to have lunch Friday, after Carson and I get back."
"I can't do lunch, I have a pretty full schedule that day. Maybe dinner?"
Iris nodded. "That sounds nice. I'll call you when we get back, is that all right?"
Nancy nodded and smiled. "Congratulations, you two," she said, leaning over to kiss her father on the cheek.
By the time she reached her Mustang, Ned was looking at her in concern, leaning back with his arms folded over his green dress shirt. "Hey," he said softly.
She looked up at him. "Hey," she said, trying a smile.
He opened his arms and drew her into them, and she closed her eyes and breathed against his neck, smiling when she felt a tremor over his skin. "You okay?"
She nodded, measuring her breath. "I feel like I'm in the twilight zone," she said. "Iris just asked if I'd have lunch with her. The two of us alone. The last time we talked like that, she was basically trying to get my permission for them to get married."
"I'm sure she wasn't quite so mercenary as all that," Ned chuckled.
She shrugged. "I'm sure you're right," she said. "Man. This is a little dangerous," she said, tilting her head back to look into his eyes.
"A little?" he asked.
"Do you know how easy it would be..."
"To do this?" he asked her, leaning down by slow degrees until their lips were almost touching. She closed her eyes and breathed in his breath.
"I wanted to ask you if you'd go to a tennis tournament with us," Nancy said. "And then maybe out to dinner."
"Good thing you told me, else I'd have filled up on shrimp cocktail," he murmured.
Nancy opened her eyes to stare into his. "When's your deadline, Ned?"
He kissed the corner of her mouth and pulled back. "It hasn't passed yet," he said.
"Are you going to tell me when it does?"
"Yeah." He ran a hand over her hair, and she straightened the front of his shirt. "But it's not right now. So why a tennis tournament? You do mean today, right?" he asked, looking up at the overcast sky.
"We're going to get a look at George's new boyfriend," Nancy said, laughing when Ned raised an eyebrow. "We haven't seen him yet. And Bess tells me she owes you dinner, for some reason."
Ned smiled, a nostalgic look on his face. "Bet she hasn't told you where."
--
"Where in Chicago?" Nancy asked. She held her cell phone to her head with one hand and was steering the Mustang with the other.
Bess tried to explain again. "You're on the on-ramp, aren't you? You're almost here."
"Well, Dad gave me fifty bucks for taking him and Iris to the airport. So I'm all set."
"Ned's already here."
"Can you hand him the phone for a second?"
"Sure. Why?"
"It'll just be for a sec, Bess."
"Hey gorgeous," Ned said into the phone next.
"Bess has no idea what she's in for, does she," Nancy said, a smile in her voice.
"No idea," he agreed. "You wearing that blue silk number I like so much?"
"Now what kind of girl would I be if I satisfied you every chance I had?"
"You shouldn't ask me something like that," Ned replied, laughing. "See you in a sec, Nan."
He raised an eyebrow as she maneuvered between some tables and took the seat next to him. He leaned over and placed his mouth near her ear. "What kind of girl did you say you were?"
Nancy smoothed the skirt of the blue silk dress. "Just be glad it was at my house," she murmured in return.
Two hours later Nancy, Bess, George, George's date Scott, and Bess's date Mark were watching Ned clean off his plate. Everyone but Nancy was incredulous; Nancy herself was stifling a yawn with the back of her fingers.
"I cannot believe you don't need a go-box," Bess finally said.
"Bess, take it from me. If Ned ever bets you dinner, do not take him up on it." Nancy smiled at him. "Only took me once to learn that lesson."
"So you two are..." Scott gestured between the two of them. "Thanks for coming to the tennis match, by the way." He glanced in George's direction, and she smiled.
Nancy and Ned looked at each other. "Ex," she said.
Scott's eyebrows lifted. "Oh. That explains..." he trailed off.
"What?" Ned asked.
"They've always been able to finish each other's sentences, that kind of thing," Bess interjected, smiling.
"You two still remember how to dance?" George asked. "I think we should go out and celebrate."
"Celebrate what, my new stepmother?" Nancy was smiling but it didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Your new stepmother, Scott's team's stunning victory today..." George patted Scott's shoulder. "There's a great club I know Bess has been dying to try out."
"Club Geneva?" Bess asked, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, yeah. Come on, you guys. You up for it?" she asked Mark, and he nodded. "Nan? Ned? After the bill tonight the least you can do is go out with us, Ned," Bess pleaded.
"I think you need something to distract you," Ned whispered to Nancy.
She smiled weakly. "Look, I'm sure all of you..."
"Nan, come on," George said.
"Nan, George is the one asking if we can go out. George." Bess gestured dramatically. "Who knows when this will happen again."
"All right," Nancy sighed, and the other girls cheered.
--
"Aren't you in one of my classes?" Mark asked over the throbbing bass beat of the music.
Nancy tilted her head. "Tell me which classes you're taking."
As he thought about it, Nancy glanced around. Bess and Ned were dancing near them, having fun twirling each other. George and Scott were dancing a bit closer than either of the other couples, and George's cheeks were flushed with excitement.
"This was the best idea ever," she heard Bess call to George over Ned's shoulder.
"I think we're in English together," Nancy said suddenly. "I think that's it. You sit on the third row most of the time."
Just then the DJ cued up a slower song and Ned tapped the two of them. "I'm sure you want to get back to the wild girl over there," Ned said, smiling, and Nancy stepped into his arms.
"This is dangerous too," she said, smiling up at him, her eyes gleaming. "Silk dress, slow dancing..."
Ned swung her into a quick step, then dipped her slightly. "This isn't dangerous."
She raised an eyebrow. "Maybe what's dangerous is that I don't feel scared right now."
"Why would you feel scared?" Their faces were inches apart, staring into each other's eyes, their movements nearly imperceptible.
"I have a new stepmother, I have no idea what to tell Jake about you, I have no idea when your deadline will be or what I will do when it happens. And George has a new boyfriend I only found out about last night."
Ned chuckled. "Oh, so you didn't know about him either."
Nancy shook her head. "Nope."
"Don't stress over the deadline, Nan. Not that I'm not incredibly curious about what you're going to tell Jake."
"I told you, I'm not scared right now." She laughed quietly, her eyes half-lidded.
"Is Iris that scary?"
Nancy shrugged. "It's not so much that as... it's been me and Dad and Hannah for so long now. And now... I don't know how it's going to be."
Ned half-smiled. "Sounds familiar," he said.
--
Nancy was murmuring the French conversation she was learning under her breath as she dropped a computer disk with her latest story on Jake's desk. She turned around and gasped, stopping her recitation of her end of the conversation.
"Hi Nan," Jake said from the doorway. "That your story?"
Nancy nodded. "Yeah. Tell me if I need to make any changes."
Jake closed the door and stepped toward her. "Look, I hate that I can't see you. Can we have dinner Friday night?"
Nancy looked over to the side. "I'm having it with my stepmother," she said. "And I'm going to be pretty busy the rest of this week."
"What about tomorrow night? My treat."
Nancy gave him a tiny smile. "Under duress, okay?"
"Why under duress?" Jake slid an arm around her shoulders. "Your next deadline isn't until Friday."
"Well, after I learn this conversation I have some exercises to do for my copyediting class..."
"Which you'll finish in three minutes flat. You're a natural. Ink is in your blood, Nan." He smiled at her. "Someone needs to help you relax."
You need someone to come take you out every now and then. Nancy closed her eyes. "Okay," she murmured. "Tomorrow night."
--
"I know you're probably not up for the ride, but Casablanca is playing at the campus theater."
Nancy laughed. "You remembered."
"How could I forget? I practically have the dialogue memorized."
"That sounds great, Ned," Nancy said wistfully. "And if I didn't have all this work..."
"Hey, no worries," Ned replied. "More romantic to watch it alone together anyway."
Nancy groaned. "Oh man."
"Did I say something wrong?"
She shook her head. "No, no... I have to go out to dinner tonight."
"Not with Iris, right, that's this weekend...?"
"No. With Jake."
Ned was quiet for a minute. "Oh."
"Ned—"
"Just don't wear the silk dress, okay?"
"Okay," she whispered. "I won't."
"And... I'll talk to you later." His voice would have been unreadable to anyone else.
"Later," she replied, and hung up the phone.
--
"Hello?" Bess answered her phone. Nancy heard someone in the background shout "Turn it! No!"
"Bess?" Nancy asked.
A door closed, and the background noise decreased. "Okay," Bess breathed. "Sorry. I have no idea who half those people are or what they're doing in my room."
Nancy chuckled. "Tell me what to wear tonight."
"What's the occasion?" Bess was immediately focused on the task at hand.
"Dinner with Jake."
"Hmm," Bess said, considering. "Are you going for devastatingly gorgeous, or prim and proper?"
Nancy made a noise in her throat. "Hadn't really thought about it that way."
"Are you going to break up with him tonight?"
"I... don't think so, no. If anything it would be incredibly awkward to work with him. I have a story to turn in on Friday."
"Oh. So that's how you're going to let Ned's deadline pass."
"I'm not just going to let it pass," Nancy protested. "Unless."
"Unless what?"
"I don't know," Nancy finished lamely.
"Ned's not going to wait forever. Maybe I was wrong, and you're just going to sit back and let him go by."
"I don't want to do that," Nancy murmured.
Bess chuckled. "That's what you're setting yourself up for. He won't take second-best either. Isn't that what he told you?"
"Are you on his side, Bess?"
Nancy could almost hear her shrug. "Ned never stole a story out from under you," Bess said. "Don't get me wrong, it didn't make me feel good when you called me crying over his being with another girl. That was incredibly sucky timing. To be honest, Nan, that was when I started thinking that this separation wasn't going to last too long."
"I was just calling him to talk," Nancy said wryly.
"Sure you were, Nan," Bess said. "Wear the black flared pants and the burgundy silk shirt. And do something with your hair. Not anything too serious."
"Thanks," Nancy replied.
--
"I thought your father hadn't remarried," Jake said curiously.
Nancy swallowed a bite of pasta. Jake had taken her to a small Italian restaurant. He was even wearing a suit, something he typically loathed. "He did. Recently. I don't know her that well."
"Recently, like... before we met?"
Nancy shook her head. "No. As in Saturday."
"Oh." Jake looked down. "So... how was it?"
"Beautiful," Nancy said. A half-smiled touched her lips. "How much longer are you and I going to need to eat together two towns away from school?"
Jake shrugged. "I gave Jackie a story, she's happy. And it's not like this state of affairs is permanent, anyway."
Nancy tilted her head. "How do you mean?"
"Next year I'll be graduated. Even though I don't really want to wait that long to hang out with you."
Nancy shrugged. "Is it really that big a rule?"
Jake took a spoonful of his soup. "If Jackie gets angry again, she can get me fired for misconduct. Because it's not fair to anyone else if I give you special consideration."
Nancy carefully placed her fork on her plate and folded her hands in her lap. "Do you feel that you give me special consideration?"
Jake shrugged. "Not really. But that doesn't really matter, does it? Just means I can't give you any favors. Even if I want to."
"Do you want to give me favors, Jake?"
He chuckled. "Not ones that involve stories in the paper."
Nancy raised an eyebrow. "Did you hear back from the Sun-Tribune?"
Jake nodded. "As long as I keep up with the work I'm doing, Karen is very positive about my chances."
"Sounds like you'll just have to wait, then." Nancy picked up her fork again and took a bite of vegetable.
"Or not," Jake said.
"What, you're going to lobby for permission to date me?" Nancy took a sip of her drink.
"I don't really want to rock the boat when I'm so close to graduation."
Nancy smiled. "Well, as long as you want to date this reporter..."
"Yeah." Jake sighed. "Um..."
--
"He actually said that I should quit!" Nancy shouted into the phone.
"Nan, Nan, calm down. Um... why are you not calling Bess with this?"
"She's not picking up her phone! That prick!"
George laughed. "Calm down. So what exactly did he say...?"
"That if I really did want to keep going out with him, I'd do this for him! I could always go back to the paper next year, after he'd graduated! He said it like it solved everything! And when I asked him what was wrong with him, he was completely shocked!"
"Guys are idiots, Nan," George said. "Oh. Not you, Scott," she said.
"Oh. You're with him." With an effort Nancy calmed down. "I'm sorry. Just... give me a call back when you're free."
"No. Nan, we can talk now."
"No. It's okay. I didn't realize you were busy."
"You sound pretty mad."
"I'll get over it. I need to go back to my room and start on my homework anyway." Nancy wiped under her eyes and grimaced when she saw the marks left by her mascara. "Have a good night, George."
Before her friend could make further protest, Nancy hung up the phone and blew her nose. She looked down at her cell phone again and considered for a second, then stared, distracted, at the shrubs surrounding the rest area.
Her cell phone rang. She looked down at the caller ID and silenced Jake's call. After he'd hung up, she placed another call.
"So how was Casablanca?"
Ned laughed. "Without you, Nan, I didn't really see the point. There's another showing at midnight, though," he said jokingly.
"Can I be there in time?" She looked at the clock in her dashboard.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, I can. I'm just outside campus right now, I'll leave here in five minutes. Are you at the frat?"
"Yeah," he said slowly. "Um, let me call the ticket office and get tickets...?"
"I'll pay you back," she said, climbing out of the Mustang. She locked the car and headed to the ladies' room to wash her face.
"Don't worry about it, it's just two bucks if I remember right," he said. "You okay?"
"I'll be fine," she said. "See you in a while."
--
"You don't have a lot of homework or anything, do you?" Nancy asked anxiously.
Ned shrugged and put an arm around her shoulders. "I'll be fine," he said softly. Nancy shivered slightly at the feel of his breath on her skin. "Sure you don't want any popcorn or anything?"
She smiled at him. "Nah, that's okay. God knows how long it's been sitting out there. Thanks for getting me a ticket, though."
He smiled back and touched the tip of her nose. "Sure thing. I'm gonna go grab a candy bar or something. You know me, two hour feedings." He chuckled. "Diet soda?"
"Sure," she said, pulling his coat over her shoulders against the chill in the theater. "Hurry back," she said, looking up at him.
He held her gaze for a moment longer than necessary. "Sure," he murmured.
After the movie they walked back across campus to his frat house, Nancy's arm tucked into the crook of Ned's elbow. The other couple who had shown up for the movie had nodded at Ned in recognition. Nancy felt a glow of pride, walking along with the star quarterback.
"So tell me what's wrong," Ned said.
Nancy shook her head. "Jake suggested that I quit my job at the paper so I could be with him."
Ned whistled under his breath. "Wow."
"I know! Can you believe the nerve?" Nancy tilted her head to look at Ned's face.
Ned exhaled. "He sounds like a real jerk," he admitted.
She saw the corners of his mouth twitching. "You're glad," she accused him.
Ned shrugged and put his arm over her shoulders. "You're with me right now," he said simply. "I wasn't able to do a damn thing on my homework after you told me you'd be with him tonight."
"You want me where you can keep an eye on me?"
"I want you where I can keep both eyes and both hands on you," he said, smiling. "But right now... what did you do?"
"Well, he told me that I could just go back to work at the newspaper once he graduated. As though working there was just a hobby and I could buckle down and concentrate on my schoolwork, and him... and I got up and left. Right in the middle of the restaurant. Didn't even get to dessert."
They had reached the front entrance of Ned's frat, and he unlocked the door. "Well, we have half a cheesecake in the freezer if I remember right," he said. "Assuming it wasn't demolished on a study break. You're welcome to anything we can find."
Nancy smiled at him, then ran her tongue over her teeth. "After that soda I need to brush my teeth," she said. "I'm gonna go grab my backpack."
"I'll meet you at the back entrance," Ned said.
For a minute they looked at each other. By degrees she slid closer to him, until she stood, hands behind her back, head tilted so she could see into his eyes. She could feel the heat radiating from his skin as he slowly leaned toward her.
"Okay," she murmured. "I'll see you there."
She could predict what he would have done, before, but before wasn't now. She reached up and traced a finger over his cheek, slow, eyes half-lidded. He cupped a hand around her jaw and leaned down until their foreheads were touching.
"Yeah," he whispered, and kissed the side of her mouth. She closed her eyes as his thumb stroked over her cheekbone and he kissed the other side.
--
Jake could say he's sorry tomorrow.
Nancy slammed the lid of her trunk and adjusted the backpack on her shoulder. She began the walk back to Ned's fraternity house.
She felt weightless. The thought carried no importance, no anxiety, because here there was no tomorrow, no dread of a confrontation with Jake, no hard ball of sorrow in her stomach over having ended it. Only a slow steady humming just beneath her skin that increased the nearer she came to Ned.
Her cell phone rang again and she fished it out of her purse, checked the caller ID. With a sigh she answered.
"Please stop calling me."
"Nancy, I'm so—"
She hung up the phone, then pressed the power button. She spotted the warm glow of the lamp on the back porch and headed for it, huddling into his leather jacket against the brisk wind.
"Hey man, shut the door," she heard Mike say as she reached it. "You're letting in a draft and it's way too cold outside."
"Hey Mike," Nancy said in greeting, watching Ned's best friend walk around the kitchen in his bathrobe. "All-nighter?"
Mike shot a smile in her direction that almost, but didn't quite, reach his eyes. "Hey Nancy," he said. "You two kids can have it. I am gonna be worthless tomorrow if I don't try to get some sleep."
Ned waved goodbye to Mike and opened the freezer door. "I see about three ice cream cartons in here, but I have a bad feeling at least two probably have a spoonful left in them. What are you in the mood for?"
She reached out and placed her hand over his, shoved the door closed. "I'm not hungry, Ned."
"You sure?"
She looked down. "He just tried to call me again."
"While you were outside?"
She nodded, looking into his eyes. Hers were slightly wet. "You have homework to do, don't you?"
--
"'Your office manager refuses to listen to reason. Even after you have fairly negotiated her salary, she still protests that she deserves more, and that she can convince her entire office to follow her in a strike. None of the people in her office have expressed any problems to you. What do you do?'"
Nancy emerged from Ned's bathroom, teeth freshly brushed, wearing one of his t-shirts. "Are you a union shop?"
Ned looked down. "Not in this chapter," he laughed.
"If I say give her a sabbatical, is that defeating the purpose?"
Ned tapped his pencil's eraser on the page. "I'm not sure. I just did my psychology homework so I'm tempted to try and analyze her problems."
Nancy laughed and sat down on his bed. "I'm trying to figure out what her motive is, what crime she might be trying to cover up."
Once he'd finished the next day's work, he switched off his desk lamp and sat behind her on the bed. He ran his hands over her shoulders. "I'll call Brook," he said. "She still has a spare bed."
Nancy's head tilted forward as Ned's hands stroked her shoulders. She didn't reply for a long time. "It's late," she murmured, chin on her chest. "Brook's probably asleep."
"I'm sure she won't pass up an opportunity to see you again."
Nancy bent at the waist and slumped forward. "Mmm," she said. "I don't want to wake her. It's all right."
"I really don't think you should be driving all the way back tonight," he said. His palm traced a wide circle over her back and he patted it, then he leaned back against his pillows.
Nancy sprawled on her back and stretched her arms, then propped her head up and looked at him. "What would you suggest?" she asked, smiling.
"You could sleep here. I'd sleep on the bean bag."
"I don't want to kick you out of your bed."
"You want to sleep on the bean bag?" He was smiling too.
"Not really."
"Nan, if we both sleep in the bed I'd be practically on top of you," he protested.
She met his eyes. "You don't want me falling asleep at the wheel, Nickerson," she said mildly, then stifled a yawn with her hand.
Ned pushed himself out of bed and prepared for sleep, while Nancy crawled up to the head of his bed. She pulled off her pants and tossed them onto the pile of her clothes, then bundled under his covers before he came back in. He switched off the light.
"What time do you have to get up in the morning?" he asked softly.
Nancy considered for a second. "Eight," she said.
"Good," he murmured as he set his alarm. "We could even go for a jog in the morning if you wanted."
"One thing at a time," she said, pulling back the covers for him.
He paused for a moment, looking down at her, then joined her in the bed. He pulled the covers up over his shoulders and met her gaze.
"I don't feel very tired," she whispered.
He reached up and traced his fingers over her cheek. "This, Nan, this is dangerous."
She smiled. "It's not," she murmured. She traced her fingertips over his lips. "I won't be with him anymore. What he did tonight, that was the last straw."
Ned's eyes closed briefly. "Okay," he murmured.
She sighed. "I want to be with you."
He raised an eyebrow. "But?"
"You're not a rebound. And I need some time to figure out what I want. To figure out if I'm ready to do this right now. I can't... I just needed to see you so badly tonight. But I can't keep doing this. We're so far apart, distance-wise..."
Ned nodded. "It'll be a year and a half before I'm graduated," he said. Then he smiled. "But I won't ask you to quit school in the meantime."
"Will it be enough if I tell you that you're the one?" she asked, searching his eyes. "You're the only one. But I can't devote the time to this right now, and it's unfair to you." She brushed at her cheeks, and he reached up to smooth a tear away. "If I hadn't been so stupid..."
"You weren't stupid," he said softly. "College is different. I know that. And you, Nancy, take a little while to adjust to change." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
She put her arms around his neck and murmured into his chest, "Ned, I feel like I chose work over you."
He stroked her back. "It doesn't have to be that way," he whispered against her ear.
She pulled back and looked into his face. "How? My time is divided between schoolwork and the paper and occasionally sleeping. You and I both have so much going on. You have a game this Friday, don't you?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
"And I'd love to be there. If I can get my story in on time." She reached up to her face again, but he brushed the tear away before she could. "My story, oh hell..."
"Calm down," he whispered, his finger over her lips. "A long time ago, if you'll remember, when my girlfriend was an internationally renowned amateur detective, we seemed to do pretty well. I'm not saying I saw you as often as I wanted, but I saw the look your face when you were on the trail of a suspect, when your mind was working. I love that girl just as much as the one who would spend the day hanging out with me. I didn't decide between the two. Nan, you come as a package. If I want you, I take the romantic with the curious, the breaking and entering with the weekends at the beach."
She laughed through her tears, her hand over his on her face. "That feels like so long ago," she admitted.
"It doesn't matter to me whether you are a detective or a star reporter or a district attorney, or a computer programmer, whatever you want to be. The deadline isn't tonight. Stop worrying about it. You've told me I'm number one." He grinned. "I'll be fine with that."
"But for how long?"
"Didn't I tell you to stop worrying?" he asked her, and leaned down.
His mouth met hers and she ran her fingers through his hair as she returned the kiss. The way he touched her, the way he kissed her, everything, it was all so familiar; she was eighteen again and in love. No one else could touch the way she felt when his skin, his mouth met hers. She had loved no one else, had never loved anyone else, not compared to this.
She breathed his name when he pulled away, then opened her eyes slowly. He looked a little scared. This is dangerous.
"Please," she whispered, reaching up for him again. He searched her eyes, but when they kissed again there was nothing reluctant about it. His arms slid around her waist and she traced her fingertips over the back of his neck.
"Nan," he gasped when they parted, then turned his face away.
"It feels right, doesn't it," she whispered, her eyes still closed.
"I never said it didn't," he replied. Then he sighed. "When's your next school break?"
She opened her eyes. "Christmas," she said. "And we have no plans for it."
"Who's we?"
Nancy shrugged. "You and I. My family. I really would appreciate it if you could be there..."
He smiled. "I don't see any problem with that."
Nancy looked at him for a second quietly. "Mike's not happy with me, is he."
Ned shrugged. "He'll come around," he said.
Nancy snuggled against him. "We'd better get to sleep," she said. "Before you start wondering what I'm wearing."
"Oh?" Ned asked, ducking under the covers, and Nancy laughed.
--
What is that?
She became aware of the sunlight first. She muffled a groan and buried her face in the pillow, felt Ned's arm tighten around her. Then she remembered where she was and was afraid to move, in case she was about to fall off the narrow bed onto the floor.
But the ringing—
"Is that your cell phone?" Ned murmured, his voice rough with sleep.
"Oh," Nancy gasped, and fell off the bed. Ned sat up, his hair tousled, the covers at his waist, as Nancy found her purse and dug her cell phone out of it, just as it stopped ringing. She cursed and checked the call log.
"Hello?"
"What are you doing calling me at this hour?" Nancy said crossly.
"Well, we do have class in forty-five minutes. Thought you might want to grab a danish or something," Bess replied.
Nancy dragged her hand through her hair and checked Ned's alarm clock. "I'm skipping," she murmured.
"Well, now that you're awake do you want to meet me anyway? I thought maybe we could talk."
Nancy chuckled. "I'm at Emerson right now."
Bess paused for a moment. "Oh," she said. "Ohhh. I heard from George that you and Jake had a little argument last night."
"Big. And yeah."
"You've been there all night, I take it."
"Yeah. And I'll tell you about it but right now I really want to go back to sleep."
"Okay." Bess chuckled. "Just call me when you're back on campus."
Nancy ended the call, dropped the phone back into her purse, and crawled back up onto the bed. She murmured happily as he took her back into his arms, and she snuggled beneath the covers and against his chest.
After a minute Ned said "Are you okay? You fell pretty hard."
"I'm fine," Nancy sighed.
Another minute passed. "I wonder who lives right underneath me. I think I'd better skip breakfast."
Nancy reached up and planted a closemouthed kiss on Ned's lips. "Please let me go back to sleep unless you're planning on taking advantage of the half-naked girl in your bed."
Ned ran a hand over her tousled hair and grinned. "Only if you're planning on doing most of the work. I feel like I can barely move right now."
Nancy raised an eyebrow. "Maybe later," she murmured playfully, then snuggled against him.
He leaned down and nudged her hair aside. "I like sleeping with you," he whispered.
"Don't push it," she said in a mock warning voice. But her shiver betrayed her.