A/N: Kay so I lied a little. : ) this chapter is close too. I'm just having way too much fun with these chapters. We will see how long I can keep them close :D Man oh man. Anyone excited for this update? And feedback would be fantastic!
(Lars' POV)
"So you're buying her a car?" I asked as I drove us half an hour away to North Shores because Ray had found a yellow Avalanche.
"Yeah, and paying for college, if she will let me." Ray replied playing with my window. I knew something was up.
"Do you just buy everyone a car?" I joked. He had bought Reggie her Avalanche, helped me buy my '89 Honda, gave Sam a little extra cash for his Ford F-150, and I knew he would buy Otto a car, and he offered to help Twister out, and Clio too.
"Well, I like everyone to be happy and able to get themselves around. It's not like I can't afford to help. Breezy makes money with her little online business, and the Shack makes really good money these days, and the board shop has been bringing in more this year than ever before." Ray chuckled a little but kept fiddling with the window.
"Nikkie has plenty of money. You know that right?" I replied. I had an idea that he knew how much money she made.
"She has a lot in the bank and is getting money she inherited from her dad too. That doesn't mean I don't want to help. Why should she have to do everything on her own? She's only eighteen and living like she's forty. I don't want to see that sweet girl go down that dark road." Ray told me as he checked the street we were supposed to turn on.
"I know, I don't want to see her going that way either. She needs to splurge a little, buy herself something. I know it's hard for her though. She had to adapt to a world of everyone hurting her and leaving her behind. I'm glad she came here, honestly. I feel like with her knowing Reggie, she is set with a friend for life. And I know everyone else would be there for her, no matter what." I told him as I scanned the streets. I didn't know North Shores that well, but I did know Nikkie used to live up here. I actually know exactly where she used to live, everyone does.
"Are you going to be there for her, Lars? No matter what?" He asked. I was a little astounded. There was no doubt that I would be there for her.
"Absolutely. Why do you ask?" I let the offense come through my voice, I didn't intend to but it just came through.
"Nikkie thinks she might be pregnant." He looked at me to watch my immediate reaction, the one I couldn't control. I think he was satisfied with my reaction. I breathed and let it set in that she might be pregnant.
"I told Reggie about it this morning. I'm nervous, but I have no doubt I'll be with her through this whole thing. She can go off to college and I can watch our child. Or we can go to the same college. I'm the manager of Hardware, I'm financially sound enough to help her take care of our child. I know she makes enough money, but she is going to have to stop working as much as she does. If she's pregnant, I will help take care of our child. If she's not pregnant there is no way I'm leaving her. This 'scare' has made me see that I do actually love this girl and don't want her to just be my best friend, my hook up. I want to walk around holding her hand, giving her piggy back rides, taking her on dates. I want to be with her, Ray. I want to be with this girl regardless of what happens." The smile that lit up his face absolutely made my day.
"You're going to make a great dad one day. I think when we get to the place you should call Nikkie. Okay? I'll deal with the car." Ray told me as I turned onto Lilac Street. I saw his eyes go straight for 9714. Mine went there too. The house was now occupied with a new family, possibly not knowing what happened inside that house.
"I will." I told him as we slowly passed the house and turned on a few more streets. We found the house with the truck. It looked gorgeous and I knew Nikkie would love it. Ray climbed out of the car and I sat there staring at my phone. I hit the call button and Nikkie's name was first. Almost always was. If she wasn't sleeping over at my house I called her when I dropped her off, or just before I went to bed. We called each other if we had a nightmare, or if she needed a ride or to talk.
"Hi." She said. I knew she was heading to Menards right now.
"Hi, hun. Almost at work?" I asked.
"Yeah, luckily Breezy had some jeans, shoes and a polo here. I totally forgot to bring it and I remembered you were going with Ray so you had my clothes in your car."
"Oh, gosh I'm sorry. I didn't even think about it. There's some at my house and Brandi's too. You'll have a car soon enough though, so you can make it messy with your clothes." I joked with her and she laughed.
"We are going to have to break my car in, Lars." She laughed and I smiled.
"Nikkie, I love you." I blurted out. It wasn't meant to come out that way.
There was a pause. "I love you too, goof ball." I don't think she knew I was serious, that I wanted to be with her the rest of my life.
"I'll see you in like an hour. Ray and I will be there." I told her.
"Alright. Well, I just got here. Tell Ray thank you." She hung up the phone. I headed towards Ray, the guy was already whipping out the keys.
"How many miles are on it?" I asked eying the truck up and down.
"A little over forty-five thousand." He replied.
"How's it run?" I asked him peering inside the truck.
"It runs like a champ. You're going to get some good years out of this." He smiled. "Oh, and Ray. I've got this. You said it was for your daughter, right?"
"Well, her friend. But she might as well be mine." Ray smiled and so did I.
"Well, here. It's basically the ultimate break down kit. It was a gift from my ex and she already bought me one, so I figured you wouldn't want her breaking down and not having anything to fix her car with." He laughed and handed it over to Ray.
"Thanks Leroy. She's tough and knows a bit about cars because of this guy." Ray said pulling me in.
"Well, that's good. Gotta make sure she stays safe, and you watch out for her." It's like he knew what she meant to me.
"Ya ready to get it out of here?" He asked. Ray nodded and handed him the check. I saw it said 20,000. I cannot believe he just dropped that on a car for Nikkie, for anyone.
"Don't tell her what I spent." Ray chuckled handing me the keys. "I'll take your car." He said grabbing my keys. I smiled and climbed into the truck. We drove into the Menards parking lot and I parked in the blue area with Nikkie's truck. It was her truck. Her very own truck. Ray followed me in and walked off into the Hardware department while I headed back into Wallcoverings. Her face lit up when she saw me sauntering into the back.
"Guess who has a beautiful new truck?" I asked her and she grabbed the keys right out of my hand.
"ME!" She squealed. I have never seen her so happy.
"Think I can ask ya something, gorgeous?" She nodded at me with this bright smile on her face. "Will you be my girlfriend?" Her face changed from excitement to shock to a giant hug.
"Absolutely!" She squealed. I felt like a middle schooler asking that way and getting that response.
"I love you, Nikkie." Her face lit up again.
"You were serious? I was so scared you were just messing around. So I made it a joke. I love you, Lars." I'd never seen her so happy, it made me excited. As much as I hated those couples that said I love you in the first day, I'm pretty sure we have a special circumstance.
"I'm glad, hun. Well, I should be heading out. Going to go help Breezy out at The Shack for awhile, and wait for you to come over." I smiled.
"I'm not pregnant." She shoved the words out of her mouth and I knew she was trying to keep her cool.
"You're sure?" I asked her, slightly relieved.
"I took two tests, they were both negative." Her smile wasn't nearly as bright as it had been.
"Well, that's good. What's wrong?" I asked.
"I was a little excited to be pregnant, well totally horrified, but still excited."
"I get it. I felt the same way. We can talk about it later, okay?" I told her and kissed her lightly as I left. I found Ray looking through the candy and laughed a little.
"You ready to leave?" I asked him. He looked up from the candy.
"Almost." He replied looking through everything. I saw Mandy, the human resources manager.
"Hello, Lars. How are you doing?" She smiled at me.
"I'm good. How are you, Mandy?"
"I'm doing great. What are you doing back here?" She chuckled lightly as she saw Ray going through the candy.
"Came back to see Nikkie. Oh, huh. I don't know what protocol is about that, but...well, Nikkie and I are dating." I said nervously through gritted teeth.
"You mean, you weren't dating?" She asked with a confused look on her face.
"I just asked her out, but no. We weren't dating. Why?"
"Oh, everyone thought you two were dating." She laughed. Mandy began whispering, "There was a bet going as to when you'd propose." I laughed.
"Are you serious? Do we really seem like that?" I asked, not mad at all, just curious.
"Oh, absolutely. And I already told the upper management about you two dating, well now I guess it's official. But you two didn't know you're the talk of Ocean Shores? You're basically the couple of the eternity." Her laugh was absolutely contagious. I had no idea that everyone thought of us that way.
"That's insane. So what's the ultimate proposal date on this bet?" I asked her. Now actually thinking about proposing to that girl.
"Well, people keep pushing it back and thinking you're insane for not proposing. I know a lot of the guys here have wanted to ask her out. But this December seems to be the month with the most bets."
"Wow, really? December and February are the worst months to propose. Christmas and Valentine's Day are the last day girls want to be proposed to on. I'm thinking the day I see a ring I know she'll love is the day I'll do it."
"Nikkie is one lucky girl. That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard. You better keep her close, she's a gorgeous girl. Don't screw it up." She said smiling as she walked away.
"Trust me that's the last thing I want to do!" I said as she walked away. Ray looked at me a little astounded with his candy in his hands.
"I had no idea that everyone thought you were dating." He shrugged heading to the register. I pulled out my ID badge and gave it to Candice, the cashier.
"Back to see your girlfriend, Lars?" She said smiling.
"Did everyone think we were dating?" I asked her. She looked at me totally shocked.
"You mean you aren't?" She asked scanning items through.
"I just asked her out like five minutes ago." I said chuckling a little.
"No way. You two are so cute together. Everyone thought you were a thing. Well, congratulations. Thinking about proposing yet?" She asked as she started bagging the candy. She didn't have to, it wasn't really her job, but I knew she wanted the gossip.
"Just waiting until I find that ring." I smiled and she did too.
"Well, again congrats. You know this will be the talk of Menards now." She joked, but it was pretty true. The cashiers would all talk, and everyone else would find out. It's going to be interesting.
Ray and I headed out the door and I took him back to The Shack. "Nikkie said she took two tests and she isn't pregnant."
"That's relieving for both of you, huh?" I nodded as we drove back. We headed up to The Shack where Breezy was a little swamped. I saw Twister trying to clean a table as he dropped a cup. He still wasn't entirely coordinated.
"Hey, Twist." I said rolling up the Boardwalk to start helping out.
"Oh god." He said running back to the counter with the tray.
"Lars! You're here. Thank god." Breezy said rushing me to the back. She waved to Ray as he started flipping burgers with Tito.
"What's up, Breezy?" I asked as we headed to the office Ray had set up at The Shack.
"Okay, I know you aren't my son, and I would definitely not do this if Ray wasn't going to give Otto or Reggie Danni's ring."
"What are you talking about?" I asked her.
"Isn't Nikkie, pregnant?" She asked me.
"No. Oh god. No, she was just scared. It's all fine. You don't have to give me the ring." I told her.
"Oh, well that's a relief. But I want you to propose to Nikkie with this ring." I watched her pull out this gorgeous ring, a tungsten band with three diamonds in the center, then smaller diamonds coming down the sides.
"No way. That's yours." I told her pushing it back.
"Lars, Nikkie is the sweetest girl in the world, Ray told me what you said about her."
"But, Breezy. We've been dating for like an hour now. I mean I'd love to marry her one day. But she would never accept my proposal and I cannot take that ring." I told her again. The ring was beautiful, and perfect for Nikkie's taste but that was supposed to stay in her family.
"It was my great-grandmother's ring. I don't have my own son to give this to. You have been the best worker and you are a great person, Nikkie deserves this. You'll be a great addition to the family." She stopped for a second, "Well, I mean. You aren't exactly family, but Nikkie might as well be my daughter. I want the best for that sweet girl." I looked at the ring again, I knew it was her size. This is hard.
"Maybe you could talk to her about me, see what she says. Then I'll consider it." I told her. She knew I wanted to give Nikkie that ring, but I also wanted to spend a lot of money on a ring for her.
"This is all about you buying the ring, huh?" She asked me, as if she had read my mind.
"Well, kind of. But it's a family heir loom." I told her feeling worse and worse.
"Well, if it's about money. I can have it appraised and you can pay me. But you and Nikkie are basically family. You can just take it and wait it out to give her the ring. I want you to have it though." She wanted me to have this ring, no doubt. I hated turning her down for it.
"I will buy it from you, if I don't see anything I like. Get it appraised and I'll pay for it. But I want to go with because you won't tell me what its really worth." I told her. I knew she would tell me a fraction of the price because she felt bad.
"Fine. Let's go right now. The guys have this." She said pulling me to the boardwalk. The jewelery store was only a couple stores away. Walking in I looked at the beautiful rings on the counter, but nothing compared to Breezy's ring.
"Nicholas, do you think I can have this ring appraised?" Everyone knew Nicholas, and he knew everyone. This wasn't the first time I had been in here. I had come here with Nikkie a few times before.
"Absolutely, Breezy." He pulled those goofy glasses down and began examining the ring.
"Wow, the cut is beautiful, clear diamonds, there's a couple carats in this. This ring has to be at least a hundred years old." He muttered glancing over the ring.
"It was my great-grandmother's." She said watching him with the ring.
"The ring is set so well. This a good chunk of money. At least thirty thousand now." I turned my head to Breezy, she seemed unfazed, as if she already knew it was worth that much. "Please, don't say you want to sell this beautiful ring."
"Oh, no. I want to give it to Lars to propose to Nikkie with." She said with a brilliant smile on her face, "But he wants to pay for the ring, in his mind she won't love it if he didn't buy it."
"How long have you two been dating? At least two years, right?" He asked, still looking at the ring.
"Uh, no. Just about an hour." I said looking at the ground. I guess I see why people have thought we were dating. We have been inseparable for three years, and have been best friends since she transferred to Ocean Shores.
"Really? You two were in here looking for rings before. You bought a nice hematite ring from me. I remember it broke and how upset she was about it because it didn't give her a reaction. But a couple other bands did. You got the tungsten band engraved with her birth date in it, that seemed to work well."
"I wanted her to have a beautiful ring, like she wanted." Wow, I had been trying to buy her a ring before.
"Sounds to me like your subconscious wants you to marry this girl." Breezy smiled again. She knew all about that love, her and Ray were happy together. And Nicholas, I knew, has been married for thirty years.
"Well, regardless of what ring you give her, I know she's a girl who will appreciate it." Nicholas said.
"Oh, I know that. I want her to have something she deserves. She has never had anything truly nice and she deserves a ring, a beautiful ring. She has had men walk in and out of her life, and she has never had people to truly be there for her, until now. She's finally safe and I'm going to make sure she stays that way. She worked her way up from abuse and neglect, and now she has money and is happy. I want her to stay that way."
"That is true love." Nicholas said staring at the ring.
"I haven't told my parents at all. They won't approve of Nikkie." I said staring at the ring. I would love to give her that beautiful ring.
"They will. Who are you going to tell first?" Breezy asked. I honestly didn't know. My mom moved out three years ago when my dad started drinking heavily, she rarely comes back to see us. My dad has gotten a lot better though, he hasn't hit Twister or me in about a year. He's been calling her to come back, I doubt she ever will.
"My dad probably. But no one will be happy. She isn't Hispanic." I said. I didn't care, but they would care.
"They will love her for everything she is and won't even care." Nicholas said smiling. Everyone knew Nikkie, but it was usually for what happened with her family.
"I hope so. I want to marry her and keep her insanely happy." I was so happy thinking about Nikkie.
"Well, take the ring and if you find something better then you can give this one back." She said to me. I knew she was being sincere, even though the ring was worth so much she was just giving me this ring.
"Here." Nicholas said handing me a case as he put the ring in. "Nikkie is one lucky girl. Trust me, she will love feeling so appreciated by so many people. Don't think for a second that she doesn't love you. Everyone sees how you look at each other. She wants you to stick around." He told me as he put the box into my hand.
"Well, I'm going to stick around." I knew my face was slightly flushed from the overwhelming feeling of everything but I couldn't be happier. "Breezy, I'm going to go find Reg. Alright?" I told her as I left and waved good-bye to her and Nicholas. I jumped in my car and drove up to the Rocket's house. Walking into the house I knew she would be upstairs in her room, probably typing away at her new Zine.
"Reggie?" I said climbing the stairs.
"I'm in my room. Come in." She said through a shut door. Pushing the door open she was sitting there in just a towel.
"Oh god. Sorry, I didn't know you weren't decent." I said backing up.
"Oh, shut up. Its not like you haven't seen me naked before." She muttered. It is true. I had.
"That was forever ago." I muttered.
"Oh, a year is so long ago." She said dropping her towel to the floor. I couldn't help but stare. I'd always found Reggie attractive, but who is Ocean Shores didn't find her attractive?
"Reggie! What are you doing?" I asked. She was just kind of walking around her room, searching for something.
"Finding clothes." She said grabbing a pair of yoga pants off the floor.
"Ahh!" I shouted and covered my eyes. I was starting to get turned on. This was the last thing I wanted.