The last 2 innings seemed like they went on forever, at least to Kylie. She knew she needed to talk to Nick but she wasn't sure what to say or how to say it. Her stomach felt like it was in knots and all she could think about was trying not to have a repeat of this morning and throwing up again.
Everyone cheering broke her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see the home team running out onto the field high-fiving each other. She smiled. She was happy for Nick and his teammates, they'd played a hard game.
After a quick on the field celebration Nick left his team mates to go to Kylie. He saw Dalton and his dad right behind her. 'Well that ruins my plan.' He thought to himself.
"Great game, son." Mr. Stokes said patting his son on the back.
"Yeah good game bro."
He acknowledged his dad and brother but kept glancing at Kylie from the corner of his eye. Something was off with her, he still wasn't sure what it was but he intended to find out.
"I'm gonna go change." He said quickly making his exit from his dad and brother. He hoped when he came back out that they would be gone and Kylie would still be there.
"Hey son we'll see you at home!" Mr. Stokes called out after him.
'Perfect.' Nick thought to himself.
"Now's your chance." Madi urged. "Hang around and catch a ride home with him." Kylie nodded in agreement. "I'll see you later." Madi left Kylie standing near the locker room.
It didn't take Nick long to come back out. He immediately noticed Kylie.
"I was hoping you'd still be here." He said as he approached her.
"Nick, I…we…" She started but couldn't get the words out.
"What is it?" He asked lifting her chin so that she was looking up at him instead of staring at the ground.
"We can't keep doing this." She said as the tears spilled from her eyes. "Dalton knows."
Several emotions went through Nick all at once. He felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on him, but that feeling soon turned to anger. "What did he say?"
"Nick please."
"Kylie, what did Dalton say to you?" Nick demanded.
"He said he knew what we have been doing and needed to be careful or other people were going to figure it out too." She stared at her feet again. "If your parents kick me out, I don't have anywhere else to go."
"Who's going to find out? Why would my parents kick you out?"
"Nick, I'm a guest in their house. They were gracious enough to take me in when my parents were killed. How's it going to look if they catch me sleeping with their son?" At this point the tears were freely flowing down her face. It was killing her to have to say all of this, the pain it was causing Nick was enough to shatter her heart completely.
Nick stared at her dumbfounded. "I love you Kylie!" He moved closer to her taking her hands into his. "Isn't that enough? Isn't that all that matters?"
"I wish it were that simple."
"It is!" Nick cried out in frustration. "Don't you love me too?"
"I do."
"Nick." Kylie's eyes widened in horror as she looked up to see who had spoken, at the same time Nick quickly turned to come face to face with his dad.
"Dad." Nick stammered. "I thought you left."
"I was going to, but I thought we needed to talk. Clearly I was right."
Nick dropped his head, suddenly he felt like he couldn't win for losing. He felt like he was losing the woman he'd fallen head over hills for and he didn't know how to stop everything from spiraling out of control.
"Have a seat son." Mr. Stokes instructed his son. "Kylie, would you mind giving us a few minutes?"
"Yes, sir." Kylie said as she walked away, tears still falling down her face. She felt like this wasn't going to end well. She just knew Mr. and Mrs. Stokes were going to ask her to leave. She couldn't blame them.
"Dad, I…" Nick started but his dad cut him off.
"Son, just listen for a minute. You're young, you have your whole life ahead of you. Don't rush into things now. Slow down."
"I love her."
"I can see that. She obviously loves you too, but you're both graduating in a few months and then college. I'm just telling you to slow down, things will happen when they're meant to, if they're meant to. Now isn't the time for accidents to happen."
Nick's head snapped up on his father's last sentence. "Accidents?"
"Have you even been using protection?" His father bluntly questioned. Nick shook his head no, his gaze once again falling to the ground. "Do you really think now is the right time for you to become a father? Wouldn't it be better suited after you're married, after you've graduated college, when you have a stable, steady job to provide for and support your family?"
Nick nodded. "Yes sir."
"I'm just trying to look out for you, son." His father said trying to soften his tone. "I only want what's best for you. For both of you."
"I'm sorry dad."
"I'm just saying you need to be careful and mindful of things you do. I'm not saying you and Kylie can't date."
"I understand."
"Go get her. I want to talk to the two of you together." Nick nodded as he stood up off the bleachers to get Kylie.
He found her on the other side of the dug-out sitting on the ground, arms wrapped around herself, crying.
"Babe." Nick called gently.
Kylie looked up at him. "Dad wants to talk to both of us." Nick said as he offered his hand to help her up. Kylie started to walk back towards the bleachers but Nick spun her around to face him. He cupped her face in his hands, wiping her tears away. "It's gonna be ok." He told her pulling her close wrapping his arms around her.
The two of them walked back to the bleachers where Mr. Stokes was waiting.
"I'm not saying you two can't date and go out." Mr. Stokes repeated. "However, as long as you're living in my house you will abide by my rules, understand."
"Yes, sir." Nick and Kylie said in unison.
"Firstly, you're to sleep in your own rooms. Neither of you are to be in the other's room with the door closed at anytime or after 10:00pm. Am I clear?"
Again both spoke at the same time, "Yes, sir."
"And lastly, don't say anything to your mother about any of this. I will talk to her." Nick nodded his head. "Let's go home."
With that the three of them headed to the parking lot.
"Feel better?" Nick asked Kylie on the drive home.
"A little." Nick wasn't convinced by her answer. He pulled the truck over to the side of the rode, shifted into park and turned to look at Kylie.
"Tell me what's on your mind. What has you so upset here lately?" He questioned. "I know it's more than exams and leaving for college."
"I'm terrified of losing you." She blurted out before she had the chance to change her mind.
"You're not gonna lose me." Nick tried to reassure her.
"People change from high school to college. Things change. Situations change. What if we don't make it?"
"You're thinking too many what ifs. I promise things are gonna be fine." He grasped her hand in his. "I not gonna leave you. Not now, not ever."
Kylie looked up to meet Nick's eyes. "Do you trust me?" He asked. She nodded her head slowly. "Good."
With that Nick turned his eyes back to the road, pulled the truck into drive and eased back onto the highway.
"I can't believe it's finally prom day!" Madi squealed.
"Could you be any louder?" Kylie asked walking out of the bathroom.
"I'm excited! Aren't you excited?"
"I am but I mean it is just a dance."
"Just a dance? Girl, we're getting all dolled up for our men. They're taking us to dinner, then the dance and afterwards we're all getting a hotel room."
"A hotel room?" Kylie questioned.
"Yeah, duh! Everyone knows that you're supposed to get wasted and laid on prom night."
Kylie looked at her friend like she had lost her night. She wasn't interested in getting drunk, she knew Nick wouldn't be either. He may have broken a lot of rules lately but he surely wasn't going to do anything criminal.
"A room maybe. Sex maybe. Drinking, no." Kylie told her friend.
"Oh, come on Ky! Live a little."
"It's illegal Madi. We're underage. Where are you even going to get booze from anyway?"
"I don't know, ask Nate."
"Y'all have fun with that. I'm not drinking. Nick probably won't either."
"Suit yourself." Madi shrugged.
"What time is our hair appointment?" Kylie asked.
"Oh, shoot we need to leave now." Madi said pushing Kylie towards the door.
Finally, it was show time. The girls had their hair done, make up perfected and dresses on. The boys were waiting for them in the living room when the two made their entrance down the stairwell. Both boys stood up at the same time.
"Wow." Was all Nate managed to spit out as he stared at Madi.
Nick smiled lovingly at Kylie, "You look beautiful." Kylie blushed as she stepped off the bottom step taking Nick's hand.
"Thank you." She smiled.
Nick escorted his lovely date out to his truck where he opened the door and helped her inside. He then rushed around to the driver's side and climbed in.
"You look amazing tonight."
Kylie smiled. "You clean up really nice too."
Nick pulled into a parking spot, got out and went around to open the passenger door for Kylie. He offered his hand to help her out.
"Wow, they really out did them selves with this place." Kylie said as she looked around the high school gym.
"Yeah, yeah they did." Nick agreed.
"Oh my feet are killing me." Madi said as she took a seat at the table beside Kylie.
"That's why I sat down a long time ago." Kylie confessed.
"You ladies about ready to get out of here?" Nate asked.
"Definitely." Madi said standing.
Kylie and Nick followed the couple out of the gym toward the parking lot.
"Hey Nick, you know the place, right?" Nate asked.
"Yeah I know it." Nick replied. "We'll meet y'all there."
"Where are we going?" Kylie asked.
"You'll see." Nick smiled.
Nick pulled into a parking spot before putting the truck into drive and killing the ignition. He hopped out, "I'll be right back." He told Kylie before closing the door.
Kylie looked around at her surroundings. All she could tell was that they were at some hotel near down town. She wondered what Nick had planned. Surely he wasn't planning on getting drunk with Nate and Madi.
A few minutes later Nick came back out to the truck, he opened the door once again helping Kylie out. He grabbed a bag from behind the seat and led her to a room. He opened the door, ushered Kylie inside and closed the door behind them, setting the bag on a near by table.
"Where's Nate and Madi?" Kylie asked.
"They have their own room. Tonight's just about us." Nick responded as he slipped his coat off and hung it on the back of a chair.
"Nick, what about what your dad told us?"
"Babe it's fine. This is a special occasion and we're not in the house."
"Are you sure?" She asked cautiously.
"Of course, I'm sure." He told her with a gentle kiss. "Ya know, we haven't made love in weeks. The last time was before that talk at the ballfield."
"I know." Kylie replied.
Nick closed the distance between them, wrapping his arm around her waist drawing her close to him. He looked up to meet his gaze and he captured her lips with his. Kylie's hand instinctively went around his neck. He pressed backwards until the back of her legs bumped the edge of the bed where he then lowered her down onto the bed, never breaking their kiss.
They were both awakened the next morning to pounding on the door. "Hey guys wake up!"
Nick hopped out of bed to answer the door. "Hey we're going for breakfast, yall coming?" Nate asked when the door opened up.
"You woke us up for that?" Nick asked.
"Yeah."
Nick didn't say a word, just closed the door back and crawled back into bed beside Kylie. Once again taking her into his arms.
"Do we have to go home?" She asked seriously. "I just want stay here in your arms forever."
"Soon baby." He whispered in her ear. "It's almost over."
Kylie turned to face him. "What about college?"
"What about it?" Nick retorted. "We can get our own place. Then we can do whatever we want."
"How will we afford rent? You can't work full time while you're going to school. We won't make enough on part time jobs alone." Kylie said worried that Nick hadn't thought this plan through.
"Shh. You let me worry about all of the details."
Kylie started to speak again but Nick silenced her with a kiss. "I'll figure it out. I promise."
"I can't believe we're high school graduates."
"I know seems like just yesterday we were freshmen." Madi joked. "I guess only a few more months until our lives really change, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Kylie said.
"Oh sweetie, we're so proud of you both." Mrs. Stokes said as she hugged Nick and Kylie.
"Congratulations, kids." Mr. Stokes added in.
"Thanks dad." Nick replied.
"So, what is it, a month before you move into the dorms and college life begins?"
"Yeah something like that."
The month passed by quickly and the day finally came. It was hard to believe this was the day they were moving into their dorm rooms. They weren't high school kids any more. A new chapter was beginning in their lives.
"I didn't realize this place was so big." Kylie commented as she and Madi walked across the breeze way between the dorms and the lecture hall.
"Me either." Madi agreed.
The first week went by smoothly. Kylie was finally starting to settle in. Things with her and Nick were working out a lot better than she had imagined they would in the weeks leading up to college.
"Hey Madi, I'm gonna go back to the room and lie down, I'm not really feeling too well today." Kylie told her friend after lunch.
"Want me to come with?"
"No, I'll be fine." Kylie said as she walked off towards the dorm rooms.
