How do you guys like the unlikely pairing so far? I hope I am doing it justice as I just love these 2 characters.
I don't own The Secret Circle!
Xoxo H
Nick sprinted across the street and tried to get into Diana's house but the front door was locked. He ran around the back stumbling on the rocky path "shot" he sputtered as he finally approached the back door to find the glass window shattered. He ran through her house and he could hear movement coming from Diana's third floor bedroom. He bolted up the wooden stair case taking 2 steps at a time and never faltering. The movement coming from the third floor had stopped and Nick was in a panic. "Diana!" he called and no answer. "Diana!" he yelled louder as he finally reached her room to find the door closed. He heard mumbling but couldn't make out what the voice was saying. Sweat started to bead on his forehead as he attempted to open the door, but something was blocking it. "Diana! Can you hear me? The door is stuck!" Nick call as he tried to push the door open by ramming his muscular shoulder against it. He heard some movement, the scraping of wood and tried the door again. It opened slightly and he was able to squeeze his way through. He found Diana lying on the floor with her oak chest on top of her, with a cabinet hanging on by just one hinge. "Diana!" Nick cried as he shoved the heavy, oak chest off of her, it knocked over her desk and everything on top of it to the floor with a loud crash. "Nick!" Diana said sounding faint and she wiggled out from beneath a drawer that had fallen on top of her leg. Nick crouched down on the floor and Diana crawled into his lap and just sobbed "It was a hunter" she could barely get the words out.
Nick held on to her tightly, thankful that she seemed to be ok. Just to be sure he pulled her back and looked at her. He peeled her hair that was stuck to her sweaty forehead and tear stained face back and revealed her puffy, bloodshot eyes that had a look of terror in them. Nick pulled her close again and rubbed the back of her head and her back, trying not to pay attention to how much her moon-beam colored hair felt like silk beneath his fingers. "Hey you are going to be ok" he whispered in an attempt to sooth her. "Are you hurt?" He asked pushing her back gently just to make sure "My ankle is sore but that's it" she said softly. Nick helped her onto the bed "I'll be right back" he said as he climbed over debris and headed into Diana's bathroom to get her a glass of water. When he came out she was sitting on the bed, her hands shaking as she reached for the water. "Thank you" she said as she tried to steady herself and take a drink.
Nick sat on the edge of the bed and held Diana's hand as he called Cassie and the others to come over to Diana's. Diana had said her father was staying in Boston for the night that he got stuck in late meeting. Nick got up to help Diana off the bed and she bent down to pick something up from the floor. It was a cracked piece of blue porcelain and Diana's face fell. "What's that?" Nick asked. "This was the mini mortar and pestle I used to make teas with. It was my mothers. I had it out on my desk with some fresh herbs to make a salad dressing" she said quietly examining the broken piece of the mortar. "Oh Diana, I am so sorry. I must have done that when I took the chest off of you" he said sincerely. Diana shrugged "It's not your fault. Thank you for rescuing me" she smiled softy and Nick helped Diana get down the stairs and onto the couch, she limped the entire time. He turned her so her feet were on the couch and reached around and put a pillow behind her head. He gently took her socks off and her right ankle was swollen. He went to the kitchen to get her some ice, as the rest of the group arrived.
"Diana! Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" Cassie exclaimed as she ran over and hugged her friend. Diana held onto Cassie tight trying to fight back tears and forget about the attack at the same time. Diana turned and put her foot up on the coffee table so that others could sit down. She found herself protectively in between Cassie and Adam which both comforted her and irritated her at the same time. Nick returned with the ice, grabbed a small pillow from the arm chair and gently lifted Diana's foot as he slid the pillow underneath. "You need to elevate it" Nick said, his voice flat, as he placed the ice on her ankle that looked as if it were continuing to swell. He was trying to keep his cool noticing who Diana was sitting in between. He felt like he should be there, holding her hand, comforting her. He wanted to be that guy for her. "I am calling l Dr. Stern and have him come and look at it" Melanie said. Everyone nodded in agreement. Nick was about to walk away when Diana said "Adam, scoot over that way, make room for Nick". Adam scowled and Nick took a seat on the couch next to Diana. She looked at him and without thinking; he brushed her hair from her face, and wiped a tear from her eye. There were murmurs around the room, as Nick was never known to be gentle and caring like he was being with Diana. Cassie was shocked; he never did anything like this in front of people with her during the brief time they were together. Nick leaned back and took Diana's hand "Are you ready to tell us what happened?" he asked, sympathy taking over his eyes. Diana nodded; she found comfort and solace in Nick, the most unlikely of the bunch. They had a common connection with being hurt by the people they cared about. "After I made myself dinner I realized I was out of salad dressing, I went upstairs and was sitting at my desk crushing herbs and I heard a noise and when I turned around I was knocked over on the floor" Diana said her voice starting to tremble. Nick squeezed her hand letting her know it was alright to go on. He was trying to hold back his anger. "I look up and saw someone wearing a read cloak and black mask. The cloak had the same symbol on it that was on my locker. It was a hunter" she said trying to hold back sobs. She clutched Cassie's hand tight as Nick tightened his arm around her.
"But who?" Adam said "I bet it's that new guy what's his name….Locust? You know the one hanging out with Portia" Deborah said clenching her fists. Diana was about to break and Nick knew that she had to get it out now or she may totally shut down. Nick yelled "Hey! Let her finish then we can try to figure out who it was and why" he said. Diana tuned to Nick "Well I know why". His eyes widened with curiosity. "He asked me where the Master Tools were. I lied" Diana said with shame in her eyes. It was times like this her goodness sickened Nick. Here she was frightened, with a swollen ankle yet ashamed of lying to someone who attacked her.
" I said they were destroyed. He started going through everything in my room, I was trying to fight him and use magic but somehow I was blocked. He opened the Cabinet of the oak chest and when nothing of importance was in there he threw it on top of me, pulled a piece of my hair out of my head…" Diana started to sob and Nick pulled her to him rubbing her back. His mahogany eyes matched the eyes of the rest of the coven -horror "What did they take, Diana?" Adam demanded with agony in his voice. "The peridot pendant you gave me for my birthday last year" she replied. "Oh my god!" Laurel cried. The group tensed up. They knew what this meant but it was Nick who vocalized it. "They are making cruets" Nick said solemnly. Diana nodded. "And the protection spell didn't work, otherwise how could they have gotten to Diana?" Chris said. No one knew the answer to that.
When the doctor arrived Nick thought he would let the doctor examine Diana "Let's go upstairs and start cleaning up that mess for her" Nick said. Everyone got up to follow Nick except for Melanie and Laurel. Cassie looked at Diana "I am going up to help them since I know where everything goes. If you need anything, just holler" Cassie kissed her friend on the forehead before following the group downstairs.
When they got into the room the mess was unbelievable- toppled over furniture, broken glass, crystals poured from their velvet pouches and piles of dried herbs were everywhere. The guys picked up the chest and the desk "Deborah take Chris, Doug go over to the house and grab my tool box, we can fix this cabinet door" he said examining the missing hinge. "Faye and Suzan, come with me- we need a broom and garbage bags" Adam instructed, leaving Cassie and Nick alone in Diana's room.
Nick was searching the floor for the rest of the mortar and pestle and Cassie watched as he put a piece in his her pocket "Give me that!" she said holding her hand out, her blue eyes disproving. Nick reluctantly placed a broken piece of the pestle in her hand. "Oh man. She is going to be so upset!" Cassie said and her eyes narrowed "What are you doing with it?". Nick shrugged "she was upset so I figured I would try to fix it for her" he admitted shuffling his feet, not wanting to look Cassie in the eye. "You two have become pretty close" Cassie said feeling a pang on jealousy rise in her chest. "So? What does it matter to you?" Nick got defensive. In his mind Cassie had no right to ask him anything about any of his personal business. "It shouldn't but it does" Cassie started to say but a guilt clouded over the minute she said that. "You are my friend, Nick, at least you were" Cassie said trying not to cry. She missed the friendship she had with Nick. He was always on her side and believed in her when other people doubted her. Nick looked down. She was right they were friends, there was a brief moment they were more than that, though it had hurt him, his heart was finding a new beat and it had nothing to do with Cassie. "We are friends Cassie, but that doesn't mean….well, I knew what I was getting into so you can stop feeling guilty or trying to fix things" Nick said and he bent down to pick up another piece of the pestle. "I miss our friendship, Nick" she said touching his shoulder. Nick himself started to feel guilty "Ah Cassie, so do I" he smiled a half smile "Diana misses you too, you know" he added. "You care about her" Cassie realized out loud and Nick turned away. "Nick, it's ok. I know for a fact she knows how special you are, she told me so. The night that you and I…." she couldn't finish because everyone was piling back into Diana's room. As they cleaned up, Nick thought. Diana thought he was special? He couldn't believe it. Why would she think he was special? He was the known the bad boy with the attitude that went along with it. As he started to fix the door of the chest, he thought back to what Cassie said. Was it obvious that he cared about Diana and why wouldn't he? Diana had always been kind to him and has proven to be a great friend. He knew that friendship was not what Cassie was referring to but could it ever be more than that? He didn't think so. He felt like Diana was out of his league, too good for him, little did he know that he was exactly what she needed.
By the time they were done cleaning and they went down stairs the doctor had come and gone. Diana had a bad sprain and had to be off of her foot for a few days. The doctor had given her some pain medicine and she was fast asleep on the couch. "At least she will be better in time for Winter Formal" Suzan noted and everyone rolled their eyes at her. Leave it to Suzan to bring up a social event right after they had been attacked. The group was in the kitchen, Nick stood in the doorway so he can listen to the conversation and watch over Diana at the same time. "Who do you think it was?" Adam brought up again. "I am not sure but it has to be someone associated to Portia" Cassie said coldly. Everyone agreed. "We can check out everyone at school, maybe even follow Portia and Lucas" Laurel suggested. "Oh tailing them is a great idea I nominate Adam and Deborah since they were so good at it the last time" Faye snickered remembering when Deborah followed her and Black John who was disguised as Mr. Brunswick. "Very funny and I will do it but you have to drive" Deborah smiled and pointed to her arm that was still in a cast. "I might as well, my Civic is a lot less conspicuous than a Harley" Faye teased back. "Ok so you guys follow Lucas and Adam you can follow Portia" Melanie said and everyone agreed. Nick who was still looking out the door at Diana turned his head "Cassie, go with Adam. No one goes anywhere alone. Nowhere is safe for now". Everyone agreed "Diana is the only one who doesn't have someone with power living with her" Melanie said understanding that Nick even meant being at home. "Then she stays with me" Cassie said, thinking not only would it help repair their friendship but that Cassie could finally repay Diana for taking her in when he mom was catatonic after Black John came back. "Not tonight though" Nick said "I think you should stay here with her. I don't think we should wake her, she has been through enough today". Cassie agreed "Adam, can you take me to my place to get some clothes?" Adam nodded and went over to Diana and placed a soft kiss on her forehead and whispered "we will be right back". Nick clenched his fists with jealousy. He took a breath and said his goodbyes to everyone. "Nick are you coming?" Deborah said as she approached the door. "I will be along later. I am going to stay here until they get back" Nick said and Deborah shrugged. Nick walked over to Diana and sat on the coffee table and grabbed her hand. He watched her for a moment, the way her hair fell perfectly around her face, the fluttering of her eyelashes and the soft sound of her snore made a heat rise within him. He could literally feel the broken pieces of his heart melding back together. He looked down and her delicate and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. Diana, who seemed to be in a deep sleep intertwined her fingers with him as a slight smile came across her tranquil face.
Cassie looked back to say good bye to Nick and noticed how tenderly he was looking at Diana, as his eyes looked down at their hands, Cassie suppressed a gasp as she saw a gold cord with a faint shimmer connecting Nick with Diana.