Nikki's POV

It had been a while since, I felt that feeling in my stomach when I was nervous and excited to see someone. And whenever I see Ian, I just feel these butterflies inside and my heart beats like crazy. I was definitely falling for him even though I just know him for weeks. I'm really looking forward to our first date, he invited me over to his hotel room so he could cook for me. I have to fly to New York today for my press conference promoting my new album and talk about my new movie.

I was wearing Voi Jeans Abbey Striped Hoodie, with a tribal pattern shorts and fuchsia bootie slippers. My hair was done in a messy updo, since I had all morning to myself, I decided to chill in my comfy clothes and just be lazy. Nina and Candice told me that they were going to come by in the afternoon to help me to choose the perfect outfit for my date with Ian.

My thoughts were interrupted by a buzzing, and reached over to the coffee table and grabbed my phone. 1 new text from Ian.

- Good morning beautiful, I can't wait for our date. I'm counting the hours to see you again. Much love Ian.

He is so freaky adorable, everytime he sends me those kinds of texts, my heart melts a little more. He is definitely someone who is growing in me and I think that we can be something great. Before I could reply to his text, I had an incoming call from Julie so I quickly pressed 'Answer'.

"Hey, Julie."

"Hey, Nikki! I hope, I didn't catch you at a bad time..."

"No, actually I'm just sitting on my couch, watching tv."

"Oh, good. You deserve to rest, so listen the reason why I'm calling you is just to let you know that Monday you, Nina, Ian and Paul are going to fly to L.A for a convention to promote the begining of the season."

"Oh, cool! Are you and Kevin going as well?"

"Yes, but we're going to travel today, so we'll meet you guys there. I'll send you the ticket by e-mail."

"Sounds great, Julie. See you monday, then."

"See you Monday." She hung up the phone, before I could put my phone on the table, I had another call talk about being busy today. This call was from my manager and answered it.

"What's up, Lucy?" Despite being my manager, Lucy was one of my closest friends, so we had a very good relantionship.

"I hope you're ready to go the airport... Your flight is in three hours."

"Shit! Just give me half an hour, and you can pick me up!"

"Figures that you would be late, all day you've been gushing about your date with Ian..."

"Don't go all judgy on me, you were the one who told me that I had to get back on with my love life."

"I suppose, you're right. Now hurry up, woman!"

"Yes ma'am." I hung up the phone and I went to take a quick shower and put some new clothes. I was wearing a long sleeve blouse with black collar trim, skinny leather pants and leopard stud suede spike boots. I put some eyeliner and red lipstick and my hair was straightened. I grabbed my black suede one shoulder clutch and walked out of the hotel. Luckily for me the car was already there and Lucy was sitting in the back, the driver opened the door for me and I got in.

"You're late." She noted.

"Well, hello to you too." I replied sarcastically.

"You don't have any luggage?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"No, I told you I need to get back to Atlanta today, so I'm just going to NY for the press conference and get to the next plan back to Georgia." I told her.

"Wow, you really like him... I don't remember the last time when you were so eager to hurry things up just because you wanted to see someone, not even with Leo."

"People change and Ian is different, he's nothing like Leonardo and that's why I like him so much... I'm tired of being such a perfectionist all the time, I need to stop worring so much."

"Who are you and what did you do to my boss?" She gaped.

"This is the new Nikki, no more mourning for the past. I just need to concentrate in the present."


Ian's POV

God, I missed her so much. I can't stop thinking about her and how beautiful she certainly is going to look tonight. Everything had to be perfect for tonight, she deserves the best and I would make sure that she would have it.

My phone started to rang and grabbed to see that Paul was calling, I pressed 'Answer'.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Hey, do you want to grab a drink with me and Matt, we're going to a bar..."

"Sure, why not? It's not like, I have something better to do... So, I'll meet you guys there?"

"Yeah, I'll see you then."

"Ok, bye." I hung up the phone and grabbed my car keys and walked out of my apartment towards my car.

When I arrived at the bar, I saw Paul sitting on a booth with Matt, drinking and chatting. I walked over to them and sat beside Matt.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey, we were just talking about you." Matt spoke.

"Oh yeah? About what?" I questioned, the bartender served me my usual glass of bourbon.

"That you're going to take Nikki out for a date." Paul answered.

"Nervous about the big date?" Matt teased.

"No, why would I be nervous? It's not like she's going to leave me in the dust..." I took a sip from my bourbon.

"Ian, she's not Meghan." Paul told me in a serious tone.

"I know that. But, I don't want to talk about my ex." I sighed.

"But you know that you are going to have that conversation with her right?" Paul questioned and I nodded my head.

"Where are you taking her for dinner?" Matt changed the subject, and for that I was grateful.

"Actually, I'm taking her to my apartment, I'm going to cook for her."

"Already to the apartment uh?" Matt gave me a knowing smile.

"Could you please get your head out of the gutter?" I laughed. I didn't invite her to my apartment for that reason, I want to get to know her better and to take things slow... I didn't want to rush things and neither did she.

"I didn't say anything." He shrugged. "You're lucky you know, she is definitely a catch."

"Believe me I know. She is definitely what I need right now."

"Which is?" Paul questioned.

"Stability."


Nikki's POV

We had arrived at the JFK airport and immediatly we were surrounded by paparazzis. Fortunately they weren't the annoying and obnoxious type, so I smiled at them and they continued to take pictures. Lucy was on the phone, probably booking a room in a hotel. I pulled out my phone to see that I had a missing call from Candice, I completely forgot that she was supposed to come to my hotel with Nina. I dialed her number and waited a few moments and then she answered.

"Candy, I was in the plane to New York."

"No worries, I was just calling to know when are you going to fly back."

"As soon the press conference is over, they already know that I can't stay there for too long, so is not going to take that much time."

"Ok, but in case something happens... Nina has already called Paul to entartain Ian for a couple of hours in case you get held up."

"Oh, thank you so much, Candy. You guys are the best."

"That's what girlfriends do, so call me when you're done so we can head to your hotel for wardrobe emergency!"

"You got it. Bye, Candy."

"Bye, Nik." She hung up the phone, and I got into the car with Lucy towards the hotel where I would be staying for a few hours.


Ian's POV

We were still at the bar, laughing and drinking when two pretty girls walked over to us with a camera.

"Hey guys, can we take a picture with you?" The blonde girl with freckles questioned.

"Sure, sweetie." I smiled at her and she wrapped an arm around me and Paul and her friend took the photo, then she walked over to Matt and took a picture with him too.

"Thank you so much, we love you guys." She replied excitedly.

"No, thank you. It really means a lot to us." I answered and I gave them both a peck on the cheek. And they walked away with goofy smiles on their faces.

"Ever the flirty Smolder." Paul teased.

"I was just being polite." I shrugged innocently.

"Whatever you say, Smolder."


Nikki's POV

After doing the red carpet, I walked into the room of the press conference with a lot of journalists with their notebooks and cameras. I sat on the table along with my crew and manager and the questions had begin.

"Hi, how you're doing?"

"I'm doing great and you?"

"I'm great too, thank you. So can we talk about your tour with Lady Gaga? How was like to tour with Mother Monster?"

"It was fabulous. I love her, she is such a Queen and singing with her was a great experience."

"So you two have two songs together, Telephone and Video phone. How did the idea came up? When the songs came out, it was a huge sucess in the US and in the UK."

"I'm glad to hear that. When I wrote the song Video phone, I was trying to visualize the song and who I could ask for a duet and then it clicked, one of my crew members gave me the suggestion... Why don't you try and call Lady Gaga? After contemplating for a while I called her, we went to the studio together and the rest is history. As for Telephone, it is a sort of companion of the Video phone, since we wrote that song together and we made a pact, that we would make Video phone in my style and then make Telephone in Gaga style, we decided to mix our art and different kind of taste and the result couldn't be any better."

"And what about your collaboration with Eminem? This year was definitely a big year for you in the music industry."

"You know, one thing I've learned in this industry or even in the acting and modeling industry, is never to take things for granted. My dad always teached me to cherish every moment of my life and to appreciate everything that I have because tomorrow can be all gone. My collaboration with Eminem was definitely something that I didn't expect to be this huge, I mean when Love The Way You Lie came out, I couldn't believe my eyes or ears when the critics told that it was one of the best songs of 2010. It only gave me more motivation step up my game and please my fans."

"You are known in Hollywood to have a lot of labels."

"Yes, I am. Unfortunately."

"Why do you say that?"

"When I started my musical career, I knew that people at first would judge me because of who I was... All my life, I was known as the daughter of Jon Bon Jovi, The Rock Legend. And that sucks, because I never wanted to live in his shadow, I am a very independent person and everything that I have is because I worked it for it, no one gave me anything not even my dad... In fact he once told me that if I wanted, I had to get it myself and that was what I did. I had to work very hard to earn respect."

"You are like one of the best-sellings entertainers in Hollywood, why you don't like to be labed?"

"Because I feel like people in Hollywood are more and more considered as selling machines then human beings and that is complete bullshit, I'm not going to excuse my language because that's how I feel... Whenever people consider me a big star or a sex symbol, I like to argue with them. I am just a 24 year old girl living her dreams but that doesn't mean that I don't feel insecure and question myself, and that is precisely my point, I am a human being not a selling machine."

"Do you have any regrets?"

"No, not really. I don't think that people should regret anything because at one time it was exactly what they wanted, you should only regret the chances that you didn't take because I just realized that I was constantly living in 'what if's' and I forgot that mistakes is what makes memories and life experiences."

"How do you live with the pressure of being a role model to young girls who look up to you?"

"I don't. Because people who feels pressured to be a role model are the ones who are worried to be perfect, I am not perfect and I never will. For me what makes a good role model is someone who isn't afraid of making mistakes and learns from it, if that is the way that my fans sees me, then yes I am proud to consider myself a role model."

"Let's talk about your new album No Sympathy For the Dead, what can you say about it?"

"This album is for everyone and has everything. People can dance to it, can cry, can sing, can think, can smile, reflect and on and on..."

"You sing your life experiences on that album right?"

"I sing my life experiences in every album that I made, everything I do has to have a big part of me or it isn't worth it to make money and be recognized for something that is manufactured."

"Now that you finished your tour around Europe what other projects are you on?"

"Right now, I'm shooting a show in Atlanta. The Vampire Diaries, which is going to premiere September 9 on CW, btw."

"How is that experience is treating you?"

"It's amazing. I always loved that show, because since I was 6, I was a sucker for the supernatural and mythology and I decided to give a shot and audiction for the role of Claire Muratore, they liked me so now you can see me on the small screen."

"I think that covers all. Thank you so much for your disponibility Nikki."

"Thanks guys, don't forget to buy my new album." I winked at them and they all laughed. After the conference one of the assistants led me outside and Lucy just gave me a heads up that I had more than 20 fans outside of the building waiting for me. If it were another day, I wouldn't mind one bit... But I had a plane to catch, now I was conflicted.

"You have to be at the airport, like now." She told me.

"I know, but they waited more than 3 hours for me. I can't just leave them hanging." I huffed.

"You'll have to hurry then, if you want to be in Atlanta today." She sighed. I nodded at her and we both walked outside to see eager fans begging me for autographs. I walked over to them and began to sign and take pictures with them and blowing kisses to everyone. This would definitely take a while.


Ian's POV

I was sorting everything for dinner and I looked at the clock, she hadn't respond to my texts yet. I was begining to get worried, but then again if she couldn't made it she would let me know by now.

I tried to call her again and this time she picked it up, I could hear a lot of noise from the background.

"Nikki? Where are you? I'm hearing a lot of noise..."

"Ian, I'm sorry. I just got held up at the conference, I have to ask you if we could rechedule to 10 p.m instead because I'm not even in the plane yet."

"Yeah, no problem. Look if you think you're not going to make it-"

"No, no! I'm going to make it, don't worry. Can you just wait a little longer, please?"

"Of course, anything for you." I sighed.

"Thank you for being so understanding. I'll see you soon."

"See you then." I hung up the phone and looked over to the clock again, just a few more hours.


Nikki's POV

"You have to get me a helicopter." I announced.

"What?" Lucy frowned.

"There is no way, that I'm going to get to Georgia in time... I need to travel faster."

"Don't you think you're getting a little-"

"Lucy! I like Ian ok? I may actually fall in love with him... I can't screw this up, I can't keep living obsessed with work all the time, it's time to be selfish at least once in my life. As your boss, I'm ordering you to get me a helicopter, please." I knew that was being harsh and a little obnoxious, but I didn't care at the moment. I'm sick and tired of putting myself in second, I did that too many times. I had this amazing man back in Atlanta waiting for me patienly and I couldn't afford to loose Ian too because of my job.

"Yes, ma'am." She quickly pulled out her phone and began to make some calls, which that reminded me that I had to make a call of my own.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I got held up here in New York, as I predicted so I need a favour..."

"What do you need?"

"I'm going to let you guys to enter my hotel room and pick me a outfit to wear, just please nothing garish."

"We're on it." She hung up and turned to see Lucy who was ending her call as well.

"The helicopter is getting here." She informed me.

"Great. Thanks Lucy."


Ian's POV

I was reading a book when I fell asleep reading the first pages, I opened my eyes slowly and, turned to look at the clock and frowned. Instead of calling her, I decided to call Paul for some guidance.

"Hello?"

"Hey, man. So I have something to ask you..."

"What is it? She left you in the dust?"

"Not exactly, I mean she just got held up in the conference but she told me that she would make it, and asked me to wait a little longer."

"How long have you been waiting?"

"Almost 3 hours..."

"Wow, 3 hours? She is definitely something else... If you're waiting 3 hours for a girl, it means that you really like her."

"We've estabilished that already. But I can't help but think that she is not going to come..."

"Hey, she said that she would be there right? Don't give up just yet, you went to a lot of trouble to ask her out, are you sure you're ready to leave it?"

"No, I'm not going to give up. But how long should I wait?"

"One more hour and if she doesn't show up..."

"Yeah, I know."


Nikki's POV

I was already in the helicopter and I was almost arriving to Georgia, I couldn't help but think that maybe Ian had enough of waiting and decided to give up, I wouldn't blame him for that.


Ian's POV

I looked down at my cellphone and saw no texts or missed calls, but maybe that was a good sign, she was probably on her way to Atlanta right now. In the meantime I decided to respond a few tweets from my fans.


Nikki's POV

Finally! We were already in Atlanta, Lucy called me a cab to drive me back to my hotel. In the cab, I texted Ian to let him know that I was already in Atlanta and I was getting ready for our date, I just prayed to God that he would be still interested to have dinner with me.

When I arrived at my hotel, I pratically ran to my room and fastened the key on lock and entered, I went to the bathroom to take a quick shower and to wash my hair.

After the shower, I walked into my room and saw the outfit that Candice and Nina had picked out for me. I saw a note on the bed and went to read it, You can thanks us later, by telling us everything!
I had definitely to thank them for helping me, I'm a picky person and I would spend hours to choose the right outfit. I put my undergatements on, following my clothes.

I was wearing a Rebecca Taylor paillette racerback tank, a black skirt with a zipper on the front and a Karen Millen strappy metallic sandals. I put some eyeliner, and some pink lipgloss and for acessories I chose a Chanel faux pearls logo earrings and a Ella Stone Louise ring. My hair was wavy, falling down on my back. I grabbed my Normandy Park dot bag, put some perfume and walked out of the room.


Ian's POV

I saw her text. But, I didn't think that she was coming... Suddenly I felt a pang of disappointement inside of me, I wasn't mad at her but I was definitely disappointed that she stood me up. Before I could do anything, I heard the doorbell rang and immediatly I felt hope again. I walked over to the door and opened to see her standing there. All in her glory, looking stunning in her attire and with a guilty face.

"You have no reason to have dinner with me, but I would appreciate if you could give me another chance to prove myself..."

I just crossed my arms over my chest and let out a breath that I didn't know that I was holding. If it were another guy, the circustances would be very different but after seeing the pleading look on her face and her blue orbs wide, I just couldn't say no to her. I wonder if I could ever say no to this woman.

"You're right, I don't." I replied and she lowered her head. "But there is just something about you that stops me from walking away."

"Does that mean, that you give me another chance?" Her eyes lit up. Instead of responding her, I just pulled her inside of my apartment and closed the distance between us as I captured her lips in passionate kiss, she didn't waste anytime to kiss me back as she put her hands in the back of my neck.

"Does this answer your question?" I breathed against her lips. She just nodded her head with a dreamy look on her face. We pulled away from each other and I led her to the dinning-room, where the table was all set with candles and roses.

"Oh my God! Ian, you prepared all this for me... I really don't deserve you." She shook her head.

"Hey, let's forget that and just enjoy our night, ok?" I cupped her face and she nodded. "I'm just curious about something... How did you fly from New York to Atlanta so fast?"

"I, uh, I got into a helicopter." She trailed off.

"You got into a helicopter?" I repeated, looking at her with raised eyebrows. "Why would you subject yourself to that?"

"Isn't obvious? I didn't want to fail you, so I pratically demanded my agent to get me a helicopter so I could travel faster..." I just continued to look at her with my mouth hanging open as she walked over to me and closed my mouth and gave me a peck on the lips.

"What I feel for you is something strong and real, and I don't want to let that go... So, yes I jumped into a helicopter for you." She told me softly. I just couldn't believe her, she traveled from another state because of me, no one had ever done that. I'm deeply touched by her gesture, she just continued to amaze me.

"You're kinda amazing, did you know that?" I smiled at her.

"No, you're amazing." She pulled me for a demanding kiss and we continued like this for a while.


Nikki's POV

I had never met someone who could kiss like Ian, I just couldn't get enough of his kisses. He is talented in so many levels, like cooking an italian meal.

I'm half Italian, so food is defitinely one of my guilty pleasures, I loved to eat and had no shame about it. Candice had already told me that he was a fantastic cook, but I would never guess that he could be this good.

"I could just marry you, so you could cook for me forever." I told him as I took another bite of his delicious chicken parmesant.

"I'll cook for you as long you want me to." He kissed my hand.

"Then, I'm going to give you a heads up... You're going to cook a lot."

"That's good to know." He chuckled, he poured some wine into my glass and I smiled at him grateful.

"Next time, I'm going to cook for you." I told him.

"You know how to cook?" He questioned.

"Please, I came from an Italian family. Not knowing to cook is like a crime for Italian people." I scoffed.

"Duly noted." He smirked. After our wonderful dinner, we moved to the living-room where I saw his cat laying on the couch, he was huge for a cat and quite chubby. I walked over to the animal and caressed his fur and he leaned into my touch, even though I was more of a dog person, cats were something that wasn't indifferent to me.

"I see you already met Moke."

"Yeah, he is adorable. I may consider kidnap your cat, you know..." She teased.

"It wouldn't surprise me, I think he already likes you a lot." He smiled.

"I know right?" She kissed the top of his head.

"It's hard not to like you." He moved closer to me and kissed my shoulder. "Is it bad that I'm feeling a little jealous of my own cat?"

"A little bit." I laughed. He loved when she laughed, it was a very pleasent sound. Her whole face would lit up, it was really beautiful.

"You're not going to do anything to change that?" He questioned.

"What do you suggest, Smolder?" I turned fully to face me. And he put both of his hands on my face and held my stare.

"You are so beautiful." He whispered, feeling a little awkward from the intensity of his stare, I tried to move my face away from him but he just held my chin. "You don't need to feel embarassed, I find it hard to believe that no one had ever told you that you are beautiful."

"No, I've been told before. But not with the same intensity like you said it right now."

"I want to make you happy, Nikki." He told me honestly.

"And I want to be happy with you Ian, but there are some things that you should know first..."

"What is it?" He looked worried right now.

"After breaking up with my ex, I never considered dating again so soon... But then I met you and that immediatly flew out of the window. But before we jump into things, you have to understand that they will be times when I'm not going to be a 100% devoted girlfriend."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I have a very busy life, not only I'm shooting the show, but I will have press conferences, interviews, modeling jobs, and fans conventions out of the show and that will steal a bit of my time."

I just hope that I didn't scare him off, because I really want to make this work but that would mean that he had to acept this.

"I know what I'm getting myself into... I knew from the start, and I'm determined to make this relantionship work if you are."

"Believe there isn't anything in the world that I want more, but you may be understanding right now but I don't know if you can put up with me for too long-"

"There is nothing you can say that can make me change my mind. So, you can stop saying those things because I'm not going anywhere at least not without you."

"Oh my God, how can you be so understanding is beyond me..." I shook my head, he just pulled me for a embrace and held him tightly breathing into his intoxicating cologne.

"I've noticed that you have a lot of tattoos." He noted as he fingered one of my tattos on the back of the neck.

"Yeah, I suppose so. I have like 7 tattoos." I chuckled.

"7 uh? That's a handful, why did you made those tattoos? If you don't mind me asking."

"You can ask me everything." I smiled at him as I took off my heels from my feet and he pulled me into his lap as I wrapped an arm around his neck.

"How did you get this one?" He touched the tattoo near of her right shoulder. "We will all laugh at the gilded butterflies... This is a quote from Shakespeare right?"

"Yep. I'm a big fan of Shakespeare and it is a reminder to not get involved in too deep into something or I might get stuck."

"Is that what is going to happen with us?" He questioned quietly.

"I'm as serious as you about this relantionship. You have nothing to be worried about." She touched his face, he took her hand and kissed the palm of it.

"You've been hurt a lot." He stated as I nodded my head.

"I have another tattoo on the ribs, it's dedicated to my ex." I lifted my top and showed him the words.

"There once was a little girl who never knew love until a boy broke her heart." He read. then he looked up to meet my eyes. "I'm sorry that you've been hurt so much in your life, in my opinion those guys didn't know how to cherish you."

"You're too sweet." She kissed his nose. "Maybe, or maybe not. When I got involved with Leonardo... I was like a 'freshman' in Hollywood, he was like the first celebrity I laid eyes on."

"He was your first serious relantionship?" He questioned.

"I've only loved two men in my life... Leonardo and my high school sweetheart Eric." I told him.

"If you're not comfortable talking about this... You don't have to." He assured me as he rubbed my hand.

"No, you need to know. I don't want any secrets between us, so you need to know my past." He nodded his head and told me to continue.

"Like I said, I met Leonardo in a after party of my first movie, and I was so nervous because I felt like that wasn't for me, everyone was dressed in their fancy clothes, drinking champagne and all that stuff and I was that girl who came from Brooklyn, who didn't know how all of this worked. And then I saw him, he was like staring at me all night and I felt even more nervous, then at the end of the night he came to me and introduced himself and added, 'And you are my dream woman.' I thought he was crazy, he didn't even know me how could he say that I was his dream woman... And after that he was always 'persuading me', he would send me texts, send me flowers, gifts, all that stuff... He wanted a date with me and finally I decided to give in and I went out with him, after that we hit off right away. In the first months everything was perfect, I was so in love with him. He was the charming man, that would make your knees go weak, I really loved him and a part of me still do, but then he began to get really abusive and jealous with no reason and all went to hell."

"So, why didn't you leave him sooner?" He whispered.

"I couldn't. I loved him and he would beg me to not leave him... But when he tried to hit me, I said that enough is enough and walked out of our house." I told him.

"He tried to hit you?" He asked in desbelief.

"Yes, and I promised myself that I would never let a guy control me again."

"That guy is completely sick, for even trying to hit a woman..." He replied. I could see in his eyes that he was begining to get angry.

"Hey." I kissed his lips. "It's over now. I'm with you right now, and I couldn't be happier."

"I'm happy too." He smiled at me. Then I showed him my right forearm, where I had Marilyn Monroe's face tattoed.

"Growing up, I was a big fan of her... I even wanted to be like her, so I tattoed the face of my idol."

"What about this one?" He pointed to my right ankle.

"The moon and the star? I like to see the sky at night, where the stars and the moon are shining."

"Duly noted, on our next date, I know where to take you." He caressed my leg. He grabbed my left wrist and fingered the tattoo. "You tattooed the ying and yang symbol."

"Yep. I love tribal stories. My dad used to tell me stories about them, it fascinates me."

"You are definitely a box full of surprises, Nikki. I could never imagine that you are this strong, experienced person. You are only 24, and you've been through a lot."

"Yes, I have to keep telling myself that I'm only 24, and I have so much to live... That's why I tattoed this Chinese symbol that means strenght." I pulled my hair to the side to show him the back of my neck.

"Show me more." He looked at me. I knew right now, that Ian is definitely going to be something special to me, no one had ever wanted to fully know me for who I am, they wanted to know Nikki Bongiovi the "star of Hollywood" and not Nikki the girl who came from a poor neighboorhood.

"This is my last one." I lifted my top to show him my ribcage with the tattoo 'And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music'. "This was one of my first tattoos, when I started my musical careerer, a friend of my back from my high school days once told me this but this is story for another time."

"I'm really happy, that you decided to tell me the meaning of your tattoos." He kissed the corner of my lips.

"I want you to know everything about me." I circled my arms around his torso, then I grabbed his arm and saw that he had a tattoo too. "Hic et Nunc."

"Do you know what does that mean?" He questioned.

"Here and now." I answered him. "It makes sense, you seem a person who likes to live in the moment."

"I am." He nodded. "And right now, here is exactly where I want to be." I smiled and pulled him down for a long and passionate kiss. After a while, he pulled away and sat straight on the couch.

"What's wrong?" I frowned.

"You've been completely honest with me and I figured that I should do the same." He sighed.

"You're scaring me Ian." I felt my heart ponder in my chest, I was not ready to be disappointed.

"No, it's not that serious." He assured me. "When I got the role in the Vampire Diaries, I met Paul and Nina who I would be working more with."

"Go on." I crossed my arms.

"I was hurting over my break-up with Meghan, and Nina and I became really close friends, she helped me get through everything."

"I have an idea, where this is going..." I nodded. "You two dated before."

"We didn't date... I was attracted to her, but there no feelings there. So, we kissed once in New Year's eve and things got awkward after that."

"How awkward?"

"We didn't had feelings for each other, so things were little tense between us in the set and then I decided that I should talk to her, to clear everything."

"Did you sleep with her?" I couldn't help but feel a little jealous, whatever happened in the past it stayed in the past, but I considered Nina one of my friends, she should had told me all of this.

"No, I didn't." He told me firmly. "It was only one kiss, and we solved everything between us... After that we turned friends again."

"I see..."

"There is nothing going on between us, I promise. I knew that you were the one for me, the second you walked into that set for our screening test."

"What is it with you men, that I have this complex about falling in love at first sight." I shook my head.

"What can I say, you are that special." He kissed me. "You're not mad, are you?"

"I have no reason to be mad, we didn't even know each other back then, and if you're sure that everything is resolved between you and Nina and that you have no feelings for her, I believe you."

"Really?"

"Yes, Ian. I can't really blame you, Nina is absolutely gorgeous, sweet and caring-"

"But she is not you." He put both of his hand on my face.

"How corny of you, Smolderhalder." I teased him.

"You love it." He smirked, then he threw my back on the couch and hovered over me. I was staring straight to his blue orbs that had hypnotized from day one, he bent down and kissed my lips softly and put my arms around his neck.


Ian's POV

She had this magnetic pull, that I wasn't indifferent to. I knew since the first day, I saw her that I had to have her, I had to make her mine. I didn't really believe in love at first sight, but I guess that Nikki is the exception.

Everything she told me, she shared with me. Only made me realize that I was falling for her, she has me already hooked. I would never let go of her, she is everything that I needed and wanted right now.

And the 3 hours I waited for her to show up, was completely worth it.