Secrets
Chapter Nine
Happy New Year! It's 2014 and by celebrating I decided to update. It's a long on so I hope you all enjoy it. Some of the inspiration came from watching Grave Danger today. Now I am an emotional mess. I was planning on having a chapter where Nick told her about his kidnapping. (For those who read the chapter where he already did, I changed it to him just telling Danika that he was stalked. Makes it more dramatic.) There are going to be six more chapters in this story, and I am leaning towards a sequel. Let me know if you are interested in a review.
After a wonderful weekend at her parent's house, all of Danika's fears disappeared when it came to visiting Nick's family in Texas. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but Nick's family was wonderful. They reminded her a lot of her family, crazy and somewhat chaotic, but wasn't that almost every southern family? They had welcomed her into their house with open arms and made her feel right at home. Nick had six other siblings, she knew that already, but they were a very interesting group of people, but fun nonetheless. They would get along very well with her siblings. His parents, Bill and Jillian, were great as well. If they were in a room with her parents, they would no doubt converse for hours. Nick was right; there was no reason for her to worry.
July then turned into August. August made it seven months. Seven months since she and Nick got together. Call Danika crazy, but she knew that Nick was the one. She couldn't picture herself with anyone else. Danika also started thinking about the future. Their future. Was that weird thinking about them after only seven months? Seven months was better than what most people were doing these days. Nowadays two people met, fell in love and got married in as little as two months. Seven should be no big deal.
Back in college, she had fantasized about what life would be like if she married Trent. She and him, a house with a white-picket fence, and two kids, the ideal marriage between man and wife, but that didn't turn out the way she planned. Nick though, how many times had she dreamt about being married to that man? Many. She had lost count after eleven. The question was did he think about the two of them in that way? She really hoped he did. Danika wasn't sure if she could handle another heartbreak.
"Danika? Danni, are you all right? You're spacing out again," Nick placed his hands on her shoulders, watching her work away on her laptop.
"Sorry, you know I get carried away while I'm working. With the fall semester starting up next week, I have a lot of papers to get in order."
"And I thought my paperwork was a pain in the ass," Nick joked. "Do you want to take a break and go out for some lunch? Get a bite to eat."
"I am a little hungry," she responded. "How long have I been doing this? A few hours at least. Yeah, I think I could go out for some food. We haven't been to Capriotti's in a while have we? Want to go?"
"I like that idea. I haven't had a Capastrami in a long time. What do you think, Maddie? Want to go on a walk girl?"
"You'll have to give her some of your sandwich if she comes with us. Capriotti's is a long walk from here. She's going to be tired by the time we get there." Danika saved her work and shut the computer off. "If you thought she loved you now, just you wait. Let me change quick, I feel like a hobo."
"You look fine," Nick turned his attention down to the dog. "She's something else isn't she, Maddie?"
"I can hear you, you know," Danika hollered from the bedroom. "Is that supposed to be a compliment or not?"
"You tell me," Nick laughed. "Ready yet?"
"Why? In a hurry?" Danika asked, pulling on her shirt. "Let's get out of here you silly dog. You need it."
"I'm not going to tell you," Nick answered. "Let's go eat."
"We have to get there first."
August in Las Vegas was wild. Normally Vegas was a crazy place, but in the summer months the population seemed to quadruple. Didn't people know that the summer was a bad time to come to Sin City? Not only were there more people, but the weather….damn it got hot. Today was one of those really hot days. Danika and Nick made their way towards the restaurant, Maddie leading the way, hand in hand, and what she couldn't understand was why on earth was Nick wearing jeans. He was going to be on the ground in minutes she was sure.
"Aren't you hot in those?" she asked. "It has to be over one hundred degrees out today."
"You get used to it after a while," Nick answered. "Besides, it's a dry heat."
"So," Danika shook her head. "I can't believe it's September soon. I don't think I'm ready for classes to begin."
"Are you saying that because you're going to miss spending all of your time with me, or are you saying that because you don't want to see any familiar faces when you go back?"
"I love spending time with you, Nick. You should know that by now," Danika stated. "And to be honest, I am a little worried when it comes to the students I will have this semester."
"At least you only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That will give you more time to breathe if anything-"
"Can we wait to talk about this later?" she cut him off. "I'm sorry I just don't want to waste a day like this talking about something that I shouldn't even be worrying about."
"I can wait I guess. What shall we talk abou- and look what we have here. What a surprise," Nick grinned. "Greg. Warrick. What are you guys doing here?"
"We got done with a case early and stopped for a bite to eat," Warrick answered. "Miss Evans, nice to see you again."
"Same to you, Mr. Brown," Danika smiled in return. "Maddie, down. Sorry, she's a spaz when it comes to meeting new people."
"Please, call me Warrick, and don't worry about it. Join us, there's plenty of room here." Warrick told them.
"If that's all right with you guys," Nick said. "How long have you two been here?"
"Not that long," Greg said. "So you're Danika Evans, the one Nick hasn't stopped talking about for months. I'm Greg Sanders. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you as well," Danika smiled in return. "Can't stop talking about me huh?"
"Guilty." Nick blushed.
"Less chit chat, it's time for some food. I haven't eaten in what feels like days." Warrick announced.
"Amen to that!" Greg cheered.
Danika had met Warrick before, briefly of course, but he was a really nice guy. As was Greg. By the way lunch went; Danika could tell that the three guys were really close. Practically like brothers. She couldn't wait until she met the rest of the group. If they were like these two in any way, she could tell that they would get along just fine.
"So what do you think?" Nick asked, once the couple was back in her living room.
"Warrick and Greg are really cool guys, Nick. You three seem like brothers," she said. "Are you as close with the others on your team?"
"In a way," he replied. "I'm glad you like them. They liked you too."
"I'm glad," Danika grinned. "So what now, Mr. I Have The Day Off. Going to blow some money at the casino?"
"I'm not much of a gambler, sweetheart, and if I was I would be spending my money on Blackjack."
"I'm just joking around, Nick. Lay here and cuddle with me," Danika demanded. "I'm stressing out over here on this couch."
"What's got you stressed, darling?" he complied.
"What do you think?" she looked up at him. "What if something happens? What if-what if he comes back?"
"That's what you're worried about?" Nick asked. "Danni, he won't come back. He's out of your hair and gone. There is no reason for you to go crazy about this."
"I know, it's- I'm scared, Nick! I'm not entirely sure as to why I'm scared. I just am. I could lose my job over this. What would I do then? I would have to move back home, get a new job, start over. I doubt Oklahoma has any openings available."
"Whoa, whoa, slow down there. You are not leaving Vegas. Not if I have anything to say about it," Nick stated. "You will not get fired even if someone did find out. You didn't do anything wrong. And you can't leave Vegas because that would mean leaving me, and that's not going to happen."
Danika sighed heavily, leaning into Nick's embrace. He had a point. She didn't do anything wrong when it came to what happened last semester. Hunter would be the one who got into trouble. When she looked back on the event now, why didn't she tell anyone about it? If she did, he would be out of her hair for a very long time, and there would be no reason to worry, but she couldn't do that. Hunter was a bright kid, and she could tell that he was going to have a bright future. She couldn't ruin that for him. Why did she have to be so nice and caring all that time?
"You must really like me if you don't want me to leave Las Vegas?" she asked.
"No."
"No?"
"I love you, and there's no way I'm not letting you leave."
"Should I be scared? It sounds like you're threatening me," Danika joked. "You aren't going to kidnap me are you?"
"I would never."
"Right."
"I love you too, Nick," Danika paused for a moment. "Nick, do you remember when we first started dating and we were talking about why we came to Las Vegas and secrets and all that jazz?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I wasn't being completely truthful with you. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell you the whole story back then, but now I think it would do me some good to tell you the parts I left out. What's that look for?"
"You're not a murderer are you?"
"You're the CSI. You should be able to tell if I am or not," she said. "But no, I'm not. Um, I told you I came to Vegas because I loved the city when my parents brought me here, and that's true, but not completely. I don't know why, but lately it's been replaying what happened over and over in my head." That was a lie. Danika did know why.
Nick waited for her to continue. When she didn't start up again with her story, he grew concerned. That's when the wheels in his head began turning. One of the reasons why she was so stressed was because she was spending too much time in the past. Maybe, if it would make her feel better, he would tell her about what had happened to him.
"Back in college I met this guy. His name was Trent and he was in a class with me. We started out friends which soon turned into a relationship. Four years later, at graduation, he proposed to me in front of my parents, my friends, everyone. I said yes of course. I thought he was it you know. I loved him and he loved me. My parents couldn't stand him and they tried so hard to get me to see how much of a jerk he really was, but I didn't give in."
"You were going to get married?" Nick interrupted. How did he not know about this? What else did she keep from him? "Then what happened if there's no ring on your finger?"
"I was getting to that thank you," Danika replied. Why was this so hard to say? "Anyway, when it came to making the wedding plans he didn't do anything. I was the one who made all of the arrangements. Everything done for the wedding was done by me. Planning a wedding together isn't that difficult. It's not that hard to pick out a cake for everyone to enjoy. It's not that hard to figure out where to have the wedding and the reception," Nick frowned. He didn't know this Trent guy, but he agreed with her parents, he was an ass. Holding her tight, kissing the top of her head, he let her continue on with the story. "When it got closer and closer to the wedding day, that's when I started focusing on the dresses and such. My best friend from high school was my Maid of Honor and my cousin was one of my bridesmaids. After I came back from a fitting, I came back to the house Trent and I shared. I went up to our room and found him in bed. With my best friend and my cousin. That would be the cousin you didn't meet at the reunion because she moved to some Asian country and no one has heard from her since. I couldn't move when I saw all three of them in bed. What hurt the most was that he didn't even care. He didn't try and apologize to me. He just laid there smiling at me. I packed up everything I had and moved out here. The teaching job at the college was just an added bonus."
Nick was speechless. How could someone do that to her? This Trent guy must have been stupid or blind. Obviously both. Danika Evans was a beautiful woman. Why would anyone cheat on her? To him, she was perfect.
"That's horrible," he said. "No one should have to witness and put up with something like that. Ever. That guy, he obviously didn't care about you like you cared about him. He didn't deserve your love. I understand why you came to Vegas then, if that happened to me, I would run too. Does that mean you have a fear of a long term commitment? Marriage?"
"I wouldn't say that exactly," Danika didn't realize until that point that she was crying. The visions of Trent in bed with Beth and Brittany played through her mind again broke her heart each time she thought about that day. "I just- I don't want to go through that again and sometimes when I think about a future that we could have together one day, it scares me."
"You think about our future together?" Nick asked. "No need to turn red. To be honest, I think about it too every now and again. But I want you to know, right now, that I would never do that to you. The thought would never cross my mind. You're beautiful. Smart. Funny. You're it for me."
"Is that some sort of proposal, Mr. Stokes?" Danika asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, not yet. If it was, you would know."
Not yet? Did that mean that he was going to propose to her? Danika didn't really want to think about that right now at this moment. Not that she didn't not want to marry him; Nick would be a wonderful husband and maybe even a father if they would ever have children. Did he think about that too? She hoped he did.
"Now I guess it's my turn to share my deepest secret if you told me yours."
"You don't have to," Danika protested. "I did it because I wanted to get it off my chest. It actually made me feel better funny enough."
"Actually, it might make me feel better if I shared too. I haven't talked about it in a long time, and I was told that it would be better for me if I talked about what happened. I told you about the stalker I had, but that's not the only horrible experience I had as I was working for the crime lab."
"Nick, if this is hard for you, please don't-" Danika grasped his bicep. "I don't want you to-"
"It's all right. It's been two years," he said. "Two years ago, I was kidnapped and buried alive. I never thought something like that would happen to me. I was kidnapped and placed in a coffin. The only thing I had with me was a pistol, glow sticks and a tape recorder. There were some things in my pockets, but that's beside the point. I thought I was going to die in that box. I had never been so scared in my life. I was running out of oxygen and fire ants were eating away at my skin. I was so close to ending my life. If they hadn't have found me, I would have shot myself. When I was found I was given some time off. I wanted it to be like a vacation, but every time I closed my eyes I was inside that box again. I was scared of bugs for months afterwards. I tried being the tough guy, but on the inside I was a mess. But after a while things got better and I got passed it. I moved on. I moved passed it and learned to live with it."
"How can you still be a CSI after that?" she asked, clearly upset. "How could you walk back into that environment and continue on? Oh my god, how could you go through that day after day? I can't even imagine." Danika hugged him tightly. "I am so sorry that happened to you, Nick. You say that no one should have to go through what I had to, but you-I can't even begin to think about-I mean. I never would have thought that something like that happened to you. You are so strong, Nick."
"Thank you, but I want you to know that you can move on from your past like I moved on from mine. We can get through this together. You and me. I'm here for you, if you need me. When you need me. It's not what happened in our past that makes us who we are. It's how we move on from it."
"You aren't going all philosophical on me now are you?"
"I think I've just been around Grissom a little too long," Nick answered. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," she smiled. "I have you here with me, and the more I think about it, you're right. If I didn't run in on the three of them, I wouldn't have come out here and met you."
"That's a good way to look at it."
"I thought you might think so."
"Are you sure though. That's a lot of information to take in."
"Yes, I'll be fine," the two settled down and took comfort into the movie playing. "And Nick, for the record, I'm glad you're here. I love you."
kadee son 12345 - Was this soon enough?
