Hello! I'm going to apologize in advance for this chapter... I know it's short and once you read it, it might seem like it's moving a little too fast, so I'm sorry if it comes off that way. I'm REALLY self conscious about my stories so I ran the idea of this chapter by one of my close friends, but he wasn't much help so I decided to just throw it up here and see where the rest of the story goes. But I'm always eager to listen to ideas or suggestions from you guys! :)
Nikki headed down the street the next afternoon after seeing her dad off to work with another of her home-cooked brunches. Though it wasn't much past 12, she couldn't contain her excitement about seeing Shawn Barlow again.
Bundled in her black coat and a new purple scarf she had found along with some new more comfortable shoes, Nikki reached the cemetery gates a little before 12:30. She pushed open the metal gate with a loud creak and walked inside, curiosity getting the better of her. She walked down a few rows glancing at the gravestones she passed by with interest, searching for any names that she recognized from the New York ghost story books she had read over the years.
"You're here already!"
Nikki nearly jumped out of her skin as she rounded a corner and came face to face with Shawn. She staggered back quickly as his voice broke the silence, wincing as she nearly tripped when she put too much weight on her injured ankle. Shawn grabbed her elbow and caught her with a laugh.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He said apologetically. Nikki hesitantly stood back and smiled, her heart fluttering.
"It's alright. I just didn't hear you come in." She said, gesturing back at the old gate behind her. Shawn smirked.
"How do you know I wasn't already in here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow mysteriously.
"Good point." Nikki laughed and moved past him to continue walking down the cemetery path. He followed close behind her, silent as they walked along the old headstones, every once in a while pausing at one. After a moment, Shawn broke the lighthearted silence.
"So is this what you like to do back home – walk through graveyards in your spare time?" He asked, smiling. Nikki found herself blushing as she glanced down at the walkway in front of her.
"No…I guess you could say it's like a hobby. I always have liked all things paranormal…if that's how you'd say it. Sorry – that sounds weird." She quickly stopped herself. Shawn laughed.
"No it's not! Different maybe, but not weird." He smiled at her reassuringly and she found herself struggling to elaborate.
"My dad raised me on ghost stories and stuff like that. Mom didn't approve so she moved me away…but that didn't stop me from still wanting to learn more about the supernatural. Halloween was still always my favorite time of year." She blurted out.
"Mine too. Like I can be myself for that one night a year." Shawn agreed. Nikki smiled up at him, her heart fluttering once more as she nodded in surprise.
"Yeah…my thoughts exactly."
Nikki walked alongside Shawn as they rounded another corner, getting into the older section of the cemetery, crowded with larger headstones and aboveground tombs.
"So…did you get a chance to talk to your dad yesterday?" Shawn asked after a moment. Nikki blinked at the change of topic and sighed heavily, her breath a small cloud in front of her in the cold air.
"No…he didn't get home until late into the afternoon. We went out to eat at some burger joint and he was pretty busy greeting his 'fans.' " She rolled her eyes with a slight smile. "Besides…he's got a cold and he was really tired. Seemed like he had a long day and I just…didn't want to start what I knew would be a continuation of our argument."
"Considerate of you," Shawn said lightly. He glanced up and pointed at a large crypt down another row of graves. "Hey…that's where my parents are buried."
"Oh." Nikki said quietly as they made their way towards the old, weather-ridden structure. They stopped on the walkway, looking at the mausoleum. His last name was etched elegantly over the doorway, and they both stared up at the stone crypt in silence.
"We're not that different, Nikki. I was brought up in nearly the same way, believing in ghosts and other planes of existence." Shawn said after a long moment.
Nikki studied him in silence, noticing his sudden somber attitude. He stepped forward and gently touched the doorframe of the stone structure.
"When I was little, my parents used to take me to these séances with relatives and family friends. I thought it was really weird at first, and I got to where I would try to expose the gimmicks that the supposed 'psychics' used to lure in all of those people every time." Shawn smirked at a distant memory.
"Not all psychics are fake." Nikki said softly with a smirk. Shawn shrugged and raised an eyebrow.
"There was this one time, when we could hear music, said to have been from the ghost we were attempting to contact. I was maybe…seven at the time, and I went behind this curtain while the rest of the table was joining hands and not paying attention to me. I found this old vintage record player back there and I started messing with the people…making the player skip and reverse and creepy stuff like that. I even got the psychic freaking out."
Nikki laughed as Shawn turned back to her and hooked his arm with hers. She brushed her long hair behind her ear as they turned to leave his family's crypt behind.
"I bet you got into a lot of trouble," She commented as they started walking again. Shawn nodded and smirked.
"It was worth it. Every time."
"I've never been to a séance before…" Nikki said slowly. Shawn stopped and looked down at her in disbelief.
"Your dad is one of the Ghostbusters, and you haven't been to a séance to see a 'real ghost' before?" He asked, amused. She smirked and shook her head.
"I didn't say that I've never seen a ghost, I just said I've never been to a séance to see one." She said quietly with a smirk. Shawn glanced down at her in surprise. Nikki's dark hair rustled in the cold breeze and she felt herself huddle closer to him as they walked.
"When I was little and still staying here in New York with Dad…we had this ghost that hung around our apartment. He would talk to me sometimes, but mostly he would just stand in a corner of my room staring out the little window across from my bed." She said. Her eyebrows knit together in thought.
"Weird." Shawn said softly. "What would he say?"
"I can't remember what exactly we would talk about…but he seemed nice for the most part. Mom or Dad couldn't seem him but whenever they would come into my room, Mr. Edward would always listen to them when they would read to me or talk to me. And it always made him sad." She said softly. Shawn smirked lightheartedly.
"Mr. Edward?" He asked, amused at the name. Nikki smiled and laughed lightly.
"Yeah, that's what I started calling him after a while. It seemed to cheer him up a little bit when I gave him a name, but he would still look down most of the time. The more I thought about it later in life, the more I came to realize that it was like he was remembering something, probably his former life or something."
Shawn stared down at Nikki thoughtfully. Nikki glanced up at him in disdain, his silence making her wish she hadn't told him anything, just like she'd felt when she had talked with Peter.
"That's…something." Shawn said.
Nikki's shoulders slumped and she felt herself unconsciously start to pull away from him. She shook her head at herself, suddenly feeling the want to go back to Ray's apartment and hide in her room for the next week until it was time to go back home.
"I can't believe I just think I can…open up to people…and…" Nikki turned away to head back the way they'd come through the cemetery. She was stopped when Shawn gently grabbed her arm.
"I didn't mean that in a bad way." He quickly explained. She looked up at him warily, her eyes shining with emotion. "Nikki…I feel like I want to know you. It intrigues me how close you seem to be with the paranormal."
"What do you mean?" She asked hesitantly. He laughed gently and gestured around himself at the surrounding cemetery.
"I mean, for our first date you chose to come to a cemetery of all places. I feel like that's not something any other normal girl would want to do. I pretended all my life to be ghosts, and you can actually see them…" Shawn stepped closer to her and moved his hand down to her palm. She quickly pulled her hand out of his grasp.
"I…I don't know…" She murmured, turning away from him.
"Nikki…please." He said softly. She turned back to him, biting her lip.
"I don't even know why I agreed to come out here…Shawn…I'm not going to be here for much longer. I go home next weekend." She said. Shawn shook his head, smiling at her.
"I don't care. I want to learn more about you." He said. He took her hand once more and she reluctantly moved back towards him.
"Okay…" She finally relented, moving back into his side as they continued their walk down through the cemetery. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders reassuringly.
"What else have you seen?" He asked as they rounded another curve in the cemetery walkway.
Nikki smiled and felt a warm feeling spread through her with the thought of someone who was finally there to support her. There was no worst case scenario that could come from this relationship, other than if he decided he didn't want to see her again. And that would be easily resolved when she was sent back to her home in Virginia. For the moment, she was content to just walk through the cemetery with this newfound stranger, slowly getting to know him.