A/N: Thank you for continuing to read. And thank you for bearing with me since it took a little longer to upload this chapter. Yesterday was my birthday and I didn't get on the internet at all. Please forgive me. ^_^
As always, much thanks to my lovely reviewers xojonasbrothersxo, mdemp92, and lenayaj14 - you guys are the bomb! You are great!
And thank you to everyone who is reading, even if you're not reviewing. I hope you are enjoying it!
The afternoon at work seemed to crawl for Lacey. Normally she had fun at work and didn't mind being there at all, but she could hardly wait to see the Grayes later and her anticipation of that made each second last ten times longer than usual. Finally, though, she was able to clock out and leave. She hurried home, changed out of her uniform, and waited for the guys to come get her. She had no idea what movie they were going to see – Jason wasn't joking when he said there weren't really any good movies out yesterday. But she was sure they would find something, and have a blast whatever movie they decided to see.
Finally someone knocked on the front door and Lacey glanced at her appearance in the mirror hanging in the front hall before opening the door. Nate was standing there, looking frozen even though he was bundled up. "Hi!"
"Hey, Nate, is it cold out there?" Lacey asked jokingly.
"Oh, no, not at all, what gave you that idea?" Nate made a face at her. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes." Lacey picked up her coat and purse and followed Nate out to the car where Jason and Shane were waiting. She slid into the backseat next to Nate. "Hey, guys."
Shane, sitting in the passenger seat in front of Lacey, turned around so he could see her. "Hey, ice cream girl, what movie should we see?"
Lacey shrugged and shook her head. "I have no idea! It was your guys' brilliant plan to see a movie, you pick! I mean, there is always that 'Hollywood Pomeranian' one…"
The guys all groaned and shook their heads.
"No, thanks," Jason said firmly.
"There's that spy movie that's out," Nate said. "It's supposed to be stupid and funny. It's not one of those serious James Bond types, or one that you have to think about really hard."
"That'll be good for you then, Nate," said Shane, nodding as though he were serious. "We know how much trouble you have thinking."
Lacey burst out laughing and Nate reached forward to punch Shane's shoulder.
"Just kidding!" Shane leaned just out of Nate's reach, laughing. "The spy movie sounds fine to me. Lacey?"
"That works," Lacey nodded.
"Good timing, we're here," was Jason's input.
They all piled out of the car and hurried into the warm movie theater. The Grayes kept their hoods on their coats up over their heads even when they entered the building, and when Lacey looked around, she noticed Big Rob standing just a short distance away, readily available if needed.
"Does he have to come with you guys everywhere?" Lacey asked Nate in a whisper.
He looked to see where she was looking and then chuckled. "Usually only if we're going somewhere public where people are likely to recognize us. He's cool, though, he just follows us. It's not like he's in charge of us and telling us what to do and stuff."
"Yeah, he seems cool." Just then someone ran into Lacey from behind, making her go slightly off balance and bump into Nate. "Oops, sorry!" she laughed, putting her hand on his arm to regain her balance.
Nate completely shocked her by quickly moving his arm so that her hand slid down into his. He wrapped his fingers around hers, then glanced over at her, smiling shyly. "It's no problem."
Lacey smiled to herself and turned her head so that Nate wouldn't see her blushing slightly. Nate's hand was warm and soft, it made her feel secure and comfortable. She liked it.
He didn't let go of her hand, even after they got their tickets and snacks and made their way to the theater and then to their seats. They sat in the very last row, right in the middle. Nate continued to hold Lacey's hand after they sat down, and Lacey continued to blush. She hoped that Jason and Shane either wouldn't notice, or wouldn't comment. They all conversed and made fun of the previews, and Lacey eventually relaxed completely. It seemed natural to be holding Nate's hand.
Soon the movie started and for a while Lacey was distracted by the opening scenes. After a few minutes, Nate began to rub her hand gently with his thumb and Lacey lost all track of the movie plot for several minutes after that. She began to wonder if he was purposely keeping her mind focused on him because that's definitely what was happening. Gradually she relaxed again and was able to pay attention to the movie.
When the movie ended, they all remained seated until the credits stopped rolling. Halfway through the movie, Nate had leaned his head on Lacey's shoulder. Lacey had begun to wonder if he was sleeping, but as soon as Jason and Shane stood up, Nate did, too.
"That was a pretty decent movie, wasn't it?" Jason said.
Lacey stood and led the way out of the row and down to the door of the theater.
"Yeah, it was fun," Shane answered, tossing their garbage into a trash can.
"I had a good time," Nate added. Lacey was in front of him, so couldn't see his face to judge the expression, but she thought his voice contained a teasing note. She blushed lightly and smiled to herself as they exited into the hallway.
"Pit stop!" Shane almost shouted, veering into the bathroom. Jason and Nate both followed, so Lacey sank onto a bench across the hall to wait.
A few minutes later, Nate came back. He smiled when he saw Lacey, and sat down on the bench next to her. "What did you think of the movie?" he asked.
Lacey wasn't sure if he really wanted to know, or if he was teasing her. She decided to take him seriously. "It was funny," she answered, leaning back against the wall. "Definitely not realistic, and I didn't like the ending."
"Why not?"
"Because," she scoffed, "the chick was so fake! You'd think the spy would have been able to see right through her. She just wanted him for his car, and he completely fell for it." Nate didn't say anything. Lacey looked at him closely. "Why, what did you think?" she asked carefully.
He smiled briefly and then stood as his brothers emerged from the bathroom, acting out a scene from the movie. "It was okay," Nate answered. He helped Lacey up, but let go of her hand as soon as she was standing; she fought to hide her disappointment.
They made their way out to the car, Jason and Shane discussing the movie loudly and acting out certain scenes. Lacey joined in, but Nate remained quiet.
"The best part was when the spy was like, 'In your face, dude,' and then the guy got the mud dumped right in his face!" Shane shouted, climbing into the car.
"Are you kidding?" Lacey contradicted, closing her own door behind her. "By far, the best part was the munitions factory exploding. It may have been a funny movie, but some of the special effects were awesome."
"Where are we going?" Jason asked after he let the car warm up.
"I'm starved," Shane stated.
"Of course." Jason glanced in the rearview mirror at Lacey and Nate. "Any place in particular anyone wants to go?"
Lacey shook her head. "Anywhere is fine with me."
Nate shrugged, but didn't speak. Lacey pushed back her concern. She'd deal with it later.
They wound up at a small restaurant that Lacey knew of where the guys wouldn't be as likely to be recognized, and enjoyed a quiet dinner where they talked about anything and everything. Except for Nate. He still didn't talk much. Lacey pondered it while she ate. She couldn't think of anything she'd said – in fact she could think of any reason for him to be acting this way. It wasn't like he was grouchy or mad, just very quiet and thoughtful. Lacey had noticed that he was quieter than his brothers a lot of the time, but this was different than usual. She wondered if Jason and Shane noticed, too, or if she was just being oversensitive.
After dinner the guys – Jason and Shane anyway – insisted that Lacey come back to their great-aunt's house to hang out for the rest of the evening. They tempted her with video games and finally told her that Bobby was dying to see her. That was the deciding factor for her. As soon as they reached the house, Bobby bolted out the front door without a coat and launched himself at Lacey. She laughed.
"Hey, little buddy." She hugged him tightly. "You need a coat – it's freezing out here!"
"I know, but I missed you this much!" Bobby stepped back and spread his arms out as widely as he could. "I made something for you!"
"For me?" Lacey smiled and ruffled his hair. "Well, thanks! Let's go inside where it's warm and you can show me what you made."
Bobby took Lacey's hand and practically dragged her inside. She followed quite willingly, laughing at his excitement. She heard Jason and Shane talking quietly to Nate as they followed at a distance, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. Lacey decided not to worry about it and just have fun. After all, she had racked her brain for hours trying to think of anything she had done wrong and had come up with nothing. If the problem was her, Nate needed to talk to her about it. If it wasn't her, then there likely wasn't much she could do anyway.
That was the reasoning she tried to use to make herself feel better, but it still bugged her throughout the rest of the evening.