Chapter 24:Trust it's a fragile little thing

Hello everyone!

Have you read "Path of Night"? What do you think of the book? I admit that it left me very sad although I suspected that would happen.

Well, this chapter has a little bit of everything: domestic fluff, some steamy stuff and ... Amalia.

Sabrina was curled up on the couch with Nick at her side, she had her head resting on one of his shoulders and his arms were around her while they watched a movie. She took a handful of popcorn from the bowl between them with her eyes fixed on the TV.

Nick liked those quiet moments with her. He could stay like that for hours, looking Sabrina's expression while she watched a movie was more interesting than the movie for him.

He knew he was beyond salvation.

Completely in love with her.

"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked minutes later. He looked at her smiling.

"Spellman, you don't need to ask, you're welcome to stay whenever you want"

"Good" Sabrina said smiling too, she snuggled a bit closer to him with her eyes again on the TV.

The movie ended soon after, the credits were rolling when Sabrina turned around to look at Nick.

"What?" he asked after some seconds of silent observation.

Sabrina didn't say anything and just continue looking at him in silence, she put her hand on his face, her fingers tracing the outline of his jaw before she reached out to kiss him.

"Love you" she said with her lips barely separated from his. Her voice was barely a whisper.

He could never get tired of hearing her saying those words.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear you" he said playfully, she smiled at him brightly.

"I love you" she said louder.

"What?"

"Nick…" she said in a warning tone that wasn't as threatening as she thought "I love you, silly boy"

She got closer to him with her lips hovering his but didn't kiss him.

"I'm going to prepare dinner" she said and pulled away from Nick.

"Hey!" he protested but she had already got up of the couch.

Sabrina went to the small kitchen humming happily. She was looking in the fridge for some ingredients to prepare the dinner when he stepped behind her.

"Why is it that just now I find out you know how to cook, Spellman?" he asked making her jump.

"Nick!" she admonished him "you scared me"

He gave her a look that clearly said I don't believe you.

"My aunt Hilda may have taught me a trick or two" she replied cheekily.

"And you waited months to tell me"

Sabrina shortened the distance between them.

"Well..." she said amused "I couldn't make you fall in love with me just because of my extraordinary cooking skills"

He ended the short distance between them and gave her a peck on the lips.

"I love everything about you, Spellman. Absolutely everything" she gave him a bright smile "Now tell me, how can I help you?"

"Can you cut the onions?" she asked "I hate cutting onions"

"At your service" he said making a bow that made her laugh.

They cooked in pleasant silence, side by side in the kitchen. Nick couldn't help but look at her, as she moved around the place as if she had always been a part of it.

He wanted her to be part of that place. Of his life.

Forever.

Nick set the table while she put the finishing touches on their meal.

"I think your aunt taught you more than one or two tricks, Spellman, this was delicious" Nick said when they finished eating.

"Flatterer" she replied. He just smirked at her making her laugh.

"Well, you made dinner so... I'm going to do the dishes"

She nodded.

"Sounds fair" she said "but since you help me with dinner, I could help you drying the dishes"

They washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, Sabrina prepared some tea for them before they returned to the living room. She sat in the couch and Nick followed her, he put his head on her lap. She ran her free hand through his hair.

"What do you want to do?" he asked her.

"Nothing" Sabrina answered "Let's just stay the way we are"

She felt him nod.

They weren't uncomfortable with the silence.

The time passed.

"I love you, Sabrina" he said suddenly, she looked down at him with a smile on her lips. Nick sighed "You don't have idea how much I love you"

"I only know how much I love you" she told him.

Nick sat up until his face was level with hers. He brought his hands up to her cheeks and kissed her. He wanted to ask her not to leave him. A part of him feared that one day she would realize that she was too good for him.

"It's late..." Nick said some minutes later "Maybe we should sleep"

"I think I'll have to storm your closet first" she told him and Nick smiled.

"Go ahead, pick what you want"

Once in his room, Sabrina opened the drawer where she knew he kept his t-shirts, she ran her fingers over them before choosing one. She brought the t-shirt close to her nose. It smelled like him. Wood and mint and something that was uniquely Nick.

She breathed in once more before she took off her clothes and dressed with Nick's t-shirt.

"You are a sight for sore eyes, Spellman" Nick said entering the room, he looked at her up and down "You should keep that t-shirt, it definitely looks better on you"

She felt her cheeks flush slightly.

"Flatterer" she accused him again.

Nick went to where she was, took her face in his hands and made her look at him.

"It's not flattery" he said stroking her cheeks with his thumbs "it's the truth"

There was so much sincerity in his eyes that she couldn't help but kiss him.

And kiss him again.

The tone of the kiss changed and she felt desperate for feeling him, all him, her hands went under his sweater, touching the warm skin of his back and he held her tight by the waist.

"Spellman..." he hissed.

"Umm?" she inquired innocently, her lips kissing the outline of his jaw.

"What do you want from me?" Nick couldn't help but ask.

"Everything" she whispered against his skin.

He searched for her lips and kissed her again.

"Well, although I like the way you look with my t-shirt" he said to her with his lips barely separated from hers "I like even more the way you look without it"

Nick was standing outside Sabrina's residence waiting for her to come out. They had decided to go see the latest horror movie that had been released just a couple of days ago and that Sabrina was dying to see, despite being more of a classic movie fan she also enjoyed some of the more modern films, he smiled at the thought of her.

He was distracted and it took him some seconds to notice that his phone was ringing, he took it out of the pocket of his jacket.

It was an unknown number.

"Hello?" he asked.

For a few moments the line was silent, and he was thinking on hanging up when someone spoke.

"Nick"

He knew that voice. Amalia.

"Don't hang up, this will interest you, Nick"

He took a deep breath. How did she know he was going to hang up the phone?

"What do you want?" he snapped. He didn't want to continue talking with her but he was curious about what she was going to say.

"What are those manners, Nick? I thought I had taught you better"

"What do you want?" He repeated marking each word.

"I need to see you"

"That's not going to happen, Amalia"

He heard her sigh in a dramatic way from the other side of the line.

"You don't want anything to happen to the Spellman girl, don't you?" she said. The blood froze inside Nick's veins. Amalia knew about Sabrina.

How?

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, I see I have your attention now. Well, I want us to meet tomorrow. We need to talk."

Nick wanted to repeat that they had nothing to talk about, that he wanted nothing to do with her but the subtle threat to Sabrina still hung in the air and he knew that he had to be careful with Amalia.

"I'll wait for you in that little café you work at. Tomorrow at five o'clock, don't forget it or..."

"Or?"

"You don't want to know" she said before hanging up the phone.

Nick stared at his phone. That couldn't be happening. It had to be a nightmare. He wanted to pinch his arm but unfortunately he knew it wasn't a nightmare, it was real.

Why did Amalia have to meddle in his life right now?

Why did she have to try to ruin everything?

He passed back and forth the façade of the building unsure about what to do.

"Hi," Sabrina said cheerfully when she reached his side, Nick was still looking at his phone with a worried look on his face, she looked at him confused "Nick?"

He blinked and took his gaze away from the phone, he put it back in his pocket.

"Hi, love" he said and gave her a brief kiss on the lips.

"Something happened?" she asked him when they separated.

Nick looked at her with confusion.

"No, why do you ask that?"

"You were looking at your phone in a strange way. Bad news?"

"Eh, no, just..." Nick hesitated, he didn't know what to tell her, he just knew that he couldn't tell the truth to her. Not right now "One of the tutoring I had scheduled was cancelled. That's all"

Sabrina still looked suspicious.

"Are you sure?"

He put his hands on her shoulder and nodded.

"Nothing happens, Spellman, now, let's go or we'll be late for the movie" he said "And I don't want you to accuse me again of being the reason why you missed the trailers"

But Sabrina was stubborn and couldn't leave things like that.

"You're not hiding anything from me, are you?"

He hated himself for lying to her. But he didn't know how to tell her about Amalia, even when he knew that sooner or later he would have to tell her what had happened between them.

But he didn't want to. He didn't want that she looked at him with contempt in her eyes.

"I'm not hiding anything" he lied.

She nodded and let out a sigh.

"Sorry" she said "I didn't mean to be so pushy"

"It's okay, Spellman"

"I don't want you to think that I'm one of those paranoid girlfriends…"

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

"I would never think that"

She smiled at him as they walked towards the cinema.

Nick couldn't focus on the movie. Amalia's words and her not-so-subtle threat kept circling his mind. He had no desire to see her again but also knew that she had to be taken seriously. She meant each one of her words.

Above all, he didn't want her near Sabrina.

He had to protect her and if he needed to see Amalia again, for Sabrina, he was going to do it.

Nick was about to enter the café when he saw her. Amalia was sitting at one of the tables in front of the window, she waved at him but he ignored her. This wasn't a pleasant meeting, he had begrudgingly accepted to come, and wished to end this conversation as soon as possible. He took a deep breath and opened the door. The joyful bell in the entrance sounded dreadful to him.

He could feel her gaze fixed on him while he walked towards her table.

"Amalia" he greeted her with a nod when he reached her side.

"Nick" she replied with a smile that made the wrinkles around her mouth a little more noticeable "Please have a seat"

He begrudgingly did.

"Tell me, what do you want?" he snapped after sitting.

"Come on, Nick, what are those manners?" she asked him, Amalia gestured to the waiter to get his attention "Order something. I invite"

"No"

She pursed her lips clearly displeased.

"As you wish" Amalia said, she took a sip of her own coffee without taking her eyes off of him.

"I'm here, now tell me why you wanted me to come" Nick insisted.

"Straight to business, isn't Nick?" she replied but he didn't answer her "I miss you…" Amalia added with a sugarcoated voice.

Nick rolled his eyes. He didn't believe her show.

"What do you have to say to me?" he asked getting up from the table tired of her games.

"Sit down, Nick," she said in an authoritative tone of voice.

He wanted to refuse and leave, he was about to do it but something in Amalia's eyes told him otherwise. Nick let out a tire breath before sitting back. He hated himself when he realized she still had some power over him.

"Very well. How are you, Nick? I haven't heard from you in months."

"Is that what you wanted? Know how I am?"

"I'm trying to do some small talk here"

"Save yourself the effort and tell me what you want"

"I want you" Amalia said each word slowly "come back to me, I miss you" she insisted.

"Amalia, we are done. I don't want to know about you, please leave me alone"

"It's because of that girl" she didn't ask. She knew Sabrina was the reason why he left.

"Don't you dare threaten Sabrina" he warned her guessing her intentions.

"Why do you think such a mean thing about me?" she said in a false offended tone.

Nick rolled his eyes.

"I know you"

"Oh come on, Nick, I don't want to do anything to your little girlfriend" she laughed "I need you back with me, we can share" she reached out her hand to take his, Nick tried to stay away but she buried her long nails in his hand holding him in place.

"You're crazy" he tried to withdraw his hand again and could feel her nails digging deeper into his skin.

"We have done it before, come back to me. You will be able to leave your part-time job here and keep the girl too"

"I don't want to, Amalia"

"Why not? What does this girl have that...?"

"I love her. I'm not going to cheat on her. Never"

"What she doesn't know doesn't hurt her"

"I'm done with you" he said standing up, he felt her nails leaving a mark on his hand and he was unsure how he was going to explain that to Sabrina.

"Nick..." She stood up and grabbed onto his arms, before he had time to react she kissed him hard. Nick pulled away as fast as he could, ran the back of his hand over his lips to wipe away the feeling of her lips over his. This only managed to irritate Amalia more, he walked towards the door but her last threat didn't go unnoticed to him "You're going to regret this"

Sabrina knocked on the door of Nick's apartment.

She played with the strap of her messenger bag while she waited for him to open the door, a few minutes passed, she knocked again. This time the door opened and Sabrina nibbled on her lower lip at the sight of him only wearing sweat pants, his bare chest and wet hair told her he had just come out of the shower.

"Hi," she said, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Hi" he stepped aside to let her in and closed the door behind her, Nick walked over to her to give her a peck on the lips "I wasn't expecting you"

She shrugged her shoulders before taking off her jacket.

"Is it okay for me to be here? I don't want to bother you... if you had other plans I..."

Nick gave her a half sided smile and brought his hands up to her shoulders. He searched for her gaze.

"I'm happy you're here, it's just that I thought I wouldn't see you today" he said "but it's a pleasant surprise and I'm certainly not complaining about it"

She smiled at him.

"I'm going to put on a shirt and I'll be back" Sabrina nodded. He gave her a brief kiss before letting her go.

Nick took a deep breath when he got to his room. He didn't expect to see Sabrina that day, he had recently arrived from his disastrous meeting with Amalia and thought he had time to think about what to do before seeing her. But that wasn't the case.

He looked at his hand, the slight reddish marks of Amalia's nails on his skin, they were barely noticeable but he knew they were there. Nick didn't know how to explain that to Sabrina. He rubbed his face with his hand and whimpered frustrated with everything. He went to his closet and took out the first shirt he found.

He tried to act normal when he returned to the living room.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked her more than anything to buy time. Sabrina denied and he could only walk to where she was and sit next to her, he tried to keep his hand away from her eyes.

"Nick, are you ok?" she couldn't help but ask.

"What? Yes, I'm ok, just a little tired"

She sought his gaze and shook her head.

"Something happens to you" this time it was a statement "Nick, what is it? You know you can tell me everything"

Nick sighed. He knew that he had to tell her about Amalia but he felt incapable to do so.

He knew that it wasn't right to delay the moment but even so he couldn't help trying.

Amalia's subtle threat still hung in the air making it unbreathable to him.

"This semester has been more difficult than I expected" he told her, this wasn't entirely untrue.

"That's it?"

He nodded. Sabrina brought one of her hands to his cheek before kissing him.

"You know I love you, right?" she told him looking at his eyes.

Nick nodded again.

"Sabrina, I..."

He couldn't tell her, not now, not that day. So Nick kissed her, it was a deep and somewhat desperate kiss, the weight of the day finally falling on him and he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in her, forget that he had seen Amalia, erase the brief contact of her lips against his.

Sabrina whimpered when his lips parted from her mouth, the whine became a moan when he started to run his lips down her jaw and neck.

She pulled his head away from her neck and with her hands on his cheeks she looked into his eyes before taking the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head. This time it was she who kissed him hard as she straddled him. Nick groaned under his breath.

Her hands ran over his body, he put his hands under her blouse to remove it from her too. He wanted to feel her soft skin against his.

They stared into each other's eyes, their breaths shaky.

"I love you" he told her.

Sabrina would never get tired of him, of his lips, of his hands. He knew how to touch her to make her lose her breath.

They didn't reach the bed. She was carried away by his caresses, his kisses.

She moaned loudly when he entered her. It was different, being on top of him, having control of the movements. The feeling was intoxicating. Nick gave her an open-mouthed kiss and she could feel the tension starting to pool on her belly bottom with each one of their movements, her hands held him tightly by the shoulders when the waves of pleasure spread on her body.