Blaise lifted her head suddenly at the knock on her door. She knew her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying and that her hair was a rumpled mass of waves, but she didn't know who would be knocking on her door at ten o'clock at night other than Thea, so she went without any further concern toward her appearance. Her fingers went to her temple and rubbed there, trying to massage away the dull light that had appeared at the edge of her mental vision. The fatigue of her mind from crying so long would not let her recognize the glow for what it was.
Regardless of her not caring how she looked, she didn't really want Thea to see her with red and puffy eyes, so she kept her eyes trained on the ground when she opened the door. "What is it Thea..." she trailed off seeing the shoes of the person standing on her "Welcome" mat. Black Doc Martens, ones she'd seen before, only they had been half submerged in sand the last time. Her eyes slowly followed the long legs clad in black jeans to the hem of a leather jacket, following it up to a sculpted jaw line and lips she wanted to kiss. Finally, her admittedly bloodshot and puffy eyes met Nick's wide unblinking ones.
A small smile touched those kissable lips, "Hello, Blaise," his voice was low and almost seductive.
"How...?" she stuck her head out her door and looked up and down the street, not seeing anyone or anything else about.
"'Circle Daybreak' was all I needed to find you. And I did. You didn't actually think I'd let you run away, did you?" He let the bag fall from his shoulder and lay one hand on her face, unyielding to the haze sucking him in.
He caught tendrils of her thoughts: "...oh Goddess, I look like hell," "...was only gone for two days and I missed him SO much," "...I'm home now."
His other hand went to her other cheek, cupping her face in his hands and looking at her. "You look beautiful... I missed you too... and this is the first time I've ever been out of Massachusetts, but I've never felt more like I belonged."
She looked up at him in wide-eyed wonderment. "Nick," she began softly, "I didn't want you to leave for me. What about your friends, your shop, your circle?"
A look of disbelief flashed in his eyes, "You really think I'd be happy there without you?"
"You always were before."
"No I wasn't," he replied quickly. "I was never happy there. Ever."
Blaise blinked at him for a moment, taken aback by the vehemence in his tone. She shook her head and backed out of his hands on her face. She rubbed at her eyes, knowing that she did look like hell, regardless of what Nick said, and she opened her doorway, motioning him inside. He grabbed up the duffle bag and stepped gingerly over the threshold into her house, feeling as though he'd broken more than one barrier by doing so.
"You asked me how," he said to her from the hallway ahead. He quickly recounted visiting the witch shop in Boston and Blaise connected Thea's phone call with the one Aya had made and wrote a mental note to severely bludgeon her cousin, and then shower her with thanks and praise. "Thea picked us up at the airport and brought me here. Diana is staying with her and I can too if you want. It's just... I wanted to see you alone first."
"No, no... you can stay here, just," she held up one finger to signal him to wait a minute as she slipped into the bathroom off the main hallway. Looking into the mirror, her hair did not seem the tangled mess she supposed it would be, but it fell in rather tame waves around her face. Her eyes, on the other hand, were quite puffy and she was grateful to Nick for not asking her if she had been crying. She splashed cold water on her face from the sink and searched her cupboard for the small pot of under eye serum she'd made. She found it and applied a bit under each eye, watching as the puffiness visibly reduced.
She emerged and sighed, "Much better. No more looking like hell," she smiled at him.
His smile grew broad and he shook his head. "No more being beautiful... now you're gorgeous." She found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, enthralled by his stream of honest compliments.
Pushing her body up, leaning forward on her toes, she kissed him softly, keeping her mind to herself but sharing her love for him. "Nick... I want you to stay with me," she sent to him mentally. A sudden wash of yellow nervousness flooded Nick's mind and Blaise stifled a chuckle. Fate had soulmated her with a virgin.
