Famous Last Words, Chapter 6
Nick was staring at the ceiling. Still. He groaned and looked at the clock. Five hours ago he'd walked Warrick to the door and gone to bed. But sleep just refused to come, and Nick was pissed off about it. He swore and chucked a pillow across the room with a growl. Now that the weather was warming up, he decided he could go for a walk and not freeze, so he pulled on yesterday's jeans and a sweatshirt, grabbed his keys and wallet, and left, slamming the door behind him and locking it with an angry twist of the key.
He strolled for a while, quickly at first and then slower, finally starting to relax and enjoy the cool, early morning air. At the corner, he paused, staring at the gas station and contemplating. Finally, he gave in and bought a pack of cigarettes. He hadn't smoked in years, but it calmed him, so it was fine for the moment. He moseyed back to his apartment complex, staring up at the stars.
With a heavy sigh, he flicked his half-smoked cigarette into the grass and pulled open his door, surprised at the blinking light on his answering machine. He looked at the clock. He'd only been gone fifteen minutes or so. And anyway, who would have called him at four in the morning? Someone from work, maybe. He shrugged and pushed the 'play' button, sitting down to listen.
"Nick, hey." It was Kaylee. "Don't pick up. I just wanted to apologize for interrupting the game." He shook his head. She apologized too much. "I probably should have called first, but I wanted—" she cleared her throat. "I just needed to see you, and I knew that if I called first, I'd change my mind, so I went ahead and dropped by. I'm sorry I didn't stay. I couldn't. But anyway, I just wanted to call and say thanks. For everything, I mean. You're too good to me, you know that?" A slight laugh, which made him smile. "I have a couple days off next week, if you want to get together for lunch or something." She paused for a while. "Your answering machine's probably going to cut me off, but—" She was right. The machine beeped and informed Nick it was the end of the message. He smiled to himself and saved it before heading back to bed. The phone rang, and he paused, contemplating whether or not to answer. She seemed more open to the machine right now. Oh well.
"Hello?"
"Nick. It's Greg. Wanna go for a run?" Nick groaned. "Bad time?"
"No, I'll be over in a few," he sighed. "Bye."
***
Kaylee stood in front of the mirror and sighed, staring at the reflection. She didn't like who she'd become. She used to be so confident and outgoing and bubbly. But now she was just a scared, timid, untrusting little girl. She shook her head at her mirror image.
"Kaylee, you have to do this. Nick cares about you, and he's not going to wait forever for you to let him in," she reminded herself. "Just do this." She chuckled at herself, analyzing her smile. She almost didn't recognize it. "You could be a Nike commercial." A bigger smile with a bigger laugh. She took a deep breath and nodded, heading out the door.
She pulled into the parking lot and started shaking, but shook her head and fought it. After turning the key, she sat there in the quiet car, trying to make herself go in there. A heavy sigh, and then she would leave. Just breathe, Kaylee. Breathe. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and reached for the door handle.
He was standing outside the theater, leaning against the wall with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. She came into his line of vision, and he smiled. He just couldn't help it. Her hair was down, falling down around her face in shiny wisps catching the sunlight. It was like a movie, he thought. Like the movies where the guy finally realizes he's in love with some hot chick with long hair, blowing in the wind that touches no one else. Those pathetic excuses for romance movies. He had to chuckle at himself. She smiled at him and nodded toward the box office.
"I got it," he said, whipping out his wallet. She opened her mouth in protest, but he shook his head. "I got it," he insisted.
"But that would make it at date," she said. He wasn't sure if she was teasing or not, so he just looked at her, expecting more. "I didn't agree to a date." His eyebrow rose, and she rolled her eyes. "Well, if you insist." He shook his head with a slight laugh. "Twist my arm, why doncha." She flashed a bright smile at him as he opened the door for her. "You're awfully quiet," she stated, once they had found their seats. He shrugged. "Everything okay?"
"Everything's great," he said. She cocked her eyebrow. "I missed that." Her expression changed to confusion. "Sense of humor." She smiled.
"Yeah, well, therapy can do amazing things."
"Yeah?" She shook her head no.
"I'm scared shitless, but you didn't know that, did you?" He started to say something, but she lifted a finger to her lips as the theater darkened.
***
Nick doubled over in laughter. They were sitting in the park, making up stories to go with people's behavior, and she was being absolutely hilarious.
"Okay, okay, no. She's an ex-hooker stripper plotting his torture and murder, but can't decide whether or not to actually go through with it because he has a Jack Russell Terrier named Bob who humped her leg and tried to bite her nose, but she loves dogs and can't imagine Bob going ownerless, but doesn't want to deal with a snappy horn-dog, no pun intended, when he meets his death." Nick shook his head, trying desperately to find oxygen.
"No, no," he managed between gasps. "He's a sadomasochistic soccer player with a tattoo of Tweety Bird on his ass, and wants to tie her up and whip her until she screams for whipped cream and chocolate sauce, but his Jack Russell terrier has become so attached to her that he knows he'll have permanent scars on his ankles from Jack trying desperately to save her from his sick, twisted ways." She cackled and shook her head.
"You're kinky," she said, snickering. He shrugged with a sly grin and looked around for another group of people to poke fun at.
"Oh, now that's just cute," he cooed, pointing nonchalantly. "Don't tell me you can make fun of them." She followed his finger to an older couple walking toward them, holding hands and smiling at each other.
"Simple. He works for an escort service for the elderly, who finally met the woman of his dreams." Nick laughed and shook his head. She smiled. "I'm serious." His laughs slowed, and he just stared at her for a moment. "No, she's a retired women's studies teacher who's sick of this male-dominated society, so she found a manly woman and made her get a sex change to slowly change the ways of this world, one, uh, woman at a time." Nick doubled over again, and waved, trying to make her stop.
"Seriously, I can't breathe here," he gasped. She laughed, watching his face turn red as he tried to get a hold of himself.
"It wasn't as funny as the whipped cream and chocolate sauce," she said, shrugging. "But, you know, whipped cream and chocolate sauce can get really messy." His eyebrow rose.
"And you know from experience?" he asked, with a snicker. She nodded, lifting her soda to her lips and taking a slow drink. "Really." He was intrigued now. She nodded again, and he let his jaw drop a little further than it would have on its own.
"Oh, I was a wild one in college," she admitted. "I had my tongue pierced and everything." His eyebrow rose. "Really."
"You're shittin' me," he said.
"I shit you not," she retorted with a grin. "No, I'm serious. I have pictures somewhere. You should come over and see them sometime." He nodded.
"I should, shouldn't I?" She nodded, punctuating her agreement with another huge swig from her can.
"You ready?" she asked, standing slowly. He looked up at her.
"Right now?"
"Uh, I guess we could. I was just thinking we're running out of people to talk about and stories to make up." He laughed, shaking his head.
"You are way too good at that." She shrugged, falling in stride with him as they walked toward his Blazer. They'd dropped her Rav off at her house before going to the park, just to make things a little less confusing. He drove them to her house and followed her up the stairs and into the bedroom, where she reached up into the heights of the closet, shuffling through shoeboxes. Sitting on the edge of her bed, he had the perfect view. As she raised her arms above her head, her shirt lifted only slightly, and he noticed the bruises on her back were now completely gone. Well, yeah, he chided himself. It's been, what, almost three months?
"Here we go," she said, pulling down a green box and opening it, dropping the lid on the floor. She ruffled through the photo packages and pulled one out, taking the pictures out and flipping through them quickly. She held one up, and she hadn't been lying. He shook his head and took it from her, staring at it. She wore a University of Kentucky sweatshirt and was sticking her tongue out, and sure enough, it had a silver stud through it. Standing next to her, his body tingled, her scent invading his nose. He smiled, still shaking his head.
"UK, huh?" he asked. She nodded with a smile.
"Go Cats." His eyes shifted from the picture to her bright blues, which were twinkling for the first time in months. Something in his eyes caught her attention, and she found herself drowning in their chocolate depths. Her smile faded, as did his, as they just stared at each other for a moment. He noticed her eyes shift down to his lips, and took that as his cue. Slowly, he leaned down and captured her lips in a soft, sweet, gentle kiss. It lingered for a moment, but she pulled away. He immediately felt bad, knowing he'd pushed the limits. Damn. And they'd had such a great day. She looked at the carpet, rubbing her lips back and forth slowly.
"I'm sorry, Kaylee." She shook her head. "I shouldn't have—"
"Why not?" His face registered confusion as she looked up at him. He bit his lower lip, not sure of what to say. "Why shouldn't you?" she repeated, not letting him shift his gaze.
"I don't want to push it," he said quietly. He noticed a hint of a smile as she shook her head. She reached up to cup his cheek, her thumb running back and forth slowly as she closed the gap between them, pressing her lips to his in a much more demanding kiss, her other hand looping around his neck to hold him there. God, he'd waited forever for that. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer to him, expelling any air that had remained between them, his fingers tangling in the tips of her hair. Their kiss deepened, both warring with each other for control of it. He responded in more ways that one, and it only made it worse when their kiss subsided, and she pulled away slowly, eyes still closed. She leaned into him, resting her head just below his neck. He rubbed her back, swaying back and forth only slightly, smiling as he heard her inhale deeply and sigh.
"I wanted to do that the first time I saw you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. He replied by kissing her forehead, closing his eyes as her lips pressed against his neck. "I'm so scared," she admitted. He pulled back only slightly enough to look at her, and she managed a timid smile. "For the first time in my life I feel like I'm in control of where I'm going, and I just don't know what to do with myself." He just looked at her, taking in every curve of her face, every flawless feature.
"I thought you were going to say you were scared of me," he said slowly. She shrugged.
"Well, yeah, that too, but I'm not worried about that," she said quickly.
"Kaylee—"
"I know. Shut up," she demanded with a smile.
"I don't want to—"
"You already said that." He sighed, pulling away. "Nick, look at me." He obeyed. "I'm not scared of you because I think you're just like David and you're going to hurt me. I'm scared of you because I know you won't. I'm scared of you because you make me feel like everything's going to be okay, and no one's ever going to hurt me again. And I'm scared of you because I—" She stopped and stared at him, shaking her head slowly. His brow furled. She sighed. "I trust you." She shook her head and plopped on the edge of the bed, running her hands through her hair. "I'm scared of you because I think I'm in love with you." His breath caught in his throat. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he just stood there. She stood slowly, looking at him uneasily as she fidgeted with her fingers. "Will you please say something?" she pleaded. He shook his head, watching her shrink.
"Every word I've ever learned just completely slipped my mind." She just looked at him timidly, as if she was undressing for the first time in front of a man. He shook his head again as he walked toward her. In slow motion, he leaned down and planted a short kiss on her lips. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear, "Don't tell me until you're sure of it." She smiled against his shoulder and pressed her hands against his back, pulling him closer. God, he smelled good.