Blast From the Past, Chapter 1
Ashley took a deep breath as she stepped off the plane and into the airport, her eyes darting around, searching. They met with a pair of brown, and she smiled brightly.
"Meg, hey," she said, reaching out to hug a blond woman.
"How was your flight?" Meg asked. "They feed you well?" Ashley snickered, shifting the bag slung across her shoulder.
"They fed me, but I'm not sure about well," she laughed. Meg smiled and took the bag from her. "The apartment come through?"
"I haven't heard anything," Meg said slowly. Ashley's face fell.
"Megan, I thought you said it was a done deal. All I had to do was pick up the keys."
"I don't know what's wrong," Megan insisted. "The apartment manager chick said everything was fine, and all you'd have to do is pick up the key. She was supposed to call me yesterday to confirm everything, but she never did." Ashley shook her head. "She probably just forgot. Don't worry about it. We've got an extra room at the house, so you can stay as long as you need to." Ashley smiled and nodded.
"You sure Jimmy won't mind?" Megan gave her a look.
"Ashley, you are my best friend in the whole world. Jimmy finally talked me into talking you into moving out here and you're worried about him minding that you're staying with us? C'mon, Ash. You know better. We're both glad you're here," she insisted. Ashley just nodded, following Megan out into the parking garage.
***
"Nick?" Nick looked up and nodded at Greg, who waggled a piece of paper at him. "I got the results back."
"Great. Let me see," Nick said, reaching out.
"I can tell you you're not going to be happy," Greg said slowly. Nick's eyebrow rose.
"You're not serious." Greg shook his head. "They didn't match?"
"Sorry, buddy. The machine never lies." Nick took the paper from him and nodded with a heavy sigh.
"I guess it's back to the crime scene, then," Nick said, rather forlornly. Greg just nodded and tapped on the doorframe before leaving the room. Nick swore under his breath.
"Don't tell me." His head snapped up, and he sighed, nodding at Warrick. "Not a match?"
"Nope. We gotta go back there." Warrick shook his head and reached into his pocket.
"I'll drive," he offered. Nick nodded and stood, following him out to the Tahoe.
***
Jimmy opened the door and walked out to greet Megan and Ashley, who had just pulled into the driveway. A bright smile slid across his face as Ashley stepped out of the Jeep and walked toward him, the sun catching the red highlights of her shoulder-length hair. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a squeeze.
"Been a long time, Jimmy. How are you?" she asked, pulling away to wrap an arm around Meg's shoulders.
"I'm great. We've got a lot of catching up to do," he answered. Megan smiled and nodded. "C'mon in. I'll get your stuff out of the car." Ashley smiled her thanks and followed Megan into the house. They sat down on the couch.
"I'm really glad you came, Ash," Meg said, her lip quivering slightly. Ashley's brow furrowed.
"Meg, honey, what's wrong?" Megan shook her head.
"Nothing. It's just – " She stopped and took a breath. "Since we lost the baby it's been really hard, you know?" Ashley nodded and reached over to take Megan's hand into her own. "I guess we're just really glad to have a friendly face around. Things have gotten rough between us, and it's nice to have a connection to the past, when everything was easier."
"It's normal, Megan. Don't worry. Everything will work out. Just give things time." Meg nodded. "But for now, let's just forget about all of that and spend a few days just relaxing and catching up." Megan smiled. Jimmy entered the living room and sat in a chair across from Megan and winked at her.
"Ashley, have you talked to Nick lately?" Megan's eyes snapped back to Ashley, who had a shocked look on her face. She regained her composure quickly and cleared her throat.
"Actually, no." Her eyes focused on her hands in her lap, and she shook her head slowly. "I haven't talked to him since he left Texas. He never called and I could never track him down."
"Well, he lives here in Vegas," Jimmy said. Megan sent him a look, silently telling him to shut up, but he didn't listen. "I've met him for lunch a couple of times. I could probably track him down for you."
"No, it's fine Jimmy. I don't want to bother him," Ashley said hurriedly. She pointed toward her luggage sitting in the hallway. I'm gonna go unpack. I'll be right back." Megan watched her leave and turned to Jimmy, an incredulous look on her face.
"I can't believe you," she said quietly. "You know she's not over that yet."
"Megan, they broke up more than ten years ago. She either needs to move on or face him again," he said calmly.
"She'll do that when she's ready, Jimmy. Don't push her. She's not in an easy position." Jimmy just shrugged, so Megan stood and went down the hall to the spare bedroom. "Ash?" she asked, standing in the doorway. "You okay?"
"Fine," came the weak reply. Ashley was busying herself with putting her clothes away, her back to the doorway in which Megan was standing. Megan was being completely ignored, and she knew it. "Really, Meg, don't worry about me."
"Jimmy's just a little dense." She laughed slightly. "Still." Ashley smiled. "Don't let him get to you. Vegas is a big city. You'll probably never see him." Ashley sighed and turned, a pained expression on her face. She sighed heavily and plopped onto the bed.
"That's exactly why you had such a hard time convincing me to move out here," she said sadly. "I mean, he always talked about how much he wanted to move here. I just knew he came here when he left. And then y'all moved out here, and…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "I knew it'd come up eventually. I'm just not sure if I'm ready to face him."
"You know, Ash," Meg started slowly, trying not to sound as pushy as Jimmy had, "it's been ten years." Ashley nodded. "I know how much you loved him, but it's time to move on. You can't shelter yourself from people for the rest of your life."
"That's the thing," Ashley said. "I can, and I have. Guess I figured if I didn't let anyone it, I'd never get hurt again."
***
Nick sighed as he plopped on the couch, his tense muscles immediately starting to loosen up the second he hit the leather. He smirked to himself – not really sure why – and turned on the television, flipping through the channels until he found the A&M game. After a few beers, he'd be ready to hit the sack. His mood darkened at the ringing of the telephone, and he swore as he stood to answer it.
"Just when I was getting comfortable," he grumbled, nearly knocking the base off the table as he ripped the handset away. "'Lo?"
"Nick, it's Jimmy," he heard. He instantly kicked himself for his ranting moments before.
"Hey Jimmy, what's up?"
"Not much. You busy?" He pondered that for a moment.
"Not really. The game's on, but I was taping it anyway. I missed the first half being at work."
"Don't you hate it when work interferes with football?" Jimmy laughed. Nick smiled and agreed. "Look, I've got some news."
"Meg's pregnant again?" Nick guessed.
"Uh, no." An awkward silence ensued. "It's kinda something you should probably hear in person." Nick's eyebrow rose, his stomach dropping. "I want to watch your reaction."
"That doesn't sound good," Nick observed.
"I'm actually not sure if it's good or not. That's why I want to tell you in person." Nick sighed and glanced at the clock. Two in the morning. Shit.
"Uh, how 'bout L.J.'s?"
"Ten minutes?" Jimmy asked.
"About. Gimme some padding," Nick said. As he pulled his shoes back on, he noticed the nervousness growing. Calm down, Nick, he chided himself. There's a 50/50 chance it's a good thing. He paused and stared into space. And a 50/50 chance it's a bad thing, but hey, all good things require risks, right? He shook his head and snatched his keys before heading out to his truck.
***
Nick waltzed into the sports bar and nodded to the bartender, whom he'd gotten to know pretty well since Jimmy and Megan blew into town. That'd been a huge surprise. He'd left Texas to get away from familiar faces that knew his past. They were probably the last people on earth he'd wanted to see, but things worked out eventually. There had been some tense moments the first few times they got together, mostly because of Nick's reservations, but he'd gotten over that and they were close friends again. He smiled at Jimmy, sitting at the usual table in the corner, right in the line of sight of a 50-something inch screen, which had been probably changed to the A&M game within the last five minutes.
"What's up, man?" Nick asked, swallowing down the tension. Jimmy stood and they shook hands, as usual.
"Sit down," Jimmy said slowly. Nick's eyebrow rose.
"Shit, Jimmy. You're scarin' me here," Nick teased. Jimmy just smiled slightly, which didn't appease Nick in the least.
"Well, I'll buy you a beer, then," Jimmy offered. Naturally, Nick took him up on that offer, and they were silent until after the waitress had left the table.
"So what's so important I had to drag my ass all the way out here to meet you at two-thirty in the morning?" Nick asked impatiently. Jimmy just stared into the foam topping his brew for a moment. "You know, you're not making me feel any better about this news by putting off telling me, so just fuckin' get it over with already," Nick said, a little agitated.
"Ashley's in town." Nick just stared at him, mouth hanging open. He blinked several times, and then coughed, trying to find his voice. His eyes focused on a scratch in the wood on the tabletop.
"On vacation?" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jimmy shake his head, and Jimmy would have sworn Nick shrunk three inches. "Everything okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, is everything okay? With you and Megan. The only reason I can think of her moving out here is something happened with you and Megan and she thinks she needs to save the fuckin' world or something." It was out before Nick could stop it, and he shrunk another inch or so from the guilt. Jimmy sighed. He definitely hadn't gotten over it yet, either.
"Megan missed her, she missed Megan, Megan and I can't go back, so she came out here." Nick nodded, playing in the condensation on his beer glass. "It has nothing to do with you, Nick."
"I didn't say it did." Jimmy sighed.
"It's a big city, Nick. You probably won't run into her." Nick just nodded absent-mindedly. "I mean, she's staying with us until her apartment comes through, but it shouldn't take too long." Another absent-minded nod. "Nick?" Nick glanced up, then looked back down at his beer. He was afraid to drink it now. His nerves would probably just bring it back up.
"How is she?" Jimmy smiled.
"Successful. Happy, I guess."
"You guess?" Nick looked up at him again, a slight smirk sliding across his lips. Jimmy just grinned.
"You know I'm not observant like that, Nick. Shut up." They both laughed a little before settling into another period of unsettled silence.
"How does she look?" Nick's voice was timid, almost scared.
"Hotter than ever." Jimmy saw Nick smile and nod slightly. He cleared his throat. "I mean, you know, Meg and I have had our problems recently, and we both thought it would be a good idea to have a friendly distraction. Cool off a little, you know?" Nick nodded slightly. Yeah, he knew all about their problems since the baby. Understandable, to an extent. Jimmy had always had a hot temper, and Meg had always been stubborn. That was a dangerous combination when you added extreme amounts of stress to the equation. Jimmy had slept on Nick's couch countless times since then to avoid problems. And Nick had been more than willing to let him crash there whenever he needed to. Despite the problems in the past, the three had become closer than ever in the most recent months.
"Damn," Nick sighed. Jimmy's eyebrow rose. "It's been, what, ten years?" Jimmy nodded. "You'd think I'd be over it."
"If it's any consolation, she's not either." Nick's eyes snapped up to meet Jimmy's.
"Jesus Christ, Jimmy! You told her?" Nick exclaimed, rather loudly. Several other people in the place turned to look, curious. Jimmy stared at him blankly. "Shit, now she's gonna hunt me down on a fuckin' rampage." Nick slumped down in the booth, rubbing his forehead.
"Actually, no, she won't," Jimmy assured him. "She said she didn't want to bother you."
"Well, that's a big change from when I left. She called me to bother me every chance she got," Nick huffed.
"Christ, Nick. You broke her heart. She didn't know you were leaving until you were gone, and she blamed herself for that. No one knew why you left. You just left. Here one minute, gone the next. She was worried about you, man." Jimmy was almost scolding him.
"She was the reason I left, Jimmy. And if I remember correctly, you played a major role in that fiasco, so don't get all 'holier-than-thou' on me." Nick was pissed now. This just completely changed his whole world. Jimmy sat there, quiet for a moment.
"You and I both know that's not why you left." He had Nick, and Nick knew it. Nick sighed.
"Yeah."
"What's the big deal, man? You're not gonna see her unless you want to, so why dwell on it like this? Ancient history. If you're not gonna get over it, at least move on and save us all the headache of having to deal with your moods." Nick sent him a look. "I'm serious, man. It's been ten fuckin' years. Either move on or face her and get over it." He was right, so Nick nodded. "Yes what, Nick?"
"Time to move on," he stated dryly as he stood abruptly. Before Jimmy could stutter a protest, he threw five ones on the table, more than his share of the beer, and turned on his heel.