Author: The Wanlorn
Title: A World in a Grain of Sand 8/?
Summary: This is a sequel to "Every New Beginning…"
Rating: PG13 for language
Spoilers: I honestly don't know, so beware.
Distribution: Ask, and ye shall receive. Take without permission, then screw the Law of Three, I will cures you with the nefarious curse of…da da dum…WRITER'S BLOCK!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Disclaimer: Same as all of the last times, so far.
Chapter Eight
Natalie inhaled deeply and smiled as she stood next to Nick in the tree lot. He had taken her, just as he had promised. They offered to bring Abel, but he had to go in to the video store early that night. Nick kept an arm around Natalie's waist as they walked up and down the rows of trees. Their little experiment had worked - her knees were okay enough to walk.
He pointed out a big tree to her. "How about that one?"
She looked it over. It was netted up, so the branches were pointed up to the sky, and buyers couldn't tell if it had any bare spots. Or, at least, that was the idea.
"It's got a huge bare spot in the back," she told him, and they continued on.
Nick saw another one that looked okay a little bit later. "That one?"
"Too skinny and too dry," Natalie immediately said.
Nick shrugged and laughed, squeezing her slightly. "You're going to be picky about his, aren't you?" She had stopped and looked at several trees between the two he pointed out, and rejected all of them.
"Of course. That's half the fun." She leaned her head on his arm as they walked. Eventually, it started to snow lightly. The trees looked even better with the light dusting of white on the green boughs.
They went though a long round of Nick suggesting a tree and her rejecting it for some reason or other. Eventually -and Nick was positive that this was because she was getting cold - he suggested one and Natalie could find nothing wrong with it. Nick dragged it by the trunk to the front of the lot, where the owner was staying. He paid what he considered to be an exorbitant fee for a *tree*, and the guy helped him tie it to the top of Natalie's car.
He turned to her in the car. Her cheeks and nose were tinged red from the cold air, and she looked positively jubilant.
"How about if, next year, we both take off a week or two from work and go to the Brabant Estate for Christmas?" he asked.
"Really?" she said excitedly. "You still own it?"
Nick nodded. "I'm the last surviving heir, and I keep passing it on to my 'son' every so often."
"And no one has gotten suspicious?" Natalie asked in frank amazement.
"Nope. Well, the same family of servants has worked there since I was born. I'm sure they know something's up, but they don't care because they have free run of the place when I'm not there."
"That sounds excellent," she said, grinning.
Nick smiled and leaned over to kiss her, keeping half an eye on the road. "I'm glad. I've wanted to show you my home."
When they got back to the loft, Nick dragged the tree into the lift with them. Then he leaned it against the wall once they were upstairs.
"Nick, you have a tree stand, right?" Natalie said, struck by that sudden thought.
"I do, but it's still upstairs. But before I get that, didn't you want to put that garland up somewhere? Like maybe over the doorway to our bedroom?"
"Yeah, but… ohhhhh." It suddenly dawned on her what he was suggesting, and her face lit up.
He handed her the garland of faux pine. Then he stopped. "Do you trust me?" he asked seriously.
She nodded. "Of course I do. Sometimes, you're the only one I trust."
He gently picked her up ad cradled her in his arms. She linked her arms loosely around his neck, the garland trailing down his back, and kissed the hollow where his neck met his shoulder. Slowly, he levitated up to the level of the catwalk, forgoing use of the stairs. A grinning Natalie looked around avidly, admiring the bird's-eye view. Yes, she got the view when she stood at the rail of the catwalk, but that was a slight angled view. Rising straight up from the piano, that was a different view. He flew slowly over to land on the catwalk by their bedroom, laughing inside as Natalie looked around like a curious little girl.
"Oh wow," she breathed when they landed. "Even just in the loft, that's great!"
He laughed out loud at that and levitated up to the top of the door.
"Promise you won't drop me?" she asked with a smile.
"Cross my heart and hope to die," was his quick response.
She let go of her light grasp around his neck and reached out to the corner of the door, tacking the end of the garland there with the tacks that Nick had handed her. She let a bit of it land down the side, and let it arc before tacking it to the middle.
"Move over a bit," she told Nick, to which he happily obliged.
She tacked the last piece on the opposite end, leaving a little swag. It looked plain to her, though. Very plain. She put her arms back around his neck before speaking.
"We need a bow, or something, for the middle," she told Nick.
"Are you holding on?" he queried, feeling her nod.
He secured his grip slightly on her, making sure that there was no possible way he could drop her. Then he went up and over the edge of the rail, swooping down to the floor. Natalie let out a shriek as they went down. He landed lightly on the floor, setting her on her feet. She clung to his side for balance for a few seconds, laughing.
"That was cruel," she told him. But the wide grin on her face ruined the statement. "Cruel, but oh so fun!"
Nick laughed, nuzzling her cheek. "Better than a roller coaster?"
"Much better." She giggled girlishly. "Promise me that you'll take me flying some time? For real? Outside?"
"I promise." He kissed her cheek. "A giant red bow for the middle? I've got a mistletoe ball we can put there, too."
"You have to find it, though," she said, looking up at him. "I'm not going anywhere near those boxes of yours." The one thing he did *not* pack neatly were his Christmas decorations. *Saying* he had something was one thing. *Finding* it, another.
"I know where everything is in those boxes," he told her smugly. "It's only you who can't find any of the things you're looking for."
"Prove it," she said with a laugh, shoving him away slightly. "I'll give you five minutes."
He stepped away and was back within seconds, objects in hand. "Here you go."
"Not fair," she said petulantly. "Not only did you use your speed, you must have found those yesterday."
"You never said I couldn't do either." He rubbed noses with her. "I win. Ready to go up?" he asked as he lifted her into his arms.
"Of course." She grinned as he flew her up and hovered there, as the tacked the two things up. After landing, he set her down under the mistletoe. Immediately, he locked her lips in a deep kiss, probing her mouth with his tongue. She eagerly accepted him, sucking gently on his tongue as it searched her mouth. She missed the taste of his mouth, in the short time she had been bereft of it. Since he had rescued her, all she had received were sweet, gently kisses. She had begun to seriously doubt her desirability to him. She knew she was going to have scars, ugly scars, and that was the last thing she needed. But there was little she could do about hat. It wasn't her fault.
Well, that was what she kept telling herself, at least. She didn't really believe it. Maybe Nick was right; she needed to talk to someone. Why hadn't he kissed her like this until now? *Why*?
She pushed all thoughts like that away and melted into his embrace. Hungrily, she ate up his mouth, thrusting her tongue past his. He welcomed her just as eagerly as she had welcomed him. He had wanted to kiss her passionately for a long time, but wasn't sure if she was ready. He moaned as her tongue swirled around his fangs, and he couldn't stop them from descending. She egged him on, caressing them, running her tongue down and around their tips. His jeans were growing increasingly tighter. Her skillful tongue on his fangs and her warm body pressed against him excited him more and more.
"Nat," he groaned, regretfully pushing her away slightly.
She stared with a slightly hurt look on her face, into his amber eyes. "What?"
"Please stop." His eyes begged for understanding, but there was none coming.
"Why?" Hurt and confusion laced her voice as she regarded him. His eyes were slowly melting back to blue, ands he could tell that his fangs were gone.
"I'm afraid that I'll hurt you," he admitted to her, praying for understating. He knew that her bruises had not faded, and there were still open wounds on her body. She still hurt, even if she wouldn't admit it.
"Please Nick?" she begged him. Why didn't he understand? Even if he didn't find her desirable anymore, why couldn't he make love to her for her benefit?
"One more day, Nat?" he pleaded with her. "Just for my piece of mind? Please?" He cradled her chin in his hands, searching for understanding. If his blood had helped her knees, it was likely that it had helped the rest of her body. But he wanted to be absolutely sure. If she put up any more arguments, however, he didn't know if he could resist her.
She sighed and stepped back a step. "Fine," she said resignedly. "Whatever makes *you* happy. Whatever makes *you* feel good."
She stalked angrily down the stairs, and began picking up around the loft. Not knowing what to do, Nick watched her silently from the catwalk. Why was she mad at him? He was only worried about her. He walked slowly down the stairs, watching her closely. She wasn't just angry. There was something else in her stop, too. It was hard to place. Defeat? Sorrow? Remorse? He could not put his finger on it, no matter how hard he tried.
As soon as her back was to him, he crossed the floor, directly behind her and dropped his hands on her shoulders. She flinched slightly in surprise. He kissed a line up the side of her neck and nibbled slightly on her earlobe.
"Why are you mad at me?" he breathed into her ear.
"I'm not," was her immediate reply as she leaned back into his arms.
The way she was slightly turned allowed Nick to see the single tear that trickled down her face. "I'm sorry, Nat. I just don't want to hurt you. You can't tell me that your body doesn't still ache every day…"
Natalie sighed and turned in his arms, allowing him to wrap her in a hug. Nick never *wanted* to do anything, but somehow, he always did. The road to Hell was paved with Nick's good intentions. She could fell the warm glow of his love spreading through her as he opened the link between them. It was hard to be mad, to feel self-pity, when she could feel how much he loved her. However, feeling loved did not equate to feeling attractive, something she did not even come close to feeling right now. If Janette came back at this second, would Nick run right back to her? She knew that relationships were built on more than just having a prefect body, but still…
"It's okay, Nick," she said. There was nothing she could say to change his mind. "You're just being overprotective, again."
Nick tucked Natalie's head under his chin. "How about we put up the tree and put on the lights and the angel at the top?"
She knew he was trying to appease her. But that did sound like a good thing to do, especially if he meant that *she* would get to put the angel up top. But they couldn't, not today.
"We can't, Nick. See how all the branches are pulled together and pointed up to the top? It has to be untied and put up for a couple days before the branches will be down enough."
Nick sighed. "Then I'll put it up so we can put ornaments on it sooner. Hold on a sec, and I'll go find my tree stand."
Natalie sighed and began wiping down the kitchen counter as he went upstairs to look. Her thoughts turned inward as she went about the mindlessly easy task. She should have listened to Nick that morning. He hadn't said anything out loud, but his eyes had asked her to stay home for one more day. But she was being proud and stubborn. She didn't take sick days unless she was dying, or Nick convinced her to. Why hadn't she listened to the unspoken plea? Was her kidnapping some sort of punishment from God? What had she done to deserve that? And now, Nick was punishing her for something beyond her control.
Or had it been beyond her control? There must have been *something* she could have done or said to appease Kane. What had she done wrong? Maybe if she hadn't run in the beginning, or if she hadn't mouthed off to him. What could she have done?
No. She had to stop beating herself up over this. There was *nothing* she could have done, nothing. Wasn't that what she had learned as a child, when her parents found out what Nana was doing to her? Things couldn't have changed, now that she was an adult. There was nothing she could have done.
It was not her fault she was going to be scarred and ugly for life.
She brushed away the few tears that had fallen down her face. It was Christmastime, not time for thoughts like that. It was a time for rejoicing that she was still alive. Sydney twined around her ankles, meowing to be picked up. She smiled, remembering how worried she had been that Nick and Sydney would not get along. Luckily, her fears had been relatively unfounded, and once they had their territories settled, they were fine. The cat didn't even try to scratch up Nick's piano, or the furniture. He was content with the seemingly endless nooks and crannies to play in.
After cuddling with her kitty for a few minutes, Natalie realized that Nick had been gone for a long time. He said that he knew where the stand was. Curious as to what he was doing, she went upstairs to the storage room. The guest room was coming along fine, and she waved to the workers as she walked past.
She came upon Nick holding something between his thumb and forefinger, admiring it in the light. He was so absorbed, that he didn't notice her presence. "What's that?" she asked, squinting as she tried to see what it was.
"Nothing," Nick said hurriedly as he turned away. He pocketed the object before she could see what it was. What was he hiding from her now? "I found my Nativity set, too. Which one do you want to use?"
He obviously was not going to talk about it anymore, so she considered his question carefully. His was bound to be older, and more beautiful than hers, so that was the logical conclusion.
"Yours, of course," she answered. Plus, it was bound to be more special to him than hers was to her.
"Could you carry this down, then?" he asked, handing her a green and red metal tree stand. It was relatively plain, but had a deep hollow in it for water. That was good - she would have to worry about checking the water level less.
She looked it over as she walked down the stairs. There were four giant screws, which she surmised would screw into the trunk and hold the tree in place. It looked *much* more sturdy than the plastic ones typically seen in stores. This was built to last.
Mutual agreement said that the tree would go beside the piano, and Natalie put her stand there while Nick placed the box containing his Nativity on the kitchen table.
It took them a good twenty minutes to get the tree to stay straight. It just didn't want to stand tall, and Nick wasn't much help. Natalie would tell him to lean it a little to the right, and he could go too far. Then it was tipped too far back, or too far forward. The worst part was, she wasn't being picky. It tended to be grossly leaning, while Nick's arm was buried up to this shoulder in the branches. Finally, she crawled under and quickly tightened the screws. Nick let go when she came back out and stepped back, with Natalie quickly joining him.
"We're pathetic," she said, laughing.
"At least it's not noticeably leaning," Nick aid, hugging her. "Hopefully, we'll get better with practice."
Natalie snuggled happily in his arms. "Do you want to take it down and try again?" she asked with a small grin.
"*No-o*," he said quickly. "I like the way this is just fine." He smiled, very proud of their accomplishments.
Natalie wiggled a little in his arms, moving a little closer. Never would she admit it, but the way his arm was around her shoulders hurt. He was rubbing the cloth of her shirt against the welts on her back. The blood he had given her had healed her knees, but only touched up the rest of her. She tried not to twitch and move around, to just enjoy the closeness. Too soon, Nick let go.
"Do you want to set up the Nativity?" he asked, nuzzling her cheek.
Mourning the loss of his arms, but excited by the prospect of seeing the no-doubt-antique figurines, she replied, "Of course."
They sat down on opposite ends of the table, the box between them, and began to unwrap the exquisite figurines.
(A/N: Yeah, so, I had to baby-sit this insane 7-year-old, and I'm wiped. The kid locked my coat and my shoes in the bathroom, doesn't sit still, and doesn't shut up. I much prefer the one-year-old and the newborn next door to him. LOL. Hm…apparently there's someone who dislikes Abel…hehe, too bad for her/him! Anywho, I hope you enjoyed reading. I have to go work on my VisualBASIC stuff, now…)
