Title: Everything's Not Lost
Summary: Nick learns that not everything is lost.
Disclaimer: We all know I don't own Nick or Greg although I wish I did. Lyrics to Hand Me Down belong to Matchbox 20. And I don't own them either.
Notes: This chapter is going to be mostly between Nick and Nina and setting up bases for their friendship since she is still getting to know everyone.
Chapter Three: Hand Me Down
From what I've seen
You're just a one more hand me down
Cause no one's tried to give you what you need
So lay all your troubles down
I am with you now
--Matchbox 20 "Hand Me Down"
The neck of the bottle was wet against the palm of my hand. The cool liquid burned as it made its way down my dry, cracked throat and into my empty stomach. I felt it seep into my blood and travel to my brain. It was a soothing feeling. With each sip I took it burned less and less. My thirst was gone, but the pain was still there so I continued to sip until the bottle was nearly empty. Before I took another swig I stared at the clear liquid in the cheap glass bottle. It reminded me of the glass I had left on the coffee table once without a coaster.
It had ended up leaving a ring.
It was the first thing Nina had noticed about our cramped living room when she moved in.
The door opened and in shuffled the infamous ring-fighting-coaster-defending woman. She threw her purse down on top of the pile of shoes by the door and reached up to remove the band that held her hair in place on the back of her head. It fell all the way down to her waist. I had been shocked the first time I had seen it loose. She looked about eighteen when she let her hair down. I asked if she'd ever get it cut off she told me no and that was the end of that.
She hadn't noticed me yet or she was pretending I wasn't there. Whichever one it was I was eternally grateful for the lack of bombarding questions I know usually would have come. I watched her walk towards me without saying a word. Anyone could tell she used to be a dancer just by the way she moved. Fluid, dream-like. She made walking seem like an art. Sometimes she was worse than Catherine. The way they both could move, it made a man wonder.
"Why are you so pissed off at me?" Nina never was one to beat around the bush. I could always trust her to tell it to me straight.
"I'm not." I may have slurred my words, but I'm not sure. Most things that night were a blur except the conversation. That would be damn near impossible to forget, but I knew one day if I tried hard enough I could push it into the back of my head and at least pretend to forget.
"It's about Derek isn't it? You're mad I left Cassie with him. Why? I trust him. I wouldn't have left her with someone I wasn't absolutely sure was going to take care of her. People think I'm a little too liberal sometimes. Do you think I'm a bad mother? Is that it?" She looked so vulnerable. If I said the wrong thing her world could come crashing down around her.
"I don't think you're a bad mother." I sighed and took the last swig in the bottle, "I think you're a little too trusting sometimes."
"I had Brass do a complete background check on the guy if that makes you feel any better. He had one ticket for speeding when he was seventeen." I didn't really have a response to that. Besides just because the guy had never been caught didn't mean he had never broken the law. "Dammit Nick," she finally yelled, "just tell me what you're so upset about. You can tell me anything you know. I won't get mad, but I can't take you being mad at me."
"I'd rather not talk about it, but it doesn't have anything to do with you."
"It has to do with the case doesn't it?" She had lived with me, what, a total of two weeks and she could all ready practically read my mind. I didn't like that. It was just too creepy.
"Please, Nina, just drop it." I sighed. She stayed silent for a few minutes before she began speaking again. This time though she asked no questions. She just began to talk and I listened.
"I know what everyone thinks of me being a mother. I was just some stupid teenager that got knocked-up at some high school party. It wasn't like that. I don't know who Cassie's father is. I never saw his face. It happened the night I was waiting for Greg in the park so we could work on his Chemistry homework together, but he forgot or something like that. I still can't even really recall exactly what happened. I just remember I couldn't scream. I tried really hard to scream, but I couldn't. My voice just stopped working. Cassie was born with a knot in her umbilical cord. Five minutes and she would have died if they hadn't preformed the emergency c-section. She's my little miracle. I wouldn't be careless enough to leave her with someone that might hurt her. I wish I could make you believe me." Nina stood up from the couch and turned to go to the bedroom she shared with Cassie.
"My mother left me with a last minute babysitter when I was nine," I began. She stopped and turned around to stare at me as I talked. "She was twenty. My parents had known her since she was in junior high. My voice didn't work either. I couldn't say anything. I waited for hours for mother to get home huddled up in my bed, but she didn't even come to check on me. She went straight to bed." Nina sat down heavily on the couch.
"Nick-" she began, but I cut her off.
"Don't. Don't say anything. We'll just keep this conversation between us." Nina nodded the tears in her eyes beginning to spill over. I wiped them away gently with my thumb, "Don't cry for me either Nina. Cry for the kids that have to deal with it everyday. At least it was only a one time thing for me. Can you imagine dealing with that fear everyday?" she shook her head. She raised a shaky hand to wipe away the last of her tears.
"Get some sleep Nick. Take some Tylenol PM so you don't dream." She stood quickly and disappeared into her bedroom at the end of the hall.
I took her suggestion to heart and took three of the pills before going to bed.
She was right. It kept the dreams away.
A/N: Sorry about the very long delay, but I was moving and then I lost everything on my computer, and I could go on and on with all my excuses. I'm working on the next installment in the series and hopefully I might be able to post it shortly. But until then please review. Thanks.
Someday they'll find your small town world on a big town avenue
Gonna make you like the way they talk when they're talking to you
Gonna make you break out of the shell cause they tell you to
Gonna make you like the way they lie better than the truth
They'll tell you everything you wanted someone else to say
They're gonna break your heart, yeah
From what I've seen
You're just a one more hand me down
Cause no one's tried to give you what you need
So lay all your troubles down
I am with you now
Somebody ought to take you in
Try to make you love again
Try to make you like the way they feel
When they're under your skin
Never once did think they'd lie when they're holding you
You wonder why they haven't called
When they said they'd call you
You start to wonder if you're ever gonna make it by
You'll start to think you were born blind
From what I've seen
You're just a one more hand me down
Cause no one's tried to give you what you need
So lay all your troubles down
I am with you now
I'm here for the hard times
The straight to your heart times
Whenever it ain't easy
You can stand up against me
And maybe rely on me
And cry on me, yeah
Oh no, no, no
Some day they'll open up your world
Shake it down on a drawing board
Do their best to change you
They still can't erase you
From what I've seen
You're just a one more hand me down
Cause no one's tried to give you what you need
So lay all your troubles down
I am with you now
Lay them down on me
Oh yeah
You're just one more hand me down