Chapter 6

"It's not that big of a deal!" Nick tries to reason.

"It's a school night!" Linda argues back. "You're not going!"

He only catches snip-its of their argument as he lets himself in, dropping his bag by the door and his keys in the dish on the end table. Loosening his tie, he braces himself as he turns the corner into the kitchen.

"Everything ok in here?" He questions, looking between the two of them. Nick's frustration is palpable and Linda folds her arms, her mind made up. "What are we arguing about?"

"Josh asked me to go over our English notes at his place tonight-" "-And I told him no," Linda cuts in over Nick. "It's a school night-"

"- and I don't go to bed at 8:30 anymore," Nick argues back. "Dad, can you just?" He gestures towards his mother.

Linda shakes her head. "Oh no! That's not going to work; your father and I are on the same page about this, right Sam?"

Nick rolls his eyes and is ready to fire back, but he raises his hands to silence them both. "Let's just take a minute, ok?...Josh's house?" He questions his son.

Nick nods. "We're in the middle of Shakespeare and we're in the same study group and for whatever reason, it makes more sense when go over our notes and try to piece it together."

He doesn't doubt what his son is saying; he also recognizes that this is the first time he's mentioned anything about Shakespeare and Josh. "Alright. Be home home by curfew."

"Thank you." Relief washes over his sons face, and he quickly leaves the kitchen, grabbing the keys from the dish in the hallway.

"What are you doing?!" Linda berates. "You're just going to let him go?!"

"Yes, I am...I trust him."

Linda scoffs at this, folding her arms. "Your trust, is what got him arrested for breaking into and trashing a beach house."

His back stiffens, resisting the urge to argue with her. "He's not that same kid anymore, Linda, and if you took the time to see-"

"-why do you think I'm here, Sam!" She asks incredulously. "You send me these emails of his grades and his attendance and you tell me about how he's made all these friends and he's matured and I'll I've seen since I've been here is a secretive, angry teenager!"

He gives her a minute to calm down. "What do you want from me, Linda? What is it that you want me to do?"

"I've been here 3 days and the only time I see either of you is just before you're rushing out the door in the morning. I understand Nick is in school and you're working, but would it kill you to make time to have dinner together, to do something together in the evening?"

His immediate response is to point out that had she not just dropped in, they could have planned a more opportune time to spend time together. He folds his arms against his chest. "Alright, sure."

She seems to soften a bit at this, and she tucks her hair behind her ear. "...I went to the store and bought a couple of steaks...I thought you could grill them and I could make my loaded potatoes that you both liked so much."

As if on cue, his stomach agrees loudly and Linda smiles at this. "Yeah...sure."

...

Courtney's face flashes across her phone screen, and she earmarks her chemistry book, accepting her FaceTime.

"Are you coming?!" Courtney asks immediately.

"Hi to you too," Grace greets pointedly.

Courtney rolls her eyes. "Hello Grace, how are this fine evening?...are you coming?!"

Grace laughs, stretching out onto her stomach on her bed. "I'm well, thank you for asking, and no, I'm not coming."

Courtney groans loudly. "Why noooottt?" She whines. "It's not going to be that kind of party; we're just going to have a bonfire and chill."

"You always say it's not going to be 'that kind of party' and yet someone always ends up bringing something they shouldn't."

"Nick's coming."

"He is?"

Courtney grins. "...so maybe you not coming is a good thing then; I can finally get a moment alone with him."

She had suspected that her friend had been crushing on Nick, and as of late, she also suspects that the feelings are mutual between them. "Promise me you'll be safe?"

"I promise...anything I should know about Nick?"

There's a million things she wants to tell her, mostly about how hard he's worked to overcome the bad boy impression he gave off when he first moved to Middleton. "He's a really great guy."

Courtney smiles at this. "I already knew that...alright, gotta go! See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" She hangs up and Grace stares down at her phone for a few minutes. There's no way Sam would have let Nick go to that party, which tells her that he lied. "Oh Nick," she sighs heavily. He and Sam had come so far in their relationship that she knew that this was going to crush them both.

...

He's managed to create some space between them by hovering around the barbecue on the back deck. Through the trees in his backyard, and can just see the lights George had strung around the pergola in the backyard of Grey House.

He knows he should text her, only he doesn't want to tell her that he's bailed on their swing date because he's currently grilling steaks with his ex-wife.

Music filters out from the living room and Linda appears on the back deck, wine glasses in hand, offering him one.

"No thanks."

Linda's eyebrow cocks. "No coffee and now no red wine? I never thought I'd see the day," she jokes. "What's next, carbs?"

He turns to the grill, forcing a smile. "...you know I love pasta too much for that." Linda laughs, sipping her wine. "How could I forget."

The music she's put on fills the silence between them along with her unasked question.

"...just trying to take better care of myself, that's all." He can feel the tightness furl in his chest at his lie.

Both he and Adam and come to the conclusion early on in his diagnosis that he should refrain from consuming alcohol as much as possible due to the medication he had been taken.

But he knew it was the unpredictable anger that Adam was truly concerned about, and what he may do under the influence.

"Says the guy who runs 4 miles a day."

He forces another smile, closing the lid on the grill. She's seated in a chair in his patio set, and he leans against the railing on his deck.

"Do you remember this song?" She questions.

He listens to the soft melody coming from his record player. He shakes his head.

"Of course you don't." Linda sips her wine, closing her eyes. "We danced to this at that bar you took me to on our first date."

So much of what he remembers of his marriage with Linda is of when it all seemed to fall apart, that he struggles to recall those happier times. "I thought our first date was at that movie theatre?"

Linda laughs. "When we saw that god awful Western movie? That was our second date."

"Are you sure?"

She laughs some more. "Trust me; if that was our first date, there wouldn't have been a second."

He genuinely laughs at this. "I thought you liked that movie?"

"I liked that you held my hand, Sam...I tolerated the movie."

His phone buzzes from his pocket and he quickly glances at Cassie's face filling his screen. "I have to take this."

Linda nods. "I'll watch the steaks."

He waits until he's in the house before answering. "Hey."

"Hey."

Her voice loosens the tightness in his chest, and he inhales deeply before exhaling.

"...talk to me, Sam."

He closes the door behind him in his study, leaning his back against the door. "I'm currently grilling steaks with Linda."

"Oh."

"It's not what you think," he quickly adds. "She and Nick were arguing and..." He lets his voice trail off, exhaling. "...I'm just trying to keep the peace."

"At what cost to you?" She asks gently.

He knows Nick's lying to him. He may be at Josh's, but it's not to study Shakespeare. His son is unraveling right in front of him and he doesn't know how to pull him back in. "I can't ask her to leave-"

"-yes you can, Sam."

Her response surprises him and if he didn't know her as well as he does, he'd swear there was a bit of jealousy behind it. "Look, I don't want to talk about this right now."

"Ok...I'll let you get back to your steaks-" "-Cassie-"

"-and I'll bring the salad."

She hangs up before he can question what she means.

...

"Here."

Nick eyes the red solo cup Courtney is offering him. "I'm not drinking tonight." She smiles. "Neither am I...it's just soda...It'll help us blend in more."

He accepts the cup, taking a sip. It wasn't a raging party like he had been used to back in New York, but someone still managed to bring alcohol. The few people that were there congregated around the bonfire, dancing and laughing to the music someone had hooked up to a phone and speaker. This far from town, Josh didn't have to worry about someone calling the police; Nick wasn't even sure he even had neighbours out this far.

"So I heard there's a dock just through those trees somewhere...interested in checking it out?" Courtney questions.

"Sure." He can feel his stomach do that flippy thing again when Courtney slips her hand in his, tugging him away from the bonfire. The music grows fainter as they cross the field and dip into the brush and trees.

Courtney stumbles a bit in front of him, quickly catching herself. "I can barely see!"

"Stop for a sec." Letting go of her hand, he fishes his phone from his pocket, turning on the flashlight. "Better?" He holds the light up in front of them.

"Much better."

He can hear the water before he see's it, and as they clear the woods, the moon illuminates everything around them. The dock is gated off, but there's a stretch of sand that Courtney's making a beeline for.

Nick quickly follows, dropping to the sand beside her. "The water's so pretty, isn't it?" Courtney comments.

The wind plays with her hair and the way the moonlight sparkles in her eyes, Nick's sure the water isn't even close. "...Nah."

Courtney looks over at him. "Under this moonlight and the stars?"

He shakes his head. "...I'm pretty sure it's you...under this moonlight and the stars..."

Courtney tucks her hair behind her ear, smiling shyly. "...you think I'm pretty?"

Nick nods. "And super funny and smart and chill...I really like spending time with you."

She scoots a little closer to him, bumping her shoulder with his. "I like spending time with you too."

Their faces are mere inches apart, and Nick forces himself to focus on her eyes. "...I'd really like to kiss you right now," he confesses.

Her gaze dips to him mouth. "I'd be ok with that."

"Yeah?"

Courtney nods, smiling. "Yeah."
...

He's just made it to his backyard when as she makes her way through the gate in their adjoining fence. She's carrying a bowl and there's a small smile playing at her lips.

"I hope my interrupting is alright," she greets. "I could smell your barbecue and thought you'd might like a warm spinach salad to go with it."

Linda's face has soured as she sips her wine. "How thoughtful," she comments.

There's a hint of sarcasm in her voice and Sam shoots her a look in warning. "It is, thank you...there's plenty if you'd like to join us?"

Linda chokes on her wine, coughing.

Sam ignores her.

"I'd love too...would you mind helping me in the kitchen?"

He nods, following her into through the patio doors and through to the kitchen. "What are you doing?" He questions.

Setting the bowl on the counter, she quickly washes her hands. "Your support system, remember?"

He watches in silence as she fluffs the salad, pouring a smaller container with what he assumes is the sauce into it. As much as he's thrilled, and a little bit relieved that she's here, he's also aware of the unknown dynamic between her and Linda. "Cassie-"

She turns to face him, cutting him off. "- I'll be nice, promise."

"It's not you that I'm worried about."

She takes his hands in hers, weaving their fingers together. "I may not remember the last few months, but I haven't forgotten who I am entirely; I can hold my own."

He exhales, nodding against his better judgement.

Tbc