Disclaimer: I don't own Nick, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Mamas & the Papas, The New England Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts, Muse, Norah Jones, or Billie Holiday. I do own Kaitlin and Brandi. That's all.
A/N: Thank you to everybody who read the last chapter and thanks to anyone who is reading this chapter! It means a lot to me that you take time out of your day to read my story.
So who is excited that football is back on? Lol…I know I am. Anywho, this chapter took me awhile to get up because it was hard to right it. I just hate writing sad stuff, but it has to be done because, honestly, who has been in a relationship where drama has not been present. If you have you are either kidding yourself or you are very lucky. I also took a while to write this because I started to write it and then had a very drunken Friday night with my friends at a party and spent Saturday and Sunday recuperating. I hope you enjoy this chapter because I really enjoy writing this story.
Thanks to StokesSandersSpeedle for your review. I was really worried about how that whole thing went down and your review meant a lot.
Please Review because when I see that I have a review it always makes my heart swell and brings a smile to my face!
3 Months Later…
Kaitlin smiled as she took the tea kettle off of the stove. She reached up into the cupboard to remove a coffee mug. She carefully poured the hot water into the ceramic mug and felt the steam hit the skin of her fingers. She stepped back and set the tea kettle back onto the stove. She reached onto the counter and pulled the box of tea bags toward her. Kaitlin had always hated the taste of coffee and could never understand why people would drink it when tea had more caffeine. She set the English breakfast tea bag into the mug of hot water and began to dip it up and down. As the sound of Nick's automatic coffee maker filtered into her ears, she smiled. He would be up soon. She removed the tea bag and threw it into the trash can. Opening the fridge, she removed the milk and poured a small amount into the tea. She stirred the milk into the tea and watched as the black color quickly became a light brown. She lifted the mug up to her lips and blew into the contents to cool it down. She sipped lightly, trying not to burn her tongue, and set the mug back onto the counter. She placed her hands in front of her on the counter and closed her eyes. She was still tired even though she had just slept a sound ten hours.
It had been three months since she had met her parents. They had been so kind and accepting of her. She smiled again as she thought of her family. She had spoken to them over the phone constantly. She had even spoken to her brothers and sister. They were polite and smart. She remembered talking to her brother Paul for hours about sports. She was a huge supporter of the New England Patriots, something she had picked up from Matt, and Paul was a supporter of the Indianapolis Colts. The arguments that ensued were lengthy and full of cuss words; however, it was all in good fun. She was glad that she had someone to talk to about sports. None of her friends were interested in sports, talking to Matt was out of the question, and Nick was constantly working. Friedrich and Kaitlin had talked at excess over music. Friedrich, or Freddy as he liked to be called, was into music of the '60s. She talked to him about Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Cream, and The Mamas & the Papas. With her sister, Lena, she had talked about fashion. Even though Kaitlin was constantly called a tomboy, she still was deeply into fashion and shopping. Lena had made Kaitlin promise that the next time they were together that they would spend copious amounts of time at the mall. Kaitlin had agreed.
It had also been three months since her and Nick had decided to become exclusive. She let out a soft laugh as she remembered the way Nick had asked her to be his girlfriend. It was child like, but that was defiantly one of the things she liked most about Nick. One minute he would be mature and smart and then the next minute he would act like a college frat boy. It always made her giggle when he talked about birds. He had many books in his collection dedicated to birds.
She was about to take another sip of her tea when she felt his strong, protective arms circle around her waist. She felt him place a kiss on her shoulder which was only covered by a spaghetti strap from her camisole shirt. She placed her hands over his arms and leaned back into him.
"Good morning sleepy head." Kaitlin said softly as she felt his thumb brush over her hip bone.
"Morning." Nick replied while ducking his head back down to kiss her shoulder again.
"Did you just wake up?" Kaitlin asked.
"Yeah. You weren't there when I woke up and I wanted to tell you something." Nick whispered into her ear.
"You wanted to tell me something?" Kaitlin questioned, unsure of what Nick wanted to tell her.
"Mmhmm. I wanted to tell you happy three month anniversary." Nick kissed her shoulder again and then turned her in his arms so that she was looking at him.
Nick was only wearing his boxers and his hair was a little disheveled from sleep. He had a grin on his face that Kaitlin had loved and trusted since the first moment she had met him. She couldn't believe that she was standing in this gorgeous man's arms as his girlfriend.
"People don't celebrate their three month anniversaries, Nick." Kaitlin laughed. He really was like a teenage boy sometimes.
"We do." He stated simply.
"Oh we do, do we?" Kaitlin asked and Nick just nodded.
Nick dipped his head down and placed a soft and gentle kiss on her lips before letting her go to make himself a cup of coffee.
"Well, what are we doing then?" Kaitlin asked, curious as to what Nick had up his sleeve.
"It's a surprise." Nick said as he poured the black contents from the pot into his mug.
"Well when do I get to figure out this surprise?" Kaitlin asked. She really didn't like surprises.
"Tonight." Nick said as he sipped from his mug.
Kaitlin reached for her mug and sipped from it for a second as she considered all the possibilities of what Nick could have planned for them that evening. She knew that he had the night off and that she didn't have to work. She did have to run a few errands that afternoon with Brandi.
"Fine, I guess I'll just wait till tonight to find out." Kaitlin succumbed as she set her coffee mug into the dish washer.
She walked over to where Nick was leaning against the counter and leaned up to kiss him. She had only meant for it to be a quick and simple kiss, but Nick had turned it into a much more passion filled kiss when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his mouth to hers more wantonly. She smiled against his mouth before pulling away and stepping back out of his embrace. Nick frowned and looked at her with sad, puppy dog eyes.
"I have to take a shower, Nick." Kaitlin laughed at seeing his face look so pathetic.
"No you don't." Nick stated.
"I promised Brandi I would meet her at our house at noon." Kaitlin said.
"Why do you have to meet her again?" Nick asked, having forgotten what she had told him the previous night due to fatigue.
"I have to help her move Shannon's stuff back into our house since Shannon and Tim broke up finally." Kaitlin laughed. She knew he hadn't been listening to her the night before.
"You sure don't seem to like Tim." Nick remarked. He had noticed over the past couple of months that Kaitlin didn't speak too highly of Tim and whenever the two of them were in a room together there was always awkwardness.
"It's not necessarily that I don't like Tim, it's more the fact that I don't think he was good enough for Shannon."
"Do you think anybody is good enough for Shannon?" Nick asked, knowing how protective she was over her friends.
"Of course! She just happens to choose these losers or dorks all the time." Kaitlin defended.
"So which one was Tim? A loser or a dork?" Nick asked wondering why she hadn't thought Tim good enough for her best friend.
"He was too controlling. When a guy has to call his girlfriend every five minutes to find out where she is because he doesn't trust her or when he doesn't like it that she has girl nights because it takes away from his time with her, then there's a problem. He was too controlling and clingy and Shannon is just like me. She doesn't like to be smothered or babied. A relationship should be about trust and understanding, not jealousy and suspicion." Kaitlin concluded.
"Wow, remind me not to smother you." Nick joked. In truth, he had already figured that out about Kaitlin. He knew he was acting too clingy when she would get distant from him and she would start to act weird. He had seen it a few too many times in their first month together. He started to back off a little and then she started to come back around. Now he didn't call her as much and he let her have her space if she asked for it. He also knew that she didn't like surprises. He just hoped that he would be able to get away with tonight without scaring her off too much.
Nick watched as she walked off toward his room to go take a shower. He loved waking up next to her and he loved having her around his house. It felt natural. He loved spending time with her too. She could always take his mind off of work and no matter how bad of a day he had, she cheered him up. She was also incredible in bed. She was very flexible, something he had found out about a month ago. He was happy with where the relationship was at. His life didn't seem so mundane anymore. He liked all her little quirks. He loved arguing with her about football. He loved that she cared so much for children and animals. She was always donating money to some charity. Her license plate was even a charity one issued from the DMV. She was always donating money to the missing and exploited children's fund. He knew that she was smart too. She loved to read and there were times when the two of them would just lay in bed at night and read. He loved her unique taste in music and the fact that no matter how much she hated country music, when they were in his car she let him play it. He felt so lucky getting to be her boyfriend.
Nick thought to Matt for a minute. A frown found his face as he thought about her relationship with him. He was glad that she could remain friends with her ex's, but he wasn't sure if he liked her being friends with this particular ex. He knew the looks Matt gave her, because they were the same looks Nick gave her. Nick had never asked her again about Matt since that day at the lake. He knew jealousy was one of her biggest turn offs. He was only three months into the relationship with her and he didn't want to piss her off too early. Three months may be a long time to Nick, but to Kaitlin three months was nothing. She had almost gotten engaged, but didn't. She said she hadn't felt ready to. Did that mean that she would never be ready to? She hadn't been so young when Matt had proposed.
Nick sighed and then placed his empty coffee mug into the dishwasher.
Kaitlin and Brandi were hauling in box after box of Shannon's stuff. It was three o'clock in the afternoon and Kaitlin was glad it was autumn and not summer or else she might have just hired movers to do this. Kaitlin always enjoyed autumn. There was something about autumn that made her feel peaceful. Maybe it was the fact that football was back on or maybe she just liked the clothes better, she didn't know. She just always felt safe.
Kaitlin brushed the dry grass off of her denim jeans before stepping back into the hallway of her house. She felt out of place. It had been so long since she had slept here, she had been spending so much time over at Nick's.
She stepped into the living room to see Brandi collapsed onto the sofa. She laughed because she felt like doing the exact same thing. She and Brandi had promised Shannon that they would move all her stuff back into their house since Shannon was too upset to go back to her and Tim's apartment. Kaitlin was regretting that promise now. Her arms felt on fire and her legs felt like Jell-O. He hands were red and raw from carrying boxes and furniture into the house for three hours. They still had a bit more in Brandi's truck.
Kaitlin walked over to the fridge and pulled out two beers. She walked back into the living room and handed one to Brandi. Brandi reached for it without opening her eyes and said a form of thanks. Kaitlin sat down on the love seat and twisted the cap off of her beer. She drank deeply from it, trying to quench her thirst. She sighed out of frustration and then walked outside to their porch. Brandi noticed this and knew that something was obviously bothering her best friend.
Kaitlin heard the front screen door open and heard Brandi behind her. She turned away from the lawn and faced her friend.
"Okay, what's wrong?" Brandi asked.
"Nothing." Kaitlin lied as she inhaled the fresh outdoor air.
"Something is obviously stressing you out and I know it isn't this moving crap because we just did this a year ago when she moved back in with him." Brandi commented.
Kaitlin laughed. She hoped that they would not be doing a repeat of last year. When Shannon had slept with Spencer, her ex-boyfriend, Tim had kicked her out of the house. Shannon had been so heartbroken, but she accepted the fact that it had been her who had cheated on him. The three of them had spent all day moving Shannon back into the house, only to have Tim take Shannon back a week later.
"Is something wrong with you and Nick?" Brandi asked, knowing she had hit the nail on the head.
"Nothing's really wrong. It's just that we've been together for three months today and he is so excited and happy." Kaitlin said before pulling her sleeves over her cold hands, stretching the fabric of her shirt.
"And that's a problem because…?" Brandi asked, not quite sure what the problem was.
"I just haven't dated anyone since Matt. I mean I've been with other guys, but I haven't been in a relationship since him. I just got so scared with Matt. Things became serious so fast. One minute we're just friends and then the next he's asking me to marry him? Things are just becoming so serious between Nick and I. I miss this place. I miss hanging out with you and everybody and I feel like I haven't had much time to do that since I've been with Nick."
"So, you're not happy that you're with Nick?" Brandi asked confused at what Kaitlin was trying to say.
"No! I love being with Nick. He's so amazing. He's a great guy and I know that I'm lucky to have him. I'm just scared that this relationship is gonna end up just like Matt and I. I don't want to screw up this relationship like I did the other one." Kaitlin admitted.
Brandi nodded her head in understanding.
"It sounds like you love him." Brandi stated, thinking it was obvious that Kaitlin really had found a great guy in Nick.
"What? No. I'm not in love with him. It's too soon for that isn't it?" Kaitlin asked confused. There was no way she was in love with Nick. They had only been together for three months.
"Well, I can't tell you when it's time, but by the sound of things it looks like you love him. I mean you and Matt were saying it after only like a week together."
"That was different. We were friends before we crossed that line. Nick and I didn't really know each other before we became what we are." Kaitlin said.
"Well, a week, three months…who knows when it's the right time to say you're in love. I sure don't. Only you can know when it's the right time."
"Yeah." Kaitlin responded lamely. She looked down at the wooden porch, releasing her ands from inside the sleeves.
"Come on, we still have some of Shannon's heavy ass shit to carry into the house." Brandi said breaking Kaitlin out of her oblivion.
Kaitlin parked her car in front of Nick's house. She furrowed her brow when she noticed that all the lights appeared to be off. She turned her key in the ignition to shut it off. She wasn't sure if she had misheard what time he had told her to be over at. She looked at the driveway and noticed that his Denali was there. She sighed and was about to open her car door when her phone started to play the familiar tone of Super Massive Black Hole by Muse. She knew who it was and every instinct in her body was telling her to not answer it, but her curiosity was stronger. She reached into her purse and pulled the phone out. She flipped it open and waited for the familiar voice that so long ago she had loved to hear.
"Hey, Kate." Matt replied from the other end of the phone.
"What is it Matt, I'm kinda busy." She said curtly. She still had not forgiven him from his phone call three months ago.
"I just, wanted to talk to you since you haven't been returning any of my calls." Matt said sadly. Kaitlin's heart panged with guilt slightly. Usually she was one to forgive and forget, but she hadn't been able to do that so easily this time. He had said some pretty mean stuff and had even made her doubt Nick.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I've been really busy lately." She lied. She knew he would believe that for a minute.
"Oh. That's alright. I've just missed hearing your voice. We used to talk all the time and now…" His thought trailed off.
"Well, things change Matt. Look I've really got to go, I'll call you later…" She started to say before he cut her off.
"I love you Kate. I still do. I can't get you out of my mind. I feel like life sucks without you. It just seems pointless." He said quickly.
She sighed. She had not been expecting this. "Look, Matt, we tried and it didn't work out. We can't just get back together. It doesn't work that way."
"I know. I just want you back. I don't care if you don't want to get married now or ever…I just want you back in my life. I love you, Kaitlin." Matt pleaded.
"I don't know what to say. I don't know what you want me to do here, Matt. I don't know how many times I can tell you that I'm not in love with you anymore." Kaitlin said awkwardly.
"Is this because you love Nick?" Matt asked already knowing what she was going to say.
Kaitlin stopped to think about it. That question sure was being thrown at her a lot lately. She didn't know how to respond. She just sat in silence for a second.
"Look, Matt I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay? Bye." She hung up before he could respond. She knew it was cruel and insensitive, but she didn't think she could hear him plead with her any longer. She placed her phone of silent and put it back into her purse. She sighed before she stepped out of her car. She walked up Nick's driveway and up the pathway to his door. She only had to knock once before he opened. He looked really handsome tonight. He wasn't dressed up or trying too hard to look good, but he just looked genuine. She loved that about him.
There was that word again; love. A word that she could use to think about him but a word that she just could not bring herself to put with his name. She knew she really was scared. It wasn't that she was scared of getting hurt so much, it was more that she was scared of hurting him. The last thing she needed was another Matt in her life. She didn't think she could stand it if Nick was the one calling her pleading for her love.
She stepped into the house after Nick stepped aside to let her in. The house was indeed dark, but the candles that he had lit all around the house were illuminating the walls. She heard the faint sound of Norah Jones' Turn Me On playing through his stereo. He knew how much she liked Norah Jones and she smiled at his thoughtfulness. She turned to look at him and she smelled something cooking. Her smile got bigger as she thought about how much he had planned for her.
"Are you cooking?" She asked amused.
"Yeah. Trust me, you'll like it. You mentioned to me once how much you liked it and I thought I would ask my mom how to make it." He said, stepping forward to kiss her deeply.
She pulled away when she smelled exactly what he was cooking. She smiled, showing all of her teeth.
"You're making me jambalaya? You're mom knew how to make it?" She asked incredulously.
"Yeah, it wasn't easy to make, but I think I've done a pretty good job." He stepped forward again, intent on kissing her again, but she pulled away again.
"You did all of this for me?" She asked, still not believing that he cared this much about her.
"No, the food is for you, but the candles are for my other girlfriend." He joked. She shot him a glare and he started to laugh.
"Of course this is all for you, Kaitlin. I told we were goin' to celebrate our three month anniversary." Nick said and kissed her on the cheek as the timer on the stove went off.
Nick rushed over to the kitchen to remove the dish from the oven. He set it on the stove and turned off the oven. He took out two bowls and began to spoon the jambalaya into the bowls. He walked over to the dining table and set them down. He motioned with his head for her to join him. He walked back into the kitchen to remove a bottle of white wine from the fridge. He pulled the cork off and walked back to the table. He poured the wine into the two wine glasses he had set earlier on the table.
Kaitlin was still in disbelief that he had done this for her. Matt sure had never taken time to make her her favorite dinner and he certainly never lit candles anywhere in the house. She walked over the table and sat down. She looked at the dish and surmised that he had done a good job making it. She only hoped that he had made it spicy enough. She knew deep in her mind though, that it could have tasted like crap and she still would have liked it because he had made it for her. Luckily it didn't taste bad, it was actually perfect.
"So how did I do?" Nick asked looking up at her for confirmation.
"It's perfect." She replied. She reached forward and sipped from her wine glass. She preferred white wine to red and Nick knew that. Her friends had always said that as she got older she would enjoy red wine more, but she still had yet for that to happen. After she had finished eating she sat back in her chair and looked upon Nick. She smiled and noticed that he was watching her too. She felt so lucky to have him in her life.
Suddenly an older song came on that Kaitlin loved. She laughed as Nick stood up and offered her his hand. She shook her head and took his hand. He pulled her into the living room and pulled her against his body and started to dance slowly.
I'm gonna love you
Like nobody's loved you
Come rain or come shine
High as a mountain
And deep as a river
Come rain or come shine
I guess when you met me
It was just one of those things
But don't ever bet me
Cause I'm gonna be true
If you let me
She was resting her head on his shoulder as Billie Holiday's Come Rain or Come Shine sounded through the speakers into his living room. She loved this song. It was one of her favorite classic songs. She felt at peace with the world right there in his arms.
You're gonna love me
Like nobody's loved me
Come rain or come shine
Happy together, unhappy together
And won't it be fine
Days may be cloudy or sunny
We're in, or we're out of the money
But I'm with you always
I'm with you rain or shine
She smiled big as she listened to the words. She inhaled Nick's cologne and felt like she was at home in his arms. In her mind she thought, this is what love is. She knew in that instant that what everybody had been telling her was true; she was in love with Nick. Head over heels. That was why she was so scared. Not because she was afraid of hurting him, but because the last time she had been in love was with Matt. She had never thought she would find it again. Here she was all over again. It felt right.
I'm gonna love you
Like nobody's loved you
Come rain or come shine
High as a mountain
Deep as a river
Come rain or come shine
I guess when you met me
It was just one of those things
But don't ever bet me
Cause I'm gonna be true
If you let me
You're gonna love me
Like nobody's loved me
Come rain or come shine
Happy together, unhappy together
And won't it be fine
Days may be cloudy or sunny
We're in, or we're out of the money
But I'll love you always
I'm with you rain or shine
Rain or shine
As the song ended she looked up into his eyes and smiled. She leaned up and kissed him tenderly. She hoped that he could understand her feelings through the kiss.
The next morning Kaitlin awoke to the sound of Nick snoring. She laughed quietly and removed his arm from around her waist. She got out of the bed and walked into the kitchen to make her usual morning cup of tea.
Nick awoke and noticed that Kaitlin wasn't in the bed with him. He frowned and threw the covers off of his naked body. Last night had gone perfect. She had seemed to like it and she didn't seem to think he was smothering her. He went over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers, slipped them on and opened the bedroom door. He heard her clinking around in his kitchen. She was probably making her tea. He didn't particularly like tea, but she hated coffee so he made sure to always have tea stocked in his house. She liked English breakfast or Earl Gray in the mornings and chamomile at night. She said it helped her sleep. She also said it helped her relieve stress.
He rounded the corner and saw her reaching up to grab the box of tea that he had set in the cupboard. He laughed as she stood on her toes to try and reach it, finally knocking it onto the counter. He walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning, beautiful." He said from behind her.
Kaitlin turned and smiled. She loved the way he looked in the morning. During the day he always tried to look so put together, but in the morning he looked rumpled and cute. She walked over to him and kissed him lightly. She wasn't much of a morning person and didn't like to show too much affection in the morning. It was the reason she and Nick didn't have a lot of morning sex. Nick had found out one particular morning how much she hated being woken up and he knew he still had the scar to prove it. He knew that the only two people she never got angry at for waking her up were Brandi and Shannon.
"Good morning, handsome." She replied pulling away from his face.
"How did you sleep?" He asked.
"Perfect. You?" She asked.
"I had you, I slept very well." He smiled at her. She loved his smile.
She knew she would have to tell him her little revelation soon or else she might never tell him. As she stood there thinking about it, Nick's house phone began to ring.
"Can you answer that sweetie?" He asked as he dug around in the fridge for breakfast.
"What am I your slave?" She joked and he turned around and smirked at her.
"Just do as I tell you to woman or I won't make you any breakfast." He called as he stuck his head back into the fridge.
Kaitlin walked over to the phone and pulled it off of the receiver. She clicked the talk button and answered.
"Hello, Nick's house." She joked into the receiver.
A southern accented woman replied from the other end. "Hi, this is Nick's mom, am I speaking to Kaitlin?"
Kaitlin stopped for a second unsure of what to say. Nick noticed it and knew instantly who she was on the phone with.
"Um, yeah. How are you?" She asked politely, dropping all manner of joking.
"I'm fine, dear. How are you?" She laughed at the young woman's nervousness.
"I'm good. Did you want to speak with Nick?" She asked trying to give herself an out from talking to Nick's mom.
"Yes, thank you." She replied.
"Just one second." Kaitlin said into the phone before covering it with her hand.
"It's you mom." Kaitlin whispered to Nick. He laughed at her. She seemed really shocked at who had been on the other end. He took the phone out of her hand and kissed her before responding into the phone.
She wasn't sure what he was talking about, but she gathered that he was going somewhere and that made her frown. He hadn't mentioned a trip to her. When he hung up the phone he turned to her and laughed.
"That was smooth." He said over his shoulder as he began to make the eggs on the stove.
"Well, I wasn't expecting your mother to be on the other end." She replied.
"She thought you were funny." Nick stated.
"Where are you going?" Kaitlin asked as she walked back into the kitchen to retrieve her tea.
"Texas, for Thanksgiving." He said as if it were obvious.
"Oh." She said with hint of sadness. She really didn't want him to go somewhere, especially since she had just found out that she loved him.
Nick heard the tone of her voice and smiled. He knew that she was going to miss him and that made him that much more aware that his plan was going to work. He turned around and set the eggs on a plate. He walked over to the table and set them down. He smiled at her and took her hand in his. He ran his thumb over her knuckles and looked back up at her.
"Do you want to come with me?" He asked. He was nervous asking her this but he had a feeling she would say yes.
"You want me to go to Texas with you?" Kaitlin asked, not sure if she had heard him correctly.
Nick nodded.
"Like for Thanksgiving?" She asked, still unsure if she had heard him correctly.
He nodded again, waiting for her response.
"To meet your family and everything?" She asked a bit nervously.
Again he just nodded.
She looked at him and a smile stole over her face.
"I'd love to go, Nick." She said happily.
"Great." He stated simply. He didn't want to sound too surprised that she had said yes.
When the two of them had finished eating breakfast and cleaning up, Kaitlin realized that she had to go. She needed to get home to sleep so that she would be able to stay awake at work that night. As Nick stood by her car door kissing her goodbye, she realized that right then was the perfect time to tell him.
She reached forward and ran her hand over his cheek. He smiled and moved his head so that he could kiss her palm.
"I love you, Nick." She said.
Nick stood there completely shocked. He had not expected her to say that. She hadn't shown any sign that she had loved him, and he was still trying to decide his own feelings about her. He stood there looking into her face, studying it. Finally he spoke.
"I'll talk to you later."
Kaitlin couldn't help but feel disappointed that he didn't love her. She nodded and slowly stepped into her car before speeding off home. As she drove her way the short distance, tears rolled down and stained her blue shirt she was wearing. She realized that his response was the same as the one she had given to Matt when he told her he loved her.