Niles opened the door quickly and stopped short when he saw her.
"Hi," Fran said quietly, "Um, can we talk for a moment?"
Niles breathed in, "Certainly." He gestured for her to come in.
Fran looked at his bed and saw a suitcase- half full of clothes. He was packing?
"Niles," she began, "what—what's all this?"
"Well Mr. Sheffield did give us the weekend off. And with his permission, I'm taking an extended week-long vacation.
"Ohh," Fran breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment she had thought he was quitting. That she had maybe driven him to that.
Other than the few articles of clothing on the bed, his room was basically spotless. She admired that about him. Able to keep everything neat as a pin. She sat on the edge of his bed and looked up at him. He leaned against his dresser, one elbow propped up on it. For a second, Fran forgot all that she was going to say. Just looked at him. His slightly ruffled dirty-blonde hair. His eyes focused on her, patiently waiting for her to begin. He looked so austere, dignified, and yes even…handsome…her breath was taken away for a moment.
She scolded herself and tried to refocus by saying, "I'm really so sorry Niles. That I hurt you. And if ever I led you on, please forgive me. I honestly didn't mean it." Did she? Of course. she had never intended for all this to happen. Had she somewhat been leading him on though?…NO. Not possible.
She continued again, "I think that we just got caught up in the whole game, you know? When I started this whole thing, I wasn't aware of the implications and well I never," she realized she was beginning to babble now.
"Miss Fine," Niles held up a hand to stop her. "Really, there's no need to continue. I understand. And you're right," he looked around the room for a moment, "I too, got caught up in it. All that happened earlier," he said referring to the ice-skating incident. "Well all that, I –I feel that that incident falls in that same category you were talking about. Getting caught up in the game. I was confused and I'm sorry as well. Sorry to put myself out there like that. It was out of line and I blame the 'pretending' part of it. But it's all right now, we understand each other." He abruptly turned his back to her and began rummaging through his dresser. He turned around with several pairs of socks and hurriedly put them in his suitcase.
"Niles?" Fran put a hand on his arm.
He stopped, feeling the touch on his suitjacket. "Yes?" He breathed after a moment.
"There's something else…" Fran began slowly.
Niles turned around to face her. That soft white-skinned face, eyes kind and questioning. Wondering if she was able to talk with him on the same level. He could read her expressions like a book.
"Hm?" He gazed at her trying to force out his own thoughts.
She impulsively grabbed his hand. It was warm and soft. Not something you'd expect from a man who scoured pots and pans for a living.
Niles almost jumped. He hadn't expected her to do that. And she was still holding on to his hand. She put her other hand over his to clasp it. Niles looked down at it.
Fran realized that she was deliberately delaying herself. Oh darnit, why was this so hard? Because you made it that way, she reminded herself, you're the reason Niles is flinching uncomfortably at your touch.
"Niles," she said thickly…she needed to do this standing up. Still holding his hand, she stood, looking him squarely in the eyes.
Nils realized she was standing up—close to him. In fact, very close. He could smell the citrus shampoo in her hair. He didn't want to back away, however. He felt rooted to the spot. And there was the matter of her still clutching his hand. He didn't want her to let go of that either.
"Mr. Sheffield and I," Fran said tenderly, "We decided-well we're together now. He said he loved me—and this time he didn't take it back." It took a moment to register and then Fran felt Niles' hand go limp. His ice-blue eyes stared back at her and she suddenly felt very unnerved. She slowly let go of his hand and backed away slightly from him.
"Oh," he said finally, "Right."
He suddenly looked very tired and old. Fran felt her heart go out to him wanting to hug him, lift up his spirit. She would have been hugging him and him hugging her—they would have been dancing around the room—if only…if only she hadn't royally messed things up.
He backed away from Fran instead. Niles felt he had to leave—NOW. The news should have come as joy to him. He should be happy for her—ecstatic. But right now his heart was in his shoes and he couldn't quite explain why.
He sighed deeply and managed to muster up a smile. "Congratulations Miss Fine, I'm glad that it…that it turned out for you."
Fran smiled softly at him, "Thanks Niles."
With that said, Niles quickly grabbed his suitcase and swiftly zipped it up. He began walking towards the open door when Miss Fine suddenly stepped in his way. He halted, inches from her.
"One more thing," she said quietly staring into his tender-hearted face. A face that looked so broken and tired. She earnestly felt the need to touch it and gently reached her hand out to touch his smooth cheek.
Niles saw her hand reaching out. He knew he should back away but once again felt himself glued to the spot. How utterly entrancing she was. A single hand and she could render him powerless, incapable of basic motor functions. He held his breath not knowing and yet dying to know what her next move was.
Her hand cupped his cheek ever so lovingly and Niles felt a tingling sensation from his cheek shoot to the tip of his hair follicles.
"I want to thank you," she began, "for being the best friend a girl could have." On a quick impulse, she stood up on tiptoes and kissed his forehead. Niles felt more tingling, this time pins and needles going down to his toes. He finally exhaled. She lowered herself back down and the two found themselves uncomfortably close to each other yet again. Fran met his piercing gaze and the two held eye contact for what seemed like minutes. A ripple of heat passed through the air. Finally, Fran broke the gaze.
Looking away she said in an almost whisper, "Have a nice trip."
Niles nodded, his gaze not on her but at the door.
"I'll really miss—" Fran said as she turned around but Niles had already left. He was gone but the emptiness she felt inside was not. How was she going to make it a week without him around?