A/N- sorry it's so long i just could not stop writing! (and i couldnt find a decent stopping point) but i promise you its worth it! review and enjoy :)

Chapter Thirteen

I stretched my arms above my head, which was when I noticed I was really sore. I went to sit up, hoping that would ease the pain, but lo and behold, it made it a lot worse.

Bang!

Owwwwwwww. I had slouched down so my head was resting against the side of the bathtub in the bathroom, and when I had sat up, my head had banged against the top of the sink. Now I would have a big bump on my head. Great.

Rubbing my head, I gingerly stood up, wincing as various cracks resonated throughout my body.

I reached behind me and stretched one more time, and then I grabbed my phone from the top of the toilet where I had tossed it in a fit of rage after the battery had died during a boring game of solitaire.

Thankfully, some of the juice had been restored while I was sleeping and it showed I had about three minutes left on it. I glanced at the time. Four thirty in the morning. I gently pressed my ear to the door.

All was quiet. Wait. I strained my ears, and I could just barely make out the sound of soft snoring. Perfect.

I eased open the door, and crept out into the bedroom. Chad was sprawled across my bed, a book lying open on his chest, which was rising and falling with every deep breath he took. My bags lay in the middle of the room where I had tossed them last night. Thank god, I would have thought he would have emptied them.

I tiptoed over and lifted the bags onto my shoulder. I walked over to Chad, reached into one of my tote bags and retracted a bright purple sharpie. I drew a French moustache under his nose and a little goatee on his chin. All of a sudden, he snorted in his sleep, and rolled over. I quickly drew my hands out of the way, and breathed a silent sigh of relief. I wasn't going to get caught.

Then, I went over to the door and walked out of the room without looking back.

I ended up sitting on a bench that overlooked the ice rink, and just stared out at the rising sun that was creeping up over the sides of a skyscraper.

Around seven, people started walking about, paying no attention to me and my bags. I was grateful, but I was also lonely. I figured Chad would come looking for me the first chance he got, which was when his limo driver started working around ten. But maybe he would resort to taking a cab, which I doubted, but wouldn't put it past him.

So I gave up watching the ridiculous couple trying to skate, and dialed Nikki's cell.

"Hello? Sonny? Is that you? What happened?"

I started crying as soon as I heard my friend's concerned voice. "Can I…just…come over please? I need a place to hide."

"Of course! I'll be waiting. And, um, Daniel's here hanging with Cam, but I can make him lea-"

"No! Not on my account, we can just stay in your room, if that's ok. I don't really want to talk to anyone else right now."

Nikki agreed and I started walking to her house. I was only a few blocks away when my phone buzzed.

It showed I had a text from Chad. My finger hovered over the delete button, but curiosity got the best of me.

Sonny! I cannot believe u did this. I rly need to talk 2 u 2 explain this. It's not what u think, I swear. I don't want 2 say it ovr txt. Meet me somewhere? Txt me back, please. I'm begging u. –CDC

I rolled my eyes and then entered his number into the 'do not receive texts/calls from this number' category before deleting it.

I rang the doorbell to Nikki's uncle's mansion, and waited patiently for someone to answer the door. It was then that I realized I still had my car parked in front of their house.

Drat. I had started saying lots of things that should never be repeated under my breath when the front door creaked open to reveal Daniel. He was decked out in a sweatshirt and baggy gym shorts, with socks that ended a few inches from his kneecaps. Even in my current condition, I could see how good he looked.

"Wow," he said, surprised. "You must be really upset if you're using that type of language."

I smiled weakly. "Yeah."

"You look like you could use a hug." And, before I could open my mouth to say no thanks, he pulled me in for a big bear hug.

A few seconds into the hug, I relaxed and hugged him back, squeezing hard. I inhaled. He smelled good in a natural way, of laundry detergent and shampoo, and not in the way that most guys in NYC smelled, like some designer's cologne. Besides, it felt nice to know someone besides Nikki cared.

Daniel finally released me and put his hands on my shoulders, pretending to get a good look at me. "You look like dog poop," he said, grinning, which made me grin.

"Gee, thanks, Daniel."

"Anytime." He left to presumably go back to Cam, and I left to go up to Nikki's room.

I knocked on the bright blue door that identified Nikki's bedroom. No answer.

"Nick!" I yelled, knocking again. "You there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," said a voice right behind me. I jumped, just missing hitting my elbow on the railing that kept people from falling down to the second floor's display of exotic plants.

"Oh. My. God. Don't do that," I said, pressing my hand to my chest, where my heart was beating fast.

"Sorry, " my friend said, not sounding very sorry at all. "I didn't mean to scare you." I rolled my eyes.

"Sorry I didn't get the door. I couldn't hear you, since I was in the basement. I had to get some stuff," she said, showing me her arms that were overflowing with towels and…cucumbers?

"Um…" I started, reaching to help her.

"You'll see," she said in her mysterious way.

She pushed past me and opened the door to reveal her humongous room, which did not look like her room at all.

Her light blue walls were still the same, but her furniture had been pushed to the far side of her room, letting people have a clear view of her floor to ceiling windows and the beautifully landscaped backyard where Nikki's uncle was playing with Minnie from in the pool.

A portable spa had been set up in the center of the room, made up of two massage tables, and two mani/pedi chairs with foot Jacuzzis underneath. What looked like a giant blowup hot tub sat closer to the bathroom and the room smelled of lavender and vanilla. Relaxing sounds of ocean waves and the occasional seagull played from her surround system speakers instead of the usual pop music.

I turned to Nikki. "What's this?"

"My way of turning that seemingly permanent frown upside down."

"You are the best," I said, handing the towels I was holding to one of the spa attendants, which had appeared out of nowhere.

Ten minutes later, I had donned a rose-petal pink robe and Nikki had insisted on getting a different color other than pink, so her robe was sea foam green. We were seated in the two chairs, which had turned out to be massage chairs.

My feet were getting massaged from the Jacuzzi tub under the footrest, and my fingers were being painted a bright orange. My eyes were covered in cucumbers and I had a honey-avocado mask on my face. I breathed deeply, the lavender/vanilla scent calming me instantly.

"I love you," said to Nikki, who was busy getting her toes painted silver.

She murmured her agreement, and I was helped from the chair to one of the massage tables. My attendant, unfortunately, was a guy. I knew they were trained to ignore the lust that a naked female brought them, but I insisted on him turning away while I untied my silk robe. I shivered as the air in the room came into contact with my skin. I hoped up on the massage table, lay face down, and quickly covered myself with the blanket-sheet thing. I gave the okay to the assistant and he turned back around, hands at the ready.

Two hours later, after an invigorating back massage and a hot stone massage, I felt rejuvenated. The two spa assistants had packed up their stuff and left a little while ago and Nikki had let me borrow one of her bathing suits-one of the cute ones, a white bikini with a rainbow splatter paint pattern on it, and not her old swim team Speedos. We were sitting in what really was a portable hot tub. When I had asked Nikki why in the world she even owned a portable hot tub, she just shrugged and told me it was a good thing to keep handy. And I certainly wasn't going to question it.

The relaxation music was all gone, and the pop music was back on, and we were singing along to it at the top of our lungs.

So, imagine my surprise when two warm hands clamped down on my shoulders.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I screamed, my arms flailing in the jets of the tub, splashing water all over the floor. Good thing this portable hot tub came with a giant portable mat to put underneath, or else Nikki's faux-fur rugs would be toast.

I heard laughter in the deep baritone of a male. I instantly relaxed and turned around to smack Daniel, who had snuck in the room, along with Cam, when we were singing.

Nikki beat me to it, though. "You. Idiot!" She punched her cousin in the stomach, and he faked doubling over in pain.

"Ohhhh," he moaned. "You got me!" His eyes flickered up towards me and winked. I laughed.

"What a ham, Daniel," I said, in between gasps of laughter.

Nikki smacked my arm. "Do not encourage him!" she said, but her playful side won over, and soon enough, she too, was laughing.

I could feel my toes and fingers starting to prune, so I climbed out of the hot tub, blushing when I noticed Daniel's eyes on me.

"See something you like?" I asked him, boldly, grabbing the towel I placed next to the step, and wrapping it around my waist.

"It's okay," he said vaguely, smirking.

Nikki wrinkled her nose. "Ew."

I laughed. "Don't worry, Nick. There's no way."

Daniel put a wounded look on his face and I went into the bathroom to change into a comfy outfit.

When I came back, decked out in baggy sweat slung low on my hips to reveal my plaid shorts, a tank top that unfortunately gave me a good amount of cleavage, and a zip-up sweatshirt that was currently unzipped. My chlorine-scented hair was tied up in a sloppy bun and my feet were bare. Very casual.

The boys were gone, and Nikki's uncle and their maid were vacuuming the hot tub water through a hose that went into the wall...weird.

The maid, who didn't know much English, spoke to me. "Hose go through wall and into underground tank in backyard. Stores it for later."

I nodded, feeling pretty confused. Who does that?

"Nikki's in the theater room," her uncle told me. Seeing my blank look, he added, "It's in the basement. Go down the main hall on the first floor. The last door on the right leads down go the basement and it will be the second door on the left."

I grabbed my phone off of the top of my duffel bag and went to go find the theater room.

I walked down the staircase and started down the hallway that the front door opened into. I walked to the last door and pulled it open. A guest bedroom. Oh wait; he said the right, not the left. I laughed to myself and pulled open the door across the hall.

A long winding metal staircase was in front of the door. I rolled my eyes. Their house really was a mansion. I mean, it was in New York city, and most rich people lived in fancy lofts or penthouse suites in hotels, but Nikki's uncle was a something or other ending in –aire, either billionaire or millionaire, from owning several nation-wide banks and he somehow got a giant castle as a house off of a privately owned road. Their long driveway had a gate and everything.

I clomped down the stairs and reached a hallway with a wooden floor, oak paneled doors with curved brass knobs, and lights in the ceiling every few yard. The walls were painted a light gold and each side of the hall had three doors.

Curious, I opened the first door on the left. It was an indoor pool, with very realistic murals painted on the walls to make the room look like a tropical island.

I started to feel very underprivileged, so I shut the door quietly and opened the door I was directed to.

It was pitch black inside the room. I made the mistake of stepping inside the room and shutting the door, before I registered what was inside.

I could see absolutely nothing, so my natural instincts kicked in and I stood very still.

"Nikki?" I asked, my voice echoing in the empty space.

"Walk towards my voice, Sonny. Wait, no, don't. You don't know this room. Hold on." Nikki clapped twice and the lights went on. Dim, but on.

I could see several black theater chairs in the very back of the spacious room. Up front, closer to the wall-to-wall movie screen, were two rows of black plush sofas. Nikki was in the one furthest from the screen, right in the middle. I walked to where she was lounging across three seat cushions.

"Want anything?" I noticed she had a small box of popcorn, soft drink, and a chocolate covered banana on a tray in her lap.

I grinned. "Most definitely."

She nodded vaguely to the back of the room, which I now noticed went beyond the door, in a sort of back hallway.

"You can't get the frozen fruit in there, though. That was a special order to the kitchen."

"Somehow, I think I'll live," I said and wandered to the back of the room.

It was like a storage pantry, with foods of all kinds lining a portion of the back wall. I went over to the popcorn machine and spooned some into a box. There was a shelf next to it filled with different things for your popcorn, like cheese, caramel, butter, and different seasonings. I put some butter and Parmesan cheese on mine, then bent down in front of the mini fridge next to the popcorn machine, and pulled out water.

"All set?" Nikki asked when I came back.

I nodded. "Oh, wait!" I said, just remembering. "My car is still parked in front of the house, and it's visible from the road, with its color and all. What should I do about it?"

"I'll buzz the maid and have her move it into the garage behind the house," Nikki, said.

She groaned and got up reluctantly from her spot on the couch. She went over to the intercom and told the maid to move my car and the keys to it were in the pocket of one of my duffel bags.

A few minutes later, after wrestling to get comfy on the couch, we started the movie, some chick flick that I had never even heard of.

But when the doorbell rang twenty minutes later and the maid announced someone was waiting at the gate, I was really glad I had remembered about my car and the maid moved it.

"Nikki, a Chad Dylan Cooper is at the gate

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