I don't own the Secret Circle. All other characters are mine

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Xoxo H

Nick POV

I pulled Amanda closer to my side examining Sammy. She was kind of cute, though not my type. She had curly hair and piercing blue eyes. The alarm in my head went off when she said "I have an idea and I'm sorry but you are not going to like what I have to say". Amanda looked nervous and said "ok?" Sammy looked torn because whatever she was going to say was going to hurt Amanda, however, I could see immediately how close they were that I really thought she whatever she was going to say was because of how much she loved Amanda. "there is a spell" she said turning to me and Amanda started shaking her head no. "it's a spell that loosens the bond between 2 people" she said addressing me it was clear that Amanda knew where Sammy was going with it. Amanda was visibly upset tears streaming down her face "No. No magic" she said adamantly. "Amanda, just listen to me" Sammy pleaded. "No. I know the spell you are referring to. It's from my dad's journal" she frowned. "I have experience with that spell and no way" she said giving Sammy a really disproving look. "what's the spell? What does it do?" I asked looking at Amanda. "my dad used it on me when my Mom got sick" she said quietly "it weakens the bond between two people and my dad thought that if he did that then I wouldn't be as hurt when my mom died" she said with wet eyes. "I remembered everything about the relationship I had with my mom and but we weren't connected anymore. I still loved my mom however the ability to express that to her was gone. We became somewhat distant because of that. Granted I was only 10, but my mom, up until that point, was my everything" she was crying now and leaned into me for support. I hugged her tightly in encouragement to go on. "when my mom died the spell had the opposite effect than what my dad had wanted. Her death broke the spell and everything came rushing back. All the feelings all the memories and the guilt for not being able to tell my mom how much I loved her before she died" she choked out through sobs "I can't go through that again". "and you don't have to" I said wrapping my arms around her and just letting her cry. "Absolutely not Sammy. No spell" I said sternly. "I didn't know. She never told me" she said wetness filling her eyes. "I'm sorry Amanda" she said putting her hand on Amanda's back. Amanda let go of me and turned to Sammy "I know you mean well and I'm sorry I didn't tell you." "Sammy," I said "I understand how scared you are but you need to understand that we can't be apart . I love Amanda too and I promise to take care of both of us the best I can." I said. "I do understand now nick and I'm sorry. Diana said that the bond was strong I guess I didn't realize that its sealed" Sammy said. Amanda hugged her "its sealed alright" I laughed. Amanda ignored me and turned to her friend. "Sammy" Amanda said smiling coming back over to me and reaching for my hand with her left hand "we have something to tell you". Sammy's eye brows raised suspiciously. Amanda looked up at me with excitement in her hazel eyes and the sweetest smile I had ever seen. I smiled down and her, kissed her softly and then nodded letting her know it was ok . She lifted up her left hand that was still linked with mine to Sammy exposing the ring.

Amanda POV

The thought of the spell and the ramifications of it had been buried deep in my mind and when Sammy brought it up I felt like I was breaking inside from the amount of pain that was still there. She never knew about the spell, she just knew that for about 2 years my Dad and I had a strained relationship. I never told her why. It was too much. I had to work really hard on letting go of the resentment and anger I had for my father and even though now we were closer than ever, I had to admit that I still hadn't fully forgiven him. I saw firsthand the consequences of using magic for personal gain and I was not going to put myself through that and I sure as hell wasn't going to put Nick through that. He finally got to a place where he has accepted the pain of the past and was moving forward. We were moving forward together and I honestly thought that if anything happened to Nick and the spell broke I wouldn't survive the pain.

Sammy said she understand our bond but still seemed apprehensive as apologetic as she was. I knew after the intense conversation of the spell I needed to show her just how sealed that bond really was. My ring. "Sammy" I said intertwining the fingers of my left hand with Nick's hand "we have something to tell you". Sammy smiled suspiciously. I had been dying to shout this from the rooftops and I wanted Sammy to be the first one I told. I looked up at Nick with so much excitement I couldn't stop smiling. He smiled down at me, his mahogany eyes sparkling, he kissed me softly and nodded . I lifted up my left hand that was still linked with Nick's to Sammy, showing her the sparkling flower that was on my ring finger.

I freed my fingers from Nick's tan hand and held out my left hand. "Amanda! Is that what I think it is?" Sammy looked stunned. I nodded smiling and I felt Nick's arms wrap around my waist. "Oh my god you guys really?" Sammy looked much happier than she did when she got here and the expression on her face was supportive. I got the sense that any questions she had about me and Nick were answered. She looked at me and looked at Nick "it's beautiful! Nick, you not only have good taste in women but jewelry too!" sammy said still bewildered. Nick laughed. "it was his mother's ring" I said proudly. Sammy examined it closely 'Are those honey calcites?" she smiled. "Yes that was my mother's working stone too" Nick said resting his head on my shoulder so his check was touching my cheek. He kissed my cheek. Sammy pulled me away from Nick and gave me a huge hug. "Im so happy for you" she said then she hugged Nick "congratulations. I know you will take good care of her" she said. "I definitely will" Nick smiled. "does your Dad know?" Sammy wondered out loud. "No I haven't called him yet in fact you are the first person we told" I started said to Sammy but Nick interrupted me "Your Dad does know kind of" nick said. I looked at him in shock. "What do you mean my Dad kind of knows?" I asked nervously. "Well, after I got the ring from Aunt Grace I went outside and called your Dad" Nick smiled shyly. "I wanted to do everything right. I wasn't sure when so I wanted to make sure I had his permission before the perfect moment presented itself" Nick said. Sammy and I looked at each other in disbelief. "What did he say?" sammy was able to get out before I could. "He asked me if I was sure especially with all the craziness going on with the prophecy and I told him that I couldn't risk having anything happen to us without you knowing how I felt. It was kind of awkward" nick laughed. "Yeah Mr. Morris can be intimidating when he wants to be" sammy laughed. "he just made me promise to take care of you and promise that we would visit as often as we can and I told him that he can should come out here and visit too" Nick smiled and I just hugged him. Sammy just shook her head smiling her short curls bouncing off of her shoulders. "and here I was asking you guys to disconnect" she laughed at herself. "its ok" I said. "yeah now you know why we are so against it" Nick said thoughtfully. "im really happy for you guys" Sammy smiled. "I hate to break this up but we have to get going to soon" Nick said "I'll be right back" he said disappearing into the bathroom leaving me alone with my best friend.

As soon as the door closed Sammy squealed and hugged me "I can't believe your engaged!" she smiled. It was the first time that word was said out loud and I was on cloud nine "I know! its crazy!" I said. She shook her head and smiled "Not crazy at all. You guys are meant to be together". She thought for a moment "He's really great Amanda and from the moment I saw him I could see how much he cares about you. I can see how happy you are and that makes me happy" she said fighting back a tear. I hugged her "thanks. I'm so glad you like him!" I smiled. "I do but there is one thing that you didn't tell me" sammy smiled crookedly. "whats that?" I was trying to think what I didn't tell her "How incredibly handsome he is!" she laughed. "are you guys ready?" Nick asked coming out of the bathroom. "Almost" Sammy said as she carefully pulled the gold diadem out of her bag and placed it on top of my head. "There. Now we are ready" she smiled and we left to face what was going to be a very long night.