A few seconds later, Judd heard her throw up. He ran to the bathroom and found one of her hair ties in the drawer. She was lying on the floor with her head propped up on the toilet. He helped her sit up and he bent down to pull her hair back. He French braided her hair, something his mom had made him learn how to do when she had broken her arm a few years ago.
And he held her there on the bathroom floor for the next half hour, helping her sit up when she was about to get sick. When she was feeling better, they went to sit on the couch. Vicki laid down on the couch with her head on a pillow right next to Judd.
He went back to the bathroom to get a wet rag to put on her head. He brought it to her and placed it gently on her forehead. She looked up at him with a look of thanks. He sat down beside her and stroked her hair while softly singing her favorite worship song to help keep her calm.
And I believe all that You start You complete
From glory to glory, glory to glory
And I believe You never stop taking me
From glory to glory, glory to glory,
All I know is this
There's nothing that You miss
If it's not beautiful yet
It's gonna be
There's no fear or fight
That takes You by surprise, no
If it's not beautiful yet
It's gonna be
He leaned down and whispered in her ear when he finished that verse. "Vick, you don't have to worry about being made beautiful…You already are. Inside and out. Every last inch of your soul is stunning. I know that what he did made you feel worthless, but you're not. You amaze me with your strength and wisdom every day. You are so brave." Judd paused, wondering if he could continue. "I…I really like you Vicki."
She looked up at him, in total shock. "Really?" she whispered.
"Yes." He looked deep into her eyes, then looked away. "I'm sorry, I know now isn't a good time."
"No," Vicki said. "It's okay. Go ahead."
Judd looked at her again. "Have you ever thought that we could be…more than just friends?" he asked hesitantly.
Vicki strained to sit up and turned toward him on the couch. "I have thought about it for a while."
Judd's eyes grew. "Really? You mean it?" he said in disbelief.
Vicki giggled at his expression. "Yes. Why would I say it if I didn't mean it?"
Judd shrugged and blushed, scratching his head and standing "Well, I don't know. Um…so do you want to watch a movie or something?"
"What? A movie? What just happened?" she said confused.
"Uh well, I don't really know where to go from here in the conversation, so I was, uh just trying to transition the focus to something else." He said very nervously, standing there looking at her.
Vicki giggled. She held out her hand and he took it and sat back down. She cuddled up next to him and put her head on his shoulder. He was tense for a minute. She had put her head on his shoulder before, at times when he was comforting her in her grief or distress, but this was different. She liked him. And he knew it. She grabbed his hand and said, "Judd, relax. It's okay," very gently to him. He felt his hand tingle when she held it, feeling butterflies in his stomach.
"Okay, so where do we go from here?" he said slowly.
"I like you, Judd. I really like you. I have prayed about it a lot and I want to be more than friends. What do you think?"
Judd smiled and laughed a nervous laugh. He couldn't believe she had said that! His stomach was all in knots. "Uh, wow. That was, um, direct." he said, stammering over his words. "Vick, I really like you too. I, um, I think it may be more than that. I don't want to scare you, but I want to be honest." He waited for her to respond.
When Vicki didn't respond he got really nervous. His hand began to tremble. She put both of her hands over his to calm him and sat up. She turned his head towards her and put her hand on his cheek. "What is more than like?" she gently asked.
"Um, well I don't want to say love, because that's crazy, um we haven't even been more than friends, but maybe, I don't know… 'in care'?" he said.
Vicki laughed. "In care, huh?" She looked deep into his eyes, her hand still on his cheek. "I like that."
Judd's expression was a mixture of relief and joy. He took her hand from him cheek and kissed it gently. She snuggled back up to him on the couch and let him play with her hair until she drifted off to sleep. And she had a wonderful, beautiful dream.