Heaven In Your Eyes- Chapter 5 & 6

PART FIVE

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The next evening, Coral and I sat in her bedroom, two hours before the party was to start, trying to get ready. Her room looked like a tornado had been through it, the rejected clothes thrown carelessly on the floor, and a pile of possible choices on the bed. Finally she decided on a short black spaghetti strap Calvin Klein dress, and I picked a baby blue one the same as hers.

"Now," Coral spoke after slipping on her dress, "The hard part. Hair."

I groaned, "Are you sure two hours in enough time?"

"Shut UP!" she complained.

As Coral sat down in front of the mirror and began to fiddle with her hair, I started rooting through the pile of makeup we had taken out.

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Nick and Brian sat in Coral's living room downing cokes and watching MTV. Brian casually glanced at his watch.

"Oh my god!" he sprang to his feet, "What the hell is taking them so long? They've been in there for over an hour!"

Nick pushed Brian back down onto the couch, "Bro, you don't wanna know what they're doing in there! Relax, I'm sure it'll be worth the wait. They'll come out looking gorgeous."

At that instant Coral and I began walking down the stairs and the guys caught sight of us. Nick just stared at me. I had done soft, simple makeup, and my hair was piled on top of my head in a mound of curls, help by butterfly clips.

"You've got it bad for her, don'tcha?" Brian patted Nick on the shoulder and Nick blushed, "She'll come to her senses."

Brian and Nick met us at the foot of the stairs.

"One word, babe, HOT!" Brian complemented Coral. Half of her long, smooth brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun and the other half hung down onto her shoulders.

Nick and I just stood there looking at each other, and for the first time in our sixteen years of friendship there was an uncomfortable, awkward silence.

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Miraculously enough, Coral and I looked great and still managed to get everything ready for the party well before the first guests arrived. Howie, Kevin, and AJ arrived early to help. By the time people started coming, we had pushed the furniture out of the way, set out food, and put some music on. Everyone was there. My friends, Coral's friends, and the guys friends. I was sitting down talking with Nick, Coral, Brian, and a group of other people when I saw Corey stroll in, AManda firmly in tow. Coral followed my gaze over to the doorway where they stood, and gave me a sympathetic glance. Nick saw, too, and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Nope. Not gonna let THEM ruin my evening," I vowed, "Nick, you wanna dance?"

"I'd love to." he smiled at me and helped me to my feet.

Nick and I joined the group of people dancing, and saw Coral and Brian follow us. We were having an awesome time gettin' our groove on when a slow song came on.

"I-um-you wanna....." Nick fumbled, holding out his arms.

"Gladly," I replied, moving closer, and at the same time noticing Corey was watching my every move, while at the same time was practically joined at the lip with AManda.

Nick gingerly wrapped his arms around my waist, and I put mine around his neck. I placed my head on his shoulder and he seemed to relax, pulling me in closer.

"Mmm....." I thought, taking a deep breath in, "He smells sooo good!" Then, as an afterthought, "What's happening with us?"

"You look beautiful tonight," Nick whispered, as if he had read my mind.

I blushed and looked up at him. Our eyes met, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that Corey was still watching, and still gettin' busy with Amanda. I looked deep into Nick's eyes, and, before I knew what had come over me, I leaned in and kissed him.

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END PART FIVE

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PART 6

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At the same split second right before my lips met Nick's, Coral glanced over at us.

"OH MY GOD!" her chin dropped, "Who spiked her Coke?!"

The kiss seemed to last forever, but when I finally pulled away, my first thought was, "Oh my god! What have I done?"

Unable to look Nick in the eye, a pained look passed over my face and I ran out of the room, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Uh-oh. This doesn't look good. I've gotta talk to her," Coral, still staring, had seen everything.

"I'll talk to Nick....."before Brian had finished, Coral was gone, following me.

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Coral finally found me in an empty spare bedroom, sitting on the bed looking pretty miserable.

"Hey you," she spoke softly, "What happened out there?"

"I dunno.....Corey was there and I got all confused, and I was dancing with Nick, and he smelled so good.....he said I looked beautiful, and everything was perfect. It just felt so right, just this weird feeling I've never felt before, and the next thing I knew, I was kissing him. That kiss meant something to me, and also to him, I could feel it, it was so intense. but I don't know why I did it....Just got dumped by Corey a couple weeks ago, maybe I was trying to make him jealous...And that little bitch of his.....I dunno what to do, Nick probably hates me!" I bawled.

"Whoa. I see why you ran!" Coral made a feeble attempt at a joke, "but don't be so hard on yourself. Nick doesn't hate you. That boy loves you. He worships you, treats you like a princess. And you've bbeen too dense and preoccupied to figure it our. I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner, given how incredibly horny he is!"

"But this probably made things worse!" I wailed.

"Shhh.....Don't stress about it. I'm sure it'll all work. You two are too close to let this matter all that much." Corla reassured me, "Besides, like I said, I've watched him. I've seen that look in his eyes when he looks at you. He'd do anything for you. It goes deeper than just friendship now. But I think you two should talk."

Then, as if planned, Nick appeared at the door, "Coral, Bri's looking for you."

Coral gave me an encouraging smile, whispered, "Good luck," and walked out the door in search of her boy.

"Well....." Nick began awkwardly, staring at his feet.

"I-I'm so sorry," I whispered, tears flowing again.

"Don't be.....It's not your fault." Nick came over and sat close, facing me. He picked up my hand in his, "No matter what, I want you to know something. I'm not sure what that kiss meant to you, but it was great for me. Look, what I'm trying to say is that I've had a thing for you for a long time, but I completely understand if you just wanna stay friends, if that kiss was nothing, just caught up in the moment or whatever. I can get past that."

"That's just the thing. It DID mean something. And that scared me. That kiss felt more right than anything has in a long time. I want to act on it, hell, I could just jump you right now! But at the same time I don't want to lose my best friend. But I'm completely willing to risk that," I explained, "That kiss was perfect, and I want to try again." putting my hands on Nick's shoulders I leaned closer until our lips met and the kiss intensified.

"Think this way: Best friends with benefits!" Nick joked, pulling away.

I ran my fingers softly through his hair, "I can't believe it took me THIS long to realize how incredibly HOT you are!" I giggled.

Nick blushed and kissed me again, "And I've never realized what great LIPS you have!"

As we continued to kiss Nick reached up and caressed my cheek, sending chills up my spine. Absorbed in each other, neither of us heard the door slowly open. When we finally came up for air, Nick and I glanced toward the door to find Corey and Amanada standing there, looking extremely shocked.

"Yes?" I smiled sweetly, "May I help you?"

"Uh.....NO!" Corey spoke quickly, leaving the room and shutting the door behind them.

"I see the tables have turned!" Nick commented, "Now he's jealous of me cuz I'VE got you."

"You've really like me for that long, haven't you?" I asked. Feeling incredibly giddy, I giggled again as I kissed him right on the tip of his nose.

"You are too cute," he kissed me again.

"And you," I interupted, "Are just incredibly horny! But not to say that's a bad thing...." my lips pressed against his again.

"Hey, it's partially your fault!" he shot back, tickling me.

I giggled as Nick wrapped his arms around me from behind and lay back pulling me with him and resting my head on his chest. We lay there happily in total silence, minus the noise coming from the party.

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Meanwhile, Coral and Brian, who had found each other once again, were getting pretty hot 'n' heavy in the hallway outside the room Nick and I were in. Completely forgetting about Nick and me, Coral suggested they moe to the spare bedroom, which just happened to be the very same one we were in. By that time we were still lying down on the bed, but at the same time were making out pretty intensely, so we didn't even notice there were other in the room. Coral and Brian, completely wrapped up in kissing each other, walked over to sit on the bed, and landed right on Nick and me.

"Oh my god!" Coral screamed.

"What the hell?" Brian yelled.

About all that came from Nick was a startled "Mmph!", and, as for me, I probably just screamed louder than was previously thought to be humanly possible.

"How did YOU guys get here?" I was confused, and pretty embarressed. Brian and Coral had caught us making out, Nick's shirt was off, and the straps of my dress were just barely on.

"Uh, Bri, would you mind moving for a sec? You're sitting on my shirt." Nick mumbled.

"Well, you two, it's about time!" Brian congratulated us.

"See, told ya he didn't hate you," Coral said smugly.

"Oh, god. I gotta.....um....got get something to drink," I struggled to find an excuse to leave the room.

"Good idea, I'm coming!" Nick threw his shirt on and got up to follow me.

"Uh, you two stay here, we'll leave," Coral ordered.

"Have fun," Brian gave us a mischievious smile, "Don't use up all your pent up energy in one night!"

Coral rolled her eyes and pulled him out of the room.

"Well......" Nick began.

"That like totally killed the mood," I complained.

"What do you say we go make an appearance at that party?" Nick asked me.

"Sounds good to me," I agreed.

I kissed Nick one last time, and we left the room. Holding hands, we re-entered the party, making our first appearance as a couple.

Coral and Brian were nowhere in sight. We got several strange glances from people, and lots of staring, but also many smiles. We decided to hit the dance floor again, just in time for another slow song. Nick pulled me close again, and I rested my head on his shoulder.

I smiled at him, "This time I won't run away," I whispered, kissing him again.

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END PART SIX