"We've got tonight, who needs tomorrow? Let's make it last, let's find a way. Turn out the light, come take my hand. We've got tonight, babe. Why don't you stay?" -- Bob Segar's "Tonight"

She rubbed her hands together, covering both hands in oil. She was about to grab him, but lost her boldness. She stared into his eyes. "Have you ever had this done to you before?"

Her question shocked him a bit. "Do you mean what you were about to do, or everything that we've done?"

"Both," she said, feeling stupid for even asking.

He motioned for her to come closer. When she did, their faces were just inches apart. "Before tonight, I was a virgin," he said with a straight face. "Before tonight, I'd never cared about someone enough to lose that." He wore a slight smile now. "But now, I've found someone that I'd lose everything for."

She could feel herself beginning to shake. "Nicky," she whispered, but was cut off by the touch of his lips against hers. She laid on top of him, feeling his warm naked body pressed to hers. Nick let his hands wander all over her back. His breathing deepened as their kissing became more passionate. He ran his hands through her soft hair, feeling like he couldn't get enough of her. They slowly parted with a light kiss. "How did you know to do all that seductive stuff?" she asked with the curiosity of a child.

Nick lightly laughed. "Well, part of it was due to the fact that I've known you for so long. The other part was due to something else," Nick said as he began to blush a bit.

Her grin was getting wider. "What would that be?"

"Well, in one of the hotels that we were staying in, they were showing a movie late one night called Kama Sutra or somethin' and I watched it. I learned some pretty cool stuff." He was smiling big as his thoughts trailed to the images he had seen on the screen just months ago, imagining Sara and him trying out the techniques.

"Oh really, care to teach any of what you learned?"

Nick was a bit taken back by her willingness, but was also enthusiastic. "You read my mind, dear. Wait though, weren't you gonna do something before you asked me that question?" He was looking hopeful.

"Yea, I was," she said, feeling nervous. She began kissing his sweet lips, moving down to his chest. She heard him sigh happily and hoped that she was about to do this correctly. She gently grabbed him, rubbing the remaining oil on his erection.

Nick was steadying his breathing, trying to keep his cool. ‘This time has to last,' he told himself. ‘I want this to be per....' his thoughts were cut off by the feeling of Sara licking him. "Oh yea," he breathed. "That feels good," he whispered. He enjoyed it for a couple more moments, and then lightly grabbed her head, stopping her.

"Am I doing something wrong?" she asked sheepishly.

"What?" he asked surprised. "No, not at all." He pulled her up towards him so their faces were inches apart again. "That was wonderful. I just want both of us to feel as good as I just felt." He kissed her lightly, and then deepened it with a French kiss. "You were great," he smiled. He then rolled her over and began sucking on her nipples. "So, you were wantin' me to teach you what I learned, huh?" he said in between his kisses.

"Uh huh," she said, her voice wavering from her excitement.

Nick knelt in front of her on the bed. He slowly ran both hands on each of her legs, then picked up her right leg and bent it over his shoulder. He then leaned down, almost lying on tope of her, her leg still over his shoulder. Sara just watched, smiling the whole time. "This is supposed to make penetration deeper," he whispered and then slowly thrusted himself into her, causing her to moan loudly. "Did I hurt you?" Nick asked with concern.

"Oh God no! Mmmm, you feel so good."

Nick smiled and continued to move in and out of her, feeling the deep penetration. "I wanna go deeper," he whispered, his warm breath caressing her neck.

"Go deeper, Nicky." She wasn't able to control herself. He turned her into this wild thing that craved him.

Nick thrust himself into her as deep as he could, making her scream out even more, making him completely turned on. His pace became faster, his climax not far from happening. Before he knew it, he felt the wonderful sensation of her contracting around him.

Not even five seconds after her climax, she felt Nick pulsating inside of her along with a loud moan that escaped from his mouth. She slowly lowered her leg down back onto the bed, allowing Nick to fully embrace her. "That was wonderful," she whispered. "I love you."

Nick smiled at her words. "I love you too. By the way, that was fantastic. I'm gonna have to watch those shows more often...with you."

She giggled. "Nicky, what are we?"

He stared into her eyes which showed nothing but love. "You're mine and I'm yours," he said simply.

"We haven't even dated," she exclaimed with joy.

"Yea we have. As I look back, our entire friendship's been a courtship. We just didn't realize it." He brushed his hand against her cheek. "I want you with me, Rhi. Let me take you away from here, from this isolated place. Let me give you the world and more. Be with me," he said sweetly.

Sara felt her head spinning, and then heard a familiar voice in the back of her head. ‘You can't go with him, you're too screwed up!'

Her conscience fought back. ‘I am too good enough. He loves me for me. He cares about me way too much to hurt me.'

‘Ha! Let's see how much he cares about you after he hears about the disgusting things you do to look like you do.'

Nick looked at her, confused by the desperation in her eyes. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

‘Now you've blown it,' a voice chuckled within her. ‘He's gonna wanna know what your problem is. You'll screw up like you do everything else.'

Sara began to quietly cry. Nick was really confused now. "What, did I say the wrong thing?"

Sara clung to him, not showing a sign of letting go. "Promise me you'll love me. Promise me you'll never leave."

"Sweetie, I'm not goin' anywhere. I just got back and found the most precious gift was here for me. I'm not leavin, no way no how. Tell me what's wrong." Nick managed to lift himself out of her embrace a little so he was able to look her in the eye. "Mom can see something's wrong. She's been worried about you for the past couple of months."

"There's nothing wrong." She tried to sound convincing, but the despair in her soul wanted to show too much. Her heart wanted her to tell her best friend about her problem.

"Sara, you're so tiny. I'm almost afraid I'm gonna break ya," he said with a slight chuckle. That's when she broke down. He had figured it out. Nick just held her, soothing her with his angelic voice. He sat against the headboard of the bed and cradled his girl in his arms. "How long have you been doing it?"

She had finally calmed down enough and wanted to talk about it. "For about a year," she whispered.

Nick could feel his own eyes watering. He gently grabbed her face with both hands so he had eye contact. "Oh my God, you've been doing this for a year? Ever since I left? You've been harming yourself for a year? Sara, why?"

She couldn't tell him the truth. She couldn't place this weight on him. She couldn't let him know that it was because she had lost her best friend. That's what it all started over, Nick leaving. As time progressed though, it was just to be skinny...and a way to punish her parents for never being there. "I'm really messed up, Nick. I'm so far gone," she sobbed. "And here you are, you just gave up something so precious to a complete psycho."

"Don't ever talk like that, Sara Rhiannon!" He hugged her tightly. "It's your damn fuckin' parents, isn't it?"

In a way, it was. "You know, I use to hope that I'd get caught," she confided. "I use to think that if maybe one of them noticed and would ask what was wrong then I'd be okay, because I'd know they cared." She looked through her tear-filled eyes at his horrified face. "But that never happened," she cried. "They never even noticed."

Nick was filled with a rush of emotions. "Why did you wait until I left? Why didn't you talk to me about this before?" A sudden jolt ran through his body as a thought entered his mind. "Rhi, why did you start this after I left?" he asked, almost answering his own question.

She stared blankly into his eyes, not having the heart to answer. She couldn't lie to him, so she said nothing at all. Finally, after she heard him begin to cry, she spoke. "I finally have my Nicky back." She sat up and placed her hands on his reddened cheeks. "All I wanna do is be with you. Be with you the way I've always wanted to be with you."

Nick sniffled and tried to hold back more tears. "Damn it, Rhi. Don't you realize that there was the possibility that you may have not been here for me to be with? It scares me to death to think about that after what we've shared. You've gotta stop it, for you and for me. Don't take away the only thing I've ever truly wanted, please!" he cried in agony. He knew deep down that his absence had been the cause of it all. It only made him feel worse, so he pushed it to the back of his mind, knowing that he couldn't take any of the past year back, knowing that he could only fix the future.

It was now Sara comforting him. "I'll stop," she said, convincing herself and him.

"You can't stay in this house. It's not healthy being by yourself. You're gonna stay with me," he said, smiling through all the tears.

She was secretly jumping up and down inside, but then began to think. "Uh Nick, isn't that up to your parents?"

"If they don't agree, then I'll get us a place."

"Nick, isn't this a bit sudden?" She was so worried about things possibly not working out.

"Sara, remember the day we met?" She nodded her head, smiling at the thought. "I was on one side of the teeter-totter and Billy Myers was on the other. Some of the other guys called a game of tag and Billy just jumped off, leaving me to go crashing down."

"Yea, I remember. You started crying because you got the wind knocked outta ya."

"Yea, and you came up to me and gave me a hug, you're little hand rubbing my back. You kept tellin' me everything would be okay." His whole body warmed at the childhood memory. He looked at Sara and placed his hand on her cheek. "You've unknowingly had my heart since that day. So, to answer your question, it's not too sudden. It's probably one of the longest romances within the history of our time," he laughed.

She couldn't help but laugh with him. This was the man she wanted to be with. She had known him for almost twenty years and loved him the entire time. He was right, this wasn't sudden. "Yes, I'll live with you," she said, barely able to hide the excitement.