Kayleigh walked briskly down the street. She had gone out and wandered around the city of Memphis for a while by herself so Nick would have a chance to cool off. It was nearly three hours later and the cold November night was getting to her and she decided to wander back to the hotel. She had considered Brian’s advice very carefully while she was out and decided that now was not the best time to tell Nick about the way she really felt. It wouldn’t do anything but add fuel to the fire right now. He was upset enough as it was and taking it out on her. She didn’t want to do anything that would make that worse.

She walked quickly into the hotel and headed straight towards the elevator. Pushing the button for the eighth floor, she began to get nervous about how Nick would treat her when she went to talk to him. Deciding not to let fear get the best of her, she marched determined towards his room and knocked on the door. A minute later, it opened, revealing a weary-eyed Nick.

“Hey,” she said quietly. “Can I come in?” Nick nodded and moved aside to let her in the room. Kayleigh went and sat on the bed. “I’m sorry, Nick,” she said after a minute. “I had no idea that this would happen. I know you must hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, Kayles,” he whispered. “I just can’t believe she’s gone. I wanted to spend my life with her. She was supposed to move in with me next month. What am I going to do without her?” He sat down on the bed next to her and rested his head on her shoulder. “Make it go away, Kayles. It hurts.”

Kayleigh began rubbing his back. “I know it does, honey. I know.” They sat there in a comfortable silence for a good half an hour, Nick’s head on Kayleigh’s shoulder while she rubbed his back.

“I missed you,” Nick finally whispered. “Things aren’t the way they used to be.” He picked his head up off of her shoulder and stared into her blue eyes. “You won’t ever leave me, will you?”

Kayleigh shook her head, her heart breaking at the look in his eyes. “Of course I wouldn’t, Nicky. Of course I wouldn’t.”

“Make it go away, Kayles,” he whispered, his face leaning in towards hers.

Kayleigh pushed him away and stood up. “Don’t Nick. This isn’t going to help anything.” She stood over and walked towards the balcony, staring out at the city below. She didn’t want this. Not like this, anyhow. She wanted him. His heart. But Nick wanted someone to make it feel better. He wasn’t ready to give his heart to her and she didn’t think that he ever would be.

Nick watched her as she stood and stared out the window. He couldn’t put his finger on it but something deep down inside of him, something he didn’t know or understand, made him ache to be with her at this very moment. He knew it wasn’t fair. Not to Kayleigh or to himself. But he couldn’t help it. The pain of losing Lauren was starting to consume him and he needed an escape. Someone to make it go away. And no matter how wrong it was, he was going to stop it. And Kayleigh was going to help him.

Nick slowly stood up and walked over behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her towards him. They both stood there for a moment, just looking out the window. Nick was intoxicated by the sweet smell of her hair. It was driving him insane. He slowly brought his face down to rest his chin on her shoulder, inhaling her scent. Slowly his lips found his way to the bare skin on her neck and he began laying feather-light kisses on her.

“Nick,” She whispered. “This isn’t right.”

“Shh,” he told her. “Just let go. I need you, Kayles. I need you to make it stop.” Kayleigh squeezed her eyes shut, on one hand wanting nothing more than to give in to Nick but on the other hand, knowing that all it would accomplish is a broken heart. Her inner conflict was interrupted by Nick slowly turning her around to face him.

“Make it go away, Kayles,” he whispered before pressing his lips to hers. Kayleigh strugged a bit at first but soon found herself getting lost in the fact that his tongue was slowly slipping into her mouth, massaging hers. She involuntarily moaned slightly against his mouth, causing Nick to more aggressively assault her tongue with his own. He began walking her slowly towards the bed until the back of her legs ran into it. Nick’s hands slid lightly down her arms until they reached her waist, where he grabbed onto the hem of her shirt. He broke apart from their kiss only so he could slip her shirt over her head. Kayleigh, feeling slightly self-conscious, began to fold her arms across her chest.

“Don’t do that,” Nick whispered. “You’re beautiful.” He moved his lips towards ear. “So beautiful,” he whispered before snaking his tongue out and sucking her earlobe into his mouth. Kayleigh shivered under his touch, thoughts of must how wrong this was quickly escaping her mind. She reached out and pulled his shirt over his head, running her hands down his smooth bare chest.

“Kayles,” he growled. “I need you.” He pressed his lips to hers in a fervor that she had never seen before but was eager to go along with. The rest of their clothes were quickly discarded before Nick pushed her gently back onto the bed and crawled on top of her. He stared into her eyes again, making sure this was what she really wanted before slowly entering her.

“You okay?” he whispered. Kayleigh bit her lip and nodded, slightly dizzy from the feeling of Nick inside of her. The two moved together slowly at first, taking time to relish in the feeling of being together. Nick kissed her everywhere. Her lips, her forehead, her neck, her breasts. Not one place was left untouched by his lips. The two picked up the pace as the dizzying feeling became stronger and stronger. Soon their moans were echoing throughout the room as a feeling of euphoria washed over both of them. Kayleigh came first, Nick’s name escaping her lips in a cry of ecstasy. Nick was soon to follow, emptying himself inside of her with his face buried in her neck. He collapsed on top of her as Kayleigh wiped his hair away from his sweaty forehead.

“God Kayles,” he breathed in her ear. “That was…That was…” He couldn’t even find the words to describe how that felt. It was amazing. Better than anyone he’d ever been with. After resting for a few minutes, Nick reached up and turned off the light next to the bed before pulling Kayleigh into his arms and falling asleep.

In the dark, Kayleigh bit her lip and tried to keep the tears from falling. Everything about the night was so perfect but yet so far from perfect at the same time. This wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted Nick to love her as much as she loved him. She couldn’t help but feel that Nick was picturing Lauren’s face as he made love to her and that hurt her beyond belief. She laid there in the dark for what seemed like hours, just staring at his sleeping form. Finally, she leaned over and placed a light kiss on his forehead. “Why can’t you see how much I love you?”

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