Chapter 8

~*CHAPTER EIGHT*~ ---------------------------------------------------------- PART EIGHT: "It's so nice out, "I murmured, looking up at the stars. It was the night before our move and Nick and I lay on our backs in the soft grass of my backyard. I lay with my head on his chest and his arms were around me, both of us looking up at the stars. The night was crystal clear, with the stars sparkling overhead, and the moonlight providing a faint white glow. Nick and I had spent the whole day together, going to our favourite places and just having fun, attempting to forget what was to come. "So, did you have fun today?" Nick asked, kissing my cheek. "mm, you bet! I'll have my last Florida sunburn to remind me of today!" "I told you to wear sunscreen!" he laughed, "But don't talk about that. I just want to save this day, I don't want to think about tomorrow." "Me neither," I turned my head to kiss him. We sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, simply enjoying being there with each other, in each other's arms. Nick broke the silence, seeming to come out of his thoughts, kissing me on the forehead. "Maddie?" he asked, looking at me. "Yeah?" I whispered back, knowing he was about to say something important. "I know this is a little weird and all, but..I mean, I don't expect you to react to this..Think about it.." he trailed off. "Huh?" I gave him an encouraging look, urging him to go on. "I-I love you," he stammered. "Oh, Nicky..Me too!" I exclaimed, completely heartfelt, with true meaning injected into those three simple words, "I love YOU." Nick simply looked deep into my eyes and kissed me again, both of us feeling the strong emotion held within a simple kiss. "Stay here with me forever," he murmured, "We can live in the treehouse." "You don't know how much I'd love to..But I have to go. Shh, let's not talk about it," I replied, silencing him with yet another kiss. "Shorty?" he asked a few minutes later. "Yeah?" I replied. "Wanna camp in the treehouse tonight?" he grinned mischievously, a smile of childhood innocence. "There's no other way I'd rather spend my last night here," I returned his smile. "You sure? I mean, I understand if you want to sleep in your room one last time." he reassured me. "Nicky, the treehouse has SO many memories. I couldn't think of a better place to be for the last time." I answered. ---------------------------------------------------------- "Oh my god, remember that time in kindergarten when you had to be sent home for eating crayons?" I laughed "Yeah, well I seem to remember someone else that required a taste for white GLUE!!" he retorted. Us four older kids, Nichole, Nick, BJ, and I sat up in the treehouse laughing uncontrollably at our own retellings of memories we had shared over the years. "Geez, guys, think of all the time we've spent in here," BJ looked around in amazement. "Yeah, no kidding. This place is everything." Nichole agreed. "Think of all the sleepovers we've had up here..Telling ghost stories, games of truth or dare, playing house..Spin the bottle," I wiggled my eyebrows and sent everyone off into gales of laughter once again, tears streaming down our cheeks, in remembrance of a teenage rite of passage gone wrong. "Just think, Maddie..." Nick pulled me closer to him, "That was our first kiss, and look where it's landed us now..." I giggled, remembering the nervous apprehension I had felt, how neither of us had known where to place our hands, or exactly how to avoid getting your lips nipped in the other person's braces, among other things. Nick leaned over and kissed me, met with cries of "EEW, gross!" and "You mean I have to watch THIS?" from our sisters. "Sorry!" I grinned sheepishly. Nick turned an interesting shade of crimson. "Remember this?" Nick moved his sleeping bag over a little to reveal, carved in the floor, 'Nick and Maddie, best friends forever'. "Geez, I remember the day we carved that." I replied, sighing. "You guys were seven, it was the day Dad and Bob finished the treehouse," Nichole remembered. "It was the finishing touch!" I smiled at Nick, "Along with the sign we made!" At the front of the treehouse was a large sign proclaiming, 'Nick and Maddie's treehouse, do not enter!' "Well, you guys," BJ spoke up, "I'm about to fall asleep, so goodnight!" "Yeah, me too," Nichole agreed, rolling over and snuggling up in her sleeping bag. "Well..." Nick turned to me, "You tired?" "A little.." my voice trailed off. Neither one of us wanted to sleep that night because we knew what was to come. The inevitable separation the next morning. By staying awake we would just be prolonging things. Sleep would be giving in. "Come here," Nick reached towards me. I scooted over closer to him and we laid down on our sides on the floor of the treehouse. He pulled me close, my back nestled against his chest, and put his arms around me, holding my hand. I closed my eyes with him softly stroking my hair and whispering to me. As I drifted off to sleep a feeling of warmth and love had taken the place of my fears. ----------------------------------------------------------