Part 3 

                                     7

                                      Seann

    They arrive at their building, and she pays the man before Nick can get out his wallet.  Nick climbs the stairs quickly and 

opens the door, and she rushes in behind him.  They walk over to the door and take the elevator up to their floor.  When the 

door opens he sighs and steps out ahead of her.  He goes into his room and leaves the door open behind him.

    He lays down on the black leather couch, his feet propped up on the armrest of the too-small for him sofa.  He puts his 

hands behind his head and looks at her standing in the doorway.  He smiles and laughs while he kicks his feet slightly.  She 

steps into the kitchen slowly, aware that he is smiling and gazing at her from across the room.  While she closes the door 

behind her she hears him singing softly and turns to see him turning on his stereo system, placing in a CD and turning up the 

volume just enough to be heard while they are talking.

    “Do you like Nirvana?”  He asks, not looking at her, while fiddling with the case of his CD.

    “I’ve never heard them.”  She answers honestly, still standing by the door.

    “What?”  He sounds shocked and looks over his shoulder at her.  “Where’ve you been, they’re the best.”  He walks over to 

the counter where he has three stools, and sits down lightly.  He looks at her.  “Are you hungry?”  He doesn’t wait until she 

answers.  “I’m starving.”

    When he starts to get up she finally speaks.  “Don’t move a muscle.  What do you want, I’ll make it.”  She walks over to the 

sink, which is opposite of where he’s sitting and begins to wash her hands.  He smiles when he sees the determined look on 

her face and realizes she’s not going to let him do anything.  She dries her hands on a dishtowel next to her on the counter 

and looks up at him.  “Well?”

    He laughs.  “I think there’s some turkey in the fridge, just slap that on some bread.  Thanks.”

    “Look, Nick.  I’m doing you a favor by helping you out.  If you could just do me a favor and tell me what exactly you want, I’d 

appreciate it.”  She smiles.

    He laughs hysterically.  “No that’s it.”

    She raises one eyebrow and gives him a disbelieving look.

    When he sees this he ceases laughing and says.  “Alright you win.”  Before telling her what he wants.

    She goes to the fridge and gathers the ingredients but she has him tell her where everything else is.  He watches her with 

an amused look on his face as she searches for things, before giving up and asking him.  She gets him a glass of coke to 

drink, and goes over to the stool next to him, and sits down.  He is eating the sandwich hungrily, and takes the glass from her 

with a “thank you” that can barely be understood because his mouth is full of food.  She laughs slightly and he glances at her.

    “Don’t you want anything?  Help yourself.”  She shakes her head, and he shrugs his shoulders.  “Well when you want 

anything just go ahead.”  He looks at her and smiles.  “This is good.”

    She gives him a nod and looks around the beautiful contemporary kitchen.  The whole room is black and white, with a few 

red and blue accents.  All of the trim is a shiny silver metal, and gives an added tough of class to the décor.  She looks back at 

Nick, who has finished his lunch and is staring at her.  He smiles subtly, and then stands up.  He nods his head to the music 

and walks to the sink, placing his dish in very carefully.  He begins to make exaggerated guitar sounds, while bopping his head.

    Trinity laughs wholeheartedly.  “You’d never know you’d been stabbed by a psychopath.”

    He chuckles.  “Yea well it wasn’t that bad.”

    Her eyes nearly pop out of her head and he looks amused.  “Not that bad?  You scared the crap out of me.”

    He looks at her blankly for a moment, before strutting over beside her and puffing out his chest.  He is so sexy.  “So, you’re 

saying you were worried about me?”  He leans over on the countertop awkwardly and she laughs at how he is trying to be 

funny and yet is still so darn hot.  He rests his chin on his shoulder and pouts, as if demanding an answer.

    She sighs.  “Yea, I was worried.”  He looks happy, like a puppy who’s just heard his master say “walk”.  She giggles.

    “What’s so funny?”  He demands.

    “You!”  She says to him.  She jumps off the stool and runs my hand through his hair, messing it up.

    “Hey!”  He yells and attempts to grab her side.

    She jumps away, and runs when he follows.  He is running after her around his apartment.  They are both cracking up 

because of how ridiculous it all is, but continue to dodge each other.  Suddenly he cries out in pain and sits down on his bed, 

holding his side.  She runs over to him and sits beside him, her eyes full of terror.  He laughs and tickles her side, and she is 

too afraid of hurting him to fight back.

    “You win!”  She shouts, through peals of laughter.

    He lets her sit up and smiles at her happily.  “I got you…I got you good.”  She looks at him and pouts.  “Oh no you can’t 

pout.  Don’t do it!”  He warns her teasingly, but she continues and his eyes soften.  “Stop….stop…aw man…you can’t do 

that…that’s cheating…”  his voice trails off.

    His eyes look into hers, and the pout melts off my face.  Her breath catches, she can’t stand it any longer.  She really is 

falling for Nick.  Her conscience however, is telling her they need to be friends first.

    “Trin…”

    “Nick…”  They both say at the same time, and laugh nervously.  “You go first.”  She says, and then nods to assure him it 

was fine by her if he talked first.

    “Ok, um geez, I don’t know where to start…”  He pauses for a few moments before glancing up at her and laughing 

uneasily.  “Ok, here goes.  Trin, I need to know if you feel the same for me as I feel for you.”  He looks relieved to get it out.

    She throws back her head in laughter.  He looks confused.  “That’s what I was going to tell you!”  He smiles, but she can 

see that he is stressing about her answer.  Now that she has to answer, however, she cannot think of the words to say it.  She 

has no clue how deep his feelings are, all she knows is she really does like Nick, more than she should all things considered.

    “I’m not sure yet.”  He looks surprised; he thought he had this in the bag.  “I think we should be friends for a while first, just 

so we can get to know each other better."

    Nick hides his disappointment.  “It’s Seann isn’t it?”

    “No!  I mean…I don’t know.”  He sighs and stands up off the bed and walks frustrated into the kitchen.  “Nick wait!  The 

night you told me all those things, do you remember that night?”  She asks when he does not respond.

    “How the hell could I forget?  I spilled my guts to you Trinity!  Damn it.”  He takes a deep breath.  “Ok, what about that 

night?”

    She fights the instinct to leave.  “When Seann and me went to the Empire State Building, we nearly kissed.  I thought we 

were going to get together right then.  I came inside though, and there you were.”

    His face softens just a little bit when he realizes what he did.  “Trinity I…”

    “No, let me finish!”  She swallows.  “I was nervous because I was really attracted to you, and still am and I didn’t know what 

to do.  Seann is my best friend, I knew that if I admitted that I felt the same way it would’ve hurt him especially since he’s been 

chasing after me for eight months and I’ve only known you for a few days.  But then you told me every thing I’ve ever wanted to 

hear.  It confused me.  Five minutes before I was set on Seann, then you came along and I totally forgot about him.  I’m sorry I 

should’ve told you sooner, I guess I should go.”  She takes a step towards the door before he speaks.

    “Trin, Trinity this is my fault.”  She looks confused.  “I knew he was interested in you and I knew you guys could be great 

together, but I wanted you for myself.  I should never have tried to get between you to.  Its just that, I’m crazy about you.”

    “That’s the thing though Nick.  He is too, and I’m stuck in the middle.”

    “I’m sorry.”

    “I have to go.”

    “Trinity, you do realize that I’m not going to give up.”

    She nods.  “I do, but neither is he.”  She walks out the door.

    Nick nearly strangles himself.  He knew there was something between them; he just wishes he had known before he broke 

up with Lane.  Shit he’s dumped Lane for this; but then he remembers why.  He pauses for a minute before running out into 

the hall after her.

    “Trinity, wait, please wait.”  She turns around and he sees the tears streaming down her face.  “What?  Oh my gosh I’m so 

sorry.  Don’t cry.  Trinity please, what’s wrong?”

    “It’s just that I don’t know what to do.  I really do like you but I don’t want to hurt Seann because he’s my best friend and I 

don’t want to loose him.”

    “Trinity be reasonable, Seann is not going to want you to go out with any guy, ever.”  She looks surprised but slowly nods in 

agreement.  “Now we can get to know each other better if that’s what you want, but I am not giving up.”

    “But what do I do about Seann, that’s what’s annoying.”

    “Maybe you should sit down and talk to him about it.  Maybe what happened even was just a coincidence.”  He sees the 

doubtful look on her face.  “Yeah, I know that’s not it, I’m just throwing stuff out.”  He laughs and is pleased she at least giggles.

    “I guess you’re right I need to talk to him.  What’s today?”

    “Saturday.”

    “Ok he’s home.  So I’ll call Seann, invite him over and talk to him.  And then call you and tell you how it goes.  But I still want 

us to be friends first.”

    “Sure.”  He smiles at her, although he is a little angry she still insists they be friends.  At least she’s going to talk to Seann.  

That’ll help.  Even if things go bad, Nick thinks he can be there to comfort him.  “Ok so I’ll see you later, call me if you need 

anything.”

    “Thanks for understanding.”  She gives him a small hug, not wanting him to think he already has her wrapped around his 

finger.

    Nick’s anger melts away.  “No problem, now go before I change my mind.”

    She laughs.  “Bye.”

    “Good luck.”  He calls as she goes into her apartment room.  He goes into his own and sits down by the phone, stressing 

about what she will say when she calls.

~~~

    Back in her room, Trinity sighs deeply before picking up the phone and dialing Seann’s number.  She gets his 

machine.  “Hey Seann we’ve got to talk.  Please call me ASAP…”

    He picks up.  “What’s up?”

    “Um…hi.  Can you some over here?  I need to talk to you about, uh, something.”

    He senses her uneasiness.  “I’ll be right over.  Are you ok?”

    “I don’t know.”  She answers truthfully.

    “I’m coming.”  He says quickly and hangs up before saying goodbye.

    Five minutes later he knocks on her door.  She opens it and invites him in.  He steps in casually, but she can tell he’s almost 

as nervous as she is.  She pours herself a glass of water and they sit down on the sofa, both feeling tense.  She finally works up 

her courage to tell him what she needs to.

    “Well, I basically just wanted to ask you what happened last night.”

    “Nothing.  We went out and had fun.  Was something supposed to happen?”

    “No, just checking.”  She decides that if he is going to deny it, she would pretend nothing happened also.  She takes a gulp 

of her water, finding it chilly and refreshing.  “Second, I was wondering if it would be ok with you if I dated Nick.”

    He gulps.  “You don’t need my permission.”

    “I know Nick but it seemed like you hated him the minute you met him so I just wanted to be sure you didn’t think there was 

anything really wrong with him.  Sometimes guys see stuff in other guys that girls don’t see.”

    He hesitates.  “I-I…no.”

    ‘He chickened’ Trinity thinks.  She speaks a little more arrestingly now.  “Ok well, anything else you want to say?”  She sips 

her water.

    “Nope.  Well, are you guys going out now?”

    “No, I told him I wanted us to be friends a little bit first.”

    She sees him wince slightly.  “Ok, well I guess I should go, I’ve got to study.”  He says before standing.

    “Thanks Seann.”  She hugs him just as she hugged Nick good-bye.

    “See you Monday.”

    “You bet.”

    She closes the door behind him and automatically thinks about what just happened.  It was a waste of time because she 

gave him every opportunity to admit he liked her.  Unless she imagined everything because of what the girls at work said, that 

would explain everything.  This makes her very angry and confused at once.  She needed to find out somehow, but she knew he 

would never tell her.  Then she has an absolutely brilliant thought.  Alex will tell her everything.  She calls him up.

    “Yeah.”

    “Alex hey its Trinity.”

    “Hey babes what’s up?”

    “Well I was just calling to see how you're doing.”

    “What do you want?”

    “You know me too well.”

    “Yeah, yeah, yeah cut to the chase.”

    I try to say it as nice as possible.  “I was just wondering, does um Seann have a thing for me?”

    He sighs.  “Why are you asking me?  You know I can’t tell you anything.”

    “Please Alex.”  I whine.

    “No, I can’t tell you!  Any other secret yeah sure, but not this.  This is different.  I can’t tell you this.  I’m sorry Trin, but the 

only way you’re going to find out is through him.”

    In one final attempt Trinity describes her situation to Alex, hoping he will change his mind.  “So please Alex, you’ll be doing 

me a big favor.”

    “Look, I’m really sorry Trin, but I just cannot help you.”

    “Oh, it’s ok.  Its just that he won’t admit it.”

    “I think you’re doing it right.  If he’s going to pretend, or so you think because I’m not telling you, then do what you want.  

It’ll be his fault and he can’t blame you for not having the guts to admit it when he had the chance.”

    Trinity exhales.  “Well thanks Alex, you’re a big help as always.  Even if you can’t tell me, thanks for the good advise you 

gave me.”

    “Anytime sweetness.”

    She laughs.  “Bye Alex.”

    “See ya.”

    He’s such a flirt.  Trinity laughs as she hangs up.  Of course the one thing she wants to know Alex won’t tell her, but he has 

no problem telling her everything that she doesn’t want to know.  Trinity is supposed to call Nick, so she calls and tells him 

what happened.  She decides to take a shower so tells him she’ll call him later.  She puts the phone back on the charger and 

goes into her bathroom.  She lets the water get hot before stepping in and wondering what Nick is doing at that same 

moment.

                                                                           8

                                    Intentions                

    Nick doesn’t know whether to be happy or not.  He needs to get out, get some fresh air.  He grabs his coat and walks out 

the door, only to see Trinity coming down the hall, also in a coat.  They fall into step next to each other silently.  They have 

stepped out of the building by the time they first talk.

    “So, where are you going?”  Trinity asks him, hoping he will invite her to go.

    “Want to come with me?”  Trinity laughs at his forwardness.  “I’m going to get something to eat, come with me.”

    “Alright.”

    He takes her hand as they cross the street, dropping it only when they are safely across.  She smiles at how protective 

he is.  “Where do you want to go?”

    “I don’t know, surprise me.”

    He looks over at her and smiles.  “I’ve got just the place.”

    They talk for a while, Trinity not really paying attention to where they’re going, but following Nick when he says they need to 

turn.  She loves just walking and talking with him, he makes her feel like she’s a little princess and there’s no one in the world 

that can make her mean less to him.  She smiles the whole way, laughing at his jokes and his response to hers.  It’s cool to 

just chill with him.  He stops in front of a small, walk-in restaurant that has a simple sandwich bar in it, and a few tables 

sprinkled here and there.

    “Here we go.  Best place I know.”  Trinity laughs as he opens the door for her and follows her inside.  “Hey, Nick.  Long 

time no see?  The usual?”

    “Yeah.  How’ve you been Marty?”

    “Good, good.”

    “How are the kids?”

    “They’re rebelling.”

    Trinity clears her throat.  “Oh, sorry.  Marty this is Trinity.”

    Marty wipes his hand off on his apron and shakes her hand.  They exchange friendly hellos and Marty begins to tell Trinity 

what the “usual” is.  She orders it and they get it to go, Nick sensing that Trinity is growing tired fast.  They were significantly 

quieter on the way home.  Nick can see her squeeze her eyes shut every once in a while.  He doesn’t ask her about it because 

he doesn’t want to make her feel like he is watching her, really he is but she never sees.  They get back to the apartment well 

after dark. 

    They eat in his apartment, talking quietly about their lives and getting to know one another better.  She seems to be able 

to fight her sleepiness off now, but she is not as hyper as she normally is.  She leaves shortly after she finishes eating, eager 

to go to sleep.  Nick stays up after she leaves to watch some late night sitcoms to whittle away the hours before he would see 

her again.  He can’t sleep.  Half an hour after she leaves someone knocks on his door.  Perplexed at who it could be at 10:30, 

he switches off the TV and walks to the door.  He looks through the eyehole and frowns.  He opens it up and looks at the 

rather large police officer, and the several others down the hall.  He hears a crying and steps out, seeing Trinity, holding and 

ice pack to her forehead and whimpering as she says something softly to another officer.

    “Sir, this woman says she is a friend of yours, she needs to stay somewhere tonight while we check her apartment for any 

leads, can she stay here.”  He says a forceful yes, pissed off that she was right down the hall and he couldn’t hear anything 

going on. 

    She sees him staring at her and walks over to him.  He wraps his arms around her as she starts to cry.  “He was waiting for 

me.”

    He takes her inside after asking if Trinity could leave and sits her down on his bed.  “You can sleep in here, let me see your 

forehead.”

    She slowly takes the ice pack off and bites her lip.  “Is it bad?”

    He tries not to wince.  Its cut, bruised and swelling.  “We need to clean it, did they do that?”

    “No.”

    He goes into his bathroom and brings out hydrogen peroxide and a large square gauze bandage.  He kneels in front of her 

and gently dabs some cotton balls soaked with peroxide on the gash.  A few tears stream down her face, but she doesn’t 

make a sound.  He blows on it gently, because it helped stop the peroxide’s stinging.  He sits back down on his heels and gets 

the bandage ready before gently putting it on over her abrasion.  He tells her to hold the ice on it still so it doesn’t swell too 

much, and she listens and follows his instructions.  Partly because she knows its true and partly because he looks like he feels 

guilty.  He stands and turns to go put everything away.

    “Nick.”  He stops and looks over his shoulder.  “Thank you.”

    He smiles slightly and turns again, and puts everything away only to find her answering the door when he comes back 

out.  Someone hands her some things and she smiles at them warmly and heads back toward the bedroom.  “They brought 

me some things, they’re very nice.”

    Nick is stricken by how strong she is inside.  She can’t be stopped for anything.  “How are you?”  He asks earnestly, hoping 

she will give him a strait answer.

    “I’m doing ok, a little shaken up.”  She nods her head.  “Got a headache, do you have any aspirin that I could have?”

    “Sure.”

    He smiles and gets the bottle out of the medicine cabinet in his bathroom.  He hands it to her and she pours one out and 

into her open hand.  She swallows it without water, making a face as if she gags on it slightly as it goes down her throat.  

Trinity coughs briefly before laughing a little at her impatience to take the medication.  He laughs slightly, more a breathy 

laugh than anything else and asks her if she wants any water.  She giggles slightly, her face red with embarrassment and 

shakes her head no.

    “Well, um, I guess you’re in here tonight.”

    “Where would you sleep?”

    “Couch is fine.”

    “No way, I’ll take the couch, you sleep in your own bed.”

    “Hey, this is my house.”

    “Yeah but you shouldn’t even have to let me stay. I mean, I can call Sarah or Lisa if you’re going to be uncomfortable.”

    He huffs.  “You’re going to be difficult I see.”

    “Hell yeah.”

    “Look, you’re sleeping in here, end of discussion.”  He says flatly, not wanting to piss her off but a little bit piqued about her 

insistence of sleeping on the couch.

    “Ok, I just don’t want to be a burden.”

    “You’re not.”  He smiles sweetly to reassure her.

    “Its just that you already saved me twice, now I feel like every time I get in trouble it’s always on you to bail me out.”

    “No way.  I was there at the right time, that’s all.  Besides, I love having you around so its not like you’re annoying me or 

anything.”

    “Well I mean, and last night you took a knife for me, that’s more than I could’ve ever asked, or imagined anyone would 

do.  The whole time you were telling me to run for it, like you didn’t care about yourself.”

    “All I could think about was making sure you were ok.”  He puts one hand on her cheek.  “I’m glad I was there because 

otherwise you might no be here.”  He feels her shiver at the mention of what might’ve happened.  “Don’t worry about being a 

pain, you could never bug me, ok?  I wouldn’t have taken this if you annoyed the hell out of me.”  He points to his stitches.

    She laughs.  “You should write for Hallmark.”

   He laughs sarcastically and leaves her giggling.  She climbs into bed once she's changed out of her clothes.  It is like

Heaven, she is surrounded by his smell.  He smells like a good strong cologne.  She sleeps like a baby.  In the morning they sit

the couch together and watch cartoons.  At noon she decides to change into her clothes and finds him singing in the kitchen a

capella when she emerges from the bedroom.  He's very good actually.  She listens until he turns around and catches her

listening.

   He turns bright red.  "Oh my God."

   Trinity laughs.  "You're really good."

   "Oh my God, I can't believe you heard me."

   "What it's good, you should be proud."

   "How long were you there?"

   "A few minutes."

   He raises his eyebrows.  "I see."

   "Is no one supposed to hear that?  I wont tell anyone."

   He laughs.  "No I just aren't used to having people in my apartment, so when I turned around, I don't know.  I thought I was

dreaming because you were right there smiling at me."

    She gazes into his bright blue eyes, and finds herself unable to speak.  He leans closer to her and his lips part as if he

knows her thoughts.  She leans towards him and feels her nervous anticipation building.  His eyes close slowly, but she keeps

her eyes open and on his face until their lips meet.  At first, their kisses are soft and tender.  He wraps his arms around her

waist and she puts one hand on the back of his neck, and the other on his back, rubbing it ever so gently.

    He pulls her closer, and she smells his cologne very strongly now.  Everything seems so perfect.  Her fears melt away and

she feels safe and at home in his arms.  Their kisses become more passionate.  He holds her stronger.  There is a hunger in

his touch that Trinity's never experienced before.  He seems to be in the very fiber of her being, every part of here wanting

nothing but him.

    He stops to look at her face, his eyes looking so seductive and sexy, they have turned a deep blue now.  He smiles and

then kisses the tip of her nose.  It’s amazing how he can be cute and funny and sexy all at the same time.  She rests her head

on his shoulder, and he in turn places his on hers, they linger in the embrace for a few minutes.

    Nick fells so comfortable in her arms.  Everything about the moment feels so right.  His kisses to her were long (or so it

seemed to him) awaited, but he thinks it was worth the wait.  He still wants to hear her say that she fells the same for him, but

for the time being, just having her hold him is enough.  The phone rings and Nick lets the machine get it, but they hear its

Brian.

    “Hey Nick, where’ve you been, I tried to call you all last night.  Listen, hit me back, this is the weekend they’re renovating

the building, and you promised I could crash at your place.  I’d stay at Jessica’s but she isn’t that kinda girl, no I’m just

kidding.  Speaking of girls, you with Trinity or something?  Is that where you were last night?  Good job boy.  Hey, look I know

you like the girl, but I still need a place to stay, so just have her get off you and call me back soon, I need to go there

tonight.”

    Nick laughs.  “What a jerk.”  Trinity just sighs.  “I should probably call him back, the perv.”  He loosens his embrace and

she lifts her head.  They stand and walk to the kitchen, him walking in front of her, and holding her hand gently behind his

back.

    He drops her hand and she stands against the counter, looking at his back as he dials.  He has a strong back that’s firm, as

she recalls.  His baggy khakis look superb, and his butt is to die for.  “How’d you ever get this great guy Trin?”  She thinks to

herself.

    Nick turns and faces her while the line rings.  He smiles sweetly, a hint of passion still lingering in his eyes.  “Hey perv…yea

got your message, Trin really liked hearing it.”  At this he smiles at her.  “Yea you dumb ass…no you can…I’m sure she’d

love to hear it from you…no I won’t…yea…anytime Bri.”

    He hangs up.  “Well, it looks like Brian is spending the weekend here.”  He shakes his head in what seems to be

disappointed.

    “The more the merrier.  This should be funny."

   She laughs as he smiles rather giddily.  He walks over to her, and again wraps his arms around her waist, this time she

wraps both of hers around his neck.  “Oh, I’m glad to hear you're happy about staying here.”  He smiles and raises his

eyebrows acerbically.

    “Besides,”  She says snickering.  “I can’t stay in my room until the police are done.”

    He looks up at the ceiling in an attempt to look sad.  “You’re breaking my heart.”  He says with a sarcastic whine in his

voice.

    She grabs his cheeks with both her hands and stands on her tiptoes.  “Let’s see what we can do to fix that.”  She says and

kisses him fervently.

    She hears his breath catch, and he stops to pick her up in his arms like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold.  He

carries her over to the couch, and places her down sitting upright.  He kneels in front of Trin and takes her hands in his,

amorously caressing her palms.  He looks at her face, scanning it briefly.

    “I have never felt so strongly about anyone in my life.”  He says quickly.  “I just met you and yet you’ve consumed my every

thought since the minute I saw your face and heard your voice.  I feel like you’re inside me, like a part of me is you.  I don’t

know what will happen between us in the future, but I want to spend every minute I can with you.  I just want to know that you

want and feel ready for a serious relationship.  The last thing I want is to force you into something, but I just want to know

right off the bat.”

    “Nick.”  She kisses his fingertips.  “I want you to be in my life.  I admit I am a little scared that if this doesn’t work out I

won’t be able to deal, but I can’t deny that I’m crazy about you.”

    His eyes soften, before he raises himself up and kisses her cheek soothingly and sits on the couch next to her, embracing

her silently.

    “I’m so tired.”  She says.

    “Then sleep, I’ll stay with you.”  He kisses her hair lightly.

    Caught up in his cuddle, with the events of the past days playing through her mind, she falls slowly to sleep.  His chest is

comfortable and warm, and his hand is massaging her back fondly.   Nick stays with her while she sleeps except for a brief

time when he goes to get his journal.  He feels he needs to write in it now before the moment doesn’t feel so special.  He

comes back and stares at her for an hour, thinking of how amazingly lucky he is to finally find a girl as great as Trinity.  He still

has not been able to explain his immediate obsession with her.  He begins to believe it was because of fate that they met.  He

also has begun to believe in love at first sight…he believes this very strongly now.

    She awakes lying down with her head on his lap.  His hand strokes her hair lovingly.  When he sees her eyes open, he

smiles. 

    “Hey you.”  She says to him.

    “Did you sleep good?”

    “Perfect.”

    He seems glad to hear her say that.

    “What time is it?”  She asks, groggily.

    “Six fifteen.  Brian should be here any minute.”  There comes a knock on the door.  “Who’s the man?”  He says as he stands

up and rests her head down on a squishy pillow.

    “You are.”  She calls to him and hears him laugh.

    “Who is it?”  He calls as he reaches for the latch of the door.

    A muffled voice shouts.  “It’s Brian, dude open up!”

Trinity rises and walks over to the table in the kitchen, running her fingers through her hair, and sits down on one of the light

oak chairs.  Nick opens the door and Brian comes in, arms full of suitcases.  He goes over to the couch and plops them down

on it, not even noticing Trinity’s presence until he sees her at the table.

    “Hey.”  He sounds embarrassed.

    “Hi.”  She says politely.

    Nick laughs.  “You two.”

    “What?”  Brian looks at Trin and then to Nick.

    “This is going to be an interesting weekend.”  Nick says as he walks into his bedroom.

    Brian looks at her confused.

    “We’re both staying here this weekend.”  She explains.

    His eyes pop out with realization.  “Oh, well hey then I guess I’d better apologize for that message.  I really didn’t mean

anything by it.”

    “Don’t worry about it.”  He smiles at this.

    He walks over to the table and pulls out the chair beside her.  Brian leans closer and whispers.  “So are you two, you know,

an item?”

    She giggles softly.  “Yea.”

    He gives me a thumbs up.  “Cool.”

    Brian is a cool person, he just acts a little too much like a guy.  He sits back up and calls to Nick.  “Dude what are we doing

tonight?”

    “I can’t do anything man.”

    “What are you talking about?”  Brian looks pissed and then looks at Trinity and laughs.  “Wait, never mind.  I gotcha.”

    Nick’s head comes into view of the doorway.  “No, I don’t think you do.”

    Nick and Trin laugh at Brian, who is now totally confused.  “We’ll tell you about it later.”  She says and pats his arm, much to

Nick’s amusement.  He goes back into his room, and they can hear him opening and closing drawers.

    “Man, I’m beat.  I stayed up all night watching Sports Center.”  Brian says, changing the subject.  “Dude where do I sleep?”

    Silence comes from Nick’s room.  “Uh…I don’t know.”  He comes out of his room, in new clothes.  He is wearing baggy jeans

and a black and red basketball jersey.  He looks good.  “I only have one bed and the couch.”

    “Well I’m not sleeping with you.”  Brian says and holds up his hands, a hint of amusement in his voice.  “Trin here can.”  He

points to her.

    She blushes crimson red.  “I don’t know…”  Nick starts.

    “What’s not to know?  It’s not like any thing’s gonna happen, you’re just gonna sleep anyways, at least when I’m here.”  He

laughs but quickly shuts up when he sees the ‘I’m not amused’ faces Nick and Trin are wearing.  “Sorry.”  He says quietly. Nick

sighs.

    “Well I guess it’d be ok…”  Trinity starts.

    “Not if you’re going to feel uncomfortable.”  He looks serious.

    “Well, it’s just for a few days anyway.”  She shrugs, but she does feel a little uneasy, her parents would kill her.  ‘Hey, I’m an

adult, right?  Besides, it’s not like anything will happen’ she says to reassure herself.

    “I guess so then,  Bri you’re on the couch.”

    Brian goes over to his suitcase and begins to open one of them when Nick goes over to Trinity.  “Are you sure?  I don’t mind

sleeping on the floor.”

    “Nick, it’s ok.”

    “Well I’m sorry if this makes you feel uncomfortable.”  He says and then sits on a chair, pulling it close to her own.  “I know it

does, so just tell me if you change your mind.”  He puts his arm around her shoulders.

    He rests his forehead against Trinity’s and they linger in this silent hug until Brian announces that he is going to order a

pizza.  He calls the pizza place and places the order, volunteering to pick it up.  He steps out of the apartment quickly, and

closes the door behind him softly.  Nick goes over to the recliner on the opposite side of the room, and turns on the big screen

TV.  He begins to watch a college basketball game.

    Trinity stands and looks at him briefly.  “I’m going to take a shower.”  She gathers up her bag of clothes and cosmetics.

    His eyes light up.  “Need some help?”  He looks at her with a sarcastic look on his face.

    “I think I can take care of myself.”  She announces and closes the door of his bedroom behind her and hears him laugh.

    Nick watches her as she closes the door he misses her already.  He is excited to have her spend the weekend with him.  Nick

really hopes that she can be friends with Brian, despite his perverseness.  He looks back at the TV but is not interested.  He

stares at the TV but never really pays attention.  His eyes feel heavy and he falls asleep thinking of kisses and hugs with Trinity.

      9

The Journal

    Trinity steps into the spacious bathroom, that is also black and white but has green accents.  She twists the hot water knob

until the water is warm.  She showers quickly, longing for Nick’s warm embrace.  She dresses and does her make up quickly and

she can hear the screaming of fans on TV.  She steps out of the bathroom and throws her bag onto Nick’s bed, strangely feeling

comfortable enough in his apartment to do that.  Then she looks at his dresser and sees that one of the drawers is open.  She

decides to see what’s inside.

    She opens it without making a sound, and finds a leather bound book on top of some other miscellaneous items.  On the

front cover of the book it says “Nickolas Gene Carter”.  She realizes that it must be his journal.  There is a bookmark jutting out

of the top, so she turns to the page.  The date reads May 19, 2001, today’s date.  She reads the neat handwritten page.

        Dear Journal,

    Wednesday I met the most amazing person.  Well met isn’t exactly the word.  More saved.  It’s rather awkward to think that I

may have found the love of my life while stopping a drunk man from raping her.  It seems out of a surreal dream that we

should’ve met like this, yet strangely  I feel it may be our destiny.  I have yet to discover just how deeply my feelings for her are,

but I cannot stop thinking about her.  Her name is Trinity Green.  I spent the night thinking of her face, the soft curvature of her

cheek the deep green of her amazing eyes.  Her hair is soft and deep brown with red streaks, she smells of vanilla.

      I cannot contemplate how I have any hope of having a relationship with her, but I feel she is a part of me that I truly need

to have.  I shudder to think of what would happen to me if I never see her again.  I really think that this girl may be the one for

me, yet I truly am terrified that the feeling may not be mutual.  I broke up with Lane because never once in our relationship has

she made me feel even close as happy as my brief moments with Trin have been.  God, please let her be right for me, and

please let her feel this way too.  I need her and I feel I must be with her.  I hope she doesn’t take my admitted feelings as

creepy.  She didn’t seem to, but a part of me has a bad feeling about what tomorrow may bring.  I have no hope for the future

if she cannot return the feelings I have expressed to her.  I do not care how long it takes, but I need to hear those words from

her.  If I could just know what she felt, I would feel better, whether or not it was what I wanted to hear.  Please let her feel this

for me too.  I would give anything, or do anything just to know.

                                                                                                                God help me get through this,

                                                                                                                                                Nickolas Carter

    Trinity can hardly breathe.  How many times have she thought that he is a part of her, as he has?  Nick is absolutely

infatuated with her, and she feels afraid that she won’t be able to return the intense adoration he has, but she wants to.  She

replaces the book in his drawer and exits his room, immediately looking at him, still sitting on the lazy boy, but now sleeping. 

She walks over quietly and turns off the TV set.  He looks so angelic while he is sleeping.  The dim lights cast a shadow over

half of his face, but he looks so peaceful.

    She stares at him and realizes that she really does have strong feelings for him.  Stronger than she thought earlier.  Maybe

it is because of what she just learned about how he feels for, but she thinks that she is in love with him.  She studies his body,

the socks halfway off of his feet, the way his jeans sag just so.  Then his strong arms crossed over his chest, and his broad ever

so strong shoulders.  Lastly, she studies his face.  His cheek still hosts the gargantuan bruise, yet the color has faded

somewhat.  His lips are somewhat parted and she can hear his soft, rhythmic breathing.  The cut on his lower lip is almost

totally healed, and his lips have turned a healthy soft pink.  His ears are a little big but they fit his body perfectly.

    She begins to weep, not the violent scared for her life tears but the scared of loosing him now that she’s found him tears.  As

a tear rolls down her cheek, Nick shifts his position so he is facing her, and groans.  His eyes open and he looks at her lovingly.

    He sees the tears streaming down Trinity’s cheeks.  “What’s wrong?  What happened?”  He sits up hastily and clutches her

face in his hands.

    She smiles and kisses his forehead.  “Nothing’s wrong…I just…I love you.”

    His face softens and he touches his forehead against hers.  His hands move slowly off her face and rests on her shoulders. 

“I love you too.”  He holds her in the embrace he feels so comfortable in.  Never has he felt so happy, she loves him and he has

never been so in love with anyone before.  He is afraid of loosing her, but he pushes away the feeling and concentrates on her.

    Brian bursts through the door, pizza in hand.  “Hey!  Sorry for interrupting, but the food is here!”

    Brian struts toward the table, throwing the pizza across it and Nick breaks their embrace.  “I’m starving.”

    They all sit down at the table and eat, while Nick recalls the fearful events of the past two days.  Trinity gets so caught up in

the sound of his voice that she no longer listens to the words he is saying, and instead, she is contented to gaze at him from

across the table.  Brian listens, enthralled and occasionally looks at her out of the corner of his eyes, smiling lightly at the way

she stares at Nick.

    She decides to go to sleep early, and says goodnight to the boys.  Nick shows her where to get one of his tee shirts and he

closes the door of the bedroom so that she can have some privacy.  She washes her face and brushes her teeth before

climbing into his king sized bed.  The bed is pillow topped and very comfortable, the pillows are feather and incredibly

heavenly.  The sheets are warm and cotton, and everything smells like Nick.  Heaven on Earth

    Trinity can hear the sounds of Brian and Nick’s voices talking rather calmly about something.  She can only understand bits

and pieces.  She hears Nick.  “…Really do…perfect for me…want to…love her…much.”

    Brian then responds, rather maturely.  “I understand…you do…always love…girl…obvious to me…”

    She drifts into a peaceful sleep, and does not hear the door to the bedroom open and close.  Nor does she hear Nick

singing softly.

    She awakens when it is still dark.  ‘Why did I wake up?’  She wonders, until she hears Nick quietly sobbing.  She turns around

to face him, and sees that he is crying in his sleep.  She is petrified, why would he be doing that?  She turns on the bedside

lamp and shakes Nick awake.  He looks tired and depressed.

    “What’s wrong?”  She asks him, and puts a hand on the side his head, right above his ear.

    “Bad dream.”  He answers quickly.

    “Tell me about it.”  She props her head up with her free hand.

    Nick summons up the courage to tell her his story.  “Well I never told you this before, but when I was eight, my father

abandoned me and my mom.  Things were pretty bad at home, my mom never wanted a job but she still spent most of her

money on booze.  I remember one time I came home and found her drunk and swearing.”  His eyes water up and Trinity’s lip

quavers in realization.  “We had a fight, a bad one.  She threatened me, and then she stumbled out of the hose, and nearly got

ran over by a car.  The courts wanted to take me away from my mom, but her lawyers got the court to agree to let her off on

parole.

    “I wish they would’ve thrown her in jail because things got worse.  My mom drank more and blamed me and my father for

her problems.  When I was 16 I got special permission to live on my own.  When my mother found out, she screamed and yelled

was because she and even hit me a couple of times.  Mainly this was because she had no job and I paid for everything.  I

packed up what little I had and moved here.  But every once in a while I still get there awful dreams about when I lived with

her.”  The tears are streaming down his face, but he does not bawl but instead brushes them away.

    She gathers him in her arms and finds he is shirtless, but pays no attention to that.  She never would’ve guessed in a million

 years that Nick had a bad childhood.  “It's ok baby.”  She says in a soothing voice.

    He cries very quietly.  “I’m sorry you have to see me like this.”  He is embarrassed.

    “No, no.  You have nothing to be sorry for.  Just go back to sleep,  I’m here for you.”  She turns off the light.

    “I love you so much.”  He says softly. 

    “I love you too.”  She says.  He holds her close, and they fall asleep in each other’s arms.

                                                                            ~~~

    Trinity awakes to the intense sunlight filling the room, and a soft voice singing sweetly.  She opens her eyes to see Nick

staring at her and singing.  He smiles when he sees her but continues to sing.

    “Look into my eyes,

    you will see,

    what you mean to me.

    Search your heart,

    search your soul,

    When you find me then you’ll search no more.

    Don’t tell me it’s not worth fighting for,

    don’t tell me,

    it’s not worth dying for.

    You know it’s true,

    everything I do, I do it for you.” (1)  He kisses her cheek.

    “Good morning.”  She says softly.

    “Morning.  How did you sleep?”

    “Perfectly.  How about you?”  She asks, biting her lip.

    “Well, I felt better after I went back to sleep, thanks to you.”  His eyes look sincere.

    “How are you doing?”

    “I’m ok, knowing you’re here.  Now I feel really stupid about the whole thing though.”  He admits.

    “You shouldn’t feel stupid.  What happened to you is horrible, and I’d be surprised if you weren’t having nightmares.  Do

you know how many times I woke up crying after the whole episode with Andy?  I had to relive the entire episode about fifty

times before I could finally accept what had happened.  Do you know how I got over it?”  She asks and he scoots closer,

obviously interested in what she is saying.  “I found someone to talk to.  My best friends in the world all listened and just

saying it made me deal.  I felt better after I talked to them, and they all told me the  same thing.  ‘Trinity, you’ve just got to

accept it and move on because there’s no sense dwelling on it.’  What happened is wrong but you just have to face the

demons and say to yourself ‘it’s over, I’m fine and I’m stronger for it.”  She looks at him and he nods.

    “You’re right.  You know that?”

    “Yes.”  She answers.

    “And you’re so cute when you know it.”

    Trinity laughs.  “So do you want to talk about it?”

    “I think that’d be awesome.”  He kisses her lips lovingly before he sits up to tell his story.

    For the next hour or so he tells her about his life.  He talks about his no good father and his abusive mother.  Occasionally

he has to stop and fight back tears, but he goes on because he knows he has to “fight the demons”.  When he finishes he

looks like he’s been through a train wreck, but he says he feels better.  Trinity sits up and hugs him, since that’s all she had

wanted when she’d finally recited her tale to her friends at the restaurant.

    “Thank you for listening, I really think you’ve helped.”  He says as he looks into her eyes.

    “I hope I have.  I love you.”  Trinity says and realizes she could say those words to a thousand other men, and not mean it

as much as she meant it now.  “But, I have to tell you something…yesterday, after my shower I came in here and found your

journal.”  He looks at her strangely.  “I…I read the last page you wrote.”

    He looks at her blankly.  “Why?”

    “I don’t know it was just that the drawer was open and I just didn’t think and…I’m  so sorry but I had to tell you because I

didn’t want to…”  he ends her rambling with a soft kiss.

    “Hey, don’t stress about it.  I think in a way I wanted you to read it.”  He confesses.  “I left the drawer open on purpose, I

don’t know why.  I think deep down I wanted you to see it."

“Why?”

    “I think…”  He begins before turning to sit towards her, Indian style.  “I wanted you to know how much you affected me

even though we’d just met.  You’ve changed my life in ways I can’t begin to describe.”  His eyes hold such a level of sincerity

that she knows his words came from his heart.

    She simply nods and watches him.  His hair is tousled and his chest is bare.  He has a well toned body.  She laughs at his

boxers which have little frogs on them.

    “What?”  He looks at himself.  “Are you laughing at my froggies?”  He pouts.

    “Oh, no of course not.”  She stifles her laughter and clears her throat.  “I like them.”  She bursts out laughing and he

smiles.

    “Don’t make fun of the frogs.”  He warns her, but she keeps laughing.  “Ok, but I warned you.”  He says before he lunges at

her and tickles her sides.

    Trinity squeals because she is very ticklish.  She reaches out and tries to push him away, but he is too strong.

    “Mercy?”  He asks playfully.

    “Mercy!  Mercy!”  She yells between laughs.

    He stops and grins at the tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard.  “You are so adorable.”  He wipes away

her tears with his thumb and looks at the boxers Trinity is wearing.  “Hey!  You’ve got pigs.”

    “That’s because pigs kick ass.”  She says happily, placing her hands on her waist matter-of-factly.

    “Oh really?”  He chuckles.

    “Absolutely.”  She stands up off the bed.

    “Where are you going?”  He inquires, both hand raised up to his shoulders.

     She walks around to his side of the bed and grabs her purse before saying.  “I need to go by my place and get some

things, I’ll be right back.”

    “Ok, I need to shower anyways.”

    “Well than I’ll hurry back.”  He laughs as she leaves the room.

    She shoves her feet awkwardly into her shoes and walks down the hall to her room.  The door is wide open and there are

several officers already inside.  They realize who she is and allow her to gather up a few things and look around.

    Before she leaves she talks to them.  “How much longer are you boys going to be here?”

    “Well Mrs. Green.”  The tall and lanky officer tells her.  “We’ve been looking for any solid evidence that might help us, but we

haven’t gotten any leads yet.”

    “We’ll probably be here for the rest of the week.”  The heavy set one informs her.

    “The rest of the week?”  The very thought is outrageous.

    “Well besides it’s better you not be here until we find him.  Plus we need some evidence like finger prints to convict him.”

    “You can’t just take our word for it?”

    “Well we believe you, but the court will want some proof.”  He shakes his head as if he disbelieves it himself.