“Nick,” she whispered. She didn’t want to wake him up, but she wasn’t about to leave without him knowing. He opened his eyes slowly and stretched his cramped body. “You slept there all night?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to leave you. I was worried,” Nick replied, his voice slightly hoarse.
For a brief moment, Nick was positive he saw a smile cross her face, but it faded as she began to speak. “I think I’m gonna go back now. Jess will get freaked out if she gets home and I’m not there. She knows I wouldn’t have spent the night at Greg’s house.” A shudder shot through her body as she said that name.
“Do you want me to stay with you until she gets back?” Nick offered. “I don’t want you to be lonely.”
Hesitantly, Lauren nodded. Even though he seemed worthy of her trust, she was still nervous. “Okay.”
“If you don’t want me to, that’s fine. I-”
She interrupted him. “No, I do want you to. I’ll be kind of…afraid…by myself,” she said shyly.
They walked back to her house, and she immediately changed into her own clothes. As soon as she did, the phone rang.
“Jess?” she greeted, expecting her sister.
The voice that answered did not belong to Jessica. It was determined, but definitely not worth listening to. “Lauren, it’s me. Don’t-” The phone slipped out of her hand and crashed onto the floor. She quickly picked it up and began talking to (yelling at) her caller.
“Leave me alone, you bastard!” She slammed the phone into the cradle and fell to the floor, trembling violently as Nick came in to see what was wrong. “It was him, Nick. It was Greg.”
Nick sat down beside her and lifted her chin to meet her teary eyes. “Lauren, don’t let him get to you. He doesn’t know where you live, does he?” She shook her head no. “He can’t do anything to hurt you anymore.”
“Promise?” she whimpered.
“I promise,” Nick replied uncertainly. There was really nothing he could do to guarantee that, but he wasn’t about to tell her no with the condition she was in, and besides, Greg couldn’t find her if he didn’t know her address.
She sighed, knowing she had to say what she didn’t want to. “Thank you for everything,” she whispered.
Nick smiled in return and wrapped her in a tender embrace. “No problem. It was worth it to get to know you. You’re a great girl.”
Blushing, Lauren pulled away and got up to make some food, but got downstairs to find toast waiting for her. She turned to see Nick standing behind her. “I thought you might like a nice breakfast, but I’m not a good cook, so I made that,” he said sheepishly.
“Thanks,” Lauren said sincerely. “It looks good. It’s probably better than anything I can fix. That’s why it sucks, being a little rich girl. You can’t cook worth a damn. I’ve always had people cook for me.”
Nick laughed and took a piece of toast for himself. “It’s okay if I have some, right?” he asked.
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Well, it’s your food and all, and you paid for this, and I am a guy, after all,” he teased.
“I think I at least owe you breakfast, Nick,” Lauren giggled. That was the first time Nick saw a really genuine, wide smile from her.
The back door slammed and Jessica came in, confused as to why Nick was standing in her kitchen when Lauren couldn’t stand him fifteen hours ago. “Did I miss something?”
“I think I’ll go and let you tell her everything,” Nick said uncomfortably. “I’ll see you two later.” With that, he bolted for the door.
“Why was Nick here?” Jessica inquired.
“Some stuff happened last night, and, yeah…” Lauren answered slowly.
“What? You slept with Nick?”
“No! No, that isn’t what I meant. You better sit down so I can tell you the whole story from the beginning.” As quickly and emotionlessly as she could, Lauren retold the events that had taken place, from her evening at Greg’s to the breakfast Nick made for her.
“Oh, sis, I’m so sorry. If only I hadn’t gone to Elaine’s last night…” Jessica murmured. “Maybe you’re right about all males being jerks.”
“No, you’re right about Nick. Nick’s a nice guy, I think,” Lauren replied. “He didn’t try anything last night, and that says a lot right there.”
“Yeah, I guess. I just feel bad because I wasn’t even here for you,” Jessica said apologetically.
“Don’t, because I did make a friend of Nick from it,” Lauren answered.
Jessica sighed. “Well, it’s all over now, and Greg will leave you alone, hopefully. If he doesn’t, I’ll have to hurt him.”
Meanwhile, Nick furrowed his brows in thought as he sat on the couch. He had made a friend of Lauren, but a problem had arisen. He buried his head in his hands and sighed. How could he have fallen in love with her?