Chapter 11

A week later, Nick and Lauren, now the best of friends, but nothing more, walked silently down the beach together, hand in hand. The sun was setting and the stars were beginning to twinkle as Lauren sat down and pulled Nick down next to her. “Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be in love?” she asked suddenly.

“I think I know what it’s like,” Nick murmured.

“Aw, Nicky’s in love,” she teased, smiling widely. “Tell me about the lucky girl.”

Nick didn’t want to say much, seeing as it was her, but realized that she would never get off his case if he didn’t tell. “You don’t know her,” he lied. “She’s pretty…no, she’s gorgeous-”

Only five words into the description, Lauren broke in. “What does she look like?”

“She has long, blonde hair, blue eyes, she’s tall and thin, uh… Well, anyway, she’s really sweet, very sensitive, smart…”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was me,” Lauren joked.

Nick swallowed hard. “Lauren, it kind of is you,” he whispered, causing her to stop laughing.

“What?” she replied, looking down at her hands. He nodded, and tilted her chin to face him. “I don’t know what to say. I-”

“Don’t say anything,” Nick interrupted. Every muscle in his body fought to hold back, but he brushed her lips with his own, very cautiously, not wanting to scare her.

Her body tensed up, but didn’t pull away for several moments. When she did, though, she took off running down the beach back to her house, leaving Nick wondering what he had done wrong.

Chapter 12
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