He brought her into the bathroom and told her to sit down on the toilet seat while he went to get some bandages for the scrapes. As he did, tears cascaded silently down her cheeks until he came back in. Quickly, she wiped them away. She couldn’t let him see her cry. In ten minutes, her cuts were clean.
Nick kneeled down in front of her and grabbed her bandaged hands. “Listen, Lauren. I’m not going to hurt you; I only want to help you. What happened?”
Immediately, she broke down. “I hate guys!” she wailed. Nick tried to pull her into his arms, but she jumped away. “Guys are such jerks! Jess was wrong!”
“Lauren, it’s okay. Calm down!” Nick began to panic when that didn’t work. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind. “I’ll never break your heart, I’ll never make you cry, I’d rather die than live without you,” he sang softly. Sure enough, she stopped wailing long enough to tell him what happened with Greg, leaving him to comfort her. “Guys are not jerks. There’s the occasional asshole, but most of them aren’t like that, Lauren. Most guys are nice. Trust me.”
“Last time I trusted a guy…” she started. “Well, you see what happened! And besides, if most guys are nice, why did the three that I got close to turn out not to be?”
“Wait, the three that you got close to?” Nick asked curiously.
“Yes, I got close to three guys in my life, and none of them worked out. Greg, Justin, and-” she stopped, not wanting to divulge too much information.
“And?” Nick pressed.
“And my father,” Lauren whispered, bursting into sobs. Again, Nick reached out to hold her, and this time she allowed it.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Nick almost said, but he realized that she would talk if she wanted to. Lauren was clearly not the type of girl to hold back her thoughts. Instead, he made an offer. “Why don’t you stay here tonight? Jess isn’t home, and I don’t know if you want to be by yourself.”
Despite the fact that she would be sleeping in the enemy’s house, the thought of being alone after witnessing Greg’s rage forced Lauren to agree. “Okay, I’ll stay, but-”
“Don’t worry, Lauren. I won’t hurt you. I promise,” Nick assured her, reading her thoughts. “I’m just going to get some ice for your cheek. I’ll be right back.” He dashed out of the room and returned a few moments later with an ice pack. “You’ll be fine.”
Sniffling, Lauren watched him as he pressed the ice gently to her cheek. “Thanks,” she whispered, almost inaudibly.
Nick almost dropped the ice pack. “What?”
“Thank you,” she repeated, looking at him strangely. “What’s wrong?”
“I just didn’t expect a thanks,” Nick answered, leaving off the “from you” part he was thinking. She didn’t need that now. He turned his attention back to icing her cheek. “No problem.”
After a few minutes, Lauren yawned. Nick noticed right away. “Are you tired? You can borrow a shirt of mine and sleep in the guest bedroom,” he offered.
“That would be great,” Lauren replied as he got up to get something for her to sleep in. He came back in and tossed her a tee shirt.
After she changed, he walked her into the guest bedroom and pulled back the covers on the twin bed for her. “Good night, Lauren.”
As he turned to leave, she stopped him. “Nick,” she said hesitantly.
“What do you need?”
“Will you…stay in here? At least until I fall asleep,” she whispered timidly. “I don’t want to be alone.”
“Of course.” Nick fell into the chair beside her bed and watched her for a few minutes. Her breathing became heavier and deeper. I’ll wait for a few minutes more, just in case she wakes up, he thought as his eyes began drooping.