He smiled at her and she smiled back before biting her lip nervously wondering if she should say something to Nick about Claire's behavior.
Nick gave her a quick glance and sighed, "What's wrong Ang?"
Angie snapped her head up at him, "Nothing, what makes you ask that?"
"Oh come on, I know that vacant look you get when you are in deep thought about something." he said.
Angie was a quiet a minute, then she decided that after all, Nick was Claire's boyfriend and if something was wrong with her, he deserved to know.
"I think something's wrong with Claire." she blurted out.
Nick looked at her sharply, "Like what?"
"Well, I was in the bathroom and I heard this sobbing from the back room. So I opened the curtain and Claire was in there crying her heart out. I asked her what was wrong, but she just said she had a bad dream." Angie explained.
Nick licked his lips and looked like he was thinking, "Is it something .. you know...?"
Angie eyed him, "No, I don't know." she laughed, "Is it something what?"
"Is it something, like," Nick paused and looked a little red, "Feminine?"
Angie started laughing and shook her head no, Nick looked relieved.
"No, no, it's nothing 'feminine'. I think something is really wrong." she said.
"Like what though? What could be wrong?" he asked.
Angie thought for a minute, "Well she use to get this upset with Scott-" she started to say but she quickly stopped herself.
"With who?" he asked.
"Um, just an old boyfriend." Angie said quickly.
"Why did she get upset with him?" Nick asked.
Angie shifted in her seat, "It's nothing Nick, I think you-"
"No. Tell me about her old boyfriend. Why did she get so upset?" he said in a bit of a stern voice.
Angie coughed, "Nick, it's not my place to-"
"Angie, just tell me!" Nick said sounding upset.
"I promised I wouldn't." she said in a soft voice.
Nick looked at Angie then back to the road before pulling into the breakdown lane.
"Here, you can drive." Nick said as he got up and went to the back of the RV.
Nick walked to the back past Brian and Aj playing cards, and opened the curtain, to see Claire sitting with her back against the wall, staring into space.
Nick walked in and closed the curtain behind him.
"Claire, you need to tell me what's wrong." Nick said.
She snapped out of her daze and looked up at him blankly, "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong."
Nick sat down on the couch and was quiet for a minute, "Why do you lie to me like this?" he asked with a sad voice.
Claire twisted her ring nervously, "Nick, I'm not lying, I-"
"Yes you are. Angie told me you were crying back here." he cut her off.
"Yeah, I had a bad dream." she said.
Nick shook his head no, "You couldn't have one that is so bad that you sob over it."
"Why are you trying to make an issue where there isn't one? And why are you telling me what I can and can't feel?" she said with anger rising in her voice.
"Because I love you!" he said desperately, "I want to help you and you won't let me. You just start crying some days and you lie to me about what's wrong. I am not trying to tell you what to think or how to feel. And I am not making issues where there isn't one."
A few tears rolled down Claire's face, "Nick, why are you being so mean to me? Can't I just keep some things private?"
Nick sighed, "Claire, you know every little thing about me. That's the way it is when your in love. You don't hold things back or lie."
Claire wiped her tears and sniffled, "Well, I can't do that. I need my own privacy."
Nick stood up and stormed furiously out of the back room. Claire walked out from the back room and went through the cabinets to get some food. She grabbed a brownie in a package and sat on the counter. She looked in the front of the RV and saw Nick in the passenger seat looking absently out the window. Angie kept glancing at him with a worried look on her face.
Aj looked up at Claire, "Why'd Nick storm out? Was he getting to frisky and you said no?" he asked with a snicker.
Claire threw the brownie at Aj's head in frustration, "Shut the hell up." she said sternly before walking to the Tv and flipping it on.
Brian shot Aj and 'oh no...' look and Aj nodded. He got up and went to the front of the bus.
"Ang, why don't you pull over at the next exit so we can go to a restaurant for dinner." he said knowing that everyone needed a break from one another.
Within twenty minutes, they had pulled up to a restaurant and gotten out. Brian went in and put in there name and they were seated ten minutes later. They were sitting at a table with three seats on both sides. Aj, Angie and Nick sat on one side, with Brian and Claire on the other side. Claire was hoping Nick would sit next to her, but instead he took the farthest seat away.
"So what's everyone getting?" Brian asked.
They all said what they were getting and when Nick and Claire said the same thing, he looked at her for a quick second then looked away with a look of hurt on his face. He pushed his chair back and got up.
"I am going to the bathroom, I will be right back." he said walking away.
When he left Angie let out a long breath, "What the hell did you say to him?"
Claire gaped her mouth open, "It's not me! It's him. He won't give me any privacy."
"Privacy like hiding your past from him? That's not privacy Claire, that's called you being scared." Angie said truthfully.
Claire gave Angie a mean look, "I am not scared. I just don't think Nick needs to know about that."
Angie gave Claire a 'yeah, right' look and took a gulp of her water. Nick came back to the table a minute later and they all started discussing the trip.
"So we should be arriving in Montana by 4pm tomorrow." Angie said.
Everyone nodded or said 'yeah.' Angie put her glass down hard on the table making everyone look up at her.
"Look, I don't know what everyone's problem is, but this trip is going to just plain suck if you all don't stop with the attitudes. Nick, I know your mad at Claire but you can't go around like a zombie because of it. Claire, you need to apologize to Nick and talk to him about certain things." Angie said.
Nick looked at Claire and Claire glared at Angie.
"Thanks for the advice Angie, but I don't remember asking for it." Claire said through gritted teeth.
Aj stood up, "Alright, alright. Back in your corners girls."
Angie sighed and Claire leaned back in her chair.
"He's right, I'm sorry Ang. I just, I need to get out of here." Claire said with a shaky voice.
She got up and walked out of the restaurant. She walked outside and inhaled the fresh air deeply.
She spotted some pay phones, so she walked over and put in 75 cents. She dialed Mrs. Montica, her neighbor's, number. Mrs. Montica answered and Claire sighed in relief that she was there.
"Hi, this is Claire. I was just wondering if anyone has stopped by my apartment or anything. Like, any unexpected visitors?" she asked.
Mrs. Montica paused, "As a matter of fact, yes you had a visitor earlier today. He said his name was Scott and he had a message for you ..." Mrs. Montica paused and Claire heard a shuffling of papers.
"He said ... he'll be waiting for you."
Claire dropped the phone and dropped to the ground as her knees went weak and tears poured down her face.
