Nick walked through his front door at 1 in the morning. He'd been in Orlando recording a song with the guys and had been planning on staying the night at AJ's, but Leah had called him on his cell phone, claiming there was a funny smell coming from the air vents. He walked in and placed his overnight bag down in the entryway and turned a few lights on so he could see. He found Leah asleep on the couch a few moments later and bent down to her level.
"Lee," he whispered, shaking her shoulder gently.
Leah groaned and rose up to her elbows, rubbing her eyes tiredly with a yawn. "Nick?" she yawned again before looking at him with a lazy smile. "Hey."
"Hey, yourself," he smiled back and helped her up, "Why don't you get on up to bed and I'll check out the AC and heater systems. I'll probably hafta call someone about it tomorrow."
"Do you smell it though?" Leah questioned as she stretched, feeling as though she'd pass out at any moment from sheer exhaustion.
"Yeah, I do. Go to bed, Lee," he laughed, kissing her on the forehead before walking with her to the staircase. "You look dead."
"Thanks."
He smiled at her sarcasm, "No prob. Night, girl."
"Night, Nicky," she called, beginning to head up the stairs, but stopped. "Hey'd you hear about Aaliyah and the plane crash?"
"Yeah," Nick sighed. "I hate that stuff."
She nodded, "I know ... she was so sweet too."
"'Night, Lee," Nick said, indicating that he didn't want to talk about death ... especially plane crashes.
"'Night, Nick."
Leah awoke the next morning and walked down the stairs to find Nick and an electric repairman talking at the front door. She smiled politely at the man before heading into the kitchen to find some fruit for breakfast. She was in the middle of making her gourmet fruit salad when Nick came in the room, stealing a chunk of watermelon on his way to the fridge.
"So what'd he say was wrong?" Leah asked, getting forks out for Nick and herself so they could eat the fruit.
"Just an electrical problem," Nick took a seat next to her at the counter and received the fork that she offered. "He fixed it. Thanks for calling me about it."
"Could it have been a problem?"
"Yeah, probably. Maybe an electrical fire. So anyway, what are you doing today, dear Lee? Wanna go somewhere to chill with your bestest best friend?"
Leah laughed before turning serious, "I would love to, but I already told Freddy that I'd be with him today." She hated mentioning her boyfriend to Nick, knowing he wasn't particularly fond of him. Leah never talked to Nick about his confession of supposedly being in love with her, and hardly even like do think about it, but she knew that he still thought he had feelings for her, although she didn't believe it, and that made it hard to discuss Freddy with him.
"Oh ... okay."
"Nicky..."
"Yeah."
"...don't be upset with me. I promise I'll be with you all day tomorrow; I just thought you were gonna be gone today."
Nick nodded, "Yeah, it's fine, Lee. Tomorrow it is. We'll go on the boat."
"Okay," Leah smiled, "that sounds fun. I gotta go get ready now." She stood up and dropped a kiss on Nick's forehead on her way out.
Nick sighed and stood from his own stool, walking down into the den.
~ * ~
An hour later Leah bounded back down the stairs, having heard the doorbell ring. "Coming!" she yelled, grabbing her purse and opening the door. "Hey," she smiled, seeing Freddy on the other side of the door.
He was tall, standing at 6'4" and was built big, having that "teddy bear" effect that Nick also had. She loved that about him and always felt protected when she was with him. Freddy was from Caracas, Venezuela and although he spoke good English he still had a strong accent. Leah also loved that ... but there were rare things she didn't love about him.
"Hey, girl," Freddy leaned in and gave her a hug and kiss and smiled at her when they pulled away, "I have a surprise for you."
Another thing about Freddy was that he wasn't your average college student. In fact, he wasn't one anymore. She'd met him in school, but he'd been signed as a pitcher to play for the Tampa Bay DevilRays and he'd immediately dropped out of school. It made Leah nervous because she knew Freddy was grateful for the opportunity to do what he loved, but he also didn't really want to be playing for the Rays and was looking to be traded. Sure, he could live in Florida and play for another team, but that would mean he'd be gone at least 6 months out of the year and she didn't know if she could handle that.
"Really?" Leah grinned. "Can't wait."
"Good. You ready?"
"Yeah, hang on a second," Leah pulled him inside and told him to go wait in the living room while she went to tell Nick that she was leaving. Heading down to the den she heard him banging on his drums, from the top of the staircase. "Nicky?" she called down, but the drumming continued on. "Nick, I'm leaving. Be back later." She sighed and left the stairwell, shutting the door behind her at the top.
Making her way back to the living room she grabbed Freddy's hand and they left.
Nick came back upstairs an hour later to find the house empty. With a sigh he picked up the phone and took a seat on the couch.
~ * ~
"G'night," Leah smiled, standing on her doorstep many hours later, "I have an excellent time."
Freddy grinned, glad she'd enjoyed herself, "Good. I did too. See you tomorrow?"
"Actually," Leah sighed, "I told Nick I'd spend the day with him."
"Okay."
"You know, it'd be a lot easier if you two would just get along so I could be with both of you at the same time."
"Hey," Freddy jumped to his defense, "I'm not the one that has a problem. I don't mind the guy ... he's the one who doesn't like me."
"I know," Leah sighed, "you're right. I'm sorry."
He smiled and bent down to give her a kiss, "I'm sorry 'bout this. I know it's hard on you, 'cause I'm your boyfriend and he's your best friend. We're your two favorite guys ... I think."
She laughed, "It's true."
"G'night, Leah," Freddy gave her a hug and held her there for a moment. "I love you."
Leah's eyes widened, her chin resting on his shoulder and her arms wrapped securely around his waist. His sweatshirt was warm and she never wanted to leave that place and moment for all eternity. They hadn't told each other that they loved each other yet and Leah couldn't stop herself from smiling. "I love you too, Freddy."
After saying goodnight to him and watching him drive away, Leah headed into the house and turned a few lights on in the entryway. Glancing into the living room she saw Nick tangled up with a young woman on the couch, a blanket draped around them and part of their bare skin visible.
Leah gasped and felt her stomach tangle in knots. She'd never seen Nick with a girl before. She knew that in the years that they'd been friends he had been with girls, but she'd never seen it and for some reason it made a part of her twinge inside. Walking up the stairs she made her way to her bedroom and got ready for bed.
