More Than That: Chapter 12: Full of Grace

-2 years later-

Leah stretched her arms over her head with a lazy yawn. "Oh, to live here forever," she whispered to no one in particular. The sun beat down angrily, the clear ocean glistening underneath its fury. Leah's tanning skin was slicked with tanning oil and perspiration.

"I don't know if I've felt heat this bad in a while," Nick said with a groan as he came up from behind her and took a seat next to her on the sand. "Lucky us. I feel like I'm gonna die."

Leah laughed at his dramatization. "You exaggerate so much, Nick. At least we have the water to jump into."

"Yeah, 'cept it's like a frickin' bathtub out there."

"Cold showers?"

Nick looked over at her and laughed at her raised eyebrows. "Yeah, babe... cold showers."

They'd been staying in the Keys for a week now and would be there for another two.

"I could stay right here forever," Leah sighed with a serene smile painted across her beautiful face. "Forever."

"Right here?"

"Right here."

"On the beach?"

"Yup ... on the beach."

Nick laughed, "I knew I was with you for some reason."

Leah leaned over and kissed him, her eyes closed to cover the tears pooling in them.

~ * ~

"He still hasn't proposed?" Jayden, Leah's good friend from work, whispered through the telephone a few nights before Leah and Nick were to leave and return home. She didn't know why she was whispering-there was no one to hear her. Maybe she felt that if they spoke too loudly Leah and Nick would be jinxed. "We all thought ... well, I mean, here at work ... we just thought-"

"Yeah, me too," Leah couldn't help but laugh. When Nick had told her almost two months ago that he was taking to the Keys to a house he'd rented, Leah had thought that would be the time. The time when Nick would finally propose to her, when he'd finally ask her to be his wife. But they were leaving the Keys in three days and Nick hadn't even mentioned their relationship moving in another direction. "Let me guess," Leah continued, "all you guys at work bet on Nick and me, right? When he'd pop the question?"

"Well..." Jayden laughed a little, delaying her response. "You know how they are here. Leah, what are you gonna do?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know what I'm gonna do."

~ * ~

Nick walked into the bedroom as Leah put the phone back on its cradle. She'd been updates for a few hours after they'd eaten dinner and he'd begun to worry. "Hey, I thought we were going to go out in the Jacuzzi tonight," Nick said as he sat down on the bed next to her.

Leah looked up and smiled sadly at her boyfriend. "Yeah," she murmured. "Just let me get my bathing suit on."

"What's wrong, baby?" Nick asked as he grabbed her hand to prevent her from leaving. "Are you not feeling well? We don't have to go out there if you don't want to. It was just an idea. We'll stay in here and watch a movie or something, if you want."

"I'm fine, Nicky," Leah smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes like it usually did.

"No, you're not. What's going on?" Nick leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Nothing, Nick. Let's not talk about it," Leah smiled brightly in hopes of soothing his worries. She wasn't ready to discuss their future with him yet-she hadn't figured out what she was going to say to him about it. "Let's just go outside to the Jacuzzi and-"

"Lee, I want to talk about whatever's bothering you-"

"And I don't want to ruin our last couple of days and nights here."

Nick sat silently as Leah stood in front of him, her head downcast. "Well, that doesn't sound good. Is something with us ... y'know ... wrong?"

"Nick, when are we going to get married?" Leah finally blurted out, tired of his nagging. If he wanted to know, he'd know. "Two years ago you told me we would eventually get married. I'm not depressed anymore,-except for the fact that you don't seem to want to be with me-I'm twenty, you're twenty-five. Nick, when is this going to happen? When do you think we're ready??" Leah sighed when he didn't respond. Amazingly he'd just answered her question without any words at all. "Okay, I get it. I'll be in the Jacuzzi if you need me."

Her sarcasm didn't go unnoticed by Nick and though he knew she was upset and probably needed to be comforted, Nick had nothing to say to her. So he watched her leave the room and didn't say anything at all to stop her.

~ * ~

The next day was much the same: silent. Neither really knew what to say to the other, Nick especially. He knew that Leah was only waiting for some much-deserved answers, but how was he supposed to tell his girlfriend of over two years, his best friend of over five, that he was too afraid to marry her? They'd had so many obstacles to overcome over the course of their relationship and the past two years had virtually been smooth sailing. What if their next obstacle were to come after they were already married? What if it happened to be one that they just couldn't conquer?

Nick stood off to the side as he watched Leah swimming around in the outdoor pool. He could smell the beautiful, exotic flowers surrounding them and yet she was the only truly beautiful thing out there, in his opinion. He loved her so much and that's why he didn't understand why he was so afraid to be with her for the rest of his life.

"Leah," Nick called out to her from his place just outside of the sliding glass door.

Leah looked up at him and stopped swimming. It had almost been twenty-four hours since they'd last spoken to each other and Leah ached for a hug or a kiss or anything. anything that would possibly reassure her that things would be okay with them.

Leah swam to the stairs and slowly made her way out of the pool. "Yes, Nick?" she asked as she walked across the patio to stand in front of him.

"Do you wanna go out and get some dinner on the water?" Nick suggested, hoping they could spend a night together without any questions. They'd done it for two years. What would another night hurt?

"Okay, Nick," Leah sighed, knowing he wasn't going to talk to her tonight about what she'd spoken of the night before. "Just let me go get dressed upstairs. I don't think wearing a bathing suit to a restaurant would be-"

Nick interrupted her by gently placing his lips against hers in a quiet kiss that slowly became heated. When they pulled away from each other, Leah looked breathless and beautiful to Nick, her eyes still closed from the embrace. Finally she looked up at him, her eyes glazed over with passion and confusion and hurt.

"Nick, what was that for?" she whispered, her forehead against his.

Nick sighed and squeezed her hands inside of his own. "I just ... I just ... I love you, Leah."

Leah looked up at him with tears in her bright blue eyes. She didn't even know what to make of what he was telling her and how he was acting. And yet, there was no way she could deny the truth, "I love you too, Nick."

They leaned into each other and pressed their lips together.

"Let's skip dinner," Nick mumbled against her mouth.

Leah nodded fervently as they made their way up the stairs to their bedroom, their kiss never broken.