Nick ran through the airport, panting slightly. As he neared terminal D6, he heard a name that sounded all too familiar coming over the intercom, "Nick O********, please come to terminal D6. Nick O******** to terminal D6. ----- And hurry it up!!" He heard a familiar voice screech in the background. Nick couldn't help but laugh, rounding the corner and seeing her right away. He walked up to her slowly, and then bent down, clutching his knees with his hands, in front of her, "Hey... I'm... really... sorry. Traffic..." he gasped.
Brittany rolled her eyes, "exercise much??"
"Shut up! I ran all the way here!" Nick said, once he'd caught his breath. She could be such an insensitive brat sometimes. He grinned at the thought.
"Well, give me a hug, you big oaf!" she backhanded his stomach.
Nick laughed quietly and gave her a hug. Brittany lifted her feet off the ground and kicked them in the air.
"How ya been?!" she squealed, her bad mood, from him being late, wearing off quickly, and her energetic-self kicking in.
"Good... it's been a li'l hectic with the wedding plans I've been having to make without you."
"Lord, I can't believe I'm marrying you," Brittany commented as they walked through the parking lot.
"You're the one that made up this stupid promise! 'If I'm not married by 20, and you're not married by 25, you have to marry me! I refuse to grow old and live in celibacy!'" he mimicked her in a high, squeaky voice. "I swear to God you're just marrying me to get some sex."
"Shut the hell up, Nick. You're annoying the sh*t outta me already," she said, getting into his car.
"Watch your mouth."
"Bite me."
"Bite yourself."
"Oh, wow. THAT was mature! Geez, Nick, and you're how old......."
~*~ Later that night ~*~
"Well, night," Nick said, walking out of Brittany's room, for the time being, after sorting through more wedding plans.
"See ya... wouldn't wanna be ya," she sighed, laying down on her bed. "I have a loooooong future ahead of me."
"I heard that!!!"
She giggled.
~*~ The next day ~*~
Brittany noticed Nick's car was back, realizing he must have gotten home from work although she didn't know where he was. Shrugging, she walked outside to get one of her CDs out of his car. As she opened the door and crawled inside, she noticed Nick coming up from the mailbox. "Hey, how was work?" she asked, giving him a sweet smile.
"It was all right... Enjoying it here so far?"
"Of course! I love Arizona."
"Good... Are you ready to go visit your grandma?"
Brittany looked confused for a second, "Oh my gosh! I totally forgot!"
"Wanna go?"
"Yeah... Le'me grab my backpack."
"K, I'll get my keys. Hurry; it takes like an hour to get there. Oh, by the way, I moved your purse up to your room."
"My backpack," she corrected, heading inside with him following.
"Whatever."
Brittany rolled her eyes and ran upstairs, meeting Nick back down a few minutes later. "Okay. Let's go."
He nodded and they walked out to the car.
~*~ Approximately an hour and 15 minutes later ~*~
"So how long have you 2 been dating?" Brittany's grandma, Ruth, asked right when Nick had taken a drink of the Mountain Dew she had gotten for him.
Nick choked on the soda, almost spitting it out, while looking at Brittany with wide eyes.
She looked back with a 'Please, don't say anything!' look. "You okay, baby?" she feigned sincerity, but inside she was just worried he would blow this for her. She rubbed his back soothingly, pinching him in the process to get her point across. "Oh, about 3 years, grandma."
"Brittany, you know better than to keep boyfriends away from your family," Ruth smiled. ((Haha, that's so unlike my grandma. She'd be like 'Cool, so anyway' lol. Okay, nevermind.))
Britt laughed, nervously. "Sorry, granny."
"Brittany, can I talk to you for a minute? Outside!" he said, through clenched teeth.
She gulped, "It's so hot out there though. I mean, can't we talk here? With the air conditioning? With witnesses in the room?"
Nick looked at her, warningly.
"Fine... Be right back, grams." Brittany stood and took his hand so her grandma wouldn't think anything weird was going on.
~*~ Outside ~*~
"How could you have not told your grandma?!"
"I'm sorry! What was I supposed to say?! 'I'm marrying one of my friends 'cause of a promise we made! We're not really in love with each other!'?? They'd be so disappointed in me!"
"Riiiight, and I'm sure you haven't told your parents either," Nick said, sarcastically, 'knowing' she would have told them something so important as that.
Brittany laughed nervously in response.
"What?! Oh, sh*t, I don't believe this."
"I'm sorry, Nick! Look, my 'rents got married at 19 and then divorced. They're already upset that I'm getting married at 20... How was I supposed to tell them I'm not in love with you and vice versa!"
"Maybe we should call all this off," he started to walk back into the house.
"No! Wait," Britt grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her and straight into a hug. After all, he was her friend and she couldn't stand the prospect of him actually being angry with her. "Nick, I'm sorry. I'll tell them. They all know we're getting married, of course. They just don't know about the other part. But I'll tell them, okay?"
He sighed, "All right."
"I can't believe we're getting married."
"I know. I mean, we've never even kissed before," he laughed, then stopped suddenly as they both looked at each other in shock of the words that had just escaped his lips. "Well, I mean... Y'know..."
Brittany paused before speaking, "Well, heck. We're gonna have to do that and a whole lot more sooner or later."
Nick hesitated before bending down and brushing his lips lightly against hers. He pulled away and they both looked at each other funny, before heading back towards the house. "Geez, I feel like I just kissed my sister."
Brittany shuddered at the thought, before grinning over at him, "Well, it's a d*mn good thing my brother's such a good kisser."
Nick laughed with a shake of his head.
~*~ That night ~*~
"Did you see their faces??" Brittany was cracking up, almost peeing her pants, as they walked into the house.
Nick laughed, "Yeah, B, I saw their faces. I don't know why you find it so funny though. I thought your grandpa was gonna kill you. Not to mention what he was gonna do to me."
She giggled again, "Hellz yeah. He was like 'WHAT? HOW IS THIS MARRIAGE EVER GOING TO LAST?!'" she impersonated in a deep voice. "I thought he was gonna burst a blood vessel."
"And that would be funny because...?"
"I gotta peeeeeee so baaaaad," Brittany squealed, running to the bathroom, as she was still laughing hysterically.
Nick rolled his eyes with a smirk, "You do that then." He sat down on the couch, flipping the TV on.
Britt came back a few seconds later.
"Geez. You pee fast... for a girl."
"Thanks," she grinned. "Anyway, I need to tell you something." She grabbed the remote from his hands and flicked the TV off. "I kinda' told my grandparents not to tell my parents yet... about us being... friends. I gotta wait until I'm ready to tell 'em."
"That better be before the wedding!"
"It will be!"
"And I don't mean 2 seconds before!"
"I can't promise you that," she said quickly, rushing up the stairs and into her room, locking the door.
"Brittannnnnnyyyyyy!"
"It'll be okay, Nicky!! Don't worry your pretty little head!"
~*~ 3 weeks later ~*~
"Tell Nick I need to talk to him," Brittany said, hurriedly, as they put her veil over her head.
"Brittany, it's bad luck to see each other before the wedding!" Lissa squealed pulling a tiny curl of Britt's hair out from underneath the tiara.
"Lissa! I don't believe in luck!! And neither do you, so shut up! Now I need to talk to him!" she whined, annoyingly.
Lissa rolled her eyes, "You're so stupid!"
"That's great. Now go get him!"
"Fine! Don't rush me!"
"HURRRRRY," she joked, with a little laugh.
Lissa rolled her eyes yet again, "Fine. Be right back."
"Thanks!" Britt called after her.
~*~ 5 minutes later ~*~
"Yeah?" Nick asked, coming in with his hands over his eyes.
Brittany sighed, "Have you been talking to Lissa? I don't care if you see me!"
He took his hands down. "You look good," he said, casually.
"Yeah, ditto. Okay, listen... I still haven't told my parents... but that's not why I had Liss go and get you. It's 'cause... well, I need to ask you something."
"What?"
"Just bear with me here... I don't want a divorce. Okay? Once I'm in this, I'm not getting out of it. I will never be out of it. Divorce isn't even an option for me. I refuse to let my kids grow up the way I did. Having to go back and forth between houses... So you listen now and you listen good... if we get married today, are you gonna back out of it in a couple years? I realize we only love each other in a deep friendship typa way... So are you gonna fall in love with some chick in a few months? Cuz I will not let you do that to my kids. I will not let them have that life. And I will not have that life. So think about this hard... Are you in... or are you out?"
Nick stood there for a moment, "I... I... Umm... I..."
"Well???? Don't leave me in suspense," she pouted, sticking her bottom lip out.
"I'm in."
Her eyes lit up, "YES!! I don't have to be alone my whole life!! Man, I'm 20, I should have been married AGES ago!! I'm getting so old!" she looked at him. "Anyway, get out there... so I can marry you, and not grow gray hairs before I have sex for the first time," she paused. "Wait, Nick. That's another thing. What about tonight?"
"What about it?"
They both looked at each other and shuddered.
"You're like my brother" / "You're like my sister" they said to each other at the same time.
"We'll worry about it when we get there," he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left the room.
Brittany sighed and went off to find Alyssa for moral support.
~*~ 15 minutes later ~*~
Brittany suddenly turned from Nick, right before the sermon began, remembering her promise to tell her family before the wedding, and she was obviously good at keeping her promises, seeing as that's how she was in the wedding dress in the first place. "Wait."
Everyone's smiles fell from their faces, thinking she was going to call the wedding off at the altar. Nick sighed, knowing what she was about to do.
"I, um... I need to tell you all something. Nick and I... we were never... we never... He was never my boyfriend. We're friends and that's all we've ever been. We're-getting-married-because-of-a-promise-we-made-when-I-was-14," she said the last part quickly. "Okay, let's goooo," she turned and pointed to the pastor.
"Wait!" Britt's mom screeched, suddenly finding words to form.
Brittany gulped and looked at her mother. "Yeah, mommy?" she asked, innocently.
"You two cannot get married because of a promise!"
"Mother, I am marrying Nick and that's that!"
"No, you're not! You can't!"
"Yes, I am!! And you can't stop me!" she said, through clenched teeth.
Brittany's step-dad pulled her mother back into her chair and Britt threw him a grateful look. Taking a deep, humiliated breath, she turned back to Nick, and the wedding began. They smiled at each other. How much more interesting could a wedding get?
~*~ That Night/Hotel (Honeymoon) ~*~
"Well, g'night!"
"Wait. You can NOT do that to me!" Brittany squealed, angrily.
"What?"
She just looked at him.
"Britt, I feel... weird... to say the least."
Brittany sighed, "So do I. But, c'mmon, Nick! You expect us to go through our whole lives without sleeping together? I want kids, d*mn it."
"Tomorrow, I promise. Just le'me work up enough courage."
"Okay," Britt laid down next to him. "Night," she pecked his lips, and rolled over quickly.
Nick sighed, "Don't be that way."
"Don't be what way?" she asked, with a little puppy dog face.
"Geez, I feel so married."
"Why?"
"I feel like some old bickering married couple."
Brittany laughed, "Nighters."
"Night."
~*~ The Next Night ~*~
"Got enough courage yet, bro?" Brittany cringed, "Sorry! I didn't mean to!"
"It's okay," Nick sighed. "Um... well... Yeah, I guess."
Brittany smirked lightly, taking her shirt off.
"Geez, you move fast," he laughed.
"Yeah, well I'm running on pure hormones here... Never thought that'd be the case my first time."
Brittany walked over to him and took his hands, making him stand up off the bed. She leaned forward and kissed him, running her tongue along his bottom lip ((LoL, Nick. I did it again, hehehe)) for entry.
"You sure about this, Britt?" his voice suddenly wavered.
"Uh huh," she whined. "Very."
~*~ The next morning ~*~
They looked at each other awkwardly, now fully clothed.
"Um... wanna go get some breakfast?" Nick asked.
Brittany's face lit up like that was the best idea she'd ever heard, "Yes!" Anything to ease the awkwardness was accepted by her at this point.
They both headed for the door, going to grab the knob at the same time, their hands brushing. Chills ran down her spine, their hands still on the knob. 'Britt, he's your friend! It's not that big of a deal! And he's your husband! AND YOU JUST HAD SEX WITH HIM!... Annnnnd it was quite enjoyable!' she blushed at the thought.
Since she wasn't moving her hand, Nick took it from the doorknob with his other hand and held onto it, opening the door. Brittany gave a shy smile, looking away, noticing that he was holding her hand. Nick almost laughed, never really seeing Brittany shy in front of him, except maybe the first time they'd met. They walked to the elevator and stepped inside. As soon as the door closed to the empty box, Brittany wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. "My... hormones... are... on... over-... drive," she said, between placing kisses on his neck.
Nick let out the breath that he hadn't even noticed he'd been holding in. As soon as Britt heard the ding of the doors about to open, she pulled away, fixed her hair, and acted like nothing had ever happened.
"Off to breakfast we go," she sang merrily, skipping out of the elevator.
~*~ 3 months later; Back home ~*~
"Hey, I'm home!!" Nick called through the house, as he walked into the kitchen, getting a pop out of the fridge.
"I'm upstairs."
"Okay," he walked up the stairs, Mountain Dew in hand. "'Sup?"
Brittany sighed, sitting down on the end of the bed. "Take a seat," she placed her hand on her stomach, feeling sick again.
Nick made a weird face, "Alllrighty." He pulled a chair up in front of her. "Yeah?"
"I'm pregnant. So um, yeah... that's that."
"Oh... Wow... It's only been like three months. Uhhh... are you sure???" ((Sorry, Nick. I'm trying to make this less "passive" for you, lol))
"What?! You're not happy?! Look, I know it's soon... but... but we planned on having them anyway, right?! I mean-"
"Woah there! I said it's soon, I didn't say I hate the idea. It's cool, Britt. Okay? It's cool. Calm down."
Brittany took a deep breath, "Sorry."
"How are you feeling?"
She smiled, lightly. "Like crap."
Nick made her stand up and then lay down in the bed. He tucked her in and kissed her forehead, "You gonna be okay?"
She nodded, whispering, "Yeah," before falling asleep.
Nick sighed and walked downstairs to find something for dinner.
~*~ 4 months later ~*~
Brittany paced the kitchen warily, her face flushed and her back aching. Her eyes stung as tears began to fill them, at the thoughts that were running through her head. 'He wouldn't, would he? I can't go through this. Not now. He promised!' She sat down, her feet hurting more by the minute. Sighing, Britt buried her face in her hands.
Hearing the door opening, she stood up and walked into the entryway, seeing Nick come in, looking tired.
"Where the hell have you been?!" she asked, tears pouring out of her eyes. "You were supposed to be home hours ago! Are you cheating on me already?!?!? It hasn't even been a year, Nick! Look, I'm sorry that you haven't been getting any, but I'm pregnant with your g*d d*mn child!" she sat down on the stairs, tiredly.
Nick just stood there, looking confused for a while. "What?" he finally managed to get out.
"Please. Just wait till the kid's born. I need you here. I can't do all this alone. Then you can marry her. We'll get divorced, okay?" she asked gently, looking at her hands.
Nick walked over and knelt down in front of her, "What the hell are you talking about?" he whispered.
Brittany looked at his face for the first time, noticing how drained he looked. "Your girlfriend."
"I don't have a girlfriend. Just a wife."
"You don't have to deny it. Just tell me."
"Brittany, I'm telling you the truth," he laughed. "I was out buying baby furniture which will be delivered in 2 weeks."
"Receipt?"
Nick smirked and pulled out a receipt, showing it to her.
She sighed, "I'm sorry. I just-"
"It's okay," he cut her off, abruptly. "C'mmon, let's go to bed. I'm dead tired."
She stood up and he helped her up the stairs.
Brittany looked down at her son sleeping peacefully in his crib. His name was Aaron Nicholas and he looked just like his father, with the exception of his eyes which were Brittany's blue in contrast with Nick's dark hair. She sighed mournfully as she felt Nick come up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist. He was more affectionate since Aaron had been conceived, but nothing much had changed in their relationship and Brittany's heart was beginning to break. Though she hadn't admitted it to herself until Aaron was born, she'd fallen in love with her husband.
"Are you crying, B?" Nick asked when he felt her shoulders shake against his chest. He turned her around and looked down at her confused. "What's wrong?"
Brittany took a shaky breath as she looked into his eyes, her shoulders slumping. She didn't know how this was going to work anymore. It was the weirdest feeling to be in love with your husband and actually feel bad about it. "Nothing..." She shrugged away from his hold and left the room, heading downstairs and into the kitchen. She quickly busied herself with making something for dinner.
Nick watched her from the kitchen doorway, very confused. He could tell that she knew he was there, but she continued to ignore him and their silence grew thicker until finally he chose to break it completely. "Will you tell me what the hell's going on, Brittany?"
Brittany turned around at his tone of voice and slammed her hand down on the countertop. She'd officially lost her temper. "How do you define a wife, Nick?!"
Nick's eyes averted to the side as he took a deep breath. Even he hadn't seen Brittany this angry before and he lived with her day in and day out. Finally he made eye contact with her, now standing farther in the kitchen, and prayed that his answer managed to make her happy. "Uhh ... a female partner in marriage?"
"Nick," Brittany's jaw clenched. "I don't want f*cking Webster's definition!! You know what?? I'll tell you how I define it..."
"How, B?" Nick sighed as he looked down and shuffled his bare feet against the hardwood floor they'd had put in only months before. When he looked back up at her he had to bite his lip when he saw the look in her eyes as she gazed into his own. She looked so upset and he didn't understand. She'd never been like this before. "Britt??"
"Nick, a wife should complete you. She should be closer than the air that you breathe, by your side always. She should be strong enough to bring you to tears, and yet gentle enough to wipe them away."
Nick gulped and looked back to the ground, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his pants. The intensity in her eyes was beginning to freak him out and he could no longer keep their eye contact. He remained silent, not knowing what to say, not understanding what she was trying to say.
"Nick, am I any of those things to you? Because do you know how I feel in this marriage?"
"No, B, I don't. Tell me." Nick sighed, not knowing if he even wanted to know. But he had to hear it. If this marriage was going to last, they had to be honest with one another.
"I feel like your f*cking maid ... I feel like your nanny, your cook... I'm a house keeper to you, Nick!!! G*d d*mnit, I'm not your wife!!"
Nick bit his lip hard as tears came to his eyes. In all the time they'd known each other he'd never cried in front of her and he was slightly surprised with himself, but she was so upset and the things she was saying were breaking his heart.
"And you never fight me back!!" Brittany continued. She was so emotional she was shaking and now she was standing in front of her husband who, besides his tears, was remaining emotionless. "Say something!!! Yell at me!! I don't care, just do something! Tell me how much I don't mean to you!!" She grabbed his face in her hands and stared deeply into his eyes, "Do it, Nick. Tell me."
Nick's breathing had increased and his palms were beginning to sweat. How could she think that she meant nothing to him?? They were married and had a child together; of course she meant something to him. She meant everything to him; she was the mother of his son... and she was his wife.
"What do you think I am?! A heartless b*stard?!" he finally shouted, surprising her.
Brittany's lip quivered as she gazed up at him, tears falling freely from her eyes. "Then tell me, Nicky," she whispered before laying her forehead against his chest. "Tell me what we are, what I am."
Nick leaned his face down next to her and kissed her jaw softly. His hand slid up from her waist and into her hair, lifting her face up again. "Look at me," he said when he noticed her eyes were closed, unshed tears pooling against her eyelashes. "Britt, please."
Brittany's eyes slowly fluttered open and her tears fell. As Nick wiped them away from her face with his fingers, he leaned down and kissed her slowly. She gasped against him. He'd never kissed her just to kiss her.
"Please don't cry. Everything you said is so wrong ... so incredibly wrong. You mean the world to me," Nick looked down at her and noticed she was still gaping from the kiss. "I love you."
"What?" Brittany whispered, her eyes huge. Her heart was beating faster than what she'd thought was humanly possible and her hands were shaking so much she had to wring them out to get them to stop.
"I said 'I love you.'"
"Say it again."
"I love you," Nick laughed.
She grinned suddenly and threw her arms around his neck, "I love you too!"
"Hey, B," Nick spoke up a moment later. She was still clinging to him, almost desperately.
"Yeah."
"I thought of an answer to your question. I know how I define a wife now..."
"How's that?"
"You."
~ * ~
Song credit: Falling, by 'NSync (CD: Celebrity)
