Yes, I Will:

Chapter 11: What Heaven Is

Nick looked toward the front door as the doorbell rang for the second time. He didn't feel like getting up and answering it. He didn't feel like moving one muscle. Being with Leah the night before had been wonderful... and terrible at the same time. It had been wonderful to spend time with her again and it had felt great to be able to comfort her while Nicolea had been with the doctors. But at the same time, every moment he'd spent with her had felt like it would be the last. He was constantly looking at the clock, knowing that in a few hours they wouldn't be sharing such closeness again until the next time their daughter was sick.

The incessant ringing was getting on his nerves. Who would come over at eight in the evening anyway? With a frustrated sigh, he stood from the floor intent on telling whoever it was that when somebody doesn't answer their door it's usually for a reason. If it was AJ, he'd just kill him.

He swung the door open and his eyebrows rose.

"I'm sorry." She blushed and looked around herself selfconsciously. "I'm sure there was a reason for you not opening the door the first two times I rang the bell. I should have left, I just... well, I knew you were home and I wanted to talk to you for a second."

Nick felt a grin spreading across his face. He couldn't help it. She always made him smile. "I'm glad I decided to open the door. Come on in."

"No, it's fine. I just wanted to say thank you for last night. I know I was a psycho. I was a nervous wreck, but you stayed calm and I know that if you hadn't been there, I couldn't have gone through it without you. Nicolea's all I have and, well..." She'd said too much. She knew that.

"Leah."

Leah looked up at him and felt the air being sucked from her lungs. Once again, he was more gorgeous than the last time she'd seen him. "Yeah?"

"Please come in."

Minutes later, Leah was standing in his kitchen as he got them each a drink from the refrigerator. She took the opportunity to glance around what she could see of his house. After he'd moved out of the house they'd shared, he'd bought his own a couple streets away. It was smaller than the houses he usually lived in. She wondered if after the divorce he'd felt a little smaller, himself... like she did. Sometimes it was as if she didn't even exist. The world was just passing her by.

"Leah..."

She heard him calling her name and turned quickly to find him looking at her with concern.

"You haven't touched your drink and I know it's your favorite."

She looked down at the bottle and smiled at the Fuzzy Navel sitting on the counter in front of her. He hadn't forgotten her favorite drink. "Thanks."

Nick nodded and watched as she leaned her head back and took a gulp of the alcoholic fruit drink. He watched her throat bob and wished he hadn't. It had always been hard for him to be in the same room with her and not want her. That hadn't changed when they'd signed their divorce papers. If anything, it had gotten worse.

"What?" Leah asked selfconsciously when she caught him staring at her.

"Huh?"

"You were looking at me. Why? Was I drinking it wrong or something?"

Nick laughed quietly and looked away from her. "There's no wrong way to drink a Fuzzy Navel, Lee."

"Well, then stop staring at me, you weirdo."

"I can't help it. You're beautiful." Nick wished he could take it back as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He noticed a drop of her drink had dribbled down her chin as she'd opened her mouth in shock. He smiled and caught the liquid with his thumb. "What? You look like you just saw a ghost."

Leah noticed him moving even closer towards her and if it was possible, she was finding it even harder to breathe. "Nicky, I don't think that..." She trailed off when she looked down at his lips and found herself wanting them on her own.

"What?"

She couldn't answer. She just licked her lips in anticipation.

"Tell me you don't wonder sometimes what we could have been if I hadn't been such an idiot," Nick whispered, his lips so close she could feel his breath against her face. He smelled like Corona and she never thought she would ever enjoy the smell of alcohol so much in her life.

"I do."

If Nick was at all surprised that she'd so readily admitted it, he didn't show it, "So do I. I still love you, Leah. Probably more today than I did the day we married."

This time she didn't hesitate, as she pushed herself onto her toes and placed her lips against his. "Then make love to me."