Angie had a lunch break in between classes and Claire met up with her to talk.
"Six and a half months. Why?" Angie asked taking a sip of her soda through a straw.
"No reason. How long did you wait till you opened up to him?" she asked trying not to sound peculair.
"Like how? Till I let him know what kind of perfume I use and what my worst habit is? Or how long till I let him know the real me, every detail?" Angie asked.
"The real you."
"With Aj, it was right away. He has such a bad boy outside but he is so sincere and romantic inside. I knew I could trust him. Why are you so interested in me and Aj's relationship all of a sudden? Does it have to do with a blonde guy who goes by the name Nick?" Angie smirked, "Aj told me you brought him to the hospital two nights ago, and spent all day with him yesterday."
"Yeah I did and we're just becoming good friends is all. And yesterday at lunch we were talking about boyfriends and girlfriends. He asked me if I had a boyfriend and I said I wasn't looking to fall in love, ever again. Then he asked why and I kind of choked on what to say. Your the only one who knows everything about me and my past relationships. And I feel like if I tell him about how guys treat me and how I let them treat me ... then he'll do the same." she said sadly.
"Nick isn't like that. When he falls in love with someone, he treats them like they are his everything. I've seen him fall in love twice in his life, and you know what?"
"What?" Claire asked.
"Your not the only one afraid of falling in love again."
Claire looked up at Angie, "What do you mean?"
"Nick got hurt in his relationships too." Angie said.
Claire nodded and took a drink of her water. The girls sat a few minutes talking about other things, when Nick showed up at their table, out of nowhere.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked as a smile spread across her face.
"You left these in my car." he said placing her books on the table, "And Aj told me where you and Ang were."
Claire took her books into her arms, "Thanks Nick."
He shrugged modestly and turned towards Angie.
"Aj wants to know if you want us all to go over his house tonight and rent a bunch of movies? Or would you rather spend the night alone?" Nick said.
Angie turned to Claire, "Can you come over to his place tonight?"
Claire nodded as Angie asked Nick and he said yes too.
"Okay, well then why don't you two get the movies and we'll buy a bunch of snacks, okay?" Angie asked them.
They both nodded as Angie looked down at her watch.
"I gotta go to class, bye!" she said getting up and rushing off.
Claire stood up also and turned to Nick, "You have any plans this afternoon?"
He shook his head no and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Alright, well, feel free to say no, but there is a room in my apartment I have been wanting to paint awhile, and if you want to you can help." she said grinning innocently.
"Hmm, go home and play playstation or paint for an entire afternoon ..." he started.
Claire pouted her botton lip and clasped her hands together as though she was begging.
"Pretty please? Don't make me paint alone." she said.
Nick laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he walked with her to his car. They drove over to the paint store and Nick put on a baseball cap and went inside with Claire. She picked out a dark blue color and went to the register. After the little old woman totaled the price up, Nick pulled out his wallet and grabbed a twenty dollar bill.
"Nick, no! I can't let you buy paint for my apartment!" she said, pulling out her own money.
"Hey, it's fine. A guy has to do some nice things every now and then." he smirked.
Claire shook her head knowing this was a useless argument.
"I am paying for everything tonight then." she said crossing her arms.
The old woman smiled at Claire and Nick, "You two are so perfect for each other. It's nice to see young couples getting along."
They almost started cracking up, but they didn't want to seem rude so Nick put Claire's hand in his and kissed her cheek.
"Yep, I just love my sweetheart." he said in an overly corny voice.
The lady smiled largely as Claire and Nick made their way outside. Once outside, they started laughing hysterically as they got into his car.
"Sweetheart?" she said raising an eyebrow at him.
"Sorry, it was the first thing that came to mind." he said through a smile.
As Nick started the car and drove off towards Claire's house, she wondered what Nick would be like as a boyfriend.
