At the pool party

Meggie looked around at all the people either in the pool, or surrounding it. "So Nick, which one's your girlfriend?" she asked, looking over at him. They were both sitting on the edge of the pool, their legs dangling in the water.

He cleared his throat. "Actually, we broke up this morning," he said, quietly, kicking some water, lightly.

"Nick, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Meggie asked, putting a hand on his back, and rubbing it, soothingly.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. It just never came to my mind, I guess," he said, as if it didn't matter to him.

Meggie suspected he wasn't telling her everything, but she decided to just drop the subject. "Looks like everyone's having fun," she observed, looking out at the pool. Her friends were screaming, and splashing water at the guys, then they would do the same.

"Yeah. So, umm...how's your boyfriend?" Nick asked, hoping they broke him like him and Katie did.

"Good. He's away on a business trip right now, that's why he couldn't come. He wanted me to go with him, but I couldn't miss the chance to meet you. He's in New York," she said, her mind playing flashbacks of the night before.

"Oh," Nick said. It wasn't exactly what he was hoping for, but it would have to do. "That's too bad."

"I miss him," she said, resting her head on Nick's shoulder. She sighed, and Nick knew something was wrong.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked, sweetly. He wrapped his arms around her, playing with her hair, comfortingly, wanting to let her know that he was there for her, no matter how big or small the problem happened to be.

She just nodded her head, afraid that if she opened her mouth, she'd say too much in front of everybody. She didn't want anyone knowing what had happened between her and Will. Anyone besides Nick.

"Alright, Baby, let's go inside where it's quiet," he said, helping her to her feet. They walked into the living room, and took a seat on the couch. "Go ahead sweetie, I'm listening," he said, grabbing her hand, and squeezing lightly.

"I love him. I really do. I just don't understand what I do wrong," she said, helplessly, as the first tear trickled down her cheek.

He looked at her, not understanding. "What do you mean by that, Hon?" he asked, wiping the tear away with his thumb.

"You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, no one," she said, sternly, pointing her finger at him.

He looked at her strangely. "Alright," he agreed, although he was sure he would regret it.

"He...umm...he hit me, last night, Nick," she said, as tears streamed down her face. Tears that couldn't just be wiped away.

Chapter.6