Chapter Four
The first thing I saw when I stepped off the plane in Tampa, Florida was Nick, leaning against a pole, holding a huge bouquet of red roses and sunflowers (my favorite flowers) in his arms. He was dressed in jeans and a babyblue zip up polo shirt. As soon as he saw me, he stood up and quickly started making his way over. Unfortunately, there were a whole lot of tourists on my flight, including a group of girls who had come for a cheerleading camp. The girls immediately surrounded Nick, trying to grab at his shirt, the flowers, and anything they could get their hands on. Fortunately, Nick had thought ahead and brought one of their security guards with him. Marcus, the bodyguard, came forward and started to pry the girls off Nick. Being the sweetie that he is, Nick signed autographs for the girls, posed for pictures, and then said good bye, continuing to walk towards me. Because he had protected the flowers with his arm, they were relatively unharmed."Hi," Nick said, stopping in front of me, "These are for you." He held the flowers out."You didn't have to do that," I said, taking them from him, "Just seeing you is enough."Nick pulled me towards him in a hug. "I missed you," he said, just before leaning down and giving me a kiss."I missed you more," I was finally able to say when we pulled apart."Don't worry," said Nick, "Marcus is only here until we get out of the airport. After that, we're going to be alone.""Okay," I said, "I don't mind having him around, though.""But I'd rather be alone with you," Nick said, "And I have plans for tonight.""I hope they're not plans that involve being locked in the bedroom," I said."Well," said Nick, "Not right now, but we can do that later. Are you tired? Do you want to go straight home?"Nick had insisted that I move in with him because he said that there was no sense in me getting my own place. He was going to be over all the time anyway."I'm fine," I said, "Why? What are your plans?""My plans," said Nick, "Are for us to go out to dinner and then maybe a movie. Or we could rent one and go home and watch it cuddled on the couch. Or, plan B, is to go to Brian's and hang out with the other guys. Krisitin and LeighAnne are over there and they want to meet you. I personally like the first plan better.""Me too," I said."Good," Nick said, "So where do you want to go for dinner?""Where ever you want to go," I said, "It doesn't matter to me.""Should we got someplace fancy or just to McDonalds or something?" asked Nick."I don't know," I said, "You pick.""I don't want to go someplace where we're going to keep being interrupted," Nick said, "So we should go someplace quiet. I know just the place.""Okay," I said.Nick and I got my stuff and then said bye to Marcus. Then Nick led me to the parking lot where his Durango was waiting."I would have brought my Prowler," said Nick, "But I didn't know if you would have wanted to ride in such close quarters. Oh, and tomorrow, I'm going to have a surprise for you when you get up. It's from me and the guys. Don't try to get it out of me because you won't be able to.""Aw, come on," I said, pulling on his arm, "Tell me.""No," said Nick."Please?" I asked, "I love you.""You're going to love me anyway," Nick said, "Whether I tell you or not.""That's true," I said, "But I still want to know.""You'll find out later," said Nick."Fine," I said, "Be like that."We got into the Durango and Nick pulled out of the parking lot. He was quiet for most of the rode to where ever we were heading."There's going to be a lot of surprises these first few days," Nick finally said, stopping at a stop light."Really?" I asked, "Why?""Because," said Nick, "There just are. And they're going to be good surprises too.""Well," I said, "I know that it can't be that you're getting married because why would you want me here if you love someone else. Don't tell me that your entire family's going to be coming to visit.""No," Nick said, "And I'm not going to tell you. You just have to wait.""I hate waiting," I said."Too bad," said Nick.We soon pulled into the parking lot of a small restaurant near the ocean.<"Where are we?" I asked Nick."It's small," he said, "And quiet, and we won't be bothered.""Okay," I said.We got out of the car and Nick took my hand. He led me towards the restaurant doors. The two of us went inside and were seated near a big picture window."This place is so nice," I said."I know," said Nick, "I've never been here, but Brian told me about it."If you looked out the window, you could see the ocean, which was so calm that night. "You know," I said, "I can't even remember why I thought things would be different if I went back to Hilo.""You wanted things to be the way they were when you were in high school," said Nick, "With your friends around and everything planned out for you, but it wasn't like that.""I know," I said.After we had ordered, Nick and I sat there talking about all sorts of things. Even if we had heard the things the other had to say, we still listened. At about nine, they finally kind of kicked us out of the restaurant."Do you want to go for a walk on the beach?" Nick asked."Sure," I said.Nick took my hand and led me onto the beach. We took a long walk, looking at the stars and watched the waves softly lap the sand and our feet. It was so quiet and peaceful(Okay, okay, and romantic.) But, we finally had to get going if we wanted to go pick up a movie before heading home."Let's get Aliens," Nick said, as we walked through the Blockbuster closest to his house."No way," I said, "Did we went that the last five times?""Maybe," said Nick, "But I love that movie.""Let's rent a comedy," I said."Which one?" Nick asked."I don't know," I said, "A good one."Nick slipped his arm around me as he came up behind me. "How about Never Been Kissed?" he asked, kissing my cheek."Nah," I said, "Seen it too many times. It came on HBO when I was back in Hilo."Nick ran down a list of movies as we passed them. I had either seen them or didn't want to see them."Come on, Jen," said Nick, "You have to pick a movie.""Okay, okay," I said, "How about...ah, I don't know."Eventually, Nick decided that he wanted to watch She's All That and Never Been Kissed. I had to give in because he had never seen those movies."Okay," said Nick, as he paid for the rentals, "Let's go."We headed back to the Durango and got in for the ride home. "I cleaned up the house yesterday," Nick said, as we got out of the Durango at the house."Really?" I asked, "You didn't have to do that. I'm used to having everything a mess with you around.""Very funny," said Nick, "And the dogs are out, so don't worry if they come charging towards you.""How many dogs do you have again?" I asked."Only four," Nick said, unlocking the door, "Willie, Mikey, Houston, and Rocky.""I thought you had more than that," I said."I did," said Nick, "But things happened.""Like what?" I asked, "Never mind. I don't want to know."Nick unlocked the door and pushed it open. He flipped on the light and we went in. Suddenly, four pugs came tearing towards the door."Hey guys be good," Nick said, as the dogs jumped at his legs.Then they saw me. All four dogs sat down and looked up at me curiously. I put my backpack down and sat down on the floor in front of them. Two of the dogs cautiously spproached me and put their front paws on my legs. The other two hung back for a minute and then ran over and scrambled into my lap. Soon all four of them were climbing all over me."They like you," Nick laughed."Thanks a lot," I said.Nick pulled two of the dogs off me and then started down the hall. The other two followed. I stood up, grabbed my backpack and followed them."Let's see," said Nick, walking down the hall, "Should we put you in the room down here or...""Or what?" I asked."I have a better idea," Nick said, "Come with me.""Where are we going?" I asked, as Nick put the four dogs into their room and shut the door."You'll see," he said.Nick led me down the hall towards the master bedroom. "Come on," he said. Nick took my hand and led me into the master bedroom."Okay," I said, "What are we doing in here?""Well," said Nick, "It's lonely being in here by myself, and I think I'd go crazy knowing that I can't hold you when you're down the hall at night, so I want you to share a room with me.""What?" I asked."Do you really think I wouldn't want to?" Nick asked, "Of course I want you in the same room as me. We can pretend we're married or something.""Oh really?" I asked."Yep," said Nick, pulling me towards him and dropping my bags."Okay," I said.Nick leaned over and kissed me. "Come on," he said, "Maybe we should go watch that movie now.""Okay," I said.We went back towards the living room and settled down on the couch. Nick put the movie in and grabbed the remote before coming back over to sit by me."I like this," he said, draping his arm around my shoulders as the movie began."Me too," I said.Chapter FiveBack to Babylove's Stories
