*****
“ Are you positive you’re going to be okay for such a long time?” April sighed
again as she focused on her parent’s faces. Both looked slightly concerned and this
irritated April. She hatd it when they made a plan to do something and felt guilty for
leaving her alone. It got her impatient.
“ Mom, Dad. You’re going to miss your plane. I’ll see you when you get back, Ok?”
“ Are you going to Nick’s?” Mike asked, checking his watch.
“ I might, I don’t know yet,”
“ Well you should, I know you don’t wanna stay here all alone,”
“ We should get going,” Mike interrupted Beth who nodded before giving April another
hug.
“ I’ll see you guys,” She stood in front of the doorstep and watched them get into the
taxi. They had left the car because of airport parking and supposedly so she could go do
some shopping and stuff. She shut the door after she walked inside and wasn’t sitting in
front of the tv for more than a few minutes before the doorbell rang. Thinking it was her
parent’s with forgotten luggage again or something, she answered the door and came face
to face with a grinning Nick.
“ Nick, how delightful,” She joked as they hugged.
“ April, darling you look gorgeous. Digging the slippers especially,” He smirked at her
fluffy pink slippers.
“ God, Carter. I didn’t even know you were up this early,” She tosssed back, indicating
how the time was 1:45.
“ Funny. Are you gonna invite me in or make me stand here all night?” She moved
inside and he walked in.
“Ok, where are your bags?” He inqiured purposefully, looking across the foyer.
“ Bags? I didn’t really agree,” She started but his look of disappointment cut her off.
“ April,” He whined.
“ Fine, fine...Now you’re gonna have to wait until I pack and that takes forever,” She
muttered, turning to go up the stairs. Nick watched as she walked up, an unreadable look
on her face. He couldn’t tell if she even wanted his company anymore but he didn’t want
their friendship to just deteriorate and not do anything about it. He made his way up to
the second floor and stopped at her doorway, just watching her pack, his presence
unknown to her as she carefully folded a shirt and placed it into the open duffel bag.
“ You know, we should move in together,” He spoke up, dropping noisily onto her bed.
“ Yeah, right.” She glanced at him.
“ Yeah, it’d be fun. You could cook and clean...Maybe do my laundry,” She cracked a
smile and shook her head.
“ Same old Nick,”
“ I haven’t changed any,” He laid on his back, looking around the room and stood up
before walking to her bulletin board.
“Who’s this?” She looked up and squinted at the picture he was pointing to.
“ Previous flame,”
“ Does he live here in Orlando? I hadn’t seen him before we left,”
“ Yeah. He moved here from Washington,” Nick nodded and sighed restlessly.
“ Are you done, April?” He asked, moving to sit next to her bag on the floor.
“ Not yet, Nick. I told you it was gonna take awhile,”
“ To pack for three weeks?”
“ Three weeks? Nick, hun. I’m coming back at the end of next week,” He poked
through her bag and held up a lace bra.
“ Why is it that everything you own has some sort of lace or frills or something?” She
grabbed it back and tossed it back in.
“ Because they’re not bought for you to look at and besides, I like that kind of stuff,”
“ Typical girl,” He muttered, getting up and walking to her computer.
“ Ooh...Flamers? What the hell is this e-mail about?” He asked, peering at the computer
screen.
“ Nick! You’re so nosy,” She clicked out of her mailbox and looked expectantly at him.
“ I’ll just wait downstairs,” He nodded and turned to leave the room. Ten minutes later,
she came down, holding her bag and rifling through her purse for her keys.
“ Finally, Hannigan,” He stood up and turned off the tv.
“ Let’s go,” He said, putting an arm around her and taking the bag.
“ Did I tell you I arranged for us to have dinner with the rest of the guys?”
“ What made you so sure I’d be coming?”
“ Because you love me.” He flashed her a grin and she laughed as they got inside the
car...
*****
Her eyes were focused on the book but they were still and he knew she wasn’t
reading. He reached over and grabbed the book.
“ Hmmm...The Girl Made Of Wind, no wonder you can’t concentrate,” He wrinkled his
nose and handed the book back.
“ What’s wrong?” He asked after she turned back to her page.
“ Nothing,”
“ You’ve been on that page since we sat down,” He insisted. She sighed and shut the
book, putting it on the side table and looking at him before she shook her head.
“ Nothing really,”
“ Really? What’s that mean?”
“ It means that there is no specific problem,” She turned her face out towards the front
yard and the setting sun’s rays lit her eyes. He put his arm around her and pulled her
closer.
“ I’m here if you need to talk, allright?” He said, resting her head on his shoulder.
“ What time are we supposed to be at dinner?” She asked after the sun had gone
completly down.
“ Um...Nine cause Howie won’t be home until then, he had a meeting with someone or
something,”
“ Where at?”
“ Kevin’s house.”
“ Oh...Guess we’d better start changing,” She said, pulling away and stretching. He
studied her face and felt another wave of uncertainty.
“ What?” She asked, standing up. He shook his head and stood up also. HE followed
her inside, contemplating the changes visible in her. She ignored this and walked
upstairs, knowing he was watching her. She shut the door to her room and turned on the
light. April sighed, looking into the reflection staring back at her in the mirror. All she
needed now was to gain more weight. The phone rang downstairs and a few minutes
later, Nick knocked (*hehe*) on her door.
“ April, we’re leaving the house in ten minutes. He got done earlier.” He called and
waited for a response.
“ Ten minutes? Okay,” His footsteps walked off to the right to his room and she quickly
changed and applied her makeup.
“ You look nervous,” He said as soon as she walked into the living room downstairs.
“ Most people are when they meet new people,” She chided, tapping a foot impatiently
on the ground.
“ I love how we’re so mean to each other,” (*Sounds like us, doesn’t it, AK?*) Nick
joked, getting off the couch and motioning towards the door. She smirked and walked
ahead.
“ Off to this wonderful evening,” Nick stated, unlocking the car door.
“ I gotta tell ya a coupla things about the guys,” He started as they climbed into the car.
April rolled her eyes as he grinned and ventured on to tell her about everyone...