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Chapter Twenty-Eight

Nick came rumbling down the stairs an hour later after having started a video game with Baylee and found Lauren sitting alone, reading in the living room. He turned into the kitchen, planning not to interrupt her reading, and whipped the fridge open and pulled out a couple bottles of Canada Dry and snatched a bag of chips from the counter. He paused in the hall when he didn't see Brian's shoes in the foyer. He ducked into the living room. "Hey Laur?" he said. When she looked up, he asked, "Where's Brian?"

"He went to see Emma," Lauren replied. She glanced back down at the book.

Nick hovered in the doorway. "They're going on another date?" he asked.

Lauren hesitated. "Well. Sort of."

"Sort of?"

Lauren lowered her book to her lap. "Look, he didn't want me to tell you what's going on, he wanted to tell you himself."

"There's something going on?" Nick questioned. He stepped into the living room. "What's going on?"

Lauren sighed. "Nick..."

"You shouldn't hint to shit if you don't plan to tell me, it's just mean. You know I can't handle that." He inched closer. "C'mon, it's not like you can't tell me secrets. I'm a good secret keeper. I'm practically Dumbledore, for crying out loud."

Lauren drew a deep breath, "Well, Emma needs more help with medical bills," she explained slowly, "More than Brian really can pay for out of pocket."

"He need help out payin' it?" Nick asked, "We could probably swing a couple grand..."

"No because he's going to put her on his insurance," Lauren answered.

"Oh." Nick nodded, "Well that makes sense. Fair enough. What's the big deal about that?" He laughed and turned, started to walk out of the room, then stopped short. He stood stock-still for a long moment, then turned around. "Wait. Wait a second."

Lauren bit her lip.

"Ohhhh no - no - no - no -nonono," Nick groaned, "He's not - he's not -"

"He is," Lauren said.

"Noooo," Nick whined out, returning and dropping into a chair. His heart was racing, the room spinning again like in the desk chair upstairs.

"You're awful opposed for someone who's spent countless random hours suggesting Brian get laid," Lauren pointed out.

"There's a difference," he said, "Between laid and --" Nick palm-smacked his forehead, "Oh crap," he muttered, "Oh shit, oh shit-shit-shit."

"What's the matter?"

Nick lowered into a chair. "I literally just promised Baylee he wouldn't get --" Nick paused. "You know. The M-word."

"You can't even say marriage?" Lauren asked.

Nick blushed. "I just - you know, I hate the concept." He cleared his throat, "He's seriously marrying her?"

"He's seriously going to suggest it," Lauren answered, "Whether she agrees or not is another story."

"He didn't even run this by me? Or by Baylee, for that matter?" Nick demanded.

Lauren shrugged, "Its not like a real marriage, Nick. He doesn't plan for her to move in or anything, just gain the benefits of his insurance."

Nick paused. "You mean he's gonna get married and still not get laid?"

Lauren sighed. "Can you think with any other body part besides your pecker?"

Nick shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe."

"Try it sometime," she suggested.

Nick sighed. "Dude, Baylee's gonna be ripped shit."

"He'll get used to the idea," Lauren supplied, "Just let it roll."

"No seriously, he hates her."

"Has he even met her?"

"I dunno," Nick answered, "That's not my job to monitor that. Wait, no he had to have met her. Brian said he like embarassed the crap out of him at the food court in the mall the first time he talked to her again."

Lauren shrugged, "He'll get over it. Right now, the whole thing of losing his mum is still heavy on his mind. He'll overcome that eventually and learn to appreciate Emma."

"I just wish he would've included at least Baylee," Nick said, "And by the way, can we just say that this is crazy? Marrying someone off the cuff like this?"

Lauren stared at Nick. "You said once the only way you'd marry me was if it was unexpected and off-the-cuff."

"That's different," Nick replied.

"How?"

"Because that's like ear-loping. This is like... he hasn't seen her in years and years and decades and shit and bada-bing-bada-boom, they're hitched because she's dying and needs insurance. I dunno, it seems random. It seems weirder than getting ear-loped."

"Uh- huh."

Nick stood up and waved the ginger ale at Lauren, "I gotta go before these get warm," he said by way of an excuse. He hated when the M-word topic came up. Specifically when he'd been dating a girl for a while, as he had Lauren.

"Run off then," Lauren teased as he gathered his stuff up.

"I'm not running off, Baylee's just waiting for me is all."

"Uh-huh."

Nick scurried for the door.

"And Nick?" Lauren called, "Don't tell Baylee. Let Brian do that."

Nick nodded, "Oh believe you me," he said, "I'm definitely not treading that ground myself. That is all Brian."