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One Month Later


During the times that were supposed to be the best, things had been stagnant. The relationship between Nick and Emily was different in many ways, and in many ways, it was better, but the fear that consumed Emily’s mind still prevented her from trusting Nick beyond friendship. It was all he wanted though, and sometimes he found himself resenting her for not giving him a chance to prove himself. Still, he never pushed the subject further than it was meant to go, and he never gave up on her.

On the other hand, Emily’s parents had seemingly given up on her. She called them countless times and left more messages than she could remember, but her parents refused to acknowledge her existence. She knew they were upset with her for things that happened in the past, but Emily failed to understand why they were still holding a grudge after so much time. She wanted nothing more than to fix the past and move on, but they wouldn’t even talk to her, and eventually, she completely stopped caring.

Nick, however, did still care, and eventually took it upon himself to set things right again. He made countless phone calls with nothing to show for it, but he still kept calling. After a while, he began to understand how Emily was feeling which motivated him more to succeed. Finally, he decided there was nothing else left either could do in Florida. Out of no where, he showed up on Emily’s door step.

“I think you need to come with me.”

“Hello to you, too,” Emily replied sarcastically.

Nick smiled, but remained serious (to an extent), “I mean it. I’m kidnapping you. Let’s go.”

“Nick, are you out of your mind? Where exactly am I supposed to go with you?”

“Michigan!”

“Uhhh… Why?”

“Things need fixing, and I’m gonna fix them, one way or another. Right now, it looks like ‘another’ is all I have left. So, let’s go. We’re gonna miss the flight.”

“I’m not going to Michigan, Nick.”

“You have to, Emily. I know you don’t want to, and I don’t even blame you for not wanting to because right now things really suck. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. You have to.”

“No, Nick, I don’t, and I won’t. You can’t make me so don’t even try.”

He looked at Emily pleadingly, “You know I blame myself for this, whether you want me to or not. You can’t change that, but you can help it. Do this for me, Em; if not for yourself, than for me. I’ll be with you the whole time. I promise I won’t leave you alone if you don’t want me to. You won’t have to go through it by yourself. I swear.”

“Nick,” she said hopelessly, trying with all her might to refuse his plea.

“Come on…” He held out his hand.

Again, she accepted. On a complete whim, she walked out of her house and headed for Michigan with nothing packed and no planning whatsoever. She was on her way to confront her parents, and she was not looking forward to it.

Emily and Nick arrived at the airport, and it was then that Emily realized the extent of her spontaneous actions.

“Nick, I don’t have any luggage. What am I supposed to wear? How long are we going to be there?”

“Relax, Em. I don’t have anything either, if you haven’t noticed. We’ll go get some clothes when we get there.”

“Nick, I can’t afford to buy a new wardrobe. Maybe you forgot, but I was in a coma for six weeks. I’m a little low on cash right now.”

“Emily, I’ll pay for it. This was my idea. It’s not a big deal, and don’t argue with me, ok? I chose to drag you into this without planning anything so I’ll take care of it. Stop worrying.”

“Fine.”

She hated having to give in, but she had to, and when she thought about it, Nick was right. Had he thought his actions through and planned things in advance, this wouldn’t have been an issue. Reluctantly, she refrained from arguing with Nick, and boarded the plane.
The flight seemed much faster than it should have. Emily continuously hoped it would never end, but before she knew it, they were close to landing. Fearfully, she held onto Nick’s arm tightly. She wasn’t afraid of flying, but this time, she was afraid of landing.

“Are you okay, Em? I thought you didn’t mind flying?”

“I don’t, Nick. I mind going to my parents'.”

He gave her a look of console and wrapped his arms around her.

“It’ll be okay, Em. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She buried her head into his chest, desperately trying to stop herself from falling in love with him, but his protection towards her made Emily weak in the worst ways.

“How can you be so sure, Nick?”

“Sure of what?”

“Nothing bad happening.”

“Because I love you, and no matter what happens, I’ll be there. Maybe things won’t work out perfectly with your parents, but I can promise you with everything I am you will never be alone again.”

She still didn’t want the flight to end, but now, it was because of Nick. Sometimes, he really was all she needed.


As promised, Nick took Emily on a small shopping spree after checking into their hotel. She didn’t want to buy more than she need, but he kept insisting and she ended up with a lot more clothes than she planned on leaving with. Luckily, Nick went a little overboard as well which made Emily feel less guilty.

Once they got back to the hotel, Nick confronted Emily about the purpose of their trip. She was sitting on her bed with her head phones on listening to music. It was her only escape from reality, and Nick pulled her out of it. Her legs were stretched out as she leaned against the headboard when Nick walked over and sat down next to her, slightly pushing her legs aside.

Irritated, she took her head phones off.

“What?”

He gave her a funny look, “Someone’s grouchy.”

She rolled her eyes, trying not to smile, “No, I’m not! Now what do you want.”

He considered the possibility of an argument but quickly decided the timing was bad.

“So when do you want to want to go see your parents?”

She pretended to think about it, “Ummm… Never?”

“Ha ha, that’s not an option. Try again.”

“I really don’t want to, Nick.”

“Well you have to, so pick a day.”

“How long are we staying here?” She asked curiously.

“I don’t care. How long do you want to stay?”

“We can leave now, if you want.”

“Emily…” He said slightly annoyed.

“Ugh, I don’t know. How long are we staying?”

“I really don’t care, Em. If you want to stay forever, we’ll stay forever. If you want to go back tomorrow, then we will. Whatever you want.”

“I definitely don’t want to stay in Michigan forever.”

Nick laughed at the seriousness of her statement. The moment felt so right between them, and Nick wanted nothing more than to reach up and kiss her. Using all the strength within himself, he refrained, and continued on with the conversation.

“Do you want to stay a few days just to be away? It’s totally up to you.”

“I don’t know, Nick. It’s nice to be out of Florida after everything that happened, but this wasn’t my first choice for an escape. Plus, I don’t want you spending all your money on me. You know I hate that.”

“I know you do, but like I said, it was my idea so it’s my responsibility. Since I know you won’t decide, I’ll do it for you. Why don’t we stay until Friday and we can spend the next two days just hanging out and doing whatever, then Friday we can go to your parents house. That way, no matter what happens, you won’t have to dwell one everything while you’re still here.”

“You don’t sound very confident, Nick. You’re making me worry more than before.”

He wanted to laugh at her joke, but she was right. He didn’t really expect the best outcome and he wanted to hide Emily from the pain that he knew would follow for as long as possible.

“Honestly, Em, after talking to your parents a few times, I really don’t know what to expect, but for some reason, I just don’t see them being cooperative.”

She sighed somewhat angrily, “Then why did you bring me out here?”

“Because, Emily, no matter what happens, it needs to happen. You can’t run from it.”

“What if I want to?”

“Then you’d be normal, but it doesn’t mean you’d be right.”

Feeling somber, she softly replied, “I feel like I’m losing everything.”

“I’m still here, Emily. I’ll always be here. I promise you.”

She smiled at him and felt a foreign feeling of happiness secretly sneak inside of her.