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The Next Day

Maddy's View

"Thanks for meeting me here 'Tima," I said as I gave Fatima a warm hug.

"No problem girl, what's up?" she asked sitting down on the sidewalk. I sat down next to her and looked out at the park before us. We were about a mile from the apartment.

"Sorry we couldn't meet at the apartment, Brian slept over last night," I explained. She nodded and smiled, "He really likes Nicole."

I nodded my head and said, "I know, it's really obvious. How long has it been?"

"Few weeks I'd say," she shrugged.

"That long?" I asked astonished.

"Yup," she nodded, then she grinned. "Apparently you haven't been watching that well."

"I guess I haven't if he's known he's loved her for that long," I said frowning.

"What's up with the frown?" she asked. I looked over at her as if she were stupid, "Aren't you worried?"

"Nah," she shook her head.

"Then apparently you haven't been watching that closely either," I said.

"Why would you say that?"

"Fatima, you know damn well what's happening. Nicole broke the biggest rule and she doesn't even realize it!"

Fatima looked down and said, "Maybe it was supposed to happen."

I looked at her, "Was it?"

She shrugged and said, "I've been hearing things."

"What sort of things?" I asked curiously.

"Bill's really the one that's been saying the stuff," she said.

"About Nicole?"

She nodded and said, "He knows her best. He's looked after her for how long? He's bound to hear everything from Him first or from the council. He won't say straight up what's going on. I was just up there a couple days ago visiting, seeing what's up and all that, and I ran into him. He was so excited about something. I just figured it was because Nicole succeeded with Brian, but it wasn't that. He wouldn't tell me what it was but I knew, I sensed, that it was something really important."

"What did he tell you?" I asked eager to hear what she had to say.

"That something exciting was going to happen, something that hasn't happened in over a thousand years," she said. I stared at her intently. What could be so exciting that hasn't happened in over a thousand years?

"And it deals with Nicole?"

She nodded and said, "I think so. Even though Bill was excited, I could see in his eyes that he was upset."

"Upset?" I asked a little surprised. "Bill has never been upset."

"Nicole's like his daughter Maddy," she said.

"I know 'Tima, but...gosh I want to know what's going on. I'm worrying my head off at what's going to happen to Nicole."

"We all are, but Bill doesn't seem that worried about it, he's rather excited."

I nodded, "Did you watch what happened last night?"

"Yep."

"With what Brian said and everything?"

She nodded.

"Do you think we should have told Nicole that Brian really didn't love Leighanne?" I asked. Fatima looked down at the grass thinking and then shook her head, "Nah, I don't think we should have."

"We lied to her though," I said starting to frown.

"No, we didn't," she shook her head. "We told her what she needed to know to get the job done. If she knew that he didn't love Leigh it would have affected her performance."

"Brian affected her performance," I mumbled. Fatima put her arm around me and squeezed, "Try not to worry about it. Nicole is a good girl, everyone knows it, including Him. Do you honestly believe he'll send Nicole..."

"No!" I interrupted startled.

"Times have changed Maddy. We shouldn't worry right now. Nicole doesn't even know his feelings for her, let alone hers for him," she said.

"Should we tell her?"

She shook her head and opened her mouth to speak when she suddenly stopped. I heard what she heard too and sighed loudly.

"Group meeting," we both mumbled at the same time. We smiled at each other and then got up.

Brian's View

"I'm going to miss you Nicole," I said as I sat down at the edge of her bed. She came over and sat on my lap, kissing my cheek. She frowned and said softly, "I'm going to miss you too."

"I wish you didn't have to leave. It's so stupid why you do," I said sadly. She ran her hand down my cheek and said, "I know, but I have to, I have no other choice."

"But you do Nicole. You're an adult, you can live here. You could get your own place," I said looking up at her. She frowned and looked away from me, "I wish it were that simple."

"It is that simple Nicole," I said taking my hand and gently making her look at me. She shook her head, "No Brian, it's not."

"Is this something else I wouldn't understand?" I asked quietly. She stared at me and slowly nodded, "I'm sorry."

I looked down, "I wish you'd give me a chance to understand."

She tilted her head and made me look up at her. She was smiling at me lightly. She leaned in, brushed her lips up against mine and then whispered in my ear, "Just smile."

I smiled slightly and said, "I forgot to give you something."

She got up from my lap so I could get up. I went across the room to my jacket and pulled a couple white roses out of my coat pocket. I turned around and saw her smiling at me.

"This one is for last night and this one is for today," I smiled handing them to her. She took them and smelled them. She didn't say anything.

"Nicole, are you OK?" I asked kneeling down in front of her. She put the roses to the side and shut her eyes tight, afterwards looking up at me. Her eyes were a little red, like she wanted to cry. She flung her arms around my neck, making me fall back on my butt. I was caught off guard but relaxed, wrapping my arms tightly around her.

"Nicole I lov..." I began.

"I don't want to leave," she interrupted, shaking her head. "I really don't want to leave."

"Then don't," I said softly. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. I knew what she was thinking. She just wanted me to sit there with my arms wrapped around her, holding her to me close. That's all she wanted at that moment. It's all I wanted too.

Madeline's View

"Hey Bill," I greeted Bill as he came over to me with a big smile on his face.

"Hey Maddy, how's it going?" he asked hugging me tightly.

"OK I guess, pretty worried about Nicole," I admitted. His eyes furrowed and he said, "Why in the world would you be worried about my girl?"

"You've heard haven't you? 'Tima says you have..."

He rolled his eyes and said, "All of you are making this too big of a deal."

"But it is a big deal!" I burst. "I can't believe you're so calm about this! She's like your daughter and you're just sitting back having the time of your life as you see her fade like that!"

"Maddy," he said wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "No worries OK? If I thought she was in jeopardy, you know, as well as everyone here, that I'd be running around frantic. I don't want anything bad happening to her. I've seen what's been going on, and I've spoken to Him and things are OK."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Of course, but I do need to talk to Nicole as soon as possible," he said. I nodded and said, "All right, I can arrange that."

"You better," he grinned.

"You're upset," I said as I looked into his eyes.

"You're one of those eh?" he asked looking away from my eyes.

"Most girls are..." I said.

"It's great that you guys have that but it really sucks for us men," he smiled meekly.

"Why are you upset?" I asked, ignoring what he was saying. He sighed and said, "I'm losing my girl Maddy."

"What do you mean Bill? You said that she was going to be fine," I said confused.

"It's not in the way you're thinking," he said. "I'm just...I love that girl very much. She's like my daughter. I've raised her since she's come here and I can't bare seeing her go."

"Go? Bill..."

He shook his head and smiled lightly at me, "No more questions. You go back and tell Nicole her Papa's coming."

I stared at him for a couple more minutes and then said, "All right, thanks for having that meeting. It cleared a lot of things up. Just not as much as I hoped. You did a very good job at confusing me even more."

He chuckled and said, "That was my pleasure. It's not like I was about to tell you everything in there, not everyone should know about it. They should just know the basics of what's happening. Nicole will find out soon enough, well, tomorrow night to be exact. I expect her to panic but things will turn out OK."

"Wait...panic? What's going to happen?" I asked quickly.

"Go home Maddy," he smiled and turned to walk away.

"Bill! Come on!" I yelled after him. He waved back at me and said, "Remember to tell my girl I'm coming."

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. I smiled at a couple of people that passed by me as they walked out of the meeting and then wiped the smile off my face quickly once they passed. I turned on my heal and started back confused at what Bill had just told me. He knows best at what's going on, so if he says things will be OK, I guess it will be.