Chapter Fourteen
Another week went by without another phone call from Nick. Camille was starting to become restless, and rather annoyed with his lack of communication. Sick of giving in to Nick's game, she hadn't called him either. On the surface it seemed as though it was a little bit of a petty thing to do, but Camille didn't feel that way. If Nick wasn't going to take the time to check up on her, why should she be the one to give in to him?
Of course, her worries and suspicions weren't helped at all by Chris hiding Nick's phone call from her the week prior. The fact of the matter was, Nick hadn't called her since then, which had caused the bulk of Camille's worries, which had made her decide not to phone him.
“Why hasn't he called?” Camille asked in a soft voice, while holding her cell phone in her hands. She was sitting on the couch in front of the television while Chris on the other side of the room, doing homework on his computer.
He glanced at her, and for a second he felt as though he should tell her that Nick had called her, and that he just had neglected to tell her. The fact of the matter was, Chris was starting to think that Nick didn't deserve Camille. From what he could see, she was fighting for their relationship and doing everything in her power to keep things going, where as Nick didn't really seem to care at all.
“I don't know.” Chris replied, not moving from his seat in front of the computer.
Camille sighed and continued to look at her phone. Frankly, she was starting to be at her wits end with Nick. Try as she might, he didn't seem to care at all about what happened to their relationship. She didn't know what she could do anymore. For the first time, she was starting to think about ending things with him. After all, it seemed as though things were already over in his mind.
The thought of being without Nick scared her. Even though they were physically separated, they were still technically together. To not be with Nick anymore terrified her. She'd never thought that things would get to that point with him, where they couldn't continue. If she did break up with Nick things would stay the same for the time being, she still wouldn't be seeing him for a few weeks anyway. But she would no longer have their reunion to look forward to.
“What do you think I should do?” She asked, staring out the window. The sky was mostly clear, other than a few clouds scattered around.
Chris looked at her. She looked so confused and distraught. There was a lack of emotion in her voice, and she almost sounded tired. Not physically, but emotionally drained. It was as if she knew what to do, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. “Why don't you phone him?”
Camille shook her head. She'd gone over that in her head numerous times. However, it would just cause history to repeat itself. All she wanted was for Nick to put forth some effort into their relationship. That was all she'd ever wanted, really.
“Because.” She started, unsure how to explain herself. “I don't think all the onus should be on me.”
“It shouldn't.” Chris agreed. Why Nick couldn't see what he had baffled Chris. Here was a girl that was willing to do almost anything for him, with the simple stipulation that he loved her just as much as she did. It didn't make sense to Chris why Nick didn't seem to see this.
“I can't do it anymore.” Camille said, her voice shaking. “I can't deal with him anymore.”
While Camille was contemplating her relationship woes, Nick was drowning his with another shot of Jack Daniels. He wasn't sure how many he'd had, and by that point he really didn't care.
He was sick of the hot and cold vibe he was getting from Camille as of late. She'd seemed overjoyed to talk to him whenever he'd called before. Then, she'd neglected to call him back the week before. It hadn't even crossed Nick's mind that Chris may not have passed on the message. He trusted his best friend far too much for that.
He had begun to miss her terribly, but he was angered to all hell over the fact that she really didn't seem to miss him at all. She couldn't even be bothered to give him a simple call. No, she was having far too much fun for that.
That, and Nick had been ridiculously busy for the past week. In between recording, writing and going to meetings, he'd barely had time to breathe. It had made him a little jealous of Camille. He was working his ass off, and she was hanging out and having fun with her college friends back in Florida.
What made it worse, was that he was sitting alone in a bar, without an entourage of girls. He didn't want attention from them, he wanted attention from her. Had he really messed things up that much between the two of them that she didn't even care to phone him back?
Nick didn't want to blame everything on himself, but he found it somewhat difficult. All Camille had wanted from him was to fix things and make their relationship work. He'd wanted... well, he hadn't been quite sure what he'd wanted exactly. He hadn't wanted to get married, and she had. Could that have been where things started going wrong? That had been before the thought of moving had even entered his mind.
“Do you ever think about our future, Nick?” Camille asked him as the two of them sat on the beach. It was the last night of Camille's summer holiday from school. After this it would be back to basics, she'd be busy with homework and studying. Nick had planned to make the most of the evening. So, he'd taken her out to dinner and for a cliché moonlight walk on the beach.
“Hmm?” Nick said, slipping his arm around her.
Camille shrugged. “You don't ever think about that stuff? We've been going out for a year now.” She grinned, leaning over and brushing her lips against his.
“Not really...” Nick answered her honestly. He really preferred to just live in the moment instead of worrying about what was going to happen in the future. “You do?”
She nodded a little, grinning sheepishly. “I don't know. I mean, not a lot... just like... when we get married, I though we could do it on the beach, cause it's so pretty out here.”
Nick looked at her for a moment, unsure if she was serious. They'd been going out for a year, and already she was planning their wedding. More over, he didn't even want to get married to anyone. Ever. “Cam...” He started slowly, not wanting to upset her. “I don't really want to get married.”
She giggled a bit. “I didn't mean now.”
Nick sighed. “I know. I meant... ever.”
Nick put his head in his hands. He couldn't decided if his actions were justified, or if he really was being too stubborn. Either way, he felt like things between him and Camille were ruined beyond repair. The only thing that kept him going was the fact that by some miracle, things would get better once they saw each other again over the Christmas break.
