January 02, 2002 Tampa, Florida

Tina sat cross legged on the bed, watching steam pour out of the bathroom door. Her brain was completely occupied thinking about everything that could happen in a year; the year that the reporter on the television had mentioned. She figured that Nick was probably right; a judge wouldn’t put him away for a year just for being an idiot. He would probably get a fine and walk away with a slap on the wrist. The possibility was still there though and the thought frightened her. Sure he wasn’t home for the majority of the year as it was but Tina couldn’t imagine a year without Nick. It would be even harder for the kids. He would miss way too much.

She could feel her chest tightening and she inhaled deeply, letting the breath out with a whoosh of air. In an attempt to distract herself she got up off the bed and started picking up the clothes that Nick had left strewn across the floor. They were like a trail leading from the middle of the room to the bathroom where the final item, a pair of grey boxer briefs, was lying just inside the door.

After tossing the clothes in the hamper she stopped for a moment to watch him through the glass shower door. She hadn’t always loved the shower in their master bathroom, but it was part of the reason that Nick wanted to buy the house.  It was a huge double shower with heated glass floors and black slate walls. As per Nick’s special request there were surround sound speakers pumping music in from a console in the wall. Tina had initially been hesitant to use the shower because the large glass doors weren’t frosted, they were crystal clear, but eventually she had come to appreciate them. For her it meant she could still take a shower while watching Zoey in the bedroom and for Nick it meant he could get his stalker on. She chuckled to herself, thinking that she was the stalker this time.

The sound of her light laughing caught Nick’s attention and he turned quickly, surprised to see someone else in the bathroom. Reaching out he swung the shower door open, raising an eyebrow in her direction.

“What’s up?” he asked, wondering why she was just standing there staring. He had never been particularly modest, quite the opposite in fact, but he still found it unusual for her to watch him shower.

Tina shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest, “I’m just thinking about this whole situation.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he stressed to her, “I’m going to take care of it.”

She scoffed, “You mean a team of lawyers and publicists are going to take care of it, right?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, taking a moment to look her over; still in a red long sleeved shirt and black skirt from the night before, “Come here.”

Tina rolled her eyes slightly, “Why?”

“Because,” Nick answered, “You didn’t come in here to watch me in the shower because you were concerned about last night. I have a feeling you were checking me out.”

She chuckled and watched as he reached out his dripping wet hand for her to take, “You think everyone is checking you out.”

“Everyone is,” he said with a cocky smirk, giving her a full smile when she put her hand in his, “I’m pretty easy on the eyes. Or so I’ve been told...”

“Yeah, you’re both pretty and easy,” Tina nodded her head in agreement, keeping eye contact with him as she peeled off her top and he slid her skirt and panties down her legs. Once she was free of the confines of her clothes he led her by the hand into the shower and under the water’s warm spray.

“Why are you so sad?” Nick asked, tipping Tina’s head back to wet her hair. He kept his hands running over her locks, surprised to see tears pooling in her eyes. She had spent way too much time crying lately, he thought to himself.

“You know how little you ask me that?” she questioned curiously, “All I ever want is for someone to ask me how I’m feeling every once in a while but everything is always about you.”

“Would you have preferred that it was you that got arrested? That way you could be the one on television and everyone would say it was you that whipped it out in front of a crowd of people,” he teased, leaning down to kiss her cheek where a tear was burning a trail away from her eye.

Tina let out a frustrated grunt, “No, it’s not that,” she explained, “But... do you know how scary last night was for me? I know it was scary for you and I’m here for you because of that, but do you even care to know what I went through last night?”

“Tell me Baby,” he encouraged, slipping an arm around her shoulders to pull her close.

She shook slightly as she remembered the emotions that had coursed through her the night before, “I was so scared Nick. I’ve never been so scared in my life!”

She told him about how exposed she felt because of the photographer, how confused she was thinking about why anyone would care about a picture of her. It then got more serious as she described the paralyzing fear she’d experienced watching him get thrown to the ground and handcuffed by the police, and how badly she wanted to say or do something that could help him.

“All that was going through my head was that my children weren’t going to have a father and how on earth could I live a day without you. How did I get like this...why did you let me become so needy!?” Tina suddenly exclaimed without explanation, her breath hitching in her throat as she fought to stay composed.

“Whoa,” Nick held her a little bit tighter, feeling the tension in her body underneath his fingers, “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you and me,” she said, looking up at him, “How did it ever get to the point that I don’t know how to function without you? How can you stand the fact that I am so needy?”

“I don’t really think about it,” Nick said but the look on Tina’s face told him that she didn’t believe a word of it, “Okay, you want the truth? I kind of like it.”

“You like that I’m weak?” she asked sadly, staring at a spot on his chest to avoid his eyes.

Nick sighed heavily and let go of her, reaching for her body puff off one of the shower hooks. He wet it under the spray and added a dollop of her pomegranate scented body wash to it. Wordlessly, he started at her arm, slowly running the sponge over her skin.

“I don’t like that you’re weak,” he finally spoke, mentally cursing himself for how it sounded, “You’re not weak. It’s just that... I like that you need me,” he clarified, “I like it when you have to ask me for money or for things that you need for yourself or the kids. I like that I’m the bread winner. I like to think that you guys need me even when I’m not around. It makes me feel... grown up.”

Tina didn’t know how to react to what he was saying. It was completely self centered and chauvinistic for him to feel that way but she truly didn’t believe that he would understand that. He also didn’t seem to have any concept of how keeping her isolated the way he had would make her feel. It didn’t make her feel grown up, it made her feel pathetic. She didn’t stop him as he continued to make his way across her body, soaping her skin. He turned her around to run the sponge over the back of her shoulders, drawing it down the dip of her spine to her bottom, watching as the water washed the suds down her legs and to the floor.

Nick pulled her back flush against his chest, letting her feel his desire against the small of her back, “I never meant for you to feel like you were weak. I thought that I was doing what I was supposed to do. You’re the only person who doesn’t treat me like I’m some little boy. I just wanted to be enough man for you.”

Tina reached back and ran her hands down his thighs, tipping her head back to rest against his shoulder, “Nick,” she breathed as his hands made their way across the front of her hips, “You’re everything to me. That’s part of the problem.”