“Hello?” He answered on the third ring. Just hearing his voice made my face light up.
“Hey,” I smiled and bit my bottom lip. I wanted to see if he recognized my voice.
“Rach! How are you? Are you okay?” Nick asked and I smiled. He sounded so concerned and so kind.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I sighed. “My mom didn’t take the news too well, but that was to be expected. Right now I’m at a hotel with my brother. We’re going to finish up some things around town and head back to New York in a few days.”
“Well, I’m sorry about your mom,” he sighed. “I feel bad about it.”
“Don’t! Please, don’t. I don’t need both of us all worried about it,” I sighed. “I just needed to hear your voice. I miss you so much, which is weird, considering we just spent so many years apart.”
“I know what you mean,” he laughed. “Brian’s about to strangle me. All I can talk about is you. Hell, even Baylee knows who you are and exactly what you look like.” I had to laugh. He was so cute.
“Well, thank you,” I smiled. “I didn’t tell my mom about us…although I’m pretty sure she has an idea.”
“I figured she would,” he laughed. “But seriously, don’t worry about it. She can’t tell you who to be with. You’re so much better than her, anyway.” He tried to boost my confidence a bit.
“Thanks, Nicky,” I immediately went to slap myself. I only called him that when we were together.
“I missed that,” he said, barely above a whisper. “Surprisingly.” He laughed lightly.
“I’m sorry, I mean, I know…” I stopped talking as I realized what he had said. “You missed that?” I frowned.
“Coming from you? Yes,” he said. “I’ve missed everything about us, Rach. The way we used to curl up on the floor, me resting back on the couch and you leaning up against me. I miss the way we would lie awake in bed at night whenever we weren’t at your place and we would talk about the future – how we wanted to get married and the number of kids we wanted to have.”
“I-I know,” I whispered and looked around the hotel room, big tears in my eyes. “I miss it too.”
“I just want to be with you, Nick,” I sighed. I felt relieved after I said it, even if it sounded somewhat cliché or corny. I bit my bottom lip to try and shove the tears back. “But I can’t.” I whispered.
“Please don’t cry,” he said. I couldn’t get over the fact that he knew me that well to pinpoint my exact feelings and emotions. “I hate it when you cry.”
“I can’t help it!” I exclaimed as I wiped away the tears hastily. “I miss you! I need to be with you, but I can’t! When I get back to New York you’re going to be heading back into the studio and then going on tour, and we’ll never get to see each other and our relationship will die.”
“Only if we kill it,” he shot back. “You have to give it a chance, Rachel. You have to open up to me again.”
“You don’t think I’ve opened up to you?” I exclaimed. My tears of sadness and hurt had turned into tears of pain. I couldn’t believe him. He was asking me to open up to him and I thought I had over the past few weeks. “Nick, I left my fucking fiancé for you!” I yelled. “I told you how I felt! Am I supposed to just tell you I love you a day after I broke off my engagement?”
“Rach, I didn’t mean it like that…” he trailed off.
I took in a deep breath and realized I was just mad because of everything that was happening. It wasn’t at Nick, directly. It was the entire situation. I just wanted to be with him without the added on stress. “I’m sorry, I’m just upset right now.”
“I know,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, too.”
“I’ll see you sometime next week, okay?” I rubbed my temples and looked up at Brad. He had, obviously, heard the yelling and come in to see if everything was okay.
“Okay,” Nick agreed. “Oh, and Rachel?”
“Yeah?” I muttered.
“You don’t have to say anything back, but I want you to understand that I couldn’t be happier knowing that you’re coming home to me,” he said. “And I want you to know that my feelings for you have never gone away. I love you.”
“Thanks, Nick,” I smiled. I knew it wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but I wasn’t willing to give that to him just yet. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye,” he sighed.
“Bye,” I smiled weakly and hung up. I immediately put my head in my hands and let more tears fall. Brad hugged me tightly and whispered encouraging words in my ear.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Unfortunately, this isn't too happy of a chapter...but the next one is! So review! LOL. Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter! I'm glad you guys are enjoying it!
