Nick shot up from the couch, his body covered in sweat and his breathing was labored. Quickly he looked around the room to see if anything seemed different. He let out a breath of releif when he realized that it had just been a dream. It had been too real this time, even more so than his past dreams were. They seemed to become more intense each time he had a new dream. Nicks breathing slowly returned to normal as he remained laying on the couch staring at the ceiling. AJ came into his mind and he reached over for the phone. He was the only one that believed Nick so he knew that he needed to talk to him now.
"Hello?" AJ answered.
"J, this is Nick," Nick replied.
"Hey Nicky," AJ greeted, "I called Natalie's last night but she wasn't home, so I'm assuming that things went well with your date."
"Yeah it went great, but that's not why I'm calling. I just had another one of those dreams man," Nick explanined, not really thinking about the night before.
"Really? What happened this time?" AJ asked.
"Dude, it was crazy. We were on a beach right and it was real nice and everything. I was talkin to her and then she started crying, that's when she told me that she was married and had a son."
"That's crazy man," AJ interupted, "where the hell are these dreams coming from?"
"I have no idea but we were talking and she was telling me that she wasn't happy with her husband but she wanted to stay with him because he was the father of her baby. I was telling her that she shouldn't be with him if she wasn't happy and she was happy with me. Then this guy just comes down, totally buggin' out cussin and shit. He was her husband obviously and he literally dragged her to his car and I didn't do anything because she was trying to hard to make him believe that she didn't know me. That's when the car went around this hill and just exploded."
"I don't know what to say Nick," AJ confessed, "I really don't know what to do about this. Just to tell you to think that they're just dreams and they aren't real."
"Come on AJ, you know as well as I do that something is going to happen. I told you about this remember?" Nick commented. AJ was silent. He really didn't know what to say to make Nick feel better.
"What can I tell you Nick? Maybe she isn't going to get hurt but maybe it's just trying to show you that something serious is going to happen."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, maybe that you're about to get into a serious relationship and you're just afraid of it," AJ thought.
"Then why would she die? This just doesn't make sence AJ. There's something more to it, I know it," Nick told him.
"Maybe, but just try and think positive okay? I really don't know what else to tell you because this is as weird to me as it is to you."
"I'm going out with her again later. Do you think I should tell her about these dreams or should I just ignore them?" Nick asked as he looked over towards the window and sighed silently.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't say anything just yet. I'd wait until things were a little more serious so that you know she won't think that you're totally nuts. 'Cause I know I thought you were crazy when you told me this shit and how long have I known you?"
"Yeah, I guess that's a good idea. I mean it's not like I'm always going to keep it from her right? I am going to tell her, just when I'm sure she won't run for the hills," Nick replied.
"Exactly. Like you said you're not keeping it secret forever and you're not lying to her so I mean I don't see any harm in not telling her right know, ya know."
"Yeah," Nick answered, "I'm gonna hang up now man. I'll talk to you later."
"Alright, c-ya, but you have to tell me about last night and tonight too since you're going out again and I don't want you to leave anything out. You hear me Carter? I'll know if you're not telling me something," AJ warned harmlessly.
"Don't worry J, I'll fill you in later alright?"
"Okay, talk to you later."
"Alright bye," Nick replied as he hung up the phone and turned to face the tv. He grabbed the remote from the table and turned on the tv. He began flipping through the channels with nothing really catching his attention. What was he going to do? These dreams were getting too intense too fast and there wasn't anything that he could do about it. They were going to keep coming until he firgured out how to stop them. That would mean finding out what caused them in the first place, which was completely unknown to Nick.
All he knew was that they started happening right before he met Natalie. They were all about her and him having to lose her. Something that scared him from the beginning because at first he had no idea who she was. Now that he knew her and cared about her, it made his fears even worse. This time he might actually have to deal with losing her. In most ways he would be able to deal with it. Like if things went sour, at least he would know that she would be safe and that was the most important thing of all.
His dreams about Natalie, unlike the one about AJ, didn't reveal any information about her. There was no way that she could be married with a child. That seemed almost impossible, just another example of Nicks imagination running wild. The wedding, he didn't know what that meant. Weddings usually mean commitment. He wasn't afraid of that, he'd commited to his career just fine. Nicks mind began to drift. He never really commited to a woman after one, who will remain nameless, broke his heart.
He took in a deep breath and continued to think about everything. Fear of commitment? Yeah right! He was willing to commit to Natalie if he had the chance to. She was a great woman, why wouldn't he want to be with her? That was just a crazy thought, there was no way that commitment was the problem. So then what was it? Only time will tell, Nick thought to himself. He just didn't want that time to come when it was too late. He wanted to be able to do something to protect her. Even give his own life.
That sounded crazy, he knew it, but he didn't care. He fell in love with that woman and that was all that he was worried about. At this point, what other people thought about him had no impact on him any more. He used to take it personally, but now, he had learned to deal with it and ignore it.
Chapter 10