Chapter Eleven

 
 
 
 
 
 

        Annie was sitting on the edge of her bed when she heard a knock on the door.  She got up to answer it and started crying again when she saw who was there.

    “Annie, what’s wrong?” said Nick as he pulled her in close for a hug.  Annie just kept sobbing as Nick held her and rubbed her back.

    “Annie, are you okay?” he asked concerned.

    “Ni-Ni-Nick,” Annie stuttered, “I can’t stay here anymore,” she sobbed.

    “Come  with me.” Nick stated.  Annie stopped crying and looked up at Nick.

    “Your family wouldn’t want me there,” she said sadly.  Nick rolled his eyes and said,

    “Annie, my family loves everyone.  They’d kill me if they found out I came all the way over here and left you here to cry in your bedroom on CHRISTMAS!”  Annie hugged Nick again and let out another sob.

    “Shh, shh, shh,” whispered Nick.

    “I want to go Nick” gasped Annie.  Nick pulled out of the hug and looked at Annie and smiled,

    “Well, then okay Whitten, let’s go!” He grabbed her hand and led her out of her room.  Annie walked past her mother and said,

    “I’ll be back later,” and before her mom could say anything she closed the door and climbed into Nick’s Durango.

    “Come on, would you hurry up already?” demanded Nick.

    “What if they don’t want me here Nick?  And, I look horrible, maybe I should just go back home Nick,” said Annie worriedly.  Nick looked at Annie, and grabbed her hand,

    “C’mon,” he said.  He drug her into his house where they were both greeted with hello’s and hugs.

    “Mom and Dad, this is Annie.  Annie, this is my mom and dad.” Annie smiled.  Mrs. Carter took one look at Annie and knew she had been through a lot that day.

    “Hi Annie, nice to meet you.  We’ve heard a lot about you,” she said and gave Annie a hug.  Her eyes began to tear up, but she didn’t cry.

    “Thanks Mrs. Carter.  Thank you all for having me,” Annie said quietly.

    “It’s no problem sweetie,” said Mr. Carter.  Annie smiled and looked at Nick.  He looked at Annie and just raised his eyebrows like I TOLD YOU SO and grabbed Annie’s hand and walked into the kitchen.

    “Smells great, Mom!” he bellowed.  Nick pointed to a seat at the table,

    “Right next to me and in next to Aaron,” he whispered.  Annie smiled at him and went to sit down when she thought she should lend a hand,

    “Oh, do you need any help?” Mrs. Carter looked at her and said,

    “No dear, just sit down and relax.”  Nick smiled at his mom as he grabbed two cokes from the refrigerator and walked back to the dinner table.

    “Here ya go Ann!” Nick said as he plopped down one of the cokes in front of Annie.  She smiled at him and said thank you.  The Carter’s all gathered around the table and random Wows and I’m starving’s were said at the table.  They all stood up and joined hands and said their grace.  After that, dinner began with Mr. Carter saying,

    “Let’s eat!” as they all plopped happily into their seats for the feast that awaited them.
 

         Annie and Nick were sitting in the rec room downstairs after dinner and playing a rousing game of  Mario Kart.

    “Damn, I’m full,” whimpered Nick.

    “Yeah, well, if you hadn’t dared Aaron to a mashed potato eating contest, you’d be fine,” stated Annie.  Nick was suffering, and she enjoyed that in only the way a friend can enjoy it.  Nick glared at her; Annie looked at him and just laughed.

    “Ain’t my fault Carter!” she smiled and went back to playing her game.  Annie was feeling better than she had been this morning.  She smiled at the memory of her answering the door and seeing Nick standing there and him just hugging her.

    “Thank you for today Nick,” she said.  “It was the best Christmas present ever,” Annie smiled.  Nick looked at her and said,

    “It’s what a friend would do.  C’mon, wouldn’t Brooke have done it?” he asked.  Annie smiled at the thought of Brooke.

    “Yeah, she would have done it.  I’m gonna have to tell her about what you did.  She’ll love you forever,” Annie grinned.

    “Of course she will Annie, it’s cuz I’m so loveable!” smirked Nick.  Annie just looked at him and rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help but laugh at Nick.

    “You are the biggest dork ever Nick,” she said as she playfully punched his arm.

    “Yeah, I know, but you love it!” he smirked again.

    “Oh shit, I almost forgot,” said Nick as he jumped up.

    “What?” asked Annie.

    “I have your present!” Nick said excitedly.  Annie put pause on the game and clapped her hands excitedly.  She loved presents and even though they weren’t supposed to get each other anything, they had both broken the promise.

    “Here ya go,” said Nick as he threw the present at Annie.

    “Thanks, kill me with Christmas presents why dontcha, Nick?” laughed Annie.

    “Open it, I hope you like it,” Nick said excitedly.  Annie ripped open the wrapping paper and it revealed the most beautiful leather journal she had ever seen.

    “Oh Nick,” she said.  Nick’s eyes lit up as he watched Annie rub her hands over the smooth leather.  It felt cold to the touch.  Annie’s eyes teared up,

    “This is so beautiful.  How did you know I loved journals?” she asked.

    “Well, I know how much you like to write and how you said you weren't good at expressing yourself out loud.  I figured this way you could do both things at the same time.  And, look, on the bottom of the journal, I had your name embossed,” said Nick.

    “Annie Whitten,” Annie said out loud.  She opened the journal and fanned through the pages.  The pages were a cream color and were a fairly thick brand.

“I love it Nick, thank you so much,” she said as she reached out and grabbed Nick for a hug.

“I’m glad you like it,” he said.

“I don’t just like it, I love it Carter!” Annie said.  Nick laughed a little and Annie whispered in his ear,“Thank you so much, thank you so much.” She held her journal close and held Nick even closer.
 

Later, Annie kept flipping through the pages of the journal.  She loved it so much.

    “Nick, I really love this.  Writing is so important to me.  I can even write letters to Brooke in here, thank you so much,” Annie said as she grabbed Nick for another hug.  Nick returned the hug and smiled at Annie.

    “You seem to be a lot happier then you were this morning.  Are you feeling better?”  Annie looked down at her journal, she sort of wished he hadn’t brought up this morning.

    “Um, yeah, I feel better,” she said hesitantly.

    “What was the fight about anyway, Annie?” Nick asked concerned.

    “It was nothing."  She could feel tears welling up in her eyes,   "Just my mother harping on me as usual.  You know, same old, same old,” she said rather unconvincingly.  Nick just looked at Annie.  He knew she wanted him to drop the subject, but he felt if he didn’t ask her now, he never would.

    “Annie, what happened that made you so hysterical?”

    “Nick, please, let’s drop it.  It’s just my mom being my mom, that’s all,” she said and looked long and hard at Nick.  Nick bit his lip and took a deep breath,

    “Annie, c’mon, you were upset this morning, and as your friend I deserve to know why,” he hurriedly rushed out.  Annie just stared at Nick.  She knew he deserved to know something and there was no way to get out of her behavior this morning.  Annie really didn’t want to tell Nick, but she knew she had to give him some information.  She took a deep breath and looked at Nick when tears began pricking the corners of her eyes.  Annie opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.  She could feel the hot tears running down her face and she had no control over them.  Nick looked stunned,

    “Oh Annie, I didn’t…I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said concerned.  Nick had been sitting across from her on the footstool of a chair, but he got of the stool and walked over to Annie on his knees.  He pulled Annie into a hug so big and warm it made Annie cry even more.  She knew he cared about her, and she hadn’t felt that in so long.

    “Shh, shh, shh,” Nick whispered.  He was running his hands through Annie’s long hair, and gently comforting her.  Annie needed to tell Nick what happened this morning.  She pulled out the hug and said,

    “The fight with me and my mom was about me and my ex-boyfriend.”  Nick just looked at Annie.  She had never mentioned him before.  Annie began crying again, but still she had more to tell him.

    “My mom really liked Paul.  Actually, everyone in my family did,” she said between gasps for breath.  Her lip trembled and tears still rolled down her cheeks.

    “We met a few years ago at summer camp, it’s the place where I met Brooke.  We dated for a while and everything was going great, we got along really well.  I was so in love with him.  And then one day…” she broke off and started crying uncontrollably.  Nick just grabbed her and hugged her.  He knew what she was thinking, it was only obvious.  Nick hugged Annie tighter and whispered into her ear,

    “He hurt you, didn’t he?”  Annie just cried harder and gave Nick the answer he didn’t want to hear.  He closed his eyes and held onto Annie.

    “Why is your mom fighting with you about him if he hurt you?” Nick asked angrily.

    “My-my-parents don’t…” Annie broke off.

    “They don’t know? They don’t know what he did to you?” Nick asked surprised, although he didn't actually know what had been done to her.  Annie put her arms around Nick’s neck and sobbed.  She hadn’t let any of her pain out to anyone else but Brooke, she was sure she could trust Nick, but she was still scared of what he would think of her.

    “Nick,” she said, “I’m sorry…” as she gasped.  She rested her head in the crook of his neck and shoulder.  Her tears were soaking his t-shirt, but he didn’t seem to mind.

    “Shh, don’t apologize.  Why are you apologizing to me Annie?” Nick asked.  He rubbed her back to comfort her.

    “I-I-I should,” she gasped, “I should have told you sooner.  I just didn’t know how to say it, or what you would…” Annie buried her head in Nick’s chest.

    “Annie, you would have told me when you were ready. I know that.  And, if you were concerned as to what I would think, don’t be.  I would never think any different of you,” he said.

Nick’s eyes were starting to burn and he could feel tears forming in the corner of his eyes.   At that second, Nick was filled with an intense burning and desire to do something.  Here was one of his best friends, crying her eyes out and confiding in him.  He wanted to comfort her and to tell her she would be okay.  Nick pulled out of the hug and stared at Annie.   He brushed some tearsoaked hair out of Annie’s eyes, and smiled at her a little.  Nick kept one hand on Annie’s cheek, and stroked it gently with his thumb.  ‘Do it Nick! KISS HER, or you never will!’ his brain urged.  Nick’s heart started to beat hard and fast and his breathing became shallow.   He licked his lips in anticipation and went in for the kiss, planting his lips on Annie’s.  Hers were so soft, and his lips felt so right touching her lips.  He opened his mouth a little and Annie welcomed it, and opened her mouth a little as well.  God, her lips are so soft, and her breath is sweet, Nick thought.  He kept giving Annie little soft kisses and Annie returned them, as he brought one hand to Annie’s face and felt her tears.  He began to wipe them away with his thumb, bringing his other hand to the other side of her face to wipe those tears away also. Nick broke away from the kiss and moved to her cheeks, he began to kiss the tears away from her eyes as they fell.  He kissed them softly away and moved back to her mouth, eventually pulling away from the kiss and resting his forehead on Annie’s.  They both had their eyes closed, but Nick knew Annie was still crying.  He brought his hands to her face and again began wiping away her tears.

“Shh, shh….”he whispered.

Oh God, his lips are so soft, and he’s so gentle so sweet, thought Annie in mid-kiss.  She had been taken off-guard when Nick started kissing her but made no attempt to stop him.  His hands felt so right on her face and his lips felt so right on her lips.  She hadn’t felt any sort of sensation like this in over a year, and it made her feel so good.  Annie’s heart was racing while he touched her face and kissed away her tears.  Don’t let this moment end, she thought.  All of Annie’s pain was being washed away by this magical moment.  She had never thought of Nick like this before, but the more he kissed her, the more she wanted it.  Annie kept crying, but she didn’t know why.  Maybe it was because of what she had told Nick.  Maybe it was because she felt free for the first time in a long time.  Maybe it was because a guy, someone she trusted immensely, was making her feel so amazing.  It could have been because she hadn’t felt this amazing of a kiss in such a long time, if ever, and she was just overjoyed.  Whatever it was, Annie was never going to forget this.  When Nick broke away from the kiss and they had their foreheads together, Annie was still crying.  As he wiped away her tears, Annie whispered,

“Thank you,” and sighed deeply.  She put her arms around Nick’s neck and remained in that position, just enjoying being in the moment with him.
 

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Chapter Twelve
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