Nick's hand ran across Jenna's temple, brushing into her hair and letting it slide between his fingers.  She didn't say anything as he stared deep into her eyes, their powerful blue color was even striking in the faded darkness of the room, she just stared back with the same intensity, with the same love.  He wondered what she was thinking.  Once upon a time he could have guessed, but somewhere in the year they had been apart things had changed, he hoped he'd be able to get everything back to normal, to get his life back to normal.  Perhaps even better than he had remembered it being, less mistakes, less problems.

    He traced her eyelids with his fingertips, trailing down her nose, circling her lips and coming to rest on the tiniest of dimples in her chin.  The contours of her cheek were soft and round, and he held onto them as he leaned over to kiss her lightly on the lips.    He pulled Jenna  into him, enveloping her small frame like a blanket, welcoming her warmth as they lay quietly in his bed, ready to go to sleep.

    "I'm so glad I ran into AJ when I did.  I don't know if I would've had the guts to come see you otherwise."  Jenna sighed, taking comfort in being wrapped in his arms.

    "You saw AJ when you came back?" Nick asked.  His name kept coming up in Nick's life, always involved with things AJ had no business being involved in, it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

    "Yeah, I was getting gas and he pulled up beside me.  I guess he saw me when he was driving by or something."

    "So why are you glad you ran into him?"  Nick kept his tone light, trying not to sound like he was grilling her, trying not to let her know that AJ's presence in her return bothered him.

    "Because I eventually got up the nerve to ask him about you again, and he told me you were doing good."

    "That's all."

    "No, I kind of hinted that I was wanting to fix things between us, and he said you weren't seeing anyone and that you'd probably want to get back together too."  She smiled.  Such an innocent smile, she didn't know, he thought.  "I'm glad he was right."

    "Yeah me too." He said quietly, kissing the bridge of her nose and then her lips, hoping his voice didn't sound too hollow when he said it.  She shut her eyes as his lips left hers, and Nick stirred in the bed, unable to get comfortable, unable to sleep.  "I'll be right back Jen." Nick whispered as he slid out of bed.  Although he thought she might already be asleep.  He crept from the room, shutting the door behind himself, walking downstairs and out the backdoor.  Why would AJ tell her I wasn't seeing anyone?  He thought sitting down on the back stoop. He knew I was seeing Kayla.  And why would he tell Kayla that I'd hurt her?  Even though I did, he quickly interjected.  But why would he do it?   Nick's mind ran through everything, wondering what would be different if AJ hadn't seen Jenna that day, and wondering which way he'd prefer it to be.

    "Baby what's wrong?" He heard from the open door behind him.  He turned at the sound of her voice, so sweet and melodic, and smiled when he saw her.  Of course he was glad she was here.  How could he not be?  He loved her.

    "Nothing, I couldn't sleep.  I was just getting some air." Nick stood up and cradled her in a hug.  "Let's go back to bed."

Sleep wouldn't come to him, even as he heard Jenna's breathing even out and felt her touch on his arm relax.  The two weeks since Jenna had come back had been great, they sat all day and stayed up most nights talking about everything that had happened in the year they had been apart, and those nights she ended up staying at Nick's house instead of the rented place she still had in Orlando.   The drive being too long and un-needed when he knew she'd be back with him the first chance they had.   He had missed her almost more than he thought he had, small things had faded from his memory, like her laugh, her touch and the smell of her hair.  Nick nuzzled closer burying his nose into the silky strands, breathing in the fruity scent, closing his eyes with the aroma surrounding him.   Still the only thoughts that ran through his mind were questions about what exactly AJ's motives had been in telling Jenna that he was single.  Somehow, Nick didn't think the answer had anything to do with good intentions.

He hadn't  seen or heard from Kayla since the day she sped out of his driveway like a bat out of hell, he had simply come home one day to find everything that belonged to her in the house was gone, and her keys to the house were sitting on the kitchen counter.  His heart had dropped when he saw them there, as much as he was glad to have Jenna back, he missed Kayla.  As a friend,  his mind was quick to add.

    Nick sighed as he glanced at the red digital numbers on the alarm clock.

4:05 am

    He hadn't slept a moment all night, he hadn't even felt the numb tingling of near sleep.  He just lay face up on the bed, listening to Jenna's breathing and willing himself to stop thinking so much and just go to sleep.  Finally he could take no more and went downstairs, careful not to wake her up.    He plopped down on the couch and turned on the television, watching the Law & Order marathon on A&E, something that usually lulled him to sleep only to frustratingly miss the end of the show, but tonight he not only saw the end of the show, but the end of two more before finally drifting into a restless half-sleep.

        Kayla sighed as she shut off the television.  A person could only take so much Law & Order before you either wanted to be a cop, a lawyer, or you wanted to avoid them both at all costs.    She had woken up in the middle of the night, another nightmare to add to the growing list of bad dreams she had been having.  Kayla yawned as she curled up on the couch, trying to fall back asleep despite the sun that had begun to shine in the window, and despite the annoying snoring that came from the room down the hall.
 

        She was walking up the winding stairs again, beautiful candles lit in the windows and elegant portraits of kings and queens hung on the brick walls that surrounded her.  She climbed and she climbed, fixating on the door she was trying to get to, she knew she had to reach the door, that something was beyond it.  Sometimes she climbed forever, never reaching it.  But this time was different.  Kayla reached  the door and turned the knob to open it, but it was locked.  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a key, trying it in the keyhole and successfully unlocking it.  Bright light shone on her as she emerged from the confines of the building, a warm smile spreading across her face.  But as she glanced at the surroundings, things weren't right.  She looked around herself, the door she came from was gone and she stood on the peak of the building, teetering and balancing on its sharp point.  Kayla looked around for help, but beyond the building she stood on was a hazy blurry world, like she were looking through glass.    Her balance was faltering, she tried to stay still and not move, but it was af if everything was being shaken and she slipped from her precarious perch a top the building.    She fell from the roof, no yells or screams escaping her mouth, although she tried.  She watched as the ground came closer and closer, but before she hit she felt her body splash into water.  Water that was rising up the side of the building she had once walked in, extinguishing the candles that sat on the window sill.    She rose past the peak she had fallen from, higher and higher until her hands hit an invisible barrier.  But the water didn't stop, it rose higher and higher until it covered her completely, her lungs burning with a need for oxygen, her fists trying to break through the one thing that prevented her from living.
 

Kayla jolted awake taking a huge breath of air, afraid she wouldn't be able to, afraid that all she'd get was a mouthful of water.  Like all the other times she'd been awakened by the same frightening dream.  The dream where she was stuck inside the water globe she had smashed to the floor a couple of weeks ago.

    "Another nightmare?" Kayla jumped again at the sound of the voice that talked to her from across the room.

    "Huh?" Kayla mumbled as she sat up from the couch.  "No, just couldn't sleep."

    "Sure."  She could smell the pungent aroma of the coffee he was brewing in his kitchen.  Making her wish she drank it.

    "Why are you up so early?"

    "Meeting."  He said, sitting down on the couch next to her, stirring his usual four spoonfuls of sugar into the black pool of liquid.  "So what was the dream about?"

    "I told you I didn't have a nightmare." Kayla said, stretching her arms over her head.

    "Was he in it?"

    "Give it up." She sighed.

    "I'd love to kick that guy's ass from here to Canada." He seethed.

    "Don't get involved, it's done, it's over with.  Don't dwell on it, cause I'm not!" Kayla said with a bite in her tone.

    "Your nightmares tell me otherwise."

    "Maybe the nightmares are from staying here with you.  Ever think of that?"

    "I thought you weren't having nightmares."

    "Just go to your meeting." Kayla said with annoyance, pushing him off the couch.  "Your snoring makes it hard for me to sleep, maybe with you gone I'll get some."

    "Hey, I'm the one being nice, letting you stay here, letting you eat my food.  The least you can do is tolerate a little snoring."

    "Bye!" She said with an frustrated wave of her hand, as he walked out the door, leaving her to dwell on her problems.

She'd been having the nightmares ever since she went over to Nick's and taken all her stuff from his house.  All the work she had left there, the small amount of clothes she kept stashed in one of his drawers, her toothbrush.  She knew he wouldn't be home, AJ had tipped her off that they'd be in Orlando for the day, and she was glad she didn't have to see him.  Just seeing Jenna's things in the house was enough to make her stomach queasy, imagining them together made her want to rip it out completely.

Kayla lingered in his house probably longer than she should have, looking at things, remembering the time she spent here, as an employee and as a lover.  She knew he wouldn't mind, but she knew she shouldn't have been there at all.   As she picked up the remnants of the paperwork she had left near his computer, she picked up the cd that sat on top of a pile of old magazines.  It was marked "for her" and curiosity got the best of her, she just wanted to hear what he had recorded, one of the things she missed most about not being around.  Kayla quickly loaded it into the cd-rom drive on the computer.  She sat down in the comfortable leather chair, bringing her hand to her mouth as the sad notes of a piano echoed into the room.

    "...I watch the sunset, while you watch it rise.  Flame-colored tear drops burn in my eyes, as you find another day, thousands of miles away.  One more night finds me alone..."

She ejected the cd after listening to a few lines, returning it to it's place.  The song he sent me from Europe, she thought as he sung the words she had already ingrained in her mind.   The annoying ball of hurt rose in her throat.   Kayla picked up her things and bolted from the house, leaving her keys on the counter, she didn't intend on ever returning.
 
 

Chapter 12

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