| Karen stormed down the steps of the back porch into the pouring rain, not caring how wet she got. Despite the rain, the July day had been perfect; weather in the mid 80's, and the sky had been cloudless all day. Until an hour prior, right before Nick started talking about the girl he had met in Forrest Run. Ignoring the rain, she dug around in her shoulder bag for her car keys, fighting back tears as the screen door slammed open behind her. She closed her eyes tightly, willing him to just let her leave, for him to just go back inside the apartment and let her go without another emotional fight. But that was always too easy for him. And he never took the easy way out of anything, if he could help it. "Karen, wait." His voice had taken on a needy tone. Karen opened her eyes. She spun around, trying to control her emotions, willing the tears not to fall by biting on her bottom lip. She took a deep breath before speaking, trying to calm herself down. "Nick, I'm tired of this." As hard as she tried to control herself, the tears began to fall anyway. They mixed with the rain, preventing Nick from seeing that she was crying. "Baby, please, can't I just explain-" "I think you've explained enough," Karen said coldly, turning back to the car and continuing to dig in her purse. "You don't care about me nearly as much as I care about you, but that's going to change." Karen heard Nick sigh over the tapping of the rain on the Sebring's winshield. "I missed you." Karen ceased all movement when Nick muttered those three words. He had never actually said that he missed her before, all the times he was away, he had never said he missed her. They had been through dozens upon dozens of fights and had broken everything off dozens of times... But they always managed to get back together when he came home. Always managed to end up in bed together despite efforts to make each other jealous. It never failed. She turned back toward Nick slowly, hoping he wasn't really there and that her ears were playing tricks on her. But there he stood, his hands at his sides, rain dripping from his nose, his hair matted to his head. She stood there staring at him for what seemed like hours, but was only moments. "Why are you doing this to me?" she asked, trying to keep the tears out of her voice. It was hard enough keeping them from falling. His expression changed. He now appeared confused. "What are you talking about?" he asked. He sounded as if he should've been scratching his head. "Haven't you forgotten why you broke it off last time?" Karen asked incrediously, trying not to laugh at his stupidity. "Because I was starting to have feelings, remember? But now you're saying that you missed me; what exactly did you miss, anyway? Did you actually miss me..." Karen paused and closed her eyes tightly. "Or did you miss getting laid?" Nick's face fell. He hesitated slightly before taking a step toward her. She opened her eyes, and when she didn't move, he kept walking until he was standing directly in front of her. "I missed you," he said purposefully. "I didn't miss getting laid, I missed being with you. I missed hugging you, holding you, kissing you... Life without you has been hell. And I know I don't act like it sometimes, but I do miss you when you're not with me. That scares me, a whole lot." Karen was now crying freely. She could barely comprehend what Nick was saying to her, this was not the same man that had been talking about the girl in Forest Run. "It scares me too. Nicky, I can't stand this anymore. If you wanna be friends with benefits and nothing more, I don't think I'm gonna be able to stand it. I can't deal with you being with other girls anymore, not like I used to... I thought I got used to it, but I didn't. It's hard now, I don't know if I can stand to watch you with anyone else when I keep thinking, 'He used to be that way with me.' " Karen stopped babbling for a moment and looked into Nick's eyes. "I'm sorry I have to quote O-Town, but I want it all or nothing at all. I can't stand this anymore." Nick swallowed hard before answering. "Karen, I love you." The tears fell more rapidly at this point. "Please tell me you're not just saying that to get me in bed again." "I'm not. I love you. It's never been so easy for me to say before... You're everything to me, if I lose you now, if I let you drive away and never see me again... Then I will never forgive myself. Karen, please don't leave me." Karen glanced at the car and Nick's open hand, waiting to take her back inside the apartment. It only took a moment for her to make up her mind. She put her hand in his and let him lead her back into the apartment, where she was sure she belonged. |
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