Please Leslie, help him get through this.
Let him help you through this. You need
him, and he needs you too.
Once again, Leslie was scared. She thought she'd gotten past it. She'd been asleep for the past six hours before waking up with a splitting headache; she'd taken a long, hot shower and made a short trip to the caf� downstairs.
As she walked back into her room, her slight daze had been broken as her eyes caught sight of a blood red rose and a note sitting on her bed. Her body immediately froze with fear and she stared at the single rose for what seemed like hours, hoping it was all in her imagination.
Finally picking the note up, she read those exact words: "help him�" She knew who "him" was - Nick - but how could she take care of him when she was having a hard time keeping herself sane?
*
�She left. Why did she leave so soon? I don't even know how to find her�
Nick was confused. None of the guys could help him, and the only person who could get through to him disappeared as soon as she had appeared. It was as if she were sent to help him, but then he let her slip through his fingers.
His head was a jumble of thoughts that didn't make sense, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't fall asleep.
So he continued to lay in the darkness, when suddenly he could only think of one thing.
�I have to find her again�
~
"I'm worried about him. I don't like that chick, Angel or whatever. For all we know, she's a stalker or something!" A.J. yelled out.
"Yo, man, calm down! She seems nice enough, but we're not going to know what she's like until enough time has passed and everything calms down. We don't even know if we'll see her again," Kevin said.
"She looks like she can help Nick get through this. He did just lose his best friend. She could be good for him," Howie quietly said, praying the subject would be dropped.
"D! I can't believe you man! We don't know this fuckin' chick! How can you say she'd be good for him?" A.J. screamed.
"Would you two shut up? My cousin just died! Who gives a fuck about Nick or this girl??" Kevin said just as loudly.
"Guys, I think we should all go to bed and get some rest. Today was a hard day, and we're all stressed," Howie, ever the peacemaker, reasoned.
As Kevin and Howie left A.J.'s room, he muttered, "I still don't like her."
*
Nick woke up with a start, cold sweat running down his face. His dream had been so real. He could still feel the touch of her skin as if it had all been real.
After making up his mind to search for "his Angel," as he had begun to think of her, Nick had fallen into a deep sleep with a bit of contentment for the first time in years.
It had started out normal, him at home in Tampa watching a basketball game on TV. Suddenly, Angel appeared before him, and slowly brushed his lips with her own. The moment began to heat up, but abruptly Angel pulled away.
He had looked around to find himself no longer at home, but at a church. Not the one in Kentucky, but his own church back in Florida. Looking at the people surrounding him, he saw many weeping friends, family, and co-workers. Expecting to turn and see Brian's still form lying in the casket, he was shocked to see two caskets, side by side. Angel reached for his hand and slowly pulled him towards them, a huge smile on her face, which instantly enchanted him.
As he looked down, a sorrowful sight met him. Lying before him were two bodies, one Angel's, the other his own. Looking up, his eyes met with his beloved best friend, who said, "Together again."
~
One floor below, Leslie was pacing through her small room, trying to calm herself from the nightmare she'd woken from. She hadn't even known she'd fallen asleep, and that dream� it had seemed so real!
Nick had been in it. She had been in Florida, kissing his sweet lips and then the next thing she knew, they were standing in a church with a sea of unknown faces surrounding them, very much like the funeral she'd just come from. When she had turned towards Nick, he had a smile on his face that was almost demonic. Facing the front of the church, she saw two coffins, wide open. Behind them, she saw Brian, who motioned towards the coffins, as if telling them to look.
She had, and what she saw petrified her. Lying before her were the bodies of both Nick and herself.
"Together again," Brian said, with a smile that matched Nick's.
*
Nick had an urge to go play basketball. He knew it would help clear his head, as it always did, but as he started taking shots, he thought of Brian. Many times they had snuck out of their rooms for a game of basketball, sometimes during the day, many more times at two or three in the morning.
"I miss you Rok. I can't believe you're not down here with us anymore," Nick said to the walls of the empty gym.
He remembered the conversations he and Brian had been having before he had gotten sick. Nick was tired of not having anyone to hold onto or love, and Bri always would tell him that the right girl would come and he would always be willing to help him find her.
Nick took a jump shot, the ball swishing through the net.
Then his thoughts turned to Angel. Her name fit her so well, and the way she made him feel� She was like a piece of heaven he'd been sent, but now he didn't even know where she was.
"Bri, I wish you could meet her. Her name fits her perfectly. She is an angel. She's beautiful, and so� gentle. I know I've only known her for half a day, but I feel like she's always been there. I think I'm falling in love with her." Nick's voice echoed through the gym, and for a second he felt as if someone was with him.
Turning, he was just able to catch the door of the gym swing closed.
~
Running towards the elevators, Leslie hoped Nick hadn't heard her leave. She had simply gone down to the gym to do some kick boxing in hopes that it would calm her nerves. Moments after she had gone into the weight room, she heard someone else come in, making noise as if they were planning to play basketball.
"And I thought I was the only wacko up at three in the morning," she said to herself.
Leslie continued to beat the crap out of the punching bag as her nerves slowly calmed down. Stopping to catch her breath, Leslie caught herself listening to what sounded like a conversation in the basketball court. Weird thing was, she only heard one voice. One that sounded distinctly like Nick's.
Peeking around the corner of the door, Leslie saw a sweat drenched Nick shooting baskets while talking to the walls of the gym.
"�meet her. Her name fits her perfectly. She is an angel."
Leslie's eyes filled with tears as Nick's words penetrated her mind. She knew that he was talking about her, but to whom? Brian?
There she was, her hair messily pulled into a ponytail, half of it hanging loose, and in sweats, and Nick thought she was an angel. Guilt washed over her as she continued to listen to him talk to himself.
"She's beautiful and so� gentle. I know I've only known her for half a day�"
Shocked by his revelation to what he believed was an empty room, Leslie knew she had to get out of there. The main door out was only fifteen feet away, but she had to wait until Nick turned completely around.
"�but I feel like she's always been there."
At that moment, Nick's voice cracked and he turned to shoot a basket. Leslie chose that moment to dash towards the door, with her stuff in tow. Before she knew it, she was out and racing towards the elevators and didn't hear Nick claiming his impending love for her.
And that's where she now found herself, safe inside the otherwise empty elevator, gasping for breath. Her heartbeat didn't slow until she was safely in her eighth floor room, where she collapsed to the floor, and fell asleep, emotionally exhausted.
*
Later that morning, Nick leaned back on Kevin's bed as he watched Kevin pace before him, thinking.
"So you're saying that the front desk said that there was no Angel Thomas in this hotel. They didn't say she'd checked out?"
"No, they specifically said 'There is no Angel Thomas in this hotel and I don't believe there has been. I think I would remember that name,'" Nick replied, his tone filled with defeat.
On his way back to his room from the basketball courts, he'd stopped by the front desk to try and find Angel's room to no avail. Kevin was his last hope. He always knew how to solve things, and right now, Nick needed his help desperately.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you. She might have checked in with a fake name. We did. Then again, she might have come with someone and the room is under their name," Kevin reasoned.
Nick sat in thought for a moment before saying, "Why would she have a fake name? She's not famous, so she has no one to hide from. And I know she was alone. No friend would have left her to go to a funeral by herself."
Before Kevin could respond, A.J. walked in to announce that Howie and he were going to grab something to eat.
"Okay, we'll come," Kevin responded. Then, turning back to Nick he said, "maybe she is hiding from someone," before walking after A.J.
~
Nick had eaten breakfast with the guys in the hotel restaurant, and it was pretty normal considering the circumstances. He was quieter than usual just because he was too deep in his own thoughts to care about the other guys' small talk.
The dream he had had last night was taking over his mind. Was it some sort of sign? Should he tell the guys?
Before he had the chance to decide, A.J. hit him on the arm. "Yo, buddy, we're going back upstairs. Are you coming with us or do you plan on sitting here and spending the day staring into space?"
Nick looked at A.J., his expression blank. "I'll be up in a few."
Howie gave Nick a sympathetic glance before getting the other two to leave him alone.
As they walked towards the elevators, Nick overheard Kevin say, "I'm really worried about him guys."
Enjoying the silence for a few minutes, he decided he should head back upstairs before they got even more worried. So, slowly, he walked towards the elevators, looking all around him in hopes he'd see Angel.
Getting on the elevator, he made sure he pressed the button for the ninth floor, and leaned against the wall to relax for a second.
*Ding*
He walked towards his room, but noticed small details around him that seemed unfamiliar.
�Maybe I'm just being more perceptive than usual. I did push the ninth floor�
Walking to his door, he reached down to unlock it, but noticed that the door was cracked opened already.
�Great! Some teenybopper found my room. They probably trashed it�
He hesitated for a second, afraid that the culprits might still be in there, but he soon felt some sort of force pushing him towards the open door. With the thought of the possible condition of his room in his mind, he slowly walked in. Finding the room spotless, he assumed the maids had come early and forgotten to shut the door. Throwing down his key and wallet on a small entry table, he walked towards the separate bedroom area, hoping to get a little more sleep before lunch. In a daze, he didn't see the unconscious figure on the floor until he almost stepped on it. Under closer inspection, he found it to be a girl.
"Angel??!"
~
A.J. walked into Nick's room in search of his blonde friend, only to find the typical mess that followed the young man everywhere. It had been almost an hour since they had left him downstairs and he was worried that something had happened. Something that went by the name of "Angel."
Running into Howie's room, he yelled, "Yo, D! Have you seen Nick? He's not in his room."
"Well, maybe he's still downstairs. He seemed like he had a lot on his mind anyway," Howie responded.
"Don't you think we should go look for him? He could be in trouble or mobbed by fans!"
"A.J., he's 19 years old. I think he can take care of himself, and as for fans, their weren't any downstairs earlier, so I don't think he needs us to come �rescue� him."
A.J. frowned before flopping down on Howie's bed. "I'm just worried about him, D."
*
Scared out of his wits, Nick fell to the floor and started to shake Angel, yelling the entire time.
"Angel, wake up! Please wake up!" Nick looked at her pale face stained with recent tears.
�How the hell did she get into my room?? Oh god, please wake up�
"Please wake up!" he screamed once again, tears starting to run down his own cheeks.
Shaking with fear, he looked down at her and just stared at her beautiful face. It looked so peaceful. He then felt her light breath against his cheek, which gave him some comfort. Still scared, he just wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.
"Please wake up Angel," he whispered.
~
She felt like lead, like her entire body was made of such heavy lead. She heard someone yelling and felt someone shaking her, but when she tried to respond, she couldn't move anything. Despite the fact it sounded like someone was talking to her, none of it was comprehensible.
Eventually, the shaking stopped, and Leslie's mind was silent once more. Soon, she felt her heart break as cold, wet tears hit her face. Knowing they couldn't possibly be her own, she figured out who must have been trying to wake her up, and was now pulling her close. When she heard "please wake up Angel" being whispered into her ear, her suspicions were confirmed. Nick had found her, and knowing he was near, and knowing his lips were so close to her own, gave her the strength to whisper, "Nick?"
*
Nick sat there, Angel in his arms, rocking slowly in place when he heard his name softly being called.
"Nick?"
He jerked up as his eyes popped open and looked down in his arms. Angel, who looked like she was having a hard struggle to keep her own eyes opened, stared into Nick's crystal blue ones.
Relief spread through his body, and he immediately picked her up and laid her on the sofa. Curiosity replacing his fears, his mind began to fill with questions.
"What happened Angel? Why the hell are you in my room?"
She looked taken aback by his questions, and lying silently for a moment, she asked a question of her own.
"Why are you here Nick?"
He looked at her strangely. She couldn't have amnesia because she knew who he was, so�
~
Leslie looked at Nick, confused by his questions, and even more confused by his answer to hers.
"This is my hotel room. Why wouldn't I be here?" he stated, looking at her as if she had gone crazy.
She sat up on the couch, closing her eyes as the dizziness came and went. Looking around, she saw nothing unusual. It looked just like her room.
�Could I have possibly gone in the wrong hotel room? But I know I went to the right floor, and Nick couldn't possibly be staying on the same floor as me�
Looking around, Leslie saw nothing but the typical suite that was common in a hotel. Nothing was out of place, and there was nothing around to show whom the temporary ownership of the room belonged to. Continuing to look around, Leslie burst out into giggles at the sight of her dark blue backpack thrown absently into a corner.
"Nick, babe, this is my room. Unless you have a navy blue Jansport backpack," Leslie said between giggles.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Nick said, clearly more confused now than ever.
"Look," Leslie pointed over to the half-hidden backpack. "That's my backpack. Go check. Now, why are you in my room?" A triumphant smile spread across her face.
Looking to where she pointed, Nick saw the backpack. Getting up, he walked towards it and opened it up.
*
Looking through it, Nick found CDs, books, a laptop, and headphones. None of it was his. Turning around, he could feel his face flame up.
"This is your room?"
"Um, yeah, I believe so. That's why I was here. Why I was passed out, that's another story. So, I'll ask again. Why are you in my room?" Leslie said, a slight smile still playing on her lips.
"I thought it was mine, and the door was cracked open. This isn't room 113 on the ninth floor?"
"Yes, it's room 113, but we're on floor eight," she said, looking at the poor confused boy with sympathy.
"But how did I get here? I swore I had pushed the ninth floor in the elevator," he said more to himself than to her.
"Come here Nick."
With those words, he came towards Angel, where he allowed himself to be pulled down next to her. Taking the initiative, he wrapped his arms around her and laid them both down on the couch, where they instantly fell asleep.
~
A few hours later, Leslie woke up to find two strong arms wrapped around her. She smiled a little at how helpless Nick had seemed, but instantly grew sad as it hit her why he might have been so helpless, considering he swore he had gone to the right floor.
"You really want me to take care of him, don't you Bri?"
Saddened by her thoughts, she closed her eyes and snuggled into Nick's arms.
"I'll try, Bri. Really, I'll try."
*
"Okay guys. Nick has been gone for four hours. Where the hell is he?" A.J. said, running into Kevin's room where both of his two friends were watching a movie.
"Yo, A.J. man. Calm down. Nick's old enough to take care of himself. He's not thirteen anymore," Kevin said, barely taking his eyes from the movie they were watching.
"But guys, he could be out there doing something drastic! He could hurt himself, or someone else, or� or� the group's reputation! He's depressed. There's no telling what he might do!" A.J. yelled, mad at the lack of reaction Kevin and Howie were giving him.
Kevin stood from where he was seated on the couch. "If you don't leave us alone and stop worrying about Nick, I might do something drastic."
~
Hours later, Leslie found herself alone in her hotel bed. Assuming that it had all been a very realistic dream, she climbed out of bed and walked out of the built in room. Heading towards the small kitchen, she heard a loud crash, and realized that all of earlier had, in fact, been real.
Running, she got in there to see Nick crouched down in pain with many decorative odds and ends surrounding him.
He looked up embarrassed. "Ouch?"
Too worried to laugh, she reached down to help him up and noticed a large cut on his forehead and a nice black bruise beginning to form around his left eye.
"I don't even want to know what you did to yourself, Nick, but I'm gonna have to clean you up," Leslie said softly, gently touching the area around his eye as he flinched. "Come on. Let's get you onto the couch."
*
Obediently following, Nick allowed himself to be pulled towards the couch, grasping Angel's hand as he had done earlier. He watched as she disappeared from his sight, probably getting something to clean his cut.
He felt completely lost when he was with Angel. As if being near her changed him into a lost five year old, who had been taken from his mother.
Nick's thoughts were broken as Angel walked towards him with a towel of ice in one hand and medical supplies in the other.
"Here, put this on your eye so it doesn't swell up as much. I'm gonna clean up this cut and it's gonna hurt so�"
Before she could finish, pain shot through Nick's head and he jumped off the couch.
"What are you trying to do? Kill me?" Nick yelled, jumping around the room.
"Come here you big baby. It was just peroxide."
She pushed him back on the couch and lightly blew on the gash on his forehead. After cleaning it completely and bandaging it, she stood back to admire her work.
"You'll be fine Nick, and don't even tell me how this happened. Keep the ice on your eye," she said as she left the room to put the instruments of torture back in their rightful place.
~
When she reached the little living room, she saw Nick staring out the window deep in thought.
"How did you know Brian?" he asked, feeling her presence in the room.
Caught off guard by his question, Leslie stalled as she went over to a built in window sear a few feet away from Nick.
"We had an acquaintance. I guess you could even say we were friends," she said softly.
The two sat in silence, Leslie staring out the window and Nick studying her. Feeling as if Nick deserved the truth, Leslie closed her eyes and willed the words to come.
"My name isn't Angel," she said softly. "I told you that in hopes that you wouldn't be able to find me and get involved. But you did. And now you are."
Silence once again filled the room as Leslie carefully chose the words she was going to say and Nick pulled his legs to his chest, anticipating more.
"My real name is Leslie. No one knows I'm here. I have to leave on Thursday to go back to Texas, where I live. I came because I was asked. He told me to come and help someone. To take care of them for him. That someone is you, Nick. I'm sure of it. I'm here to� help you." Her voiced cracked and a cascade of tears fell down her cheeks.
Nick silently got up from his chair and pulled Leslie into his arms. "I still want to call you Angel� if you�ll let me." He paused. "�Because you are an angel, my angel," he whispered into her ear, trying to comfort her, but only deepening the feeling of dread inside.
As soon as the words left his lips, it became official. They needed each other enough that they could never be apart again.
*
The next day, rain was pouring down and it made the day dreary. Last night, Nick had come back to his room late, having been talking to Leslie all day. Surprisingly, Kevin hadn't chewed him out for not telling him where he was. More surprising, A.J. had.
He had been tired and emotionally drained. As he walked into his room, he just wanted sleep, but his wish hadn't come true. Nick found A.J. sitting on his bed in the darkened room.
"Where the hell have you been?" A.J. inquired quietly, a hint of venom in his voice. "We've been worried sick."
"Why do you care? And for your information, I found Angel and�" Nick began to say before A.J. cut him off in anger.
"You've been with that whore all day? What? Does she give good head, Nick? Your best friend just died and you go fuck around with some hoe the day after?? What are you thinking?!"
A.J. regretted the words as they flew from his lips, and looking towards Nick, he felt like throwing himself out of the window. Nick's face had turned expressionless, but his eyes were filled with rage.
"Get out."
Not a muscle moved in either boy.
"I said, get out." The rage in Nick's eyes gave him a sort of possessed demonic look, and though it scared A.J., he still didn't move.
Nick waited a moment, then realizing A.J. wasn't in any hurry to leave, he decided he'd have to take matters into his own hands.
All A.J. saw was a spark of pure hate going through Nick's eyes before Nick started to come towards him.
"I said, get the fuck out!"
By this time, Nick was yelling and had grasped A.J. by his shirt, swept opened the door, and threw him out into the hall. The bang of the closing door echoed for an eternity through the empty hallway.
~
Down a floor, in the exact same bedroom, the yelling of two boys could be heard but not deciphered, and it didn't last five minutes before the finality of the slamming door could be heard.
Looking out the window, Leslie went back to her crying.
"Your group is falling apart. All of your hard work is unraveling and it's all because of me. I'm trying, really I am. I just can't do this alone."
*
Now, Nick was simply lying in his bed, staring at the pouring rain showing through the window. He didn't want to get up and face A.J., but he knew he couldn't stay in bed all day.
A soft knock came at his door.
"A.J., go away damn it. I don't want to see your ugly face asshole," Nick bellowed towards the door.
"If my name were A.J., I would leave after that insult. But since that's not my name, I'm staying right here until you get your butt out of bed and open the door� and it better not take long or I'll be the one yelling," a muffled feminine voice said from behind the door.
Recognition made his eyes fly open as he jumped out of bed. He walked towards the door carefully, making sure no one else had snuck into the room within the night.
"Sorry, Angel. I thought you were A.J. Come in," he said as he swung open the door.
"I noticed. I heard y'all fighting last night, so you don't have to explain if you don't want to." By then, she had walked in the room and stood beside him. Stopping, she said, "Nice boxers by the way." A sly grin washed over her face as she looked at Nick from head to toe suggestively.
A blush rose to Nick's cheeks as he realized what he was wearing, Mickey Mouse boxers his kid sister B.J. had given him for Christmas a few years back and nothing else. (AN: nice visual ain't it?)
"Um, hold on a second while I go and put on some more decent clothes," he mumbled as he turned away.
Grabbing his hand to stop him, she replied, "Nah, don't worry. It doesn't bother me if a well built guy is walking around in just his boxers." She grinned mischievously and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him towards her. The quickness her face returned to the stone picture of grief, however, made him think she wasn't supposed to smile. "I just came up here for company. The rain�" she gestured towards the window as she pulled away from him, "seems to make things worse than they are."
Nick, forgetting the earlier embarrassment, followed her eyes to the window and felt his own eyes glaze over with the well-known grief. Breaking his gaze, he walked towards her and pulled her to him.
For the first time, as Leslie's tears ran down his bare chest, he noticed the extreme height difference and how much smaller, weaker, she was than he.
For a moment, the roles were reversed, him taking care of her. He liked knowing once more that he was useful for something. He needed to have this feeling, this feeling of being needed by someone he cared for. No, that he loved.
"Stay with me forever."
~
They had spent the day together in each other's arms, not talking, not eating; just being there for each other. Their peace was interrupted only once by Kevin, who turned and left the second he saw them together.
Now, twenty-four hours later, they had pulled out of their comatose state, and decided they were hungry.
"Let me go change and we can go," Leslie said, once Nick had come out of his room, finally dressed in more than his boxers.
"You can just wear some of my clothes if you want. That way we wouldn't have to go to your room."
Leslie snickered. "Nah, I enjoy my clothes staying on me, giant boy."
*
Down in Leslie's room, Nick sat, looking out the window towards the busy streets eight floors down, while she changed clothes.
"Angel, I need a change," Nick called towards her.
"Well, go upstairs. I can wait," she said, walking into the room.
"No, not my clothes. Like another type of change, nothing real drastic, something small."
"Don't you think everything going on is change enough?" she said softly as her voice saddened a little more.
He turned to her for the first time since she'd walked into the room, and he forgot their entire conversation. She was dressed in semi-loose, low-slung leather pants and a shiny silver "shirt." Actually, it couldn't qualify as being a shirt, more like a halter with a connected shrug type thing, but there were strategically placed holes all over. One hole in particular was in the shape of a star and right in the middle of her chest, so a small amount of cleavage could be seen through it. It probably looked like a piece of holey cloth and impossible to actually wear when off a person's body.
He guessed she hadn't noticed his gawking because she went on.
"But then again, that might be the reason a small change could be good for you."
She walked towards him as he looked her up and down. Change! That's what they had been talking about.
"Um, yeah. Maybe," he said, trying to replace the hormonal thoughts in his brain with intelligent ones. He was unable to part with the tantalizing thoughts as his hands found her hips, pulling her dangerously close to where he sat.
She reached out and ran her fingers through his short, blonde hair, pushing it out of his face.
"But can we talk about this over lunch? I haven't eaten in a few days and I don't want to get sick."
He simply nodded, stood up, and wrapped his arm around her thin waist in a protective manner before leading her through the door and out of the hotel.
~
At a little caf� down the street from the hotel, Leslie and Nick continued their conversation about change.
"So did you have anything in mind?" Leslie asked, picking at her food.
"Don't know. I guess something that would show people that I'll never be the same. I guess something to show that I'm gonna miss Brian forever and will never forget him," he said quietly, tears springing into his eyes.
They sat contemplating what would fit the criteria, neither saying a word to the waiter who stopped at their table.
"Dye your hair black," Leslie said simply, as the waiter rolled his eyes and walked away.
"Dye my hair? How would that fit?" Nick questioned.
"Black is the color of mourning, and it's temporary so if you ever got sick of it, you could just let it grow out. I can do it, so you'll also have something to remind you of me when I leave."
Neither had spoken of the inevitable - Leslie going back home. She only had three more days left, and neither one had mentioned it.
"Let me come back with you," Nick said, pleading with his eyes. "I can't risk losing you. You mean too much to me."
Looking into Nick's crystal blue eyes broke Leslie's heart. She'd always wanted this feeling of unconditional love that she got whenever he was around, but not under these circumstances.
"Nick," her voice caught in her throat, "you can't do that. You have too much at stake here, with your group�"
He interrupted her. "The group doesn't exist anymore. Brian was our backbone, and without him, we can't, no, we won't go on. There would be no reason to."
"But Nick, you guys are going to need each other to get through this. You can't desert them for me. I won't let you," she said, as she brushed her fingers across his cheek.
"I'm no use to the guys. I'm no use to anyone, unless you're by my side. You even said you were sent here by someone to take care of me. You can't do that if you're hundreds of miles away." Nick grasped her hand, keeping it against his face and peering intently into her eyes.
"What would you do there?" Tentatively she added, "I'm still in high school."
"I'll be with you and that's all that matters." The depth of emotion in his eyes was astonishing and it took all the strength Leslie had to fight from drowning in them and to keep from giving in to his demands.
Pulling away from his concrete gaze and taking her hand away from his face, she stared into her lap, almost embarrassed.
"Nick, you gotta understand� my parents don't know where I am, so I'll be in a lot of trouble when I get back, as is. If I came back with a strange man, I'll be in twice as deep." She paused before slowly going on. "I start school in two weeks and having you there would only complicate everything more."
"So, that's all I am now? A complication?? " Nick questioned with disbelief clear on his face and venom in his voice.
Jerking her head up, Leslie looked startled. "Oh no! I didn't mean it like that. I don't want to leave you, but�"
"But what Angel?? You're my sanity. You're the reason I even got out of bed today. I know we've only been together for three days, but something inside me says that I need you right beside me, always. I want you to help me get through this, and I want to help you." Tears had sprung to his eyes, which he tried to disguise.
"Give me five weeks. I'll have everything straightened out, and you can come and go as you please. No questions asked. Until then, I'll help you dye your hair."