Rocking back and forth, Leslie impatiently waited Nick�s arrival while sitting among her friends in the cafeteria. Nothing was making sense. She could storm away from her friends, skip a class period, and then return to their company with them acting as though nothing had occurred. The conversation around her flowed easily, occasionally an odd pause as someone cut their eyes towards Leslie to see a reaction to something that�d been said.
She�d called Nick, her breath ragged, catching in her throat in panic.
Please come get me. I can�t do this. I tried Nick. I did, but� they came after me and started asking all these questions�
Who came after you?
They� I� just� you promised that if I called you�d come get me.
Sigh
Give me ten minutes.
Now she sat, anxious with anticipation. What was taking so long?
�Are you Leslie Flynn?�
Allowing the words formed by a strange voice to process in her head, she glanced over her shoulder at a student she might have recognized once before who held her key to freedom in her head in the form of a slip of blue paper.
�Yes.�
�There�s someone here to check you out.�
Nodding, she stood up, leaving her things on the table as she followed the other teenager towards the front office, a tinge of panic overpowering her eagerness to leave. Nick�s here. At her school. What happens if someone sees him and recognizes him?
Her footsteps quickened despite the queasiness it caused at the sudden change in motion.
Laura and Zach shared curious looks before standing simultaneously and heading over to where Albert sat with his girlfriend and other friends.
�She just headed towards the front office. Someone is here to pick her up,� Laura informed him.
His head snapped up, then he jumped to his feet, wanting nothing more than to find the identity of whoever might be trying to corrupt his little sister by taking her away from him and her family. Catherine, his girlfriend, grabbed the cuff of his sleeve, irritation covering her face.
�Are you seriously going to jump up and run after her whenever she decides to have a drama queen episode? Jeez, Albert, she�s a freak. Have you seen how she�s been acting? Leave her alone. She obviously doesn�t want��
Laura grabbed the back of Zach�s shirt, preventing him from attacking his friend�s snobbish girl. Despite his own personal frustration with Leslie�s behavior of late, he refused to let anyone speak badly about her when none of them knew the story behind her sudden quirky depression.
�I�ll be back in a few minutes,� Albert called over his shoulder as he jogged towards the cafeteria doors, Laura and Zach soon at his heels.
Rushing towards the front doors, picking up speed once they went through the doors that would block them from any authoritative figures, they passed by Ashley, the office aide that had informed Leslie of her dismissal. Reaching the front foyer, they caught a glimpse of Leslie pushing her way through the front doors.
It felt like a truck had hit her when she reached the foyer to find it empty of the comforting presence she so frantically searched for. The girl who�d accompanied her, probably aware of Leslie�s reputation to suddenly collapse in hallways, shrugged and said that a guy had been here moments before, signing his name to let her leave campus. Maybe he was still in the office, she�d commented.
�He signed his name?�
Glancing at the clipboard at the front of the attendance office, she saw a signature that was neither Nick�s nor that of the person who the name belonged to. Panic overcame her body as she continued to look for his face, knowing the signature must belong to him as he pretended to be someone else.
A glance through the front windows brought a glimpse of a midnight blue Saturn, piloted by a man in a baseball cap that shadowed his face from discerning eyes. His hands rubbed at his eyes, a nervous mannerism Leslie had noticed she caught him doing frequently. Her heartbeat quickened and breathing came easier as she pushed her way through the doors, unaware of the three pairs of eyes that witnessed her departure.
Nick jumped as her hand slipped over the handle of the passenger door, pulling it open and swiftly slipping into the seat beside him.
�Thank you,� she whispered, leaning over to brush her lips against his cheek.
Staring into her eyes for a moment, allowing her to witness the dullness in his, he nodded before putting the car into gear and pulling away from the school, leaving behind three confused high school students.
�That wasn�t her dad,� Zach observed, watching the car drive away.
�No, but I don�t know who it was. Why would they say they were her dad?� Laura thought out loud.
�So the office wouldn�t question it later on?� Albert suggested.
Thinking, they stood in silence, occasionally looking at the forged signature and then back outside into the cloudy fall almost-winter day.
�Did either of you get a chance to check out his face?� Laura questioned.
�Not really. He was pale. Had dark hair.�
�That�s all I saw too. He had his hands over his eyes,� Zach added. �Probably so no one could get a chance to see his face and possibly turn him over to the cops for child endangerment or whatever you call people who brainwash teenagers.�
Nodding in agreement, the three stood together for a moment longer before silently agreeing to return to the cafeteria to ponder this new mystery in their own way.
~*~*~*~
Climbing from the car, Angel began ascending the stairs to Nick�s apartment before realizing he still sat in his car, watching her in thought. Turning, she returned, opening his door and offering him her hand.
�Who came after you?� Nick asked, his eyes pleading for an answer as he looked up at her.
�Upstairs.�
Nodding, he took her hand and pulled himself from the car. Shutting the door, he pulled Angel into his arms and held her tightly against him, closing his eyes as he rested his head against her own.
�I don�t want anyone to hurt you ever again.�
Slipping her arms around his waist, they returned to a familiarly comfortable position like they had been in this morning. She buried her face into his shirt, enveloping herself in the well-known scent of him.
�I know.�
Wrapping his fingers through her hair, losing them in the thickness of it, he remembered he�d noticed this morning that the roots of his own hair had begun to show the blondeness that he�d been hiding for the past three months.
�I need to dye my hair again.�
�I know.�
Pulling her tighter, trying to fill the void in his chest with her company, Nick ran his free hand under the sweatshirt she�d haphazardly pulled on after their conversation that morning, not realizing how cold his hands were until one landed on her warm flesh and she jumped against him.
�You�re cold.�
�It�s November.�
Withdrawing herself from his arms, Angel grabbed his hands and began walking towards the stairs that led to their home, dragging him with her in the process. Her eyes pleaded with him to save his need for her being close to him for a few more moments when they could wrap themselves in each other while in the presence of blankets and warmth.
Allowing himself to be pulled along, Nick locked his eyes in hers, trying to remember if he�d ever seen her smile before. Or laugh. Did he even know what her laugh sounded like?
Slightly perturbed by his piercing stare, Angel turned to climb the stairs, her hand firmly clasping Nick�s. No words were shared as they scaled the two flights that led to their front door. Unlocking the door, they entered quietly almost in fear of awakening whatever might reside in the apartment besides them.
Shutting the door silently behind him and tossing his baseball cap onto the couch, he finally allowed her hand out of his grip, watching as she immediately began stripping off her top layer of clothes. His sweatshirt and her jeans were left thrown in the living room floor before she reached their bedroom, where she turned, no longer feeling him following behind her.
Nick�s eyes traced over the well-known curves of her body, the body he so desperately desired naked against his own. Angel had become accustomed to stripping out of her top layer of clothing the moment she entered the apartment, walking into the bedroom to pull one of his shirts, that fell down to her knees, over her head. Normally he followed, afraid she might disappear if he turned his back on her, until she came out once more to curl up on the couch with him or grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head, and dragged him into bed with her.
Staring up at him from across the room, he once again asked, �Who came after you?�
Turning her back and proceeding into the room without him, he faintly heard her call to him, �My friends.�
Even though he fought to hold himself back from her, to remain in the other room while she dug through his drawers to find a suitable form of clothing to keep her semi-warm outside of his arms, as her voice faded away panic overtook him and he rushed into the other room, flipping on the lights she had neglected to notice.
�What friends?�
Spinning around, a shirt she held in consideration in one hand, she looked up at him slightly dazed by the sudden light. Angel noticed that his typical look of confusion and misery had begun to mix with something different. Earlier that morning, she�d seen a spark of something flash across his eyes when he looked at her. That same flash seemed to illuminate his eyes now as he stared at her intently.
Nick continued to watch her, studying the pale skin covered little by the purple satin bra and panties, only that which he most anxiously wanted to see remaining out of sight. Returning his eyes to hers, he was barely aware as his t-shirt slipped from her fingers and she moved towards him. Placing her small hands on his hips, she turned him, guiding him backwards towards the foot of the bed until his legs hit the frame and he sat down.
Finally at eye level, she brushed her fingers across his cheeks trying to decipher this new emotion that flickered in his features. Deciding it best left undiscovered, she straddled his legs, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her chin on one of his broad shoulders. Sighing somewhat contentedly, she cuddled closer to him, inadvertently grinding against him.
To cease the motion that quickly ensured uncontrollable hormones to take over his actions, Nick encircled her hips with his arms, pulling her as close to him as possible, but stopping the wiggling.
�Albert, the boy who picked me up at the airport. And Zach, the one that put me back into the hospital by accident the first day of school. And Laura. I don�t think I�ve said anything about her.�
Slightly confused by this vocalized information, Nick tried to replay the past few minutes in his head, soon remembering that he�d been digging for answers to why she wanted to come home so badly. Nodding in consideration, he carefully chose his words in hopes of getting more information out of her before the subject changed.
Because the subject always managed to change before he was ready to move on.
�What were they asking you about?�
�You.�
Brushing one hand up her back, he felt her shiver against him, tightening her grip around his neck and burying her face in his neck. Carefully he began twirling a strand of her brunette hair around one of his fingers.
�Did you tell them about me?�
�No. Not really. They asked why I was never home and I told them I had a new home. They wanted to know who I lived with, but I didn�t want to share you. They were asking too many questions.�
Her voice continued to get softer, the placement of her head so near to his ear the only reason he could still hear her.
�They asked me how I got my bruise and wouldn�t stop asking if someone helped me fall. You didn�t help me fall. It was an accident.�
Angel felt Nick�s hand move from her hair to the cut behind her ear, gently brushing one of his fingers over it.
�I�m still sorry about that.�
Pulling back, she looked into his eyes, a blank look on her face.
�Don�t. It wasn�t your fault. Dr. Ryan is a jerk. I just didn�t want you to get in trouble and then people find out you�re here. I� I don�t want to share you.�
Nick�s fingers fell to her jaw, tracing and caressing the bruised flesh in the same way he�d done to her cut. Eyes following hand, his fingers fell to her shoulder, slowly dragged over her breast, down her stomach, around her hip, and across her thigh, drawing zigzags down the inside of her leg. Continuing with his tracing, his eyes returned to Angel�s.
�You don�t have to share me. I�m here. Just with you.�
He hesitated.
��I promised Brian I�d stay with you and take care of you. I�m not going anywhere.�
Slightly nervous with his constant movement, Angel slapped her hand over his, forcing it flat against her leg before turning her innocent eyes back to his.
�I know. I still don�t want to share.�
A half smirk tugged at Nick�s lips, him leaning forward to hide it in the crook of her shoulder.
�You don�t have to baby. I�m all yours.�
What that statement implied didn�t go unnoticed by Angel despite her faux innocence. Silence enshrouded them as they molded themselves against each other, a hand drifting across bare skin, a leg twisting around a waist, heads against shoulders, fingers in hair, lips against� flesh.
Angel sighed to herself at the feel of Nick�s lips brushing against her collarbone, him trying to disguise it as mere accident. She realized they�d gotten themselves in too far, become too reliant on each other. Pushing it to a level beyond the almost consuming need they both already shared would mean destruction. Or so she thought.
Obviously Nick didn�t consider that as a possible outcome as his hand ran over the back of her thigh to the small of her back. She didn�t try to taunt him with whatever thoughts might come to mind whenever she undressed in his presence. One day she�d happened to turn around after pulling on a mixture of his and her clothes to find him standing in the doorway. He�d followed her when she changed every time since then, so now it was at a point where it seemed weird to strip without him standing behind her, watching her, conversing with her during the process.
�They walked to the other side of the room so I couldn�t hear them talking. All I heard was something about Backstreet Boys and then a few moments later, they mentioned Brian�s name.�
Nick tensed up in her arms at the mention of what seemed like people that had taken part in one of his past life.
�What did you do?�
Resting her head against his, she ran her fingers through his ebony hair, considering the blonde roots that so obviously stuck out.
�Told them to leave him out of it and left. That�s when I went to call you. Well� a little while after that I called you. I had to go away for a little bit so they couldn�t follow me.�
Nodding against her, Nick wrapped her into a tighter embrace, wishing he could protect her from everything just by wrapping her up in his arms. She didn�t need inquisitions. Neither of them did. Why didn�t everyone see that?
Pulling back, he disengaged her leg from his waist and picked her up into his arms, standing up in the process. Walking to the side of the bed, he pulled the covers back with one hand while Angel kept herself balanced in his other arm by holding on to his shoulders. Gently he laid her down in the bed, walking towards the light switch to darken the room while removing his shirt and tossing it onto his dresser. In darkness, he pulled his jeans off, crawling into bed in his boxers and wrapping his arms around Angel.
�Hey� I have to get dressed.�
Getting comfortable spooning against her from behind, Nick slipped one of his legs between hers.
�No you don�t.�
His warm breath on the back of her neck gave her shivers, which led to Nick pulling her closer to him, tucking in blankets around both of them. Brushing his thumb across her stomach in a soothing manner, he tried to calm her into sleep.
�I�m sorry I made you go this morning.�
�It�s okay,� she mumbled, the never-ceasing tiredness overtaking her despite it being nearly two in the afternoon.
�Never again,� he promised.
~*~*~*~
�I think it�s time,� Kevin sighed, slamming down the cover of his laptop in agitation.
The two other men sitting in his living room, one pacing and the other flipping through discarded mail, stopped what they were doing and stared at him.
�But I thought we were going to wait until one of them contacted us?�
Shaking his head sadly, Kevin bit his lip in consideration. �If we wait for them, I don�t think we�ll ever know what�s happened to him. Or Angel. We know where he�s living. We�ve known that from the beginning.�
AJ watched him carefully, slightly confused. �Why now? What makes today so different from yesterday?�
Running a hand through his hair, Kevin stood up, beginning to pace himself. �It�s been three months. If they planned on having any contact with us, they would have started a long time ago. I�ve been keeping an eye on the online version of the Dallas newspapers.�
�He moved to Arlington, Kev.�
AJ received a glare from his friend.
�I know. Pretty much all the newspapers in that area share the same basic website considering they share most of the same news.�
�Anyway�� Howie prompted.
�Anyway, there were three more missing persons reports that would match Angel�s description. The only inconsistency was the name. This girl was named Leslie.�
�Which is the name her friend used when he called you that time when she�d just gotten home.�
�Yes.�
Standing up to join his colleagues, AJ looked at Kevin quizzically. �What does any of this have to do with why now? Why did we wait until three, four months later to finally go after him? We don�t even know if they�re alive anymore.�
The thought was finally put into words as all three men paled at the possibly devastating turn of events.
�And that�s why now. We have to know for sure that hasn�t happened.�
�So we�re going to Texas?�
Tugging at the goatee on his chin, Kevin nodded slowly. �Unless you have a better idea.�
Shaking his head, AJ turned away, heading to the kitchen for something strong to drink. �How did I know Nick would always end up being the one we�d eventually have to chase down?� he muttered to himself.