| Catelyn stood up, and looked at the array of empty pizza boxes and soda cans littering the floor of Nick's hotel room. "Have fun cleaning that up." Nick looked at her in surprise. "Me? That's the maid's job." Dani swatted at him with the back of her hand. "You're going to leave all this for the poor maid?" "Well, are you volunteering to clean it up for her?" Nick asked. "Uh. . . no." Dani admitted. "But it's your room." She yawned. "Anyway, I'm tired. I'm going back to my room." Nick pouted out his lower lip. "Why won't you sleep with in here tonight?" "Because you snore." Dani grabbed her jean jacket off the floor of his room, and walked to the door. "Are you coming, Cate?" Catelyn glanced at Nick, who was still pouting at Dani, then nodded. "Sure. Let's go. 'Night Nick." "See ya, Cate. G'night, Dani." Dani waved at him, and followed Catelyn out of the room. "Wanna sleep in my room tonight so you don't wake up Michelle when you go in?" Dani asked, pulling her room key out of her pocket. Catelyn nodded. The two girls walked into Dani's room, which had two king beds, even though she was the only one who slept in there. Dani tossed Catelyn an extra pair of pajama pants, and an old tee shirt, and then they climbed into bed. "Okay, now will you tell me what's wrong?" Dani asked, as she flipped off the light. Catelyn yawned. "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong." "Yeah right. I saw the way you were acting tonight. Something's up." "Nothing's up." Catelyn insisted. "I just had an off day." "I'm not stupid, Cate. I can tell when something's bothering you. You can tell me things like this, you know. We've always told each other everything." Catelyn sighed. "Promise you won't get mad?" She asked. Dani turned over on her elbow and looked at Catelyn in the thin sliver of light that was coming in from under the door. She nodded. "Okay." Catelyn bit her lip. This is really stupid. I guess it's just that I'm just kind of. . ." Dani could see her blushing. "Spit it out, Cate." She said. "Okay, I guess I'm just jealous. There. Happy?" Dani looked at her for a minute. "Jealous of. . .what?" She asked. "You and Nick." Now that Catelyn had gotten over her embarrasment, she seemed almost eager to share her feelings. '"It's just that, like, I knew Nick before you ever did, because I introduced you two, remember? But now, it's like you two are best friends, and I'm always kind of. . .second best." "Oh, Caty." Dani got up, and moved into bed with Catelyn. She wrapped her arms aronud her friend, and stroked her hair. "I just feel like it's not the same as it was with either of you." She said. "Did you notice how Nick didn't want me to sleep in his room? And every time we do something with a group, it always turns into something with just the two of you. And everyone's always teasing you guys about getting together, but no one ever talks about us that way." Her voice was cracking. "I'm sorry." Dani said weekly. Catelyn shook her head. "It's not your fault. You can't help it." She sniffed, and wiped a hand roughly across her eyes. "Do you want to know something?" Dani nodded, even though she wasn't sure she did. "I don't know how I feel about him any more. I mean, it's not like I'm in love with him or anything, but every time I'm around him. . ." So that was it! Catelyn had a crush on Nick! Dani wondered how she hadn't noticed it before. "Wanna know something else? I've liked him for five years now. And he never even looks at me like that. In fact, the only time he ever talks to me is when I'm with you. And we used to be so close. We were together when we were in diapers." She wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "I'm sorry, Dan. You didn't need to hear all this. And now everything's gonna be weird between us, isn't it?" Dani didn't answer, because Catelyn had burst into a fresh wave of tears, and she wasn't listening anyway. Instead, she just held her friend closer, and let her cry herself to sleep. |
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