Page 66 of Never and Always
To the place where she wanted to know why he left her, why he thought they shouldn’t be together. Why he hurther.
But morning broke, and as the radiant beams of the sun spilled into the room it woke her up and out of her Nick-filledslumber.
She sat up when she realized she was by herself in his bed and she couldn’t hear himanywhere.
Pulling on one of his white button-down shirts, Mia went to look for him. Five minutes of searching revealed that he wasn’t there at all. She picked up the phone to call him, but set it back in her bag when she heard the front dooropen.
She went out to meet him and offered a soft smile when she saw what hecarried.
Breakfast.
“Hot chocolate from Starbucks and a blueberry muffin, freshly done,” he said, trying to smile and look cheerful butfailing.
“Thank you,” she told him, walking closer. He moved to her, too, and set the food and drink down on thetable.
She looked him over, trying hard to keep her emotions under control, but it was too much. The tears came again, streaming down her cheeks as her heartwept.
The not knowing what was going on, and the worry of asking what last night meant, had worn her down. She tried to talk but couldn’t, no wordscame.
He cupped her face, seeing her distress, and stared straight into hereyes.
“I love you,” he breathed. “I loveyou.”
She sucked in a breath at his words and widened hereyes.
“I’ve always loved you, Mia,” he told her withconviction.
“I love you, too, Nick. I’ve always loved you,always.”
“Thank you. I just wish I could deserve you.” He beheld her with wide sadeyes.
“What do you mean? Why would you say that?” She just didn’tunderstand.
“I’m not a good person; I’m not the kind of man you should be with. I’m… I know you can dobetter.”
“Nick, who could be better than you? I just told you I’ve always loved you, there is no one else for me.” It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she spoke. Finally, she was able to tell him exactly how she felt. “Why did you leave me? Are you leaving me now?” She was scared of theanswer.
Nick pulled in a sharp breath. “I should, but I can’t do it.” He shook hishead.
“Why should you? What is going on? You owe it to me to tell me. Nick, how dare you leave me with the crap excuse that you don’t think we should be together. Do you know how lame that sounds without giving me a reason why?” she retorted. “You hurt me to no end, and I wanted to find you but I got scared. I even asked Glenn where youwere.”
At the mention of Glenn’s name, Nick’s eyes blazed with heat and anger she’d only seen in him when he was trulyfurious.
“And what did Glenn say, Mia?” The abrasive tone of his voice held herattention.
She observed the change in his demeanor, noting how he went from sad to angry in a split second and a sudden thought struck her. Nick had been edgy about Glenn for weeks. When she came back to Chicago they argued a lot, but that was because of what was happening with her. Also, their arguments weren’t exactly new toher.
She was used to them having disagreements. Often it was because Nick took her side over Glenn’s and defendedher.
However, somewhere along the way, the manner and attitude in which they spoke to each other changed. She took no real notice of it because she felt it was just them being them, but what if there wasmore?
“He told me you had a new job and you’d wanted to move out for a while,” shereplied.
Nick bit down on his lip hard and released a sigh of frustration. His eyes hardened, filling with pain, and that immediately answered her question of whether or not there wasmore.
“What’s going on, Nick?” She focused on him firmly, waiting tohear.
He turned away and walked over to the window, resting his hands on the frame. She followed him, took his hand, and pressed hers againsthis.
