Nick's Obsession

Nick’s Proposal

Chapter five – Nick’s ProposalI knew Evan hadn't discussed my concerns with Nick, because my boyfriend seemed to be in a good mood. He was in the kitchen, preparing us dinner while humming a song. I didn't know which one, but it sounded good. I didn't want to bring up my concerns either, knowing his good mood would drop. But I couldn't keep quiet either, that wasn't who I was. I liked to discuss everything with Nick and I knew it was the same for him. We talked about everything without restraint and it definitely helped our relationship. There was that one little thing I kept to myself which was called Max, but I honestly forgot about him myself. Nick couldn't hold that against me.

Standing in the doorway, I smiled when Nick glanced over his shoulder, his whole face lightening up with a handsome smile just for me, "You okay, Em?"

I placed my hand on my stomach, "Yes" I returned his smile, "It's nice hearing you sing."

He chuckled, "I'm not really singing, I don't even know which song that is."

"It sounds good." I shrugged, "I talked to Evan last night."

Nick's eyebrows drew together, "That's good I suppose."

I leaned my shoulder against the doorpost, "I mentioned the things you told me and he figured that you said those things because you were thinking of marriage." I remained silent for a while, trying to search his eyes but those deep blue eyes didn't give anything away, "Are you thinking marriage, Nick?" I asked him carefully, fearing the answer he'd give me.

He turned his back to me again and stirred the sauce, "I did wonder about marriage, I think that I might want that in the near future."

Him admitting that to me made me feel like I stepped into an ice bath and couldn't get out, shivers ran down my spine while my breathing picked up, "I thought we were okay with how things were between us?"

Nick let the wooden spoon sit in the sauce and turned around again, his eyes locking onto mine while he folded his arms across his chest. His comfy charcoal gray sweater tightened around his shoulders and biceps, making my eyes trail down his body. I couldn't go there with my thoughts though, not when we were having a serious discussion about our future. Yet I couldn't control my feelings. I wanted my boyfriend. I always wanted Nick, he was the one who had control, I just gave in to my desires without thinking about the consequences. He enjoyed teasing me, making me go insane with want for him while he refused to give me what I wanted till I was a mumbling mess and came with him just running his fingers down my body. Nick controlled me when it came to our s****l relationship and he knew it. Never did he make me feel cheap or unwanted though. He was always very considerate.

Nick ignored my lustful look and continued with our discussion, "We're having a child together, things couldn't become more serious than this. I'm certain about us so the next logical step would be marriage. I know we both agreed not to go there before, but now I'm reconsidering it. I want to be able to call you my wife. I want a paper that officially states that."

"So you want the big wedding with the bridesmaids and grooms? The big white dress and my father walking me down the aisle?"

He looked offended by me, "You don't have to sound so disgusted by it. Are you not certain about us?"

"Of course I am certain about us."

"So why is it so wrong of me to think about marrying you in the near future? Why can't I imagine you walking down the aisle in a beautiful dress?"

I was distracted again because he closed in on me, placing his hand on my arm. Nick knew how I got whenever I was in that mood, yet he didn't hold back. He slowly trailed his hand down and wrapped his arm around my waist instead, pulling me close to him. I was pressed up against his chest, his soft sweater feeling like I was rubbing the softest towel ever over my face. It smelled really nice too which at this point just annoyed me. His sweater pissed me off. It wasn't supposed to be soft and nice smelling when I was having a serious discussion with my boyfriend.

"Marriage scares me." I quietly admitted to him, leaning my head against his chest as I ran my fingers down his back, gently caressing his soft sweater, "I love this sweater."

He chuckled, "Yeah, I can tell." He wrapped me up in his arms and held me tightly to him, "We're not like your parents. I don't think you'll fall in love with an eighteen-year-old and leave your family behind and I can promise you that no other woman has my interest. You're the only one who I think about when I wake up and when I go sleep. You're also the only woman who can make my heart race faster with just a look. You're the one I love, Em."

"I want you."

Turning to the stove he turned it off, the minute he turned around to face me again, I cupped his face in my hands and pressed my lips against his. I loved the feel and taste of him, yet I didn't feel close enough to him. Nick always mentioned how obsessed he was with me, but he had no idea about how I felt about him. Clutching the front of his shirt I tried to pull him even closer, but as I was deepening the kiss, pushing my tongue in his mouth Matthew decided to interrupt us by being active. He always moved around at this hour. Nick pulled away from me, a smile spreading across his face as he placed his hand on my stomach to feel Matthew move.

"Marry me."

"You're relentless," I whined.

He trailed his eyes up, meeting mine, "Marry me, Em."

I narrowed my eyes on him, "Nick-"

His eyes burned with an intensity which made my breathing hitch in my throat, "Marry me."

"Fine, but if I'm marrying you I want a big, over the top wedding. With bridesmaids and grooms, a big f*****g cake and a white dress so big I can barely fit in a car." I took a deep breath, a mischievous plan forming in my head and I blamed Evan for me becoming like this, he was the original evil mastermind after all, "And I claim Evan."

His lips curled up, "You can't claim Evan, he is mine."

"If you want a wedding Evan will be my man of honor."

Nick pulled away from me, his eyes glistering with amusement, "We'll revisit and revise. I'm sure we can find a better solution."

"I'm not backing down, you want the big over the top wedding you'll also need to make a compromise."

"You're only demanding to have Evan to make me pay for making you change your mind about the whole marriage thing."

"I'm making a compromise, why can't you?"

Nick seemed tired of the discussion, letting out a long, tired sigh, "We can share Evan."

If we shared Evan he'd have much more to do, I knew Evan wouldn't mind nor would he complain because he loved us both, but I didn't want to put so much on his shoulders. The guy didn't deserve that.

"We can't, the poor guy would get buried in tasks. Probably going insane by the time we are actually saying or vows."

Nick nodded, "Fine, you can have Evan." He didn't look pleased about making that compromise, "I don't know why you can't ask Brandon, but fine. I'll ask Chris instead."

"Brandon will give me away."

I walked out the kitchen knowing Nick wasn't okay with that. I heard his footsteps following behind me as I walked into the living room to grab my laptop. When I spun around I nearly smacked right into my boyfriend. He placed his hands on my shoulders to keep me steady, but I also assumed to keep me in place as he shared his thoughts with me.

"You have a perfectly healthy brother." He reminded me, "But your father is still alive as well. It wouldn't be right not to let either one of them give you away."

"So instead of letting someone who knows me better than anyone else give me away to a man who is my other half I should ask a stranger to do that?"

Nick tightened his hold on me, "They're not strangers. They're your family."

I sighed, "Can we please not go there again? I already shared with you how I feel about that."

He released me and stepped aside to let me pass, "I'm not going to let it go anytime soon, Emily. I don't want you to have any regrets. I've told you that before too. You'll regret it when something happens to your father and you didn't listen to his last wish. You think you'll be okay now, but years from now, you'll regret it. Trust me."

I wanted to walk away at first until I heard the last part of his preach, "You've been through that?"

He shook his head, "No, but Evan has. He changed since then, he pretends he is okay, but he is not. He is never going to forgive himself for not visiting his mom when he had the chance."

My hands shook as I heard the pain in Nick's voice. He was right beside Evan when it happened. I had to tighten my hold on my laptop because I knew it would slip between my fingers if I pushed Nick to tell me more.

"What happened to his mom?"

"She had some mental issues. She hadn't been right for a long time and Evan was tired of taking care of her. His father remarried and took his hands off her, he didn't want anything to do with the woman. Evan was the only one she had left, but with time it just got too much for him so his visits to the home became less and less. Then there came a time that she asked of Evan to come to see her, that she needed him, but he thought she was having a fit. Then she took her own life and Evan never forgave himself for not listening to her request."

"So that's why he is partying all the time? He just wants to forget?"

"He has far more issues than that."

"He hates being alone too."

I knew that because whenever Evan had nothing planned he came hanging out with us. Nick mentioned that Evan rarely spent a night on his own. I never thought anything of it until now. I bet he couldn't be on his own because then the guilt came in waves, drowning him.

Nick placed his hand on my arm, his eyes narrowing on me, "I don't want you to have any regrets."

He didn't want me to become like Evan, unable to move forward.

I nodded, "Okay. How about we visit him next weekend together and head to Tokyo afterward?"

I didn't need to specify to Nick what I meant, because he caught on. I loved that about him, with just a look he knew where my mind was at. Maybe marriage wasn't such a bad thing, not when you were married to the person you trusted with your life.

Nick couldn't keep a straight face, "You want to hug him now, don't you?"

I glared at my boyfriend or fiancé rather, since he did propose to me and I apparently accepted it.

"Shut up."

Nick grabbed my hand when I wanted to walk away, being pouty and annoyed that he pushed me so much today. I knew he only did that for me, but I couldn't be happy about it now. In the future I'd be grateful to him for pushing me, I was aware of that. So I didn't pull away when he tried to pull me back to him. So I let him spin me around and pull me closer to him, his lips lingering against my temple.

"I'll arrange a flight to Tokyo. You should contact your brother and discuss if it's a good time to see your father. We'll stay the weekend and head to Tokyo on Monday. Then you can hug Evan and tell him he's loved."

"I do love him." I murmured into his chest, leaning closer to him as he pressed his lips against my hair.

I heard rather than saw Nick's smile, "You should be glad I don't get jealous when it comes to Evan." I heard the soft chuckle he tried to hide, "Much."

He let go of me and went back to the kitchen to continue cooking dinner. I sat down on the couch and send an email to Max. I didn't want to hear his voice, I wasn't ready for that after I decided to see our dad when I protested so much the other day. I knew he wouldn't gloat but something inside me just wouldn't let me pick up the phone. I'm sure a man like Max checked his mail frequently. If Max replied back telling me it was a good time, Nick and I would be on a plane heading to Florida to see my dad. Just the thought of seeing him again made all the stress and anxiousness crawl up inside me. Nick would be right beside me so I hoped everything would work out okay.