Nicki was shaken from her sleep by her obnoxious alarm. She reached over to the table and turned it off. She didn’t want to wake up Tyler yet. It wouldn’t take him that long to get ready. Before getting up, she curled up closer to him. She didn’t think she could face this day without him. There was a bad feeling in her gut. Today was not going to be easy.

She crawled out of bed and went into the bathroom. Yet again, her hair was a mess. She had to look professional for court, which meant she would have to wash it. Nicki turned on the shower and waited for the water to heat up. She looked at the bathtub and shook her head. Last night had been amazing. The whole day had. She smiled as she stepped into the shower.

** * * * * * *

Tyler opened his eyes. He felt around for Nicki before realizing that he heard the shower running. He stretched and yawned before getting out of bed. It was only six thirty. They didn’t have to be at the courthouse until nine.

Regardless, he decided to get ready. Maybe she would want to eat something before they went. He was not looking forward to the day they had ahead of them. He had never been to court, but imagined that it was terrible. Especially when your little brother is being accused of murder. Tyler hoped that he at least took her mind off of it yesterday.

He pulled on a pair of clean boxers. He had bought two suits the day before – one grey and one blue. He didn’t know which one to wear. The grey was made of thinner material. He chose that one.

Nicki walked out of the bathroom in a towel. She took a moment to look at him before approaching and wrapping her arms around him. She tilted her head up and he kissed her.

“You look so handsome,” she said.

He smiled. That wasn’t a word he heard every day. He liked it. She frowned at him and began to speak again.

“You should see what I have to wear. It’s horrible. I feel like a stuffy librarian.”

He watched her get dressed. She put on a tight skirt that hit just above the knee, and a matching jacket. She slipped her feet into some really uncomfortable looking heels.

“A hot, stuffy librarian,” he said.

“Shut up,” she said, throwing her towel at him.

“I’m serious! You know how every guy has some fantasy about a sexy teacher? Yeah well you’re pretty much rocking that right now.”

She looked down at herself, disgusted. “This is what guys like?”

He laughed and kissed her on the head.

“Can we get something to eat?” she asked him. He was usually the one that had to ask.

“Of course. Should we go to the same place?”

“Yeah. Just let me finish getting ready.”

Tyler sat in the chair at the desk while he waited. She came out of the bathroom five minutes later. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she had wrapped a piece of hair around the elastic to make it look like it wasn’t there. She had on dark eye makeup and lipstick.

“Yeah, I’d do you,” he said, trying to make her laugh. She needed it.

He barely got a smile out of her. He grabbed her hand as they walked out of the room.

** * * * * *

Nicki looked down at her oatmeal. Her stomach was churning. She didn’t think that she could eat. She felt Tyler watching her.

“You have to eat, Nicki.” He sounded concerned.

“I don’t think I can. I feel like I’m going to be sick. I’m so nervous. I have a really bad feeling about today.”

“It’s going to be fine. Try not to worry before we even get there.”

“I can’t help it. Ty… I think he’s guilty. I think he did it.”

It felt worse to say it than it did to think it. How could she say that about her own brother? Her instincts told her that he had killed those two people. And her instincts were almost always dead on.

“What?” He looked at her in disbelief.

“I really think he killed them.”

Tyler looked at her. He didn’t say a word. She didn’t expect him to.

** * * * * *

They got to the courthouse fifteen minutes early. A guard out front told them that they could go in and have a seat. Nicki led Tyler to the front of the benches, where family members sat. Neither of them had spoken since she told him that she thought her brother was guilty. He couldn’t believe that she had said it. For her to say that, there must be some really strong evidence against Jason.

Tyler felt the bench moving. He looked over at Nicki and realized that her leg was shaking uncontrollably. He put his hand on her knee. She didn’t look at him. She just grabbed his hand and pulled it into her lap.

A half hour later, the trial was in full swing. The judge had introduced himself and explained what had happened yesterday. He said that today would most likely be the last day of the trial. Tyler was surprised by that. He thought murder trials sometimes lasted for weeks. It worried him.

The prosecution got up to make her opening statement. Tyler felt Nicki playing with his hand. She looked so nervous.

“As most of us know, there is substantial evidence proving that Jason Westmoore did, in fact, kill George Bernard and Ryan Padinski. We have found drugs on the suspect. An automatic firearm matching the one that was used to kill these poor boys…”

She went on and on. Tyler got his first glance at Nicki’s brother. His face was pale and sunken in, and he had dark circles underneath his eyes. Even through that, Tyler saw the resemblance. He and his sister had the same face. They could have passed for twins. Poor kid, he thought to himself. He tuned back in to what the lawyer was saying.

“… But today, today we have something that will break this case wide open. Ladies and gentleman, we have an eyewitness.”

There were some quiet gasps from the jury and others that had filled the room. Tyler didn’t know much about this kind of thing, but he had watched enough crime shows on television to know that an eyewitness almost always meant a conviction.

The defense lawyer representing Jason stood up for his opening. Tyler didn’t understand a lot of the words he was using, but the general consensus was that he didn’t have much. Any argument he had for Jason’s innocence was circumstantial, at best.

He felt something wet fall on his hand. He looked at Nicki. Tears were silently falling down her face. Tyler felt so bad for her. He took his hand out of her lap and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She grabbed his free hand.

They stayed that way for hours. Tyler had no idea how excruciatingly boring it would be. At three o’clock, the prosecution called her witness to the stand. She interrogated him; asking questions that he would have to answer to make Jason look guilty. She was so manipulative. He really started to dislike her.

Tyler realized that Nicki hadn’t moved in quite some time. He looked at her. She sat so still, he swore she could pass for a statue. Her face was blank as she stared straight ahead. He gave her hand a squeeze. She didn’t move.

If they found her brother guilty, it would ruin her. How much more did she have to lose? The judge banged down his mallet.

“At this time, I would like the jury to meet to decide the verdict. If you find any reasonable doubt, then the case must be thrown out. Take as long as you need. I’ll ask everyone else to please remain in the building.”

Tyler stood up and stretched. He was achy from sitting on the uncomfortable wooden bench all day. Nicki was staring at her brother. He was being taken out of the room by the bailiff. Tyler pulled her close and kissed the side of her head. She leaned into him.

They found a more secluded part of the courthouse towards the back of the building. There were a few old vending machines and some benches lined up against the wall.

“Want anything?” Tyler asked her.

“Maybe just some water.”

He walked over to the vending machine and slipped a dollar in. He opened the water before he handed it to her.

“Thank you,” she said.

Her face looked so sad. Tyler would do anything to make her feel better. But he knew that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t give her back everything she’d lost. He got the feeling that it wasn’t just Jason weighing down on her that day. It was everyone and everything that had been stolen from her life.

“I can’t believe they’re trying him as an adult,” said Tyler, trying to get her to speak.

“He’s almost eighteen. And I would call murder an adult crime,” she said, defeated.

Talking clearly wasn’t what she wanted to do.

“Thanks for coming with me today. I don’t think I could have done this without you, Ty. I know I don’t look so good right now. But believe me, you are the only thing keeping me going.”

He pulled her close to him. “I’ll always be here when you need me. I promise.” It was a promise he intended on keeping.

A voice came on over the loudspeakers. “The jury in the Westmoore case has reached a verdict. Would everyone please report back to room 112.”

Tyler helped Nicki up off of the bench. He wrapped his arm around her waist. He didn’t plan on letting go. They reached their seats and waited for the judge to call on the jury.

“Will the jury rise and bring me the verdict?”

Tyler held his breath as the judge unfolded the slip of paper.

“The jury has found Jason Westmoore guilty on all counts. He will serve two consecutive life sentences. He will be eligible for parole in the year 2043. Court dismissed.”

Oh no… He looked at Nicki. She had a hand clasped over her mouth. Her other hand gripped her stomach, as if trying to keep it from spilling out.

** * * * * *

Nicki couldn’t breathe. Her chest hurt and her head felt like it was going to burst. She ran up to Jason and hugged him. She started heaving. “Jason, no…”

He hugged her back. Her body collapsed in his arms.

“I’m so sorry, Nicki. Tell dad I love him,” he said as the bailiff tried to separate them to take Jason away.

She felt hands on her waist. It was Tyler, trying to gently pull her away. Nicki let go of her brother. She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn’t work. Tyler held her up. He was talking to her, but she didn’t hear a single word he said. All she could hear was her own wailing.

All of the sudden, she was back at the hotel room. She didn’t remember how they got there. She looked at Tyler. His face mirrored her pain.

“If you want to, we can stay here an extra day. It’s not a problem,” he said.

“I want to go home.”

“Now?”

She nodded her head.

“You should probably call your dad…” She didn’t respond. “Do you want me to call him for you?”

She nodded again. He picked up her phone and held it up to his ear. Nicki stared off into space.

“Hello? Mr. Westmoore? It’s Tyler.”

“We just got back.”

He walked out into the hallway so that Nicki wouldn’t hear what he was saying. She figured it was for the best. Her head was so crowded with thoughts that not a single one of them registered. She sat on the bed.

Tyler walked back into the room. How long had he been gone? A minute? An hour? She didn’t know. He kneeled down in front of her.

“I’m going to get us two tickets for the next flight home. Give me ten minutes to change and pack up our stuff, okay?”

Nicki sat still while he packed.

“That’s everything. Let’s go home.”

** * * *

Tyler managed to get his two bags, Nicki’s suitcase, and Nicki out to the car in one trip. He helped her into the passenger seat before loading up the trunk with their things. He put an address into the GPS. Nicki’s father had told him about a smaller airport only twenty minutes away that had flights to Boston. The planes weren’t great, but it beat the two hour drive to LAX. He was worried about Nicki. The sooner he got her home, the better.

They got to the airport in only fifteen minutes. There was no traffic. He unpacked the trunk and slung his arm around Nicki’s waist. He didn’t think she could walk by herself. He turned in the car keys to the rental kiosk and paid the bill before crossing the street to the main entrance.

He found a place for Nicki to sit with the bags while he went through the tedious process of buying tickets last minute. This time, the tickets only cost him about $500 a piece. They were in coach, but he could have cared less. The flight took off in forty five minutes. That was pure luck.

The forty five minutes passed by quickly thanks to all of the security measures. Tyler had to help Nicki with everything. He didn’t mind, but seeing her so helpless was breaking his heart. She was always strong and independent. She never relied on anybody else. Tonight she was broken.

“You should try to get some rest,” Tyler said to her once they were on the plane. He doubted she would agree, but it was worth a shot.

“I’ll try.”

She pulled her knees up to her chest, placing her feet on the edge of her seat. Tyler had given her the window seat. He knew that it was her favorite. Unfortunately, the darkness setting in was going to make it impossible to see anything.

“I’ll be right back,” he told her.

He got up to find a flight attendant. He spotted one near the back of the plane.

“Excuse me, do you think that I could get a blanket?” he asked her.

She turned to look at him and opened her eyes a little wider.

“Course you can, sugar.” She spoke with a southern accent. She pulled a blanket out of a compartment in the wall and handed it to him. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No, that’s it. Thanks.”

“Well you just let me know if there’s anything you need,” she said, winking at him.

He walked away towards his seat. He should start wearing a wedding ring. Maybe that would make girls lay off. Nah. He doubted most of the girls he met would stop and think about hitting on a married man anyways. He got back to their row and draped the blanket around Nicki’s shoulders. She had her head on her knees, turned away from him. He couldn’t tell if she was asleep, but if he had to guess, he would say no.

Tyler leaned back into the seat. What a long day…

Turbulence woke him up. It was pretty bad. The speaker came on telling the passengers to put on their seatbelts. He looked to his left to make sure Nicki put hers on. She was sitting in the same position, except her head was facing forward, eyes straight ahead. Tyler checked his watch. He had been out for most of the flight. They should be landing in about fifteen minutes. Had Nicki been like that the whole time?

“They said to put your seatbelt on,” he said to her.

She unraveled herself and tried to grab her seatbelt, but couldn’t get a good grip. He reached over her and did it for her, securing it around her stomach. He did the same to his own.

“We’re almost home.” He gave her a kiss on the head.

They landed smoothly. Tyler felt exhausted. It was almost three in the morning in Boston. It would take some time for his body to get back in sync with their time zone. They made their way through the airport and to his car. Luckily, it didn’t look like anything had happened to it. He didn’t like the idea of leaving his $200,000 car in an airport lot.

By the time Tyler got to Nicki’s house, it was almost four. He wanted nothing more than to spend another night with her, but he knew that she needed some space. She looked at him for the first time in hours.

“Do you want me to walk you in?” he asked her.

She nodded her head. Tyler was glad she said yes. He got out of the car and went around to the passenger side to help her out. He couldn’t believe she was still going. Even he had slept through most of their flight. She had been awake the entire time.

They made it up her front steps and he opened the first of two doors leading into her house. She punched a security code into a pad on the second door and it opened. Tyler had never been inside of her house before. She led him through a small porch that connected to the rest of her house. They entered through the kitchen. He followed her into the living room, where her father was lying on the couch. He got up and wrapped his arms around his daughter. Tyler backed off.

“Hi sweetie,” he said, squeezing her. He sounded as terrible as Nicki looked.

She didn’t say anything.

“I’m glad you’re home. I missed you.” He turned to Tyler and shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Tyler. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for my daughter. I’ll pay you back for that plane ticket,” he said.

“Please, it’s on me.”

“Thank you.” He leaned in and gave Nicki a kiss on the forehead. “Night, hon.”

She tried to force a smile, but failed. She started to walk up the stairs. Tyler didn’t know whether or not to follow her. He looked at her father. He nodded. Tyler went up the stairs after her. Once she reached the landing, she opened the first door on the right. He walked in after her.

Her room was immaculately clean. And it looked like something straight out of a magazine. He remembered she told him that she wanted to start an interior design business. She had some serious talent.

“You have a really nice room. Did you do this all yourself?”

“Even the paint,” she said, sitting down on her bed.

Tyler put her suitcase down in the far corner of her room. He went back over to her and kneeled down to take off her heels. He was going to offer to help her change, but she got up to do it herself. She left her clothes on the floor. Judging by the cleanliness of her room, that was unusual. He watched her pull on a pair of flannel pajama pants. She searched in the top drawer of her dresser.

“I don’t have any comfy shirts,” she said, frowning a little. “They must be in the wash.”

Tyler slipped out of his jacket and took off his shirt. He walked over to her and brought it down over her head. She stuck her arms through the sleeves.

“That one is really comfortable. I got it yesterday.”

She looked up at him. “I’m gonna miss you tonight.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

“I think I need to be alone for a little while…” she said, lowering her head. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I understand. Come on, I’ll tuck you in.”

He pulled the covers down on her bed and let her climb in. She turned over on her side, facing him. He sat down next to her and stroked her face.

“I don’t care what time it is, call me if you need to talk, okay?” He bent down and kissed her cheek. “Sleep tight.”

He grabbed his jacket and zipped it all the way up, hoping her father wouldn’t notice that he was leaving without a shirt on. He turned off her light and closed the door. He was going to miss her, too.

** * * * * *

Ristuccia Arena, 10:00 AM

Tyler decided to get to practice extra early. He hadn’t been able to fall asleep the night before. Yesterday’s events had haunted him. He thought back to the way Nicki fought to hold on to her brother before they took him away. The agony in her eyes…

“Seguin! I thought you weren’t going to be back until tomorrow,” Claude said as he stepped into the locker room. He turned to look at his coach. “You look horrible.”

Tyler nodded his head. “Yeah. Yesterday was tough.”

Claude sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“I know. I saw it on the news. The lousy bastards thought it would make a better story if they showed the footage of Nicki hanging on to her brother. I saw you pull her off of him. The look on your face. I don’t know how you handled that.”

“I don’t either.”

“How is Nicki holding up?”

Tyler looked down at the ground. “She’s not. She’s a wreck.” He just wanted to hold her.

“Ah, I’m sorry kid,” Claude said, patting him on the shoulder. “Well she’s lucky to have you. She’ll be okay, eventually.”

Tyler smiled at his coach. He was a great guy, but he wasn’t exactly known for making you feel good about yourself. That was the first time he had said something like that to Tyler. He bent over to lace up his skates. Instead of waiting in the locker room, he went out onto the ice to shoot around.

It felt good to be back on the ice. He was used to it. He needed some familiar territory to help ground him. He took shot after shot at the goals on each end of the rink.

** * * * * *

Milan walked into the locker room. It looked like he was the last one to arrive. He didn’t say anything to anyone and began to get dressed for practice. Brad came up to him while he was putting on his pads.

“Segs is back,” he said.

“Seriously? Where is he?” Milan didn’t see him in the locker room.

“Already out on the ice. Coach said he was already dressed by the time he got in. He’s probably been here all morning.”

Just as Milan was about to reply, Claude placed himself in the middle of the room and started speaking.

“Alright guys, listen up. Seguin’s back. He’s miserable. We’re going to have a light practice today. Our main goal today is to cheer him up, by any means necessary.”

Most of the guys nodded their heads. Dougie spoke up.

“What happened to him?”

“Damn it, Dougie, don’t you ever pay attention?” Brad yelled at him. He was always teasing him.

“Marchand, leave him alone,” Claude boomed. “For any of you that don’t know, he was in California with his friend, Nicki. You all met her. He really cares for her. Her brother just got sentenced to two lifetimes in prison. I’m assuming most of you saw the footage on the news. It shook him up pretty bad. Now get out there and for God’s sake do something about it.”

“Did you see it on the news?” Brad asked Milan.

“No, I didn’t.”

“It was rough, bro. They taped the entire trial and decided to show the part where the jury found her brother guilty. She goes up to hug him and like collapses. Segs had to pull her off of him. She was really messed up. You should have seen his face.”

Milan felt horrible for both of them. He had seen the picture that Tyler sent to Brad only a couple of days ago. They looked so happy.

“What do we do?” he asked Brad.

“No idea. Let’s go talk to Segs.”

** * * * * *

Tyler turned around and saw a few of the guys skating towards him. Brad skated right into him and gave him a man hug.

“Hey Seggy buddy!”

“Hey,” was all Tyler said.

“I’m sorry about Nicki’s brother,” said Milan.

“Yeah, me too,” Brad said.

“Yeah. It’s not like I even knew him.”

“So why are you so upset, then?” asked Nathan.

“It’s Nicki. She just keeps losing people. I think this time it finally broke her.”

His words weighed heavily on his teammates. None of them knew what it was like to suffer that kind of loss. Chara put a huge hand on his shoulder.

“What can we do to make it better?” he asked.

Tyler sighed. “I wish I knew.”

“If we make Nicki feel better, would that make you feel better?” Dougie asked.

“Of course it would.”

“Wow, you really like her,” said Brad. He nodded.

“We could throw her a party,” suggested Chara.

“She’s not going to want to party,” Brad snapped. Chara looked down at him. “Okay, maybe a party would work.”

Everyone laughed. Even Tyler. Chara was one guy you didn’t want to mess with. Especially when you’re the shortest guy on the team.

“Yeah!” exclaimed Dougie. “It could be a ‘feel better Nicki we love you party’. I mean, not we love you. Wait, do we?”

“I don’t know, do we Seggy?” asked Tuuka.

Tyler didn’t say anything.

“I knew it!” said Brad. “I’m going to get a banner that says that. Where’s this party gonna be?”

“We could have it at my place again. There’s plenty of room. And it is where you two had your first kiss,” Milan said.

“Brittany wouldn’t mind?” asked Tyler.

“Nah. Besides, she likes Nicki a lot. She won’t care.”

“Ugh, you guys are the best. I think if we do this the right way, it could work. When should we do it?”

“Well, we’re away the next two days. But we have Sunday off. How about then?” suggested Tuuka.

Everyone seemed to agree on Sunday.

“I’ll have Brittany start setting up today. Marchy, if you’re serious about the banner, I think it’s a cool idea. We’ll get a cake. Some drinks. What else?”

The guys threw some ideas around.

“This is really great guys, thanks,” said Tyler.

Brad slapped him hard across the back. “That’s what teammates are for!”

** * * * * *

After practice, Tyler was feeling slightly better. He decided to stop by Nicki’s house to see how she was doing. After spending so much time with her, it was hard adjusting to spending so much time apart.

He pulled up to her house. Her father’s black Chevy Tahoe was in the driveway next to her car. He must have stayed home from work. Tyler didn’t blame him. He walked up to her front door and rang the bell. He heard a dog barking. He forgot she had one; he didn’t see it last night. Her father opened the door for him.

“Tyler, good to see you again. Come in.”

“Thanks, Mr. Westmoore. Nicki doesn’t know I’m coming. I just wanted to check up on her.”

“Call me Bill,” he said. “Go on up. She’s in her room.”

Tyler nodded. It seemed like her dad liked him. Nicki told him all about his days as a sergeant in the military, and that he was never nice to boys that she hung around with. Somehow Tyler had made a good impression.

He walked up the stairs. Her door was slightly open. He knocked lightly as he opened the door to let her know he was coming. She was sitting on her bed with an old shoebox. There were pictures spread out all over the place. She held one in her hand.

“Hey.”

She looked up at him.

“Hi, Ty.”

Nicki moved some of the pictures around to make room for him to sit. Tyler looked at them as he sat down. They were all of her with her family. She was a little kid in most of them.

“How are you feeling?”

“A little better. I finally fell asleep when the sun came up. It kind of made things seem… less terrible.”

She picked up another picture. It was of her and Jason as little kids. They were playing catch.

“I just can’t stop thinking about him. What happened to that innocent little boy that I grew up with?”

Tyler shook his head. He didn’t know. She gathered up the pictures and put them back in the box.

“I’m sorry I was so awful yesterday,” she said.

Tyler climbed further up onto the bed. He grabbed Nicki and pulled her closer to him, making her lie down.

“You weren’t awful. You went through something awful. There’s a difference,” he said as he kissed her forehead. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you feeling better.”

She looked up at him. Tyler took the opportunity to press his lips against hers. She kissed him back softly. When she pulled away, she rested her head on his chest, underneath his chin.

** * * * * * *

When Nicki woke up, it was dark out. What happened? She looked up at Tyler. He was fast asleep. She didn’t remember what time he had come over, but she was sure that it was early in the day. Her alarm clock read that it was eight o’clock.

Nicki stretched. Her foot hit something on the end of her bed. She looked at it and laughed quietly. Lucy and her cat, Stripes, had both decided to nap with her and Tyler. It was Lucy that Nicki had hit with her foot. Stripes was lying between Tyler’s legs.

Poor Tyler, she thought. She had put him through hell. He didn’t deserve that. She tilted her head up and lightly kissed his neck. For some reason, his neck always smelled good. Nicki decided to stay like that until he woke up. In her mind she ran through all of the ways that she could possibly repay him for everything he’d done for her. She didn’t have much to offer.

Lying on her bed with Tyler had drastically improved her mood. There was still a lot of pain from the day before. But reality had finally set in. There was nothing she could do about Jason. As much as it hurt to think of her brother in prison, at least he was alive. She could visit him. She could write letters and e-mails. It was the small, positive things that made her feel okay.

And Tyler. Knowing that she had him by her side gave her all of the strength in the world. She nuzzled her face into his neck. He unconsciously rubbed her arm. That made Nicki smile. He was adorable when he slept. The innocence she had seen in him the first night they met came out when he was asleep.

She thought of Mark. Sometimes it still felt like she was betraying him. But the gaping hole that he had left in her life seemed to be closing. She truly believed that he would want her to be happy. Tyler made her happy. He made her happier than Mark ever could. There was something between her and Tyler that she never had with Mark.

A change in Tyler’s breathing made Nicki look up. She heard him yawn and kissed his neck, the same way as before.

“Mmm,” he moaned. “That’s nice to wake up to.”

Nicki wrapped her arm around his stomach and squeezed, trying to give him a hug. He went to move his legs, scaring Stripes. He pounced up and gave Tyler a death stare.

“Stripes, stop being a grouch,” Nicki said, tapping him on the head.

The commotion woke up Lucy. She pawed her way over to them, and sprawled out across Tyler’s stomach. He scratched her head.

“So this is Lucy?” he asked her.

“Yup,” she said, admiring how good he was with animals. That was really important to her.

“Woah. What time is it?” Tyler asked, looking around.

Nicki stretched over him to look at the clock. “Almost nine.”

“Did you fall asleep?”

“Yeah. I woke up like an hour ago.”

“You should have woken me up,” he said.

“But I was comfy. And you’re cute when you sleep. I was enjoying it.”

He kissed her head. He was beginning to do it more and more often. She loved it.

“Well I’m glad you slept. I don’t know about you, but I feel great.”

“Me too.” She always felt great when she was with him.

Tyler reached down again to pet Lucy.

“Oh shit. I forgot to ask you, can you watch Marshall the next two days? It’s okay if you don’t want to. I can always leave him with Freddy’s aunt. I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“I’d love to. When are you leaving?”

He frowned. “Tomorrow morning. Early.”

Nicki didn’t want him to leave. Even for two days.

“Can I go home with you tonight?” she asked him.

“You really want to do that?” He sounded excited.

“Are you kidding me? Of course I do! I really missed you last night. It’s not the same trying to go to sleep without you.”

“Yeah, I’m with you on that one. I can’t believe I just took an eight hour long nap,” he said, chuckling.

Nicki got up and kissed him as she got off of the bed. “Let me just throw some things together. We can go now. Do we have to pick up Marshall?”

“Yeah. Freddy’s aunt only lives like five minutes away. We’ll get him on the way.”

Nicki transferred some things from her suitcase into her duffle bag. She grabbed clean clothes and stuffed them in. As a last minute addition, she took a few movies out of a basket near her TV. Tyler didn’t have many movies that she liked.

“I’m all packed! Let’s go!”

She had so much energy from her nap. Or she was just excited to spend the night with Tyler. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

“We should make sure it’s okay with your dad,” he said.

“Make sure what’s okay with me?” Nicki’s dad said as he stepped into the room.

“I’m gonna watch Marshall the next two days. Is it okay if I stay over Tyler’s tonight?”

Her dad glanced between her and Tyler. The expression on his face looked like he was about to say no.

“I don’t think so.”

Nicki looked at the ground, defeated. She didn’t think he was going to care.

“Cheer up! I was just kidding. Of course you can,” he said, laughing. “But before you go I have to show you something.”

Her dad was in an awfully good mood. He never joked around with her. He pulled out his phone and faced it towards her and Tyler. He had taken a picture of them sleeping with her two pets.

“Dad, that’s awesome.” She giggled. “Oh. My. God. I almost forgot. Tyler, show him the picture!”

He knew what picture she was talking about. He searched through his phone and found it.

“Can you believe that?” she asked as her dad looked at the picture of her with the giraffe.

Her dad smiled. “That’s awesome sweetie. I’ve never seen anything like that. I’m glad you two got to have some fun out there.”

She hugged her father. “You’re the best, dad.”

“I know,” he responded as he left them alone in her room.

“Your dad is a really cool guy,” Tyler said.

“I know he is. I can tell that he likes you a lot. Or he at least likes me being with you a lot. You ready to go? I want to see Marshall.” And make out with him without risking her father walking in on them.

He got off of the bed, giving Lucy a pat goodbye. He skipped over Stripes, who was still glaring at him. He was such a grumpy cat. They walked downstairs.

“So I’ll see you Sunday?” her dad asked.

“Yup! Bye dad. I love you.”

“Love you too, hon.”

She grabbed Tyler’s hand and led him out of the house. She was on Cloud 9. They had the entire night to themselves again. This time, there was nothing to worry about. Besides saying goodbye the next day…

** * * * * *

“Marshall, cut it out! I missed you too!” Tyler yelled, trying to wipe the slobber off of his arm. He heard Nicki laughing.

“He’s a terrible backseat driver,” she said.

“You have no idea.”

“Actually, I do. Remember when I had to take him to the vet? Not only did he try to climb underneath my feet while I was driving, he drooled all over my interior. It took me two days of scrubbing to get it out of the seats.”

Tyler didn’t want her to bring up that night. That was one of the worst nights of his life. He would always feel terrible about it.

“We’re finally here,” he said, pulling into his spot.

He looked to his right, at Freddy’s parking spot. He missed him.

As if reading his mind, Nicki said, “I miss Freddy. When’s he coming back?”

“I don’t know. I miss him too. It’s really lonely without him.” He paused. “But tonight shouldn’t be so bad.”

Nicki grinned at him. He got the feeling that she was planning something. She was way too excited about staying over.

“Come on, let’s go in! I haven’t been to your place in so long.”

It was true. She hadn’t been there since he got home from their last road trip. Things were so much different now. He watched her rush up the stairs with Marshall, who was just as excited to be home. They both waited by the door for him to unlock it.

Nicki dropped her bag in the corner. She reached into her pockets, looking for something.

“What are you looking for?” he asked her.

“My phone. Shit. I might have forgotten it. Can you call it?”

He dialed her number. It rang twice. He heard Nicki’s ringtone blasting.

"I don’t know if I will ever find the perfect way to tell you why, when every time I try I’m right back at the first date and the first kiss, I couldn’t wait cuz every moment meant so much I couldn’t let it pass. I’m right back where I first stood when I first knew that I would always love you, and you know I’ll never look back. Every time I try to tell you how I feel, I feel like that.”

Nicki scrambled to find her phone. By the time she got it and hung up, the entire ringtone had already played.

“That’s my ringtone?” he asked her.

She blushed deeper than he had ever seen before. She looked absolutely horrified. He probably wasn’t supposed to hear that ringtone.

“I-I forgot it was on loud…”

He dialed her number again. As soon as it started to ring, she pressed ignore. Tyler ran at her, trying to grab her phone out of her hand. They ended up on the couch, wrestling over her phone. He tickled her sides and she burst out laughing and screaming.

“Stop! Now! So… Unfair!”

Tyler grabbed her phone and left her alone. She gave up. He dialed her number and listened to the song again. It made him feel amazing. Something about the lyrics… he wondered if she really felt that way.

“I love it,” he said.

“Really?”

He nodded. Nicki shot up from the couch and jumped on him. She crashed her lips down onto his and he wrapped his hands around her thighs, holding her up. To keep his balance, Tyler backed up into a wall. Nicki climbed up higher on him. He felt her pull his hair. In retaliation, he slipped his tongue into her mouth. She grabbed it with her lips and started sucking on it. He moaned. He had never experienced that before.

Tyler rolled around so that Nicki’s back was up against the wall. He slid his hands up her shirt, feeling the soft, warm skin on her stomach and back. He reached up and unhooked her bra. When he did that, she pulled away and looked at him. If she was going to try to stop him, she thought otherwise. Nicki grabbed his head and pulled it towards her, kissing him as passionately as she had a moment ago. He lifted up her shirt; she raised her arms so he could get it off. She tugged at his shirt. He pressed against her with his hips as he took it off.

He brushed his lips against her collarbone, moving slowly up towards her neck. He had learned where she liked to be kissed; right where her neck meets her jaw line. He pulled gently on her skin with his lips. When she had had enough, she looked down and kissed him again. Without breaking up their kiss, Tyler brought her into his room, laying her down on the bed before crawling on top of her.

Nicki wrapped her legs around his waist and rolled over so that she was on top of him. She kissed nearly every inch of him, from his face down to his stomach. Every time her lips touched his skin, a chill shot through his body. He looked down at her. She unbuttoned his pants with her teeth and pulled the zipper down with her mouth.

It was too hot for Tyler to handle. He pulled her up towards him and kissed her again. He threw her over to the other side of the bed. He copied her, running his lips from her neck down to her hips. He undid the button on her jeans and pulled them off, slowly. His hands started shaking. He kicked off his own pants, letting the last of their clothing drop to the floor.

Nicki looked into his eyes as he positioned himself on top of her.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, touching his lips to hers.

He leaned into her and she gasped, digging her fingers into his shoulder blades.

“Oh, Ty,” she said, breathing heavily.

He moved slowly. His face was less than an inch from hers. They tried to kiss, but every few seconds stopped to let out a breath. When she started to moan, he moved faster, harder. He buried his face in her neck. He felt her wrap her legs around him and run her fingers through his hair. She pulled him as close to her as she could.

She dug her nails into his back and squeezed her legs tightly around him. Tyler waited for her to relax her grip before he let go. When he stopped, he brought his face up to meet hers. Her cheeks and lips were bright red, and a sheen of sweat covered her forehead. He brought his lips down to hers.

Neither of them wanted to move.

“That was…” Nicki said, letting out a breath.

“Amazing,” he finished for her.

“Have you ever felt anything like that?”

He shook his head. Not even close. They stayed that way as long as they could.

“I should probably go, uh, clean up,” Nicki said.

Tyler’s expression changed drastically.

“We didn’t use anything…” No wonder it had felt so good…

Nicki pretended to slap him across the face.

“Tyler Seguin. Do you think I’m an idiot? I’m on the pill. As long you as you don’t have an STD, we’re fine.”

He let out the breath he had been holding in. Thank God.

“Hey, how about that shower?” Nicki proposed.

He nodded his head and finally lifted himself off of her. It was too bad that it had to end.

“I’ll go start it.”

She followed him into the bathroom and grabbed him from behind. She stood on her tip toes and whispered in his ear. “You are unbelievable.”

“So are you,” he whispered back.

Tyler stepped into the shower. The warm water was soothing on his skin. His entire body had become unbearably sensitive. Nicki came in shortly after. He pulled her under the water and embraced her. She wiped the water out of her eyes. Her makeup was running down her face. Tyler wiped it away with his thumbs before leaning in to kiss her.

He kept her face in his hands. “We should be proud. We waited a really long time.”

She laughed. “When I said that, I had in mind at least a week or two. I don’t know, Ty. That just felt like the right moment. And I’m so glad we did. I was ready to burst at the seams every time I looked at you.”

“I know how you feel,” he said, smiling.

He was fully prepared to wait as long as she wanted. But he didn’t think that it could have been any more perfect. They had the apartment to themselves, she was spending the night… everything seemed like it just fell into place.

Their conversation ceased. Tyler spun Nicki around so her back was towards him. He rubbed her shoulders.

“That’s soo nice,” she said.

He moved down her back, applying pressure with his fingertips. She turned to face him. He saw her look around the shower and pick up his body wash. She opened the top and smelled it.

“This is what I always smell on you.”

Nicki squeezed some out onto her hands and lathered it onto his chest and neck. She moved her hands down his thighs, going lower as she knelt down on the shower floor. What was she doing...? Oh God…

Tyler let out a long sigh. He put his hand on the top of her head and closed his eyes. He opened them again when she stopped. She popped up to face him.

“Let’s go again,” she said eagerly.

“Are you serious?”

“So serious.”

He didn’t waste any time. He pressed her forward against the wall and came up behind her. He wrapped an arm all the way around her stomach so he could lift her. This time, he didn’t bother starting slowly. He brushed her wet hair away from her neck and kissed her in her favorite spot. He moved his lips to her ear, kissing it gently.

He kept his lips there and whispered, “I feel like that lion right now.”

The response he got from Nicki was some crossbreed between a laugh and a scream. She banged her hand against the wall. He had finished, but kept going until she begged him to stop.

“Ty, please, I can’t take any more,” she said, bringing a hand to her chest.

“You asked for it.”

“You’re right. I can’t believe you said that thing about the lion.” She started to crack up. He laughed with her. “You’re fucking incredible. You just made me laugh hysterically and scream with pleasure at the same time. I didn’t even know that was possible.”

“I’ve never heard you swear before.”

“That’s what you take out of what I just said?!”

Tyler shrugged. “Your welcome?”

Nicki laughed again. “Is there anything you’re not amazing at?”

He nodded. “Cooking. And I can’t tie a tie."

She shook her head at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Nicki titled her head up and rubbed her nose against his.

"Eskimo kisses!" she said.

Tyler cracked up and pulled her towards him. Just last night he wouldn't have believed that they would be doing this. Everything finally felt complete.

The water started to turn cold.

“Looks like we’ve overstayed our welcome,” he said, turning off the water.

Goosebumps rose all over his skin. It was freezing. Nicki jumped out of the shower and snagged a towel from underneath his sink. She threw it to him and got another for herself. They dried off and went back into his bedroom. Tyler walked out the door to grab his phone off of the kitchen counter.

“What are you doing?” Nicki asked him as he held his phone up to her.

“Taking pictures!”

He shot a few of her in the towel. Then he turned his phone to the bed. The sheets had been completely mangled. It made for a great photo.

“It’s the classiest way that I can think of to document our first time,” he said. “Unless you’d rather film it.”

“In your dreams,” she said.

She bent over and tied her hair up in her towel. Tyler watched her. It was going to take a long time to get used to her walking around naked. But he sure didn’t mind. She came back a moment later with a big, fluffy bathrobe around her.

“You look so cuddly,” he said, looking around. He grabbed his robe off of the bathroom door. “Just so happens that I have one of those bad boys myself.” He swung it around himself and tied the sash around his waist.

“Bathrobe party!” Nicki yelled as she ran up to him and hugged him.

He was so glad to see the fun side of her again. She acted really silly around him. No girls ever did that.

“So what do you want to do?” he asked her.

Her mouth dropped open. “I got it. Bathrobe ping pong.”

He laughed. “You really want me to embarrass you again?”

“My robe gives me special ping pong powers. Bring it on.”

She ran out of the room. Tyler followed her. Her running had woken up Marshall, and he paced loudly around the apartment trying to figure out what was going on. Nicki had already claimed one side of the table. Tyler walked around to the other.

“What’s your bet?” she asked him.

“If I win, I want you to sing for me again. Just me. And you have to look me in the eyes the whole time.”

“Psh, that’s awkward,” she said giggling. “If I win, you have to cook me dinner when you get back from your trip.”

“It’s your funeral,” he said.

Nicki served first. A few rounds in, Tyler began to think that she had hustled him before. She was kicking his ass. She won the game in no time at all.

“You’re awful,” he said, “You played me.”

“Sorry, love. I really didn’t want to watch you and Freddy kiss. I just wanted him to get creeped out.”

“Did you just call me love?”

She nodded. He waited for her to blush. She didn’t. She must have done it on purpose.

“You should do it more often.”

He picked her up and kissed her.

“This robe is so soft!" He didn’t know they made clothes that soft.

“I know. It’s like wearing a polar bear.”

Tyler laughed and shook his head. She said the strangest things. He fell back into the couch, taking her with him. She curled up on his lap. She fit perfectly. He wrapped his arms around her.

“I feel like I’m cradling an oversized baby,” he said.

“Are you calling me fat?”

“Pretty much.”

Instead of getting mad at him, she pressed her lips against his cheek, making a loud kissing noise when she pulled away. It was literally impossible to make her mad. Tyler liked that he could joke around with her, without worrying about hurting her feelings.

“So,” she began, “what meal will chef Tyler be preparing for me when he gets back?”

“Whatever you want to eat. Or chew and spit into the garbage.”

“You can’t be that bad. Hmm… I want you to make me… enchiladas.”

“Enchiladas?”

“Enchiladas.”

“Why?” he asked her. It was just like the giraffes.

“That’s my favorite food. You didn’t know that? I love Mexican food.”

He was so confused. “I thought you hated spicy food?”

“Oh, I do. But I love Mexican food.”

Tyler shook his head and laughed at her. “You are the weirdest girl that I’ve ever met.”

“Bet you didn’t think I was very weird in the shower when I…”

She never got to finish her sentence. Her phone started to make a strange noise. She got up off of Tyler to check it. She scrunched up her face.

“Tyler help! What does this mean?!”

He got up to look at her phone. She wasn’t very good with technology.

“It’s a face time call. Someone wants to do the face time thing with you.”

Tyler pressed the square that said ‘answer’. Freddy’s face appeared on her phone.

“Hey Ty! What’s going on?”

“Freddy! I miss you bro. Nothing, just hanging here with Nicki.” He tilted the camera towards her so she could wave. Freddy made a face.

“Are you two wearing bathrobes?”

Tyler looked down at himself. “Uh, yeah. Yeah we are.” He handed the phone to Nicki. She could deal with him.

“So I take it you two didn’t wait very long after all,” he said, smirking.

“No we… Hey! How did you know about that?”

“Ty didn’t tell you? He answered your phone when you guys were in Cali and told me all about it.”

“Ohh.”

“So how was he?”

“Freddy!” she screamed. “That’s inappropriate.”

“That bad, huh?” he said, chuckling.

“Fine. You want to know the truth?” He nodded his head. “He absolutely ruined me.” Tyler gave her a high five out of the range of the camera.

The smile faded off of his face. “Well that’s good for you, then. Listen, the reason I called was to say that I heard about your brother. I’m so sorry, Nicki. I know it isn’t much condolence, but you always have me.”

Her faced softened. “Aw, Freddy. That means more to me than you think. When are you coming home? We miss you.”

“Sooner than I thought, actually. I don’t know an exact date, but I shouldn’t be here much longer. I gotta go, give Marshall a pat on the head for me. See you soon.”

The screen went back to her home page. She looked at her background.

“I love that picture,” she said.

Tyler nodded and wrapped an arm around her. “You know I can honestly say that that was the best day of my life? Even better than the day we won the cup.”

Nicki looked up at him; he met her gaze. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Why?”

“Lots of reasons. I think the biggest one is that I realized something. It finally hit me that the purpose of life isn’t to make a lot of money, or be famous, or be Boston’s most eligible bachelor. It’s about spending as much time as you can with the people you care about. And if it wasn’t for you coming into my life, I don’t think I ever would have realized that. You are hands down the most inconceivably amazing person that I’ve ever met.”

He watched her big, brown eyes gloss over. She put her hands on his face. Her lips met his. They started to tremble and she pulled away. Nicki squeezed him around the waist and cried. Tyler didn’t say anything. He just held her.

When she stopped, he asked, “What was that about?”

“That was the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. It just made me feel like I needed to cry,” she said, sniffling.

“You should really work on that. I’m getting used to it, but you might alarm other people.” He laughed a little. She cried over everything. She even cried when she laughed.

“I’m sorry. It’s just. I don’t know. My entire life I’ve just been trying to prove myself to everyone. I try so hard to be good to people and to do good things. And usually I just get trampled on. You are literally the first person to give me some recognition for it.”

Tyler felt for her. He could tell she always tried to do the right thing, even when it hurt her.

“I see that in you. That’s part of why I think you’re strong. No one I know will stand by what they think is right the way you do. Especially when it seems like the entire world is shitting on you. That takes a lot.”

She hugged him and he kissed the top of her head.

“Enough of this serious stuff,” he said. “Want to watch a movie or something?”

“Yeah, I brought a few. They’re in my bag if you want to look through them.”

Tyler searched her bag. When he found the movies, he sifted through them. She brought mostly chick flicks, a couple horror movies, and the Austin Powers trilogy.

“We have to watch Austin Powers,” he said.

Her face lit up. “You like those movies?!”

“Yeah. Mike Myers is hysterical.”

“It’s official. You are the perfect boyfriend.”

He knew that he was far from perfect. But if she wanted to think he was, she could go right ahead. Tyler set up the blue ray and turned everything on. Nicki was waiting for him on the shorter part of the couch. He couldn’t help but think back to the day when he had picked her up from her house and brought her over. She was so timid then. He remembered how good it felt to lie there with her that first time.

She scooted over to make room for him. This time, he didn’t need to ask her. She nestled her head onto his chest and he put his arm around her. She twisted her head and kissed his cheek before she covered them with a blanket. Tyler looked down at her. He wanted to tell her so badly…