Nicole

There are no words to fully explain the roller coaster of feelings that invaded my heart last night.

I have never even had sex this great. Ever.

This sudden change of events is making me rethink so many things, and at the moment I have zero answers for the thousands of questions that flood through my mind. So, what do I do? I pick up the phone and call my best friend. 

"You know it's four o'clock in the morning here, right? And it's Sunday?" Was the warm greeting I got from my ride or die. 

"You told me to call you any time of the day or night if it was an emergency." I offered. 

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"What's the emergency, then?"

"I slept with Lucas." I admitted, the words falling off of my lips quickly, as if I was ripping off a band-aid.

"What?! Oh my God!" 

I could hear her moving in bed, probably sitting up and after she switched to video call, I could confirm my suspicions as the dim light on the nightstand lit up her sleepy face while she pulled off her sleeping pink eye mask.

"Okay, spill the tea. All of it."

I took a deep breath as I adjusted my fluffy robe that covered my chest. I was having a lazy Sunday kind of day today. 

"Do you want the short version or-?"

"Long version, I want to know every detail." She ordered, her face letting me know she wouldn't take a no for an answer. 

"Alright so, I guess it started when we kissed. You remember I told you we kissed at the record shop." She nodded in agreement and I continued. "Well, this week we went out for breakfast together and he started telling me he liked me and he wanted to take me out on a date and he wanted to see what could happen between the two of us and I said yes. So I went over to his place last night, for dinner and after we ate we were in his office and I don't know how it happened but we started kissing again."

Diane gasped loudly and I saw her hands covering her wide opened mouth through the screen. 

"It's like there's a magnetic force pulling us together, I swear! But God, Diane... it was so amazing. So we kissed and then we started touching each other, things started heating up and he stopped."

I could swear Diane's eyes almost popped out of her face. 

"He said he didn't want us to do something that we might regret and blah blah blah and I said that I didn't think we could ever regret doing this, we both know what. And then, well... it happened."

"Oh my God, I'm in pure shock." Was all she said, earning a light chuckle from me. "How was it?"

"Perfect. Literally, the most perfect night I could ever wish for. He was... so gentle, so sweet and passionate. I never wanted it to end."

"What happened after?"

"Well, we went to sleep. Then he offered to let me shower at his place and he offered breakfast but I said no."

"Why did you say no?" She sounded outraged. 

"Because I-I I think I was scared? No, scared isn't the word." I corrected myself after thinking it through. "I honestly don't know why I left. Don't get me wrong, I wish I had stayed there but I-I followed my gut and I came back home." 

"I think deep down, you know what happened in that mind of yours, for you to flee."

I starred into the white walls of my bedroom, searching through the confines of the back of my mind. 

"I think I was just protecting myself." 

"From what?"

"From getting hurt. Because at the end of the day, I'm not from here and I'm supposed to go back to San Francisco around Christmas or New Year. And... this bubble that Lucas and I live in at the moment is going to burst eventually, and it's going to be too much. And you know what's worst than me getting hurt? Is knowing that I'll hurt him too."

I felt a shiver run down my spine after I confessed all my deepest thoughts and fears to my pseudo sister, who was looking at me with a sympathetic look.

"I think that it's obviously still too early to have you question this but, if things really do work out between the two of you..." She shrugged. "What's keeping you here? It's not your job, it's not your parents and it's definitely not going to be me."

"And stay here, in London? Forever?"

"I wouldn't put it like that but... yes."

"I don't know, Di. You're right, it's too early for me to think about something as definitive as that."

"I'm just saying it's good for you to know you have... options. You know what I mean?"

"I do. Thank you so much, you're the best best friend ever. And I am sorry for waking you up so early, you should go back to sleep."

"I know I am." She smirked at me before we both broke into a fit of giggles. "I'm not able to go back to sleep again. I'll just go out for an early run."

"I got tired just by hearing you say that." We continued laughing until we said our final goodbyes and hung up on the video call. Her face disappeared form my screen and I felt a a knot in the pit of my stomach. Memories of the previous night kept flooding back into my mind and before I could regret thinking about calling him, I reached for my phone and clicked on his name. 

It rang three times before someone who was not him, answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Lexi. Who is this?"

I instantly smiled as I heard the excitement in her squeaky voice.

"It's Nicole, remember me?"

"Lex, who's that?" I heard him ask from a close distance.

"It's your friend Nicole." I couldn't tell exactly what he was saying to her but the girl said goodbye to me in a rush and I assumed he wanted to talk to me. That's good.

"Hey Nic. Sorry about that." My heart rate went from steady to incredibly fast just to hear the sound of his voice.

"No problem! She sounds entertained."

"Yeah, turning my kitchen upside down is entertaining."

"What is she doing?"

"Baking cookies."

"Aw, that's good."

"So you called-"

"Uh, yeah. I just called to ask how you were. I also think we should talk about what happened, what we are now or if we... are anything." I closed my eyes and pursed my lips, knowing I had probably said too much. 

"I agree. Look, if you don't have anything else to do today and you wouldn't mind a certain five year old running around your apartment, Lexi and I could drop by. We'll bring you our cookies." I could hear some urgency in his voice, like he wanted to talk as much as I did. 

"Aw, yes. I'd love that. I'll have some tea ready for when you arrive." 

 * * *

"Hi Nicole!" I bent down to hug the girl who looked over the moon excited to see me. And if I was being honest, I was glad she was here too, especially knowing all too well the conversation Lucas and I were supposed to have today. Her little smile could melt anyone's heart and put anyone's worries away, including mine.

"Hey sweetie! Come in, it's cold outside." 

She let go of Lucas' hand and walked inside my apartment, giving me and Lucas a few seconds alone at the door frame, starring at each other like two dumb asses. 

How the hell was I supposed to greet him? Hug? Kiss?

"Hi." He said with a  cheeky smile. "Can I come in too, or is it just Lexi?"

"Come in, of course!"

I closed the door after he stepped inside, shielding my home away from the cold air outside.

I had to admit it, Lucas did look so good. He didn't even have to try, I've seen him look much more dressed up for work and maybe once or twice when we went out for coffee but right now, he looked drop dead gorgeous with just his worn out jeans, a dark blue pullover, a waist long brown coat and a scarf around his neck. 

"Here are the cookies, some are still pretty hot." He handed me a rather large tupperware box filled with cookies of all kinds of sorts. 

"Thank you." I smiled at him. "I'll put them in the table. Make yourself at home." 

I returned from the kitchen and made my way to the couch where the proud uncle and his niece were sitting.

"Nicole, do you have any princess movies?"

"No, honey. I'm sorry, I don't. But you know, you can search on Netflix for some of those princess movies, they have lots of them."

I handed her the TV remote, so she could navigate through the hundreds of choices that the streaming service had to offer for kids, and in less than five minutes she was sitting with her legs crossed, already invested in Toy Story.

"This isn't a princess movie."

"I like this one too." Was all she said, and I didn't argue.

I prepared her a plate with a few cookies and cup of tea, and took it to the coffee table in front of her so she could eat and drink while enjoying the movie. We told her we'd be in the kitchen before he kissed the top of her head and met me by the counter as I poured him some tea on his mug. 

"Hi." He said, his hand resting comfortably on my back, just a few inches above my ass. 

"Hey." I replied, smiling at him too.

"How have you been since this morning?"

"Good." I nodded. "What about you?"

"Great. Been a little busy with the little one. It was last minute, I didn't know I'd be having her today, I'm sorry Nic."

"Oh, no problem! Seriously, it's fine. Look at her," I turned around and nodded in the girl's direction. "She's an easy kid. Give her cartoons and cookies and she'll be done for the day."

"That's true." He agreed while he followed my gaze and looked at the screen before shifting his look to mine, blue meeting brown. "I really want to kiss you."

I let out a shaky breath before gently biting my bottom lip. "Me too."

He looked at the couch quickly, to see if Lexi was looking but just like two seconds ago, the only thing she was looking at, was the screen in front of her. 

His fingers touched my chin, lifting it a little and he bent down to kiss me, leaning in inch by inch. His lips felt like velvet against mine and I had to suppress a small moan from escaping as our tongues touched and the kiss deepened. 

And like nothing had just happened, we let go. He resumed to his task of arranging a bigger plate of cookies for us both and I filled the mugs with tea taking them to the small wooden table, I took a seat in one of the chairs, and he took a seat next to me, taking the head of the table.

"I loved last night." He started. "I had a really great time. And it's like you said, we're going too fast but I don't want it to end. What's done is done, right?"

"Right. I-I don't want us to stop spending time together because of last night. I meant what I said, I have no regrets, I like you."

"I've laid all my cards on the table. You know that I like you too, that I'm... falling for you. You're the person I trust the most in the world." His hands reached out to touch mine and his fingers wrapped around my own. "I think we should just... do what we do. Whatever we want to do, we do it. And then we... see how it goes, with time." 

I nodded in agreement, feeling the relief of a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders. "So that means that if I want to kiss you every time you walk into the room, I can?"

"You most definitely can. You should. And if I want to repeat last night and do the things I did to you, I'm allowed?"

"You're more than allowed."I whispered as I grazed my nose against his neck, his scent invading me again. 

For a second I had to remind myself that we had a child basically six feet apart from us.

He chuckled lightly before he kissed my hair and his hand caressed my back as he put his arm around me. 

With his other hand he picked out a multicolored dotted cookie - yellow, orange, blue and pink - those were actual M&M's on it. He brought it to my mouth and I took a bite, watching as he took the rest of the cookie in his mouth and chewed it. 

God, how did he make everything look so sexy?

"I have to ask you something though." This man had the ability of making me realize fears and doubts I didn't even know I had, and with him I felt comfortable enough to put those questions out there. He was hearing me and I continued. "Are we... exclusive now?"

I don't care if we're gonna take things slow now or if we're still gonna keep it at the pace we've been keeping it for now, but somehow this issue has been messing with my thoughts lately. And even more so after last night.

"Nic, you've been exclusive to me since the moment I realized I like you." I let out a breath I was holding in while I saw the wheels turning in his head. "I'm not one of those guys who's seeing one girl today and spending the next night with another."

I kissed his cheek, not wanting to take advantage of the situation and especially with Lexi sitting on the couch and risking confusing her with all this... situation. Scratch that - relationship. No matter how early in it we are, it is still a relationship. 

"I know, I know you're not that type of guy. You're a very special person, I just wanted to know that's all. Just so you know, you're exclusive to me too."

Bottom line is we're still figuring some things out, we know a lot about each other yet we don't know everything but that's... okay. Because I know with time, we're going to work on our relationship and turn it into what we both want and deserve. 

I just know it. 

 * * *

Author's Note: 

Hey everyone! This is actually a chapter that has me a little bit torn - I love it and I don't love it? Crazy, I know but that's your girl Mars. 

If you're reading this is because you've stuck with me and my story and my characters for eleven chapters and a prologue so... thank you! Or maybe you just skipped, but nonetheless, I want to thank you for taking a chance on my imagination and these two fictional lovebirds that I created and that I simply adore! 💗

Please vote, comment - love those - and share this story with whoever you think might like it! 

Xoxo, Mars