18

Nick carried me out of the truck as I laughed in his arms. His face was almost as happy as mine, his eyes twinkling as he looked to me.

"You're fucking beautiful." He breathed. I couldn't help but let my smile grow. Everything was going so well and I was so happy. I wanted to cling on to these memories forever and to never let them go.

Nick buckled me in to the passenger seat before placing himself back in to his seat and holding on to the wheel. Exhaustion took over my body fiercely and I yawned.

"You look tired, baby." Nick stated.

"I am." I couldn't help it. All this excitement and fighting today was enough to make anyone exhausted. I couldn't wait to get to bed.

"Fall asleep, Cathy. I'll take you to bed once we're home." My eye lids fell and they went heavy with tiredness. I couldn't help but let sleep evade me as the gentle rumble and noise of the truck lulled me in.

The engine had stopped only ten minutes later and I was back in Nick's arms. He carried me gently in to his apartment and in to bed where he stripped me out of my clothes with so much care and affection, my heart leapt in my chest.

I woke up to look at him.

"Hi." I croaked his way. His eyes flew to mine and he smiled.

"Hi."

He gently pushed me down in to bed once my clothes were off. Once I was in, he stripped and laid in to bed next to me. I couldn't take my eyes off of his body, no matter how tired I was.

Nick pulled me in to his arms and I sighed with content.

"Thank you." I muttered, indoctrinated by my own happiness and joy.

"For what?" Nick asked, his voice deep and his breath tickling my ear. I wiggled against him and he hissed through his teeth.

"For everything." I replied.

"You never need to thank me." His voice was now gruff and as I wiggled against him more, he laid his hands roughly on my hips and thrust forward. "You need to stop."

"Why?" I smiled mischievously.

"Because you're tired and I won't be able to stop myself."

"Then don't stop." I replied.

With a small growl coming from Nick, he pushed me on to my back and got on top of me awaiting body.

This was the life.

*

Nick and I had hardly gotten any sleep. It was now 5 in the morning and we were still up. Now, we were talking about things and just generally getting to know each other. He was my boyfriend, but I didn't mean I knew he more than anything just yet.

Hopefully, that would change.

"So your mum never found out?" Nick asked, his eyes full of worry and anger.

"Never." I replied. "I kind of hoped she never did, I was mortified at myself and at him." I shrugged. It was hard when I didn't want anything more than to tell her. I couldn't, he made sure I never did. But also, I was embarrassed, what if she didn't believe me? I loved my mother and in Australia, she was all I had.

"It makes sense." He sighed. With a small silence beginning to fold, I sat up a little straighter.

"What about your mum?"

"What about her?" He was already getting defensive as he moved on to his back. I followed him.

"Come on, Nick, give me something."

Nick sighed loudly.

"She's dead." He stated, matter of factly. I gasped.

"I'm so sorry." I couldn't help but sympathise.

"Please, I don't want your pity, just forget I told you."

"Nick." I took hold of his hand. "They're your family, I know it's hard talking about things it's just, you can't keep it in and let it over take you."

"I don't want to talk about it." Nick replied like I little boy. I sighed in defeat.

"Okay, fair enough." I laid back down on my back and began to close my eyes.

"Don't be mad at me." I heard his voice come from beside me.

"I'm not." And I wouldn't be. I understood that people told information in their own time. It was the hardest thing to ever do and even though I felt extremely vulnerable as my darkest secrets were out there, I still understood.

Everybody was different and you couldn't ever expect anybody to do the things you did. I didn't have to tell him and he doesn't have to tell me.

"Do you promise?" He questioned. I always see other sides of him since being with him. He had a soft and insecure side, his most vulnerable side, and he let it show.

"I promise." I replied. I turned over to lay on his chest and he sighed. He wrapped me up tightly. He didn't have to say anything but I knew he was thankful.

At precisely half 8, I woke up to get ready to go to work. Today, I promised my dad I would help him at Tattoo Rouge. I regretted it as soon as my exhausted head decide to pound.

Great.

I was already moody, groggy and sleep deprived. This wasn't going to be good. I was also hungry, which added fuel to fire. I hope my father could forgive me for my bad mood today.

Nick was also tired and groggy today as he drove me in to work. He hadn't said much since waking up and even though it didn't scare me, it still made me worried. I wondered what was eating him- if anything. He could just be tired.

"Are you working today, too?" I asked. Nick turned down the radio a notch before replying.

"Yeah, until four." He stated.

"I finish at half three I think." I replied. "I'll start dinner before you're home."

"Sounds good."

"That's if you want me there?" I questioned. It wasn't that I felt rude staying at Nick's place, it was just that the way Nick was acting this morning, I thought maybe he would want time on his own.

"No, come. I want you with me."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am." He flickered his eyes my way. "You know I sleep better if you're beside me."

With that, Nick pulled up in front of Tattoo Rouge. I leaned over to lay a small kiss on his cheek.

"Is that all I get?" He asked with a small smirk. I smiled. With that, I pulled his face down to mine and laid my lips against his.

Once I pulled away, Nick smiled.

"That's better."

I left the truck with a bigger smile on my face than I entered the truck with. Maybe my groggy mornings wouldn't be so bad after all if I had Nick beside me.

I entered the parlour ten minutes before my shift started. I was extremely lucky to have gotten this job as soon as I moved back home with my father. He knew I was artistic but I didn't really have the experience he did. We were both lucky that everything turned out fine in the end.

"Hello, stranger." My father was at the front desk as soon as I walked in. The quiet buzz of music played in the background and also the quiet buzz of the tattoo needles working their magic. It was soothing.

"Dad." I beamed his way. I walked around the counter to sit on a stool and began drawing some rough sketches as I waited for some more customers.

"The bastards hogging you." Dad grunted as he continued to work beside me, his glasses perched on the top of his nose.

"Don't be grumpy." I laughed.

"Well, I've only just got you back and now he's just whipped you off your feet. Fucking boy." He shook his head but a small smile played on his lips. "Him, out of all the people you could have gone for."

"He really isn't that bad." I stated. "He's treated me better than anyone has ever before. He's amazing, dad." I couldn't help but feel like a melted puddle every time I talked about him.

Suddenly, Glenn whipped around on his stool to face me. A knowing smile played on his lips but worry was still evident. I looked to him and he sighed.

"I know that look." He pointed out. I looked to him in confusion. "That look of love and admiration."

"Dad-"

"Just be careful, okay? He's my bestfriend and I know him more than anyone. I trust him but I'm not exactly feeling comfortable at the moment. I know what he's like, Cathy, trust me."

"I'll be careful, dad, I promise." I replied. "Trust me, I really like him." Glenn came over to wrap his arms around me.

"I know you do, but I'm your father and all I'll ever do is worry."

"You know I love you."

"You too, Birdie, always."

After the heart to heart with my father, customers started to file in and the shop got busy. My father and I set to work for the day and I was able to finally breathe and take my mind off of things that I didn't need to worry about.

Nick hadn't texted or rung all day so I assumed he was busy working, as was I. I missed him terribly but the time away was also refreshing even if it was only for a few hours. I think I would always miss him now, no matter how long we were without each other.

At four o'clock, I said goodbye to my father and left the parlour. As Nick was working, I decided to walk and take the bus back to his apartment.

The walk was refreshing and slow, I had enough time to put my headphones in and listen to music as I let myself think of everything I needed to think of. It was nice to relax a little, especially when everything was so intense with Nick.

I had fallen for him, hard and fast, there was no doubt about it. I wondered if he felt the same but I didn't want to dwell on that too much. People feel things at different times, I had to realise that, even though knowing he felt the same way about me as I did him would be extremely nice and would stop me from worrying.

Nick was a man I had never had the pleasure of being with before. He was everything and more at the moment, and I couldn't wait to spend more time with him.

I got on to an awaiting bus and after five minutes I was outside of Nick's apartment. At the small corner shop I picked up some fresh ingredients to make Nick a nice meal with. After that, I entered the apartment building and made my way to his floor, juggling the bags as I went.

With one of the spare keys under the mat outside of his door, I opened the apartment and made my way inside.

I dropped my bags and almost screamed at the figure in front of me.

"What the fuck!" I shouted. The figure turned around and in front of me was an older looking woman in a long flowered dress. She had striking eyes and greying hair. "Who the hell are you?" I asked, not meaning to be so harsh but I was a little bit creeped out to see somebody else in Nick's apartment.

"Who the hell are you?" She replied back, her voice husky as if she had cigarettes on the daily. She held herself with grace and poise, even though something was totally off.

"I'm his girlfriend." I stated back, keeping the door open so I could run if needed be. I had my phone in my hand ready to call Nick. "Now tell me who you are and what you're doing in his apartment." I let out firmly.

I was going to be so pissed off if this woman was one of Nick's one night stands. I didn't think he liked older women.

"I'm Nick's mother." I forced a laugh.

"He said his mother was dead." I said. "Nice try." I narrowed my eyes at her, she held her chin up strong.

"Well, that's not surprising." She muttered. "He's obviously lying to you, darling, because I'm standing right here."

I took a second to step back and look at her. Her eyes were almost as striking as Nick's but I wouldn't say the resemblance between the two was all that uncanny.

"He looks like his father." She interjected. I looked to her, really unsure who this woman was. Has Nick been lying to me?

"Where is he then?" I asked. He had said his mother was dead and now she was here, he could be lying about everything else he had told me.

"He's dead." She replied. "He died when Nick was about seventeen years old." She sighed. "He doesn't tell you much, does he?"

"Yeah, well, at least he doesn't tell people that I'm dead." I replied back defensively. She was obviously judging me and everything I stood for. She was judging our relationship and I would never stand for that.

Even though I was pissed off with him.

"I don't know why he did that."

"There must be a reason."

Just as she was about to reply, I felt Nick's presence behind me. Just him being here now really did irritate me. He was a liar and I was never going to stand for that, especially off him. I had a bad past too, but I never even dared to lie to him.

How fucking dare he?

I turned around with such speed my head went dizzy. I took him in, his body lined in his uniform. I wish he wasn't so hot.

"You fucking liar." I said his way, harshness and sadness dripping from every word. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish, his eyes wide and in shock. He didn't know what to say and how to do it.

With that, I pushed past him.

"Cathy." His voice was full of emotion but I didn't bother turning around and running back in to his arms.

"Leave me alone." I demanded. "How dare you fucking lie to me, especially when I told you everything about me." I pointed his way. He stepped back in shock at how pissed off I was at him and at how serious he knew this was.

"Please-"

"Leave me the fuck alone." I hissed before stalking off down the stairs. I didn't bother with the lift, I just ran and ran until I was finally outside. I was able to take in a well needed breath as my eyes started to well up.

I took my phone out of my pocket and decided to ring Danni. I didn't want to go home where Nick would know where I was. Also, I didn't want my father seeing me upset.

She answered after the third ring.

"Bitch." She greeted. I sniffled. "Oh no, what's wrong?"

"Can I stay with you for tonight?"

"Sure!" She gushed. "What's he done, now?"

"I'll tell you when I get there."

"Okay, hurry. I'll get some ice cream and wine."

"You're the best." I said as I was able to smile.

"I know." She replied.

I hung up the phone and started walking to the bus stop. Luckily Danni's apartment wasn't that far away from Nick's, but hopefully he wouldn't find me there, not tonight anyway. I didn't want him knocking down doors and ringing me all night, making things worse.

With that, my phone rang, it was Nick. I turned it off and put it in to my hand bag.

Just as I got on to the bus, I saw Nick running out of the building, searching the streets with a look of panic on his face. He didn't see me but I saw him and it was enough to depress me even more.

Yeah, he looked petrified and upset but he had no right lying to me in the first place.

This could have been avoided if he would just tell me the truth.

I was never going to judge.