Hi everyone, it would be awesome if you could vote this chapter!! Thank you so much :)

31

"You can't cook the chicken in the microwave, Nicholas!" I shouted his way as he plated the chicken legs and walked over to his microwave which laid on the counter.

He wore a pair of cooking gloves that I had brought over from my house. I didn't have a clue why, the plate wasn't even hot.

"Why not?" Nick huffed. "I used to cook everything in the microwave."

"That's because you don't know how to use the oven." I replied back. I was going to house train him, whether he liked it or not. If he was going to be become my husband, he needed to know what to do.

At the thought of Nick being my husband, I crumbled in to two. I couldn't wait to marry the man of my dreams. The police came to our house every now and then but there was no evidence that Nick had even touched John.

Nick wasn't even worried.

"The oven's on, just open the door and put the chicken in." I rolled my eyes his way and he caught me.

"Why are you rolling your eyes at me?" He asked defensively. "I'm trying, aren't I?"

"You're doing amazing, sweet cheeks." I pinched his bum hardly and he shot forward.

"Careful." Nick warned. "The chicken could splatter across the floor." As if a light bulb went off above his head, he smirked. "If it did, I wouldn't have to cook and then we could just get takeout instead."

"Haha, nice one-"

Before I could continue with my sentence, Nick started to wobble his arms around and the chicken legs moved across the tray.

"Nick, don't!" I hissed his way, I tried to grab the tray but he was just too tall. "Nick." I warned.

Nick continued to laugh but I stood before him with my hands on my hips.

"Fine, no sex for you tonight." I turned around and waited. I heard him lay the chicken in the oven before coming up behind me. H wrapped his arms around my waist and laid his gloved hands against my stomach.

"Aw, come on." He pouted against my cheek. "That's mean."

"If you make this meal nice enough, I'll let you have me in anyway you want me."

"Do you mean that?" I could feel the excitement roll off of him like a wave.

Typical man.

I nodded my head and Nick turned me around quickly. He laid a kiss to my lips.

"I love you, Angel." He kissed me again and I melted in his arms.

"I love you, too." I breathed. Before he could say anything else, I smacked his bum. "Now, no more stalling, I'm starving."

"This is manual labour." He huffed again. He went over to the oven and looked through the glass of it to see his raw chicken cooking.

"Babe, the chicken ain't going to cook faster just because you're looking at it." I wanted to laugh at the dumb founded look on his face. I couldn't believe he had never cooked chicken legs in his life. He only knew how to barbecue and microwave.

Nick looked to me with narrowed eyes and flipped me the bird. All I could do was laugh.

I left the kitchen and went to sit down on the sofa. I grabbed the TV remote and put on a light hearted programme to watch.

I had a few days off work and so did Nick. I was glad we both had a few days to get back to normal with eachother after all that had happened over the last few days. It was really difficult for the both of us but I was glad we were back together and stronger than ever.

And engaged.

I looked at my ring as it glinted under the light. God, I loved it, I loved him. He had done so much for me all because he loved me. He had been involved in the killing of my step father, he had made me crazy but kept me sane all at the same time. He was incredible and I was incredibly lucky.

My father still felt guilty about the whole ordeal and found it difficult to get over everything. My mother was my mother and just as confused and emotional as the rest of us.

Currently, my mother was sleeping in my bed at my fathers and I was at Nick's. My mother needed company and I knew Glenn would always be there for her, he loved her and never stopped.

My heart clenched for him.

I couldn't imagine being without the love of my life.

"You can't sit and watch tele while I do all the work." Nick sulked as he came in to the living room. He still wore the oven gloves and I couldn't help but laugh at him. Why was he still wearing them?

"I can do as I please." I said his way with a smirk. "I'm your future wife."

"True." He said with a smile and a glint in his eyes. "But I'm your future husband and I'm currently dying of exhaustion."

"You've put eight chicken legs in to the oven, that's not an exhausting task." I laughed.

Nick pouted as he sauntered his way over to me. He grabbed the remote and flicked the TV over to a music channel. It landed on a song and before I could tell him how much I loved the song, he had my hand in his and he pulled me until I was flush against his chest.

"Wanna dance?" He asked like a naughty little boy before me. His eyes were twinkling, he lips pulled in to a smile. After everything that has happened lately, it was mad how much happier he looked.

"I'm not that good at it." I said. "I can shake my ass in a club but that's about it."

"Cathy." Nick growled out. "You won't be shaking your ass in the club anymore." And he looked read serious too.

"That's a shame." I sighed with a small smile. "I had a few fans."

"Your ass..." he clenched my arse in his hands. "Is mine."

"Yeah, yeah." I brushed him off jokingly. All Nick did was smile before pushing his hips forward. I gasped. He did again and I couldn't stop myself from pulling his lips to mine.

Nick moaned against my mouth.

"You're a filthy girl." He breathed. He pushed my body back, forgetting about the dance, until I felt the sofa hit the back of my knees. He pushed my down some more until I was lying down and his body was above mine.

I looked in to the depths of his eyes, knowing I still had so much to learn about him. I knew I had time, I had forever.

Nick pinned my arms above my head before taking his lips to my neck. I moaned at the contact.

"Nick-"

"I can't wait to feel-"

"Nick-"

"What?" His glazed eyes were looking at me, dark and inviting and so intense. He looked confused as to why I was stopping him short.

I wanted him to make love to me, I really did, but all I could smell was the chicken from the oven.

"You need to go and check that chicken." I said. I watched him as he narrowed his eyes and his eyebrows furrowed.

"That fucking chicken." He muttered. "Let it burn."

"We are not letting it burn." I replied back firmly. "Go and check on it."

"It's not a child, Cathy." He looked annoyed.

"Nick." I warned.

Nick huffed before pulling himself up on to two feet.

"I hate cooking." He mumbled as he walked over to the kitchen. He opened the oven door and chucked the chicken on to the counter top.

Once he was done, he came rushing out of the kitchen. Before I knew it, he had me in his arms and he was taking us both to his bed. Once we were there, he chucked me down with force and I almost squealed.

"That's cheating." I said a little breathless as I looked up to him. He took off his shirt with effort and my mouth watered at his body.

I then watched as he took off his jeans. He was now just in his boxers and I licked my lips at the sight. His eyes darkened.

"Fuck the chicken." He said as he climbed on top of me. "I want to make love to my Angel."

"I'll let you off this once." I pointed, just because I wanted it just as badly. I craved him like nothing else.

"You'll let me off all the time once I'm finished with you." He smirked.

"That's a promise, is it?"

"You know I've always liked a challenge."

————

I laid in Nick's arms as I listened to the hammering of his heart against his chest.

"Nick, you've never told me about your family." I mused.

"I have." He said. "You've met my mum."

"Yes, but what happened to your father, what about everyone else but Xavier and your mum." I said. Realisation had only now just dawned on me. It was evident that Nick loved his mum but he never spoke that much of his family.

I hadn't ever tried to push information out of him.

Nick sighed.

"My father was killed along with my uncle."

"Xavier's dad?" I asked as I sat up to look at him. He looked to me but he held a vacant stare.

"Yeah." He said. "They were both killed, twins they were, killed by Xavier's mum." He shrugged.

"She didn't get caught and Xavier and I didn't find out until we were older. She was a nasty piece of work but we've washed our hands of her."

"Shit." I said. I couldn't ever imagine growing up knowing my father was dead and that my auntie had been the one to do it. A killing, that didn't have to have happened.

"His funeral was the worst." Nick laid an arm over his eyes but I didn't even attempt to move it. "I sat there, as a seventeen year old boy thinking he had killed himself. Xavier thought the same about his father."

"Nick." I didn't know what to say. It sounded so shitty. Too much for a young boy to go through.

"I cried my heart out that day." He stated truthful. "It was the last time I ever did, until I lost you."

"Baby." I breathed. He cried when I left him? God, I cried ten rivers. "I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere."

Nick's arm tightened around my body until I was lying on his chest once again.

"I had a shit time when I was a kid, but you've made my life worth living." He stated. "I'm madly in love with you, I can't fucking begin to tell you."

"I love you so much." I said and my heart couldn't grow any bigger when I looked to him. He was everything I ever needed and I wasn't ever going to leave this man, no matter how hard things got.

He had my heart and he was going to keep it.

Suddenly, the sound of his phone brought us out of the loved up daze we seemed to have been in.

Nick reached out to grab his phone and sat up once looking at the caller ID.

"Alright?" He answered. He listened intently and I got up from the bed and left him to his phone call. I needed a shower.

I entered the shower after turning it on and started to wash my body. I stayed under the spray of the shower until Nick came in to the shower with me.

Gone was his earlier expression of relaxation and calm, now, he looked somber as his head bent under the spray.

"Everything okay?" I asked him. He looked to me with a drained face.

"I've been suspended." He said. "Which only means I'll probably be sacked in the next few weeks."

"What? Why?" I asked, shocked and surprised. Why did they suspend him? Nick was the best police officer I knew, even when I was biased.

This wasn't fair. Nick needed his job, especially when he had his sights set on univeristy and his art degree.

"Because I'm still under trial for John's murder." Was his only statement. I took Nick in to my arms.

"You'll be okay." I said. I didn't know what else to say. Nick would be okay, he was stronger than anyone I knew.

"Cathy, how can everything be okay?" He seemed defeated. "I won't have any money coming in. I can't save up for my art degree, I can't save up to treat you."

"Don't worry about me-"

"What about our wedding? I won't be able to afford to marry you. I need to fucking make you my wife!" Nick slammed his hand against the tiles of his shower. I took hold of Nick's face and pulled until he was looking straight at me.

"I'm yours whether we're married or not. I'll always be yours." I said. "You don't need that job, Nick, you will sort something and I'll be there with you every step of the way."

"Ever since falling for you, I've wanted to give you everything." He breathed. "A bigger place, all the best stuff, I want to wine and dine you and treat you the way you deserve. I don't have a job, Cathy, how can I do any of that?"

"I never asked for any of that. I just need you, Nick, that's all I've ever asked for." And I meant it. I didn't need expensive things, I didn't need to be wined and dined. "You took me to a burger shack on our first date. I loved every second of it."

Nick smiled in memory.

"You did." His smile dropped. "But still-"

"I don't want to hear anymore." I said. "We're going to sort this, we're going to be okay because we're a team and that's what we do."

"I promise you now, once I find my feet, I'll give you everything this world has to offer." He seemed dead determined too.

I didn't need the world though, I just needed him.