Falling to Pieces

Chapter Ten

- Christian's POV -

My arms still around her, I pull her in for another kiss.

When we part, I can't stop smiling. I lean against the house and she comes next to me.

Not too long after that, Danny walks back over.

"Nice dinner?" I tease. At that moment, I get called inside. "Nicki, you want something?"

"No thanks, I'm good."

I hug her before I leave, knowing I won't see her for the rest of the night. They'll go over to Dan's place.

"Bye guys."

Once I get inside, I text her almost instantly: later, we need to talk.

- Nicki's POV -

"You wanna go to your house? Or mine?" I ask.

"Your place sounds good," he says.

He puts his arm around me again as we walk. I wonder why he keeps doing that.

When we get to my house, I notice that Sophie isn't there. She's probably with Jacob.

We go up to my room and I turn on the TV, on my bed. Danny sits on the floor.

He just stares at me.

"Yes?" I eventually say.

"You're really pretty, you know that?" He replies. Then he smiles.

I can feel my cheeks burning red. "Danny, I'm not. But thank you."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm ugly."

"Oh, Nicolette, would I ever lie to you?"

I don't answer. I get off the bed and sit next to him, resting my head on his shoulder. "Danny, you don't understand."

His voice is soft and slow. "Okay. I guess I don't. So make me understand."

"The only way you could understand how I feel is if you were to be inside my mind. I can't explain it. No one can."

"Okay. But if you ever need help with anything, I want you to know that I'll always be there for you. Always," he promises.

We end up laying in my bed together, watching TV. He keeps making jokes and I can't stop laughing.

Eventually, we fall asleep.

* * *

I wake up the next morning with a starving stomach and a boy next to me. A year ago, I would not have ever imagined either of these things happening.

He's still asleep, so I check my phone. There's a text from Christian from last night: later, we need to talk.
I reply: yeah, we do...

"Good morning," Danny says sweetly.

I smile. "Oh, good morning." I sit up. "What did you tell your parents?"

His eyes widen. "I..."

"You didn't tell them where you were?"

"No, I didn't, I forgot, Nicki..." He starts panicking.

"Just tell them you were at Christian's house and your phone died," I tell him.

He looks at his phone and sighs. "Great. Four missed calls and ten text messages from them."

"Just say what I said."

"I'll still get in trouble but yeah. That's probably the best thing to say."

* * *

After I get myself changed, put on light makeup, and fix my hair, I go to Danny's house. He went back and acted like he went to Christian's.