It's a two-update day, 'cause why the fuck not?
So, the italics are 1989's Valentine's and the regular print is 1992's Valentine's. The same premise as I've done before, just switching back and forth a lot more than normal. ♥️
Warnings: Light Smut
Ryan's POV
"Good morning, baby." Nikki's soft voice squeaks from the side of the bed and I pop one eye open to see him kneeled on the floor.
"What on Earth are you doing?" I groan, flipping on my side to face him as his fingertips graze over my cheek.
"It's our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife, you gotta wake up so we can celebrate!" He slaps his hands against the bed as he stands up and I sit up against the headboard.
I crack a smile as he brings me a tray of pancakes complete with sausage, eggs, bacon, and orange juice. A gorgeous single rose sits in a vase next to the syrup. His goofy grin makes me chuckle, he's so proud of himself right now.
"Thank you, Nik." I press my lips onto his as he flops onto the bed next to me, his shit-eating grin never faltering. "What is it?" I quirk an eyebrow as I shovel a piece of bacon into my mouth.
"I have the whole day planned."
"Oh, you do, do you?"
"Yes. We are in the beautiful city of Seattle with the whole day off, I already told the guys to not expect us anywhere, and Riley is taking over Wylie duty for the day. It's just you and me baby, and I have fun things planned."
"Okay, Casanova. I dig it." I nod my head as he claps his hands in triumph.
"Wylie's on the phone, she wants to talk to you." Layla shoves my shoulder, jolting me awake.
It takes me a few seconds to get my bearings, the sun beaming in through the curtains right into my eyes. I give Layla a nod as I reach out my hand for the phone, and she disappears as soon as she hands it to me.
"You okay, babe?" My voice is hoarse from sleep and I look at the clock reading only nine AM.
"Happy Valentine's Day, momma!" She fumbles over the word 'Valentine's', sounding more like 'Balentimes' and I softly laugh.
"Happy Valentine's Day, baby. What are you doing?"
"We're about to go get pancakes! Daddy said I needed to call you and tell you to have a good day." I roll my eyes, of course he did. On a trip to propose to his girlfriend and he uses our daughter as the middle man to tell me happy Valentine's day.
"That's very sweet of you, Wylie. I hope you have a good day, too."
"We're going to the aq- aqwa-" She pauses as Nikki's voice whispers something in the background. "Aquarium! Where the fishies are!"
"That sounds like so much fun. Is everyone being nice to you?" My motherly instincts show through to make sure Donna's parents aren't treating her like the red headed step child.
"Yeah! Everyone loves me, momma. You know that." Her smug tone of voice makes me laugh a loud, hearty laugh.
"Sorry, I forgot, Miss Sass. Call me later, okay? I wanna hear all about the fishies."
"Okay. I love you, momma. I miss you." My heart lurches at her small, sweet voice and I take a deep breath.
"I love and miss you, too, baby. I'll see you tomorrow."
She clicks the line off with a small goodbye and I crawl back under the covers, my heart still aching from everything that's happened lately.
He's gonna ask that bitch to marry him today while I'm stuck here wondering what could've been.
I wonder if my life will ever feel okay again.
"I have to go into work. Mom's there and says the books are all fucked up." Layla crashes back into the bedroom so fast that her hair blows in the wind.
"It's Valentine's Day." I state blandly as she rushes into the closet to change out of her pajamas.
"I know. I'm sorry, babe. I'll make it up to you, okay? I'll call after a while. I love you." She quickly kisses my forehead and zooms out the door, leaving me alone with nothing to do and nobody to keep me company.
"But first.." Nikki takes the tray of pancakes away from me on my last bite and sets it on the table, walking back to me with that damn dark shine in his eyes. "I want to taste you."
He rips the covers off of me to expose my naked body, grabbing my legs and pulling me to the edge of the bed as he drops to his knees on the ground.
My hand fumbles in my nightstand drawer as thoughts of Nikki and I's last Valentine's day flow through my brain, finally reaching the vibrating friend I'm looking for after a few seconds.
I guess I'll just take care of my damn self today.
Nikki's POV
"Daddy, look at that one!" Wylie bounces on her tip-toes as she points to a swollen puffer fish. "He's so fat!" She giggles uncontrollably, sucking her lips in to make a fish-face.
"That's a puffer fish. They blow up with water when they're scared." My hand is sore from all of her tugging around today.
"Why are you scared, friend? I won't hurt you. I'm one of the good guys, I promise." Her face softens, her eyes filling with emotion for the fish.
My heart twists at my daughter's gentility and passion for all living creatures, I don't know how something so tender-hearted came from me and Ryan. She blows the fish a kiss as she tugs my hand to go to the next tank, her eyes lighting up once again at the small sea of clown fish.
"Pretty." She coos, her free hand waving to the fish.
"A ferris wheel? Oh I don't know, Nikki. I don't like heights." Ryan's face falls into a frown as she stares up at the big contraption.
"Oh, come on, baby, it's romantic. I won't let anything bad happen to you." She sighs as she follows along behind me and I give the operator our tickets before climbing into a bucket.
The ride skids to a start and Ryan's eyes widen as she grips onto the side of the bucket for dear life. I can't help but laugh at her dramatic reaction, earning a death glare from her. I pry one of her hands away from the side, twirling my fingers into hers.
"Relax. It's okay. Look at the water." I point to the big, open ocean in the near distance and a small smile forms over her mouth.
"I guess that is beautiful."
"Not near as beautiful as you." She slaps my arm at my cheesy remark as she snorts out a scoff. "Do you know how much I absolutely adore you?" My eyes stare into hers before she looks away bashfully.
"Stop." She laughs.
"I'm serious." I grasp the bottom of her chin to make her look at me. "You are everything to me, Ryan. I never thought I'd find anyone that understood me. I never thought I'd ever really fall in love. Then you came in and turned everything upside down for me. I could not be happier to spend the rest of my life with the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes on."
"Are you two ready to go to the dolphin exhibit?" Donna pulls me out of my thoughts as she grasps my arm and it takes everything in me to not groan in disgust.
"Dolphins?! Fuck yeah!" Wylie hops up and down in the air and I snicker at her choice of words.
"We don't use language like that, Wylie. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that. Don't make me wash your mouth out with soap." Donna puts her finger in Wylie's face and a burst of anger flows through me as Wylie's face falls in sadness.
"Chill." I warn the woman in front of me as I pull Wylie into me, my arm draping over her chest in protection. "She's a child. There's no reason to be so mean."
"She can't go around cursing at everything. I don't know what her mother has taught her, but that won't fly in my presence. It's trashy."
"Don't talk shit about Ryan in front of her. Or in front of me. You don't know a goddamn thing about her." I grit my teeth as my voice comes out as a low growl, tears now streaming down Wylie's face.
"Sorry..." Wylie whimpers. I shoot Donna a death glare and pull the small body down the hallway toward the dolphin exhibit. "Sorry, daddy..." She sniffs.
"It's okay, baby. It's true that you shouldn't use words like that, but I won't ever let anyone be mean to you or your mom, okay?" I pull the wisps of hair from the sides of her face to behind her ear.
"I miss mommy." Her bottom lip starts to quiver and I pull her into me to give her a hug, my heart starting to ache.
"Me too, baby, me too." I kiss the top of her head as she wraps her arms around me for me to hold her.
Ryan's POV
"Girl, why are you alone? Don't you have a girlfriend?" Sharise lays on the couch next to me with her head on my lap as Skylar plays with a monster truck of Wylie's on the floor.
"She had to go into work."
"This early? The Whisky doesn't even open until eight tonight. That's like nine hours away." She looks at her watch as she counts the hours in her mind, her tongue popping out of her mouth just the tiniest bit.
"She said the books are all fucked up or something. I dunno. Whatever." I shrug my shoulders as her eyes explore my face and she quirks an eyebrow.
"You did something." She lifts from her spot, her finger poking my arm. "What are you hiding from me?"
"Nothing." My voice takes on a higher pitch as I look away to avert her gaze.
"Spill it, bitch. We don't keep secrets between us." She folds her legs under her as she cups her chin in between her hands, her eyes urging me to spill the beans.
"I fucked Nikki." I groan, my head hitting the back of the couch as I squeeze my eyes shut in preparation for her to scream.
"You did what?!" Her voice is a shrill yell as she grabs my arm and shakes me. "When, bitch?! Why didn't you tell me?! Oh my God, what?!"
"Sunday night after I got the call about Kelsey, I took off to our old spot on the beach and he called here because Wylie left her teddy at his place. Layla told him what happened and he came and found me. I was in a bad headspace, Sharise, and one thing just led to another-"
"Stop." She puts her hand up, her voice taking on a comforting tone. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. You're not in trouble, so don't talk to me like I'm your mother that just caught you sneaking out to meet your boyfriend. I'm your best friend, just tell me everything. In detail." She wiggles her eyebrows as I sigh out in relief, folding my legs under me as I turn to face her.
"He knew that I most likely went out there and I guess he wanted to make sure I was okay. He held me while I cried for a while, and when we were walking back up to our cars I fell into a sand pit and when he got down to help me he just kissed me. I couldn't stop myself, we practically mauled each other." I let out a chuckle as a huge grin spreads over her face.
"Was it good? Ugh, sex like that is the fucking best. All hot and heavy and shit." She bounces her shoulders up and down as her hands find mine.
"It was really good, until he told me he loved me in the middle of it." Her jaw drops, her hands gripping mine even tighter.
"Oh my God. This is too much. Did you say it back?"
"No." I shake my head. "I just couldn't seem to make myself say it. When we finished I practically ran off as fast as I could."
"So, what now? Is he dumping that bimbo bitch?"
"No." I sigh. "He never said anything about leaving her, or getting back together with me. They still went to Donna's parents in San Diego this weekend so I guess he's still proposing."
"Seriously? What a fucking jack ass. I don't know why he can't just be a man and tell you how he feels. Everyone fucking knows that man loves you and not her. It's not fair to any of you to keep pretending any different."
"Obviously he doesn't love me enough to not marry someone else, Sharise." The familiar tears of heartache pool into the back of my eyes for the hundredth time this week.
I really do cry a lot.
"Well have you told him how you feel?" She tilts her head to the side, a condescending look on her face.
"It doesn't matter how I feel. He's literally proposing to Donna today. Why should I pour my heart out to him and beg him not to do it when he's the one who left me in the first place?"
"Because you'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't and we both know it."
She's not wrong.
"I don't know, Sharise. This is just a lot at once, and what the fuck would I tell Layla?"
"The truth. That you appreciate her help over the past couple years, but that it's not fair for you to keep stringing her along when you're not in love with her."
"I'd be giving up a solid person who can finally provide my daughter a real family, for what? To go back to arguing with Nikki every other day?"
"You're alone on Valentine's Day, Ryan. That's not very 'solid'. And what's the point of a family if it's not a family based on real love?"
"I don't want to talk about this anymore, Sharise. My head is going to explode." I let go of her hands to rub my temples, a dull headache starting to form in the back of my head.
"Suit yourself, babe, but you know I'm right."
"Where are we going now, Nik? I need a nap. And food." My feet ache from walking along the pier all afternoon, my stomach starting to growl as my breakfast wears off.
"One more surprise then we can go back to the hotel and fuck the night away. The surprise also involves food, I promise." He gives me a smirk, my heart instantly melting at his beauty.
"I like the sound of that." I wrap my arm into his, laying my head on top of his shoulder as he pulls me onto the sidewalk outside of the pier.
My feet ache even worse as we come up to a restaurant after twenty minutes of walking. The hostess ushers us onto the secluded back patio as soon as she sees Nikki, leaving us alone with the sun setting over the ocean beside us.
"This is beautiful. How'd you find this place?" I can't help but grin as his hair whips across his face, his tan arm reaching over to me to hold my hand.
"Tommy told me about it. Said it's the best food in Seattle. My wife gets nothing but the best for Valentine's Day."
I let out a laugh when a small quartet steps outside with their acoustic guitars and violins, setting up shop in the corner to play just for us.
"You're being awfully cheesy today, Mr. Sixx." I give him a wink as I look over the menu.
"I am the master of cheese, baby. That'll never change. Not as long as I have you."
Nikki's POV
"Yeah, I'll just take a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. Thanks." I hand the waiter my menu as I take a sip of water from my glass, drowning out the sound of Donna's voice as she tells him what she wants.
"This is...nice." She scrunches her nose as she looks around the old school diner and I fight the urge to roll my eyes.
"I like it." I shrug my shoulders and she puts on the fakest smile I've ever seen.
"Today was fun, don't you think?" She reaches her hand across the table and I move out of her grasp to remove my straw from its paper wrapper.
No.
"Yeah." I give her a single nod, staring out of the window at a man and woman walking along the side walk with their arms hooked together, their smiles huge and their laughter genuine.
A wave of jealousy runs through me as I watch them stop along the side of the building across the street to share a kiss, too desperate to wait any longer to have each other.
I had that once.
"Ugh, I need to soak my feet in epsom salt after all that fucking walking today." Ryan groans as she flops onto the hotel bed belly first in exhaustion.
"Well, ma'am, then you will enjoy our next activity for the night." She flips to her back as I take her boots off of her feet one by one. "Get undressed." I point at her as she nods and sits up, starting to take off her clothes.
The bathtubs are abnormally large in this hotel, nearly qualifying as a whole ass hot tub. I dangle my fingers under the running water to make sure it's the perfect temperature before stripping off my own layers.
Ryan walks into the bathroom stark naked, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed against her chest as she carefully watches me undress. She quirks her eyebrow as her eyes flick down to my hardening member and I shrug my shoulders in response, holding my hand out to help her into the deep tub. She climbs in first and I quickly follow behind her, struggling to find a comfortable place to sit.
"That can't be comfortable. Here, lay down." She stands up in the water and points to the bed of the tub, motioning for me to lay all the way down.
"Where are you going to sit?" I quirk an eyebrow as my body nearly lays all the way flat, a shit eating grin taking over her face.
"Right..." She bends down with her knees on either side of me, lowering herself down onto me slowly and my eyes roll back in ecstasy. "Here."
"My parents seem to adore Wylie." Donna pulls me from my thoughts and I turn my head back toward her, humming in response. "I'm so glad she didn't run that mouth around them, though. I hope she keeps it that way." She whistles as she lets out a breath, shaking her head.
"Can you stop with that? She's a child. My child. Don't talk shit about my child." My face heats up with annoyance that she's picking on my defenseless daughter for absolutely no reason right now.
"I'm not talking shit, Nikki. I'm just saying you need to tell her mother that she needs to crack down on that. There's no use in me correcting her when her mother doesn't do a damn thing about it over there."
"I'm getting really tired of you talking shit about her, Donna. You don't know her to know how good of a mother she is, so just keep your fucking mouth shut." I huff in annoyance as I lean back into the booth, her jaw tensing at my outburst.
"It's Valentine's Day and you're gonna tell me to keep my fucking mouth shut? What the hell is wrong with you lately? You're so grumpy all the damn time, you won't touch me at all, and you barely even smile anymore." Her eyes fill with tears, my gut wrenching with guilt.
"Look, I'm sorry. It's been a rough couple weeks, alright?" My voice softens as her eyes tear into mine like lasers.
"I thought today might be different. I'm so stupid. I really thought you might even propose to me today, Nikki. We should just go get the kids and go back to the hotel." She scoots out of the booth and I grip her hand before she can stand all the way up.
She's all I have now, I have to make it work if I don't want to be alone.
"Stop." My eyes plead with hers, my grip on her tightening as she wipes her tears from her face. "Just sit back down, okay?" She nods as she reluctantly sits down and I dig in my jacket pocket, tossing the ring box onto the table in front of her.
"Oh my God! You are proposing to me?!" Her eyes shine under now-happy tears as she rips open the box to see the absurdly giant diamond she hinted that she wanted.
"Yeah."
"Oh, Nikki, yes! I would love to marry you!" She hobbles out of the booth and flings herself onto me, kissing all over my face.
Fuck my life.
Ryan's POV
"Hey, baby." Layla peeps her head in the bedroom door as she calls for me softly.
"Hey." I earmark my book and set it in my lap, a smile forming over my face when she opens the door all the way to expose a giant bouquet of red roses.
"Happy Valentine's Day, my love." She sets the bouquet on my nightstand before she flops onto my lap.
"It's not Valentine's anymore." I point to the clock reading two AM and she sucks in a breath.
"I know. I'm sorry I failed at being your partner today." She places her hands on either sides of my cheeks as she rests her forehead against mine. "I'll do better, I promise. Can you forgive me?"
"I guess." I sarcastically huff and roll my eyes, both our mouths curling into smiles as she presses her lips against mine.
"I love you. I'm sorry."
"I love you, too." Guilt nearly bubbles into my throat and I do my best to shake it off.
Images of Nikki telling me he loves me as he rhythmically rocked into me the other night both sadden me and send a shooting feeling of need through my gut, heat instantly rising in my thighs.
"What did you do today?" Layla jumps off of me, sending me reeling back into reality.
"Um, Sharise and Sky came over. We hung out for a few hours. Nothing special." I give her a tight lipped smile. "How was work?"
"A bunch of drunk lovebirds fornicating all over my furniture. I had to tell Sam to drown the whole building in sanitizer." She snorts out a laugh as she walks to the closet, stripping her articles of clothing the whole way.
"Gross." I crinkle my nose, Nikki's sex face still burned into the back of my mind.
"In a weird way, it was kind of hot. Made me think about coming home to you." She wiggles her eyebrows from the closet, only her underwear still on.
How wrong would it be to picture my ex while I had sex with my girlfriend?
"That's gross, babe." I awkwardly laugh. "And no offense, but I'm pretty tired after running around with Skylar all day."
Maybe a little too fucked up, even for me.
"Fine." Her bottom lip pops out in a pout as she throws a shirt on. "Tomorrow, I'm having you, though." She points at me with a serious face and I quickly nod my head.
"You mind if I keep reading?" I raise my book in the air and she shakes her head.
"Of course not. I'll probably be out like a light within five minutes." She scoots under the covers next to me, her arm wrapping around mine as she leans her head to read along with me.
She wasn't lying. Within four minutes loud snores come from her mouth, so loud that I can't focus on Stephen King. A small trail of drool strings from her mouth to my forearm and I suck my teeth in disgust.
I gently remove my arm from her grip, placing a pillow under her head to keep her comfortable. She doesn't move a muscle as I flick off the nightstand light and get up from the bed.
The house is dark as I pad down the two flights of stairs into the basement that was once Nikki's studio. The walls are now a bare white with only a couple of couches huddled around a TV.
I like to come down here sometimes when I'm alone and close my eyes to pretend he's still here making music. I get some weird sense of comfort being in here, and I swear I can still smell a hint of his cologne, even though I know I'm probably just imagining it.
I lay my back against the couch and grab a pillow to throw under my head, content to keep reading my book until I finally fall asleep.
"Fuck, baby. You feel so good." Nikki's hands run the length of my back as water splashes around us, my head thrown back in enjoyment.
"Fuck, Nikki." I attempt to grip the sides of the bath tub, the porcelain being way too slippery to get a hold of and I nearly face plant into Nikki's chest when my arms slip out behind me. "Okay, no. Tub sex is a no go." I wave my hands as I sit back up, slowly lifting myself off of him.
"What? You don't like to slip and slide?" He lets out a hyena-like laugh as I step out of the tub and I shoot him a death glare in response. "Oh, baby, come on. You have to admit that was fuckin' funny." He attempts to catch his breath from laughing so hard, a small smile cracking over my face.
"Fuck you." I laugh, wrapping a towel over my body and lifting myself onto the counter.
"Okay, okay. No more tub sex." He raises his hands in surrender as he pulls the plug to the tub, standing up to get out. "What about counter sex?" He quirks an eyebrow as he opens my legs to stand in between them, a devious smirk playing on his lips as he puts his forehead against mine.
"That sounds better." I hum in agreement, wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling him closer.
"I fucking love you, Ryan. Happy Valentine's Day."
The phone ringing pulls me out of my light sleep and I fumble to get off the couch, stumbling my way over to the basement phone on the wall.
"Hello?" I groan.
"Momma! I miss you so much." Wylie sobs through the line as I rub my eyes with my free hand, momma-bear mode kicking in full force. "I wanna come home!"
"Hey, it's okay, baby. I'm right here. You'll be home in just a few hours, okay? Did you have a nightmare?" I practically sing to her in my most comforting voice, sniffles coming through the line.
"Yeah." She whispers pitifully.
"Nightmares aren't real, baby. Remember?"
"Yeah." She repeats identically.
"Nothing is gonna get you, your daddy won't let anything bad happen to you, baby. I'll be there to pick you up in-" I glance at the clock reading four AM. "-twelve hours. That's not even a whole day away from me. Can you make it until then?"
"I guess so." She lets out a cough, her small voice lifting slightly.
"That's my strong baby." I coo, earning a giggle. "I love you so much. Only a few hours, okay?"
"Okay, mommy. I love you."
"I love you, baby. Let me talk to your daddy."
"Okay." Static bursts through the line as she shuffles the phone, presumably handing the phone to Nikki.
"Hey." His sleepy voice makes my heart race and I try to forget that I was having a sex-dream about him when they called.
"She alright?" I clear my throat.
"Yeah, she's okay. Just a nightmare. Woke up screaming for you and I didn't know what else to do. I'm sorry for waking you."
"Nah. I was barely asleep anyway." I let out an awkward chuckle as I twirl the ends of my hair like a teenager.
"It's four in the morning, why weren't you asleep?" His voice raises in curiosity.
"Do you remember our Valentine's Day in Seattle?" My hands start to shake as a wave of courage runs through me.
"Of course I do, Ryan." He breathes out, causing another burst of static to come through the phone. "That was one of the best days of my life."
"Mine, too." Tears start to accumulate in my eyes, my nose twitching with emotion. "I've been thinking about it all day for some reason."
"Me too, actually."
"Really?" My pitch raises in surprise.
"Yeah. Rent free forever, remember?" My heart twists in pain as he repeats what he said on the beach the other night.
"Did Donna say yes?" I cross my fingers behind my back, praying that he didn't ask or that for some reason she said no.
"Yeah," is all he says, and all it takes to completely shatter my heart into even smaller pieces than it was five minutes ago.
"That's good." My voice breaks as tears start to steadily stream down my cheeks. "I'm so happy for you, Nik."
"Ryan-"
"Hey, Nik?" I quickly interrupt him.
"Yeah?"
"I know I didn't say it back the other night, but for what it's worth, I love you, too."
I hang up the phone before he can say anything, resting my head against the cool wall as I let the hot tears run down my face.