When Angels Fall (Fallen Angels) (19 page)

“Thank you for letting me talk. I needed to do that for a long time.” It felt like she had let go of those dark secrets last night, and that all the pain from the past was finally freed from her.

“Anytime you need to, just let me know. I will always be here.” He brushed a stray bang out of her face.

She smiled at him, got out of bed and went to her dressing table. “Oh God, I still have dark circles under my eyes,” she said, seeing how tried she really was.

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Nick watched her. “You can lay down when we go to my house. You’re still coming, right?” he asked her as he leaned up on his arm. With everything that had happened last night, he wasn’t sure. She’d let him into her soul last night, told him things that even her so-called friends didn’t even know. He would do whatever it took to make her feel that she was something to someone now. If he had to wait forever, she would be his.

“I think I should. I don’t want to be here alone. Do you think your parents will let you just sleep with me? I think I slept better with you here.” She sat back down next to him again.

He took her hand in his and played with her class ring. “As much as I would love that, they would say no. If you’re nice to me today, I will, however, let you borrow my…‘Binky Bear’ but you would have to give him back before you leave,” he said, teasing her a little. It was like she was coming out of the dark cloud she’d been in.

“I promise I will be nice. You know too much about me now for me not to be.” She laughed a little.

He grabbed her hand. “Chloe, I would never tell anyone about the things you said last night. Not unless you wanted me to,” he promised her.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “I’m gonna go take a shower. There should be something downstairs if you’re hungry and there is a bathroom in the guest room if you want to talk a shower, too.”

Nick decided to take a chance and tease her a little, to see if she was okay with where ever they were at that moment. “So, technically, we would be taking a shower together?”

Chloe’s mouth dropped. “Nicholas, I’m shocked you would say such a thing,” she answered with a smile, and then headed to the bathroom.

An hour later, they were standing at the cemetery, Nick watched Chloe closely. She seemed to be preoccupied with something during the service. It wasn’t until after it was over and they were headed to the car that he decided to ask.

Again, she looked off into the same direction. “My mother is buried here,” was all she said.

He started to drive off and slowly passed a huge maple tree on their way out.

Chloe whispered for him to stop.

He’d almost missed what she said; her voice had been so low. But he had a feeling she needed to be there.

“My mother is buried up there. I’m not allowed to be here.”

The idea of that sounded crazy to him. This was where her mother was. Who would stop her from coming here? He turned off the car and got out. Walking around to the passenger side, he opened her door. She looked up at him like a child. Nick offered her his hand and Chloe shyly accepted it. He could tell she was scared.

“If we go there, don’t tell anyone. My father forbade me to come here a long time ago. I was afraid to ask you to stop, but I don’t want her to think I’ve forgotten about her,” she explained as she looked towards the grave.

“She knows you didn’t forget her. We can go up. I won’t tell,” he said. After what she had told him last night, nothing surprised him. She looked at him as if he had offered her the world. Slowly, she started up the hill to find where her mother was.

Nick followed her through the rows of headstones until she stopped. He looked down at the headstone.

MELISSA GARDNER BELOVED WIFE AND MOTHER.

 
It was just a simple granite stone, nothing fancy like the ones around it. He watched Chloe sink to the ground and gently touched the stone, tracing her mother’s name. Her hand shook as she lifted the small brass plate that covered her mother’s picture. She ran her hand over the faded picture.
 

Nick put his arms around her.

 
Chloe seemed to relax. “That part of the story was true. I used to come here a lot. The first time was the night we buried her. I climbed down the trellis and rode my bike here. You would think any ten-year-old would be scared of a place like this. I wasn’t. There was a hole in the fence that I could fit through. I laid right here, next to the mound of flowers that covered her. There was a silk ribbon that had the word ‘mother’ on it. I just ran my fingers over it and traced the letters. I woke up close to dawn and rode home. I was freezing. He never noticed I was gone. I was able to do that for months, until one day, I was woken up by one of the workers. That’s when he told me I was not to come here again. She was gone and I was to forget her,” she said, still tracing her mother’s face on the photo plaque.

“No one else knew?” he asked her. It was still hard to believe she’d gone through this alone. At ten, he would have only entered a cemetery on a dare, and never stay the night alone.

“I didn’t have many friends then. When I went back to school, no one talked to me. They would just whisper about me. Kids can be really mean and I was the shy girl who kept to herself, the one who never had any parents at the spring concerts or parent nights. He never even went to a conference for me. Then, I was moved to private school and I met all of them. They didn’t know me. Well, except for Gabbie. I was just so happy to have someone talk to me again, that I didn’t care who it was. I’ve been alone since I was ten, since the day she left me. And I know what you think about me. You think I’m pretty, and smart, and I have everything going for me. I would trade it all for a minute of the craziness you have at your house with your brothers,” she said and looked at him.

“That’s the real reason you were letting them talk you into dating Josh, isn’t it?” He knew that now. She was afraid of losing her friends, if she didn’t do what they wanted. It was all making sense now.

“I’m willing to do whatever they want just so that I have someone who will talk to me. You’ve been really great the past few days. You have let me talk about all this and I know what you must be thinking. You can take me home. You’re off the hook now. Tell your parents I went to stay with one of my friends.” She let him out of making her stay with him.

Why did he want to kiss her? This was not the place or the moment and all he could think about was how much he cared about her and wanted to kiss her. “You don’t know what I’m thinking, and I’m not taking you home. I understand why you are the way you are now. You have been through so much and I can’t believe how strong you are. I want to be your friend, if not more, but I’m not going to push you to do something you don’t want to. You can tell me no and I won’t leave you,” he explained to her.

“Why do you care so much about me? You don’t even know me.” She seemed confused by what he’d just said.

“I care about you, Chloe. You’re not like the other girls I know. You didn’t flirt with me or write me silly notes when we first met. You just talked to me, like we are doing now. I meant what I said. You really can trust me.” He took her hand into his.

She smiled shyly at him. “I’m so tired,” she said, laying her head on his chest.

Nick nodded and helped her up to take her home.

When they got back to Nick’s house, Max and his friend ran towards them. Both little boys were wired as they jumped on Nick. “Nick, where you been? I got the high score on World of War!” he yelled, excited to tell his older brother what he’d done.

“That’s cool. What did Kevin say?” Nick asked him as he took his coat off. He loved it when Max could do something that was better than them.

The excitement on his little face was priceless. “He’s so mad. Hi, Chloe. You want to see my high score?”Max always seemed to get excited when Chloe came over. When Nick brought her over the first time, he seemed to remember her right away, they talked about the ride and how Nick was mellowing out.

“Maybe a little later,” she faked a smile for him. She followed Nick into the kitchen where his mother was.

“Hi, Guys. How did it go?” His mother asked as she put down the bread.

Nick was waiting for her to yell at him about the night before, but she didn’t even have that ‘We will talk later’ look on her face. “It was hard, but we made it through. Millie’s parents were happy to see us.”

“You two look exhausted. Are you hungry?” She asked and she looked concerned..

“That was my fault. We were up most of the night talking. I’m really sorry about that. We should have come right here,” Chloe replied.

His mother’s face softened. “Sweetie, I know this has been hard on you. It’s fine. Nick called and told me where you were and that you were okay. That’s all I cared about.”

“I’m hungry. So, yes, I would love a sandwich.” Nick blinked his eyes at her the way he used to when he was little.

“Hey, Nicky is home. It’s about time. There is a ton of stuff to do upstairs.” Kevin seemed glad that now that he was home, he could start pulling his share.

“Leave him alone. Nick, why don’t you take Chloe’s things upstairs to the guest room? I’m still washing the sheets, so I’m sorry, the bed isn’t ready. How clean is your room?” she questioned Kevin and Mark.

“I cleaned it up this morning. Kevin helped. Wait, why?” Mark asked while looking worried.

 
“I was going to suggest that Chloe could rest in there. What did you two do?” she asked, suspicious now.

“Nothing, that can’t be fixed.” Kevin’s expression looked sheepish as he looked over at Mark.

“Yeah, we could go and fix it now before lunch,” Mark added while his eyes sparkled with humor.

Then, both brothers headed upstairs.

“That’s fine, but where am I going to take a nap?” Nick asked.

His parents looked at each other. They were working in most of the house today and Max had his friend over.

“In your room, but the door stays open,” his father explained. Of the three boys, Nick was the one he seemed to trust the most, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

“Just checking, come on, Chloe, I’ll show you to your room,” Nick said and went to get her bag.

After showing Chloe the guest room, he went to his room to change.

 
Kevin and Mark were taking down things from his bed.

“Do I even want to know?” Nick glanced suspiciously at them as he threw his suit jacket on the chair.

“No, just the usual tricks and treats, you know. So, are you two good?” Kevin asked while attempting to cover the writing he’d put above Nick’s bed.

“We’re getting there. Hey, for what it is worth, I know we argue and fight sometimes, but I’m glad you two are here for me. I know that whatever happens, we have each other’s backs and can take care of each other.” Nick still could not get the thoughts out if his mind about what Chloe had gone through. How she’d done it alone and had no support like he did in his life.

Both Mark and Kevin stared unblinkingly at him.

“What the hell happened last night to bring that on?” Mark questioned him. It wasn’t like Nick to say something like that, let alone any of them to say that.

“I just learned a lot about her last night and I feel bad for her. She has no one to look out for her. I, at least, have you two, no matter how good or bad that may be.” It was true. They fought, but when it came down to it, they would stick together through anything.

Kevin jumped up from the bed and hugged Nick so his arms were stuck at his sides. “Aww, Nicky, are we having a moment?” he teased.

Before he could say anything, Mark joined in the brotherly bonding and he bear hugged Nick too.