"Are you alright?" Nikka asked. Marcus woke up from a trance that he was into and stood up from the bed, biting his lip. He walked towards the door and leaned against the wall beside it. He crossed his arms as he tried his best to focus on the situation last night instead of how he wanted to kiss her right now...
He was just thankful that before he could give in to what his body told him, his phone rang, and that gave him the reason to get up quickly. He had to stay far away from her so he could not feel the warmth of her body and the soft silky arms that were wrapped around his neck.
The call was from Mr. Anthony dela Cruz, Nikka's father. He sounded worried and upset as he relayed to him what happened.
"Thank you, Marcus. I could always count on you on this," he said.
Marcus could feel the concern and relief from his voice, and then they both agreed that Nikka stayed with him overnight so she could rest. However, he was the one who didn't sleep much as he watched her sleep peacefully. Just watching her chest rise up and down and looking at her serene face was enough for him even if he didn't get to kiss those small red lips. He sighed before retiring to his bedroom....
He woke up early that morning right before she woke up. He practiced his serious look, but he failed the moment he sat beside her on the bed, all the memories of the previous night came rushing back to him.
He cleared his throat and tried to speak in his most stern voice. He shoved away the thoughts from last night and tried to squeeze out of her the details of what really happened before he showed up. He needed to know everything.
"So, what were you doing in Fred Andrews' house last night hanging around with a group of boys?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.
Nikka looked away. She knew she had done a very stupid thing. He probably thought she was rebelling but actually she was just so naive. She didn't know that there was something in that brownie. It looked really delicious and Ricky was so convincing that she just took a bite out of it.
Later on, she suddenly felt like the whole room looked different. Her body felt so light like she was walking on clouds. She could barely remember the details last night. She was just hoping she didn't do anything stupid again.... such as confessing her feelings for Marcus. It would be a total embarassment if that ever happened. Now she wondered if she ever did it since there was something different the way he looked at her awhile ago, or perhaps she was just hallucinating.
"Marcus... I..." she started but the way he looked at her made her feel so ashamed of herself.
What if he didn't come by?
Dominic surely could not stop them from whatever plan they had on her. With his small physique, he was no match to Ricky's well-built body. Vera, on the other hand, won't know what happened since she was canoodling with Fred Andrews in his bedroom upstairs. They have been together since prom and so far, Fred had been Vera's longest relationship since.
So, she and Dominic were left at the living room with the rest of the members of the football team. She was annoyed with them not until Ricky gave her the brownie that she lit up and smiled. Her ultimate weakness was her sweet tooth.
"Don't eat that, Nikka," Dominic warned her.
"Oh come on, Dom! Have a little fun, will you? It's just a good and tasty brownie my mom made for everyone," Ricky said. "C'mon, Nikka. You don't want to disappoint my mom by refusing it. Just take a little bite."
The brownie looked enticing and Ricky was convincing enough for her to take a small bite while all the boys were watching. Dominic, on the other hand, got upset and stood up. He walked out of there.
She didn't know what came over her to try it despite of Dominic's warning. Maybe she was overwhelmed by the attention that these guys were giving her all of a sudden. She was too trusting.. and she never thought bad about other people. She didn't know... and she knew at the back of her mind that she made a terrible mistake but it was too late to take it back.
"I'm sorry... I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have eaten that brownie... what if..." Nikka trailed off and started to cry. She just realized that if Dominic didn't even bother to call Marcus at that time, they could have done a horrible thing to her... they could have raped her. It devastated her to know that.
Marcus approached her and held her shoulders. He wiped her tears and held her chin up.
"Hey, it's not your fault, okay? That Ricky is just a big a**hole for giving you that. He got what he deserve last night," he assured her.
"Why? What happened?" she asked.
"I landed my fist on his nose," and he gave a satisfied smile. He couldn't believe that after all these years he was still good in striking someone enough for his nose to bleed rapidly.
"You punched him?"
He nodded.
"But... oh no! What have I done?" she cried and placed her hands on her head.
"You didn't do anything, okay. I'll be fine."
"But Alfred-"
"I spoke to Dad already. He had spoken to our lawyer and somehow Ricky doesn't want to file charges. He and his friends promised to stay away from you. I made sure of that."
Nikka sighed in relief. With the Jones' connection, there's a possibility that Ricky won't even go to college because of what he'd done to her. She gazed at the man before her and smiled. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have someone like Marcus. Someone so brave who will protect her at all cost... someone whom she loved dearly.
If he only knew....
'My protector... my hero...' she thought as she embraced him. Marcus was surprised but he held her tightly, not wanting to let her go.