Right in front of the front door, I stop dead, my head down.
Nick turns around and looks at me. "Whats wrong?" he asks.
Two tears drop to the floor.
Nick swiftly comes closer to me, but I quickly push him away, jerking my hand out of his.
"I just wanted a normal, quiet year with no disruptions but then you just had to show up." At the last word, I pick my head up and look angrily at Nick.
He looks shocked as I continue, "Just one single quiet year but no, oh no, you just have to choose me! Why can't you choose someone else to be your target? So that they can get antagonized by the girls at school!"
I sink down to the floor as a sob comes out of my mouth and bury my head in my knees. For a long moment, another flash of the previous year comes into my head. I shiver.
Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder. 'It must be Nick. I definitely can't look up at him now that I've said all that.'
"Hey," he says softly. He takes his other hand and lifts my face up to his. Smiling he wipes the tears from my eyes.
I look away.
"Hey," Nick says again, turning my face towards his again then wraps his arms around me. "You're alright, whatever happened last year isn't going to happen again."
Instead of hugging him back, I jump on top of him, knocking him to the floor. I wrap my arms around his neck tight.
"I'm sorry," I whisper faintly.
I feel Nick's arms wrap around me. A hand starts to rub my back as he says, "Shhh, its okay. I know you didn't mean it."
I pull myself in even closer, letting the sobs come out until they slowly subside.
Awkwardly, I pull myself up to look Nick in the face. "Nick I'm sor-"
Out of nowhere, Nick, his arms still around my waist, pulls me back down.
"Noo, I like this."
"W-what?" I say, sniffling a little.
"The fact that you want to lay on top of me." I can almost feel him smirking.
My face gets hot and even though he can't see my face, I turn away.
He laughs quietly. "I'm just kidding," he continues while starting to stroke my hair, "I heard what happened to your dad last year. He died because of a heart attack, right?"
My eyes grow big. 'How does he know about that?'
"Yeah," I say faintly.
"Do you happen to remember a little boy you used to play with everyday in kindergarten because no one else wanted to?"
I pause. 'Huh? Why is he-'
"Do you?" Nick asks again.
"Yes..." I say quietly. Then I quickly put the pieces together and pull myself up to look at Nick again.
"Y-you??" I say, and Nick smiles at me.
"Your mom actually called up my mom and told her about it. Then, after a while, apparently they got to talking about where I go to school. That's when my mom recommended mine to yours."
I close my eyes for a moment as a thousand thoughts flew through my mind.
How is this the same boy from back then? Have my mom and his mom always been so close? Did my mom tell me about this college just because she thought I could have at least one friend there?
I shake my head to rid myself of all these questions.
"Last year, I went to a really bad school. The people there were horrible and when they heard my dad died it got even worse." I look away again. "They found it hilarious that my dad died and that at that moment me and my mom had no source of income. That's why I just wanted a peaceful and calm year. When I thought about what the girls at school would do to me if they saw me more and more with you, I started to freak out. But I didn't mean to take it out on y-"
All at once, Nick pulls me back down to his face and kisses me. My eyes widen.
Then he sits up, pulling me in his lap. "Remember when I said you were mine earlier?"
"U-um, yes?" I say, my cheeks flushing.
Nick then smiles, picks me up, walks me into the downstairs bathroom, and turns on the light. He faces the mirror and points at something on my neck.
"This mark on your neck is my indication that you're mine." He leans down and kisses it gently.
"Ow," I hold my hand on top of the dark circle on my neck. Then I realize, 'Wait...he gave me a hickey earlier?!'
"Don't worry about the girls at school hurting you. They won't anymore."
He kisses the top of my head.
'Why do I feel like I can believe him?'
I look up directly at Nick and smile.