These Different Times (Nick Clark FF)

01.

this is before the first episode but i think that that's pretty obvious

**

The first thing I did when I woke up that morning, was check my phone. Something that I always seemed to do nowadays; hoping that there would be a missed phone call or even just a text from Nick to tell me that he was okay but like always, there was nothing.

Yes, we may have broke up but I still cared about and worried about him.

Even though he was the older of the two of us, I was clearly the more responsible.

"Hey Nick," I said into my phone after I had dialed his number, "It's me, Taylor. Again. I know that I said I wouldn't call again but we're worried. I'm worried. I don't even know if you have your phone on you but please...like I said, I'm worried, so is your mom. So if you could maybe just let either of us know that you're okay, that would be great. Okay, bye."

Sighing, I threw the phone down onto my bedside table before falling back onto the soft pillows, closing my eyes.

It had been over three weeks since anyone had seen or heard from Nick and we were all getting more and more scared that he was dead. Every time my phone rang, I was absolutely terrified that it was his mom telling me that they had found him dead in a ditch somewhere.

My mom, Margo, knocked on my door softly before pushing it open.

My mother was a beautiful woman, truly, she was. Her dark hair - hair that she had passed down onto me- was tied up onto her head and she was dressed in one of her fancy pant suits. She was clearly going to be leaving for work soon.

She glanced at my bedside table, a sad smile making its way over her features when she saw that my phone was unlocked, "Anything?"

I shook my head, sitting back up, "Nothing. I might try again later. Mom, why won't he pick up? Surely he must know that there's people worrying about him."

"Maybe he hasn't got his phone on him," she offered, ignoring the look I gave her, "Or maybe he's just scared of what everyone will think of him. This isn't the first time he's fallen off the wagon again."

"Or the second," I murmured, picking up my phone again, seeing that I had no messages of any kind but I noticed that it was time for me to get ready to go to work, "Will you be home when I get back?"

"I don't think so," she said sadly, "We're working on getting this big case. I could be gone until late tonight."

My mom worked at a big law firm in the middle of the city and she was always working. She'd go out of town maybe three times a month, maybe even a week if it was a big enough case.

"That's fine. You know that I just like to know."

She came over to me and pressed a kiss to my forehead, "I'll see you when I see you."

**

After she had left, I finally got up, had a shower, got myself ready and headed out to the small bakery that I had at worked at since I had left school.

Walking in, I smiled at a couple of our regulars, passing by my boss Fran so I could put my stuff in the back room, grabbing my apron before joining her out front.

"How are you?" she asked once the customers had left, "Heard anything from Nick?"

My smiled faded as she stared at me. She knew all about what we were going through with him. His mom had been in here too often for me to keep it from her. Especially when Maddie would keep me from working for nearly twenty minutes every time she came in.

"No," I muttered as I began mixing up some dough for our best selling chocolate orange cookies, "Nothing. I was kinda hoping he'd be in touch by now but..." I stopped when I felt her hand on my shoulder, looking at her.

"He'll get in touch when he's ready." she said, a small smile on her aging face.

She really had been too good to me. When I came out of school with little to no decent grades, she happily let me work here for a couple hours a day, mostly dealing with the customers face-to-face while she baked everything through the back. That was until the two of us found out I could actually bake and well, there was no getting rid of me then.

"I hope you're right," I whispered, "But, and I know I sound like a broken record here, I just want him to let someone know that he's okay."

"I know, hon." she murmured, "Keep your chin up though."

"I always do."

The rest of my shift seemed to pass in a blur of smiling faces and the noisy cash register and soon, it was time for us to close up.

"You sure you're going to be okay walking home yourself?" Fran asked, pulling the shutter to the front door down while I nodded.

"You ask me this every night. I only live fifteen minutes away. I'll be fine."

She shrugged and we started walking towards her car, "You know I worry about you. A young girl walking alone is never a good idea."

Before he disappeared, if I was working a later shift like I was tonight, Nick would walk down and get me.

The two of us said goodbye and as I walked, I dug my headphones out of my large bag, pulling harshly on them when they got caught on my Harry Potter book that was also in there. Hopefully I didn't break them.

I kept one of them out, just in case someone did decide to mess with me but I was more than ready. My bag weighed quite a bit and would inflict quite a bit of damage if need be.

With my quick pace, I managed to do the journey in under the normal time and as I reached my drive, I stopped and started the long task of now trying to find my keys.

"Should've done this before I left the shop." I muttered, finally finding them after a further two minutes of standing there but when I looked up, I froze; mouth falling open slightly.

Sitting on my front step, was Nicholas Clark.