These Different Times (Nick Clark FF)

15.

Once everyone was aboard the large boat, Strand started it up and we started moving further out to sea.

As soon as we boarded, I had went in search of the bedrooms; finding one with two sets of bunk beds and I dumped my stuff on the floor before crawling into one of the bottom ones.

I didn't cry. I just stared at the door blankly.

My mom was dead.

The woman who had been the one constant in my life was now gone and now, I had to try and figure out a way to cope without her.

A few minutes passed me by and just when the sound of silence started to get just a little bit overwhelming, there was a soft knock at the door.

"Taylor?" Alicia said softly, cracking the door open, "Can I come in?"

She perched herself on the side of the mattress when I nodded, letting out a quiet sigh, "I'm so sorry. I-I can't imagine what you're going through."

I gave her the best smile that I could as a reply.

"Nick said he'd be down in a minute so I just wanted to come see you now because I know that once he's down here, he won't leave you alone."

"He's always taken care of me," I mumbled, "Thanks for coming down."

She shrugged, reaching over to place her hand in the on top of mine, "If you need anything, you know where to find me."

After her only being gone for a couple of minutes, the door opened again only this time, it was Nick.

He wordlessly crossed the small space between us before crawling onto the bed beside me and he pulled me into his side, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"My mom is dead."

"I know," he whispered, kissing my head again, "I know and I'm so sorry."

I squeezed my eyes shut and hid my face in his shirt, "Why'd it have to be her?"

"I don't know," he admitted, "But you know I'm here for you, right? Anything you need, you know you can ask me for it right?"

"I know," I nodded, "Right now though, I...I kinda just want to go to sleep."

"We can do that," he murmured, pulling me tighter against his chest, "We can definitely do that."

**

The sun was just beginning to rise when I woke up and from the light in the hallway, I could see that we had been joined by Chris and Alicia, who were sleeping on the beds on the other side of the room and Nick was still wrapped around me.

My eyes were a little sore but honestly, that was to be expected with the amount of crying I did last night but to be honest, I was expecting that.

I looked up at Nick to watch him sleep for a little bit, smiling softly at how content he looked and unable to help myself, I reached up and pushed some of the hair that had fallen onto his face, immediately pulling my hand away when he opened his eyes.

"Sorry," I whispered, "I didn't think it'd wake you."

He shuffled around for a couple of seconds before settling again, "Don't worry about it. What are you doing awake? You okay?"

"Yeah," I said truthfully, "I just realised that I really need to pee."

He gave me a grin and released me, "Please, don't let me stop you. Hurry back though, yeah?"

I gave him a kiss on the cheek and went in search for a bathroom, where I done my business and splashed some cold water on my face.

As I was returning to the bedroom, I caught sight of the light shining in from the window at the top of the stairs.

Huh, a sunrise on a boat. Never seen one of those before.

I quietly climbed the steps and went outside, leaning up against the railing.

I kept my eyes on the sun as it rose until something floating in the water caught my eye.

"Is that...?" I muttered, leaning over the railing a little more stepping onto the first rung of the railing to try and get a better look to see if what I was seeing, was a hand floating by the boat. "Oh my God." I whispered as more and more body parts floated by.

Had there been an accident on another boat nearby? Chewing on my bottom lip, I climbed onto the next level of railing and leant even further out. Not my brightest idea.

I must be top heavy or something because I flipped over that railing so quick and I hit the water even quicker, barely being able to get a scream out of my throat.

The first thing that hit me was how cold the water was and the sudden change in temperature, made me involuntarily gasp, leaving me to swallow a large mouthful of salty water but I managed to get my head back above the water so I could breathe.

I kicked my legs to try and stay afloat but really, I didn't know what I was doing. Was this even helping? Evidently not because my head did slip back under a few times.

Another scream left my lips when I felt somebody grab hold of my hand.

"Taylor! Taylor, it's me. It's Chris!"

I shut up when I realised that he had heard me fell overboard and came to get me. He wordlessly started pulling me through the water while still managing to keep himself afloat (How the hell could he do that?!) as he swam us back to the boat, where everybody else, having probably heard the commotion, was now gathering.

Seeing us getting closer, Nick ran down the stairs to the little deck thing at the back of the boat where Daniel was and once the older man had helped me back on board, he rushed forward and grabbed my shoulders.

"What the hell were you doing?!" he demanded, "Taylor, are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"N-no!" I stuttered, glancing back at the water, "Of course not."

"Nick," Maddie said quietly, handing him a fluffy white towel which he quickly wrapped around me.

"There were body parts floating in the water," I mumbled while Nick started rubbing my arms to dry them off, "I thought maybe there was another boat. Maybe they had an accident."

"Did you see anything?" Travis asked and I shook my head.

"No. I fell over the railing," I then looked over at Chris, "Thank you."

He gave me a swift nod before climbing back up the stairs.

"Taylor, you should have a warm shower then get dried off," Maddie suggested.

I couldn't agree with her more and moved to get up.

Nick followed me as I disappeared back inside but he didn't say anything; not even when we were alone again.

"I know what you're thinking," I said as I rummaged around in one of my bags for some dry clothes.

I heard a creak as he leant against the door frame, "You should get in the shower. You're going to get sick."

There's the Nick I know. Always avoiding confrontation until the last possible moment. I stubbornly sat down on the bed, "No. Not until you believe that I wasn't trying to...y'know?"

"What the hell am I supposed to think?" he yelled, "All I heard was my mom yelling that you had fallen off the boat! I thought that by the time I got up there, it'd be too late. That I'd get up there and you were going to be dead."

"Well, now you know I felt when you disappeared." I whispered, causing his harsh gaze to soften and I picked up my dry set of clothes and headed for the bathroom.