Brooke Whittaker had all but forgotten Nicholas Williams after the "Great Christmas Disaster of 2010." But, when her father announces a business arrangement that will not only move Brooke and her family to New York City, but also forces Nicholas bac...
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Nicholas groaned as a blinding stream of light was let into the room he had been asleep in. The combination of footsteps entering the room and an arm shifting to grip tighter around his waist caused him to open his eyes.
Of the sight before him, there was one thing that made him smirk and another then made him grimace. It didn't take a genius to figure out which one was which.
Looking down, he found the body of Brooke draped across his chest and snuggled up to his side. Never in a million years did Nicholas think that the sight of Brooke Whittaker's head laying on his shoulder, fast asleep would make him smile.
The person standing at the door, however, did not bring him as much joy.
"Nate!" Nicholas whispered, pulling the sheets further up over him and Brooke. "Get out."
"I didn't realize Brooke brought anyone home from the club last night?" Nate teased.
"What do you want?" Nicholas sighed, not awake enough to come up with a more witty retort.
"I just came in to check if Brooke made it home okay last night," Nate answered. "Little did I know that I would find my best friend had somehow made it into her bed...without clothes."
"Well, now you know," Nicholas said, desperate to get rid of Nate as quickly as possible in order to avoid waking up the girl sleeping on his chest.
"You do know that it's common courtesy to put a sock on the door so people know not to come it. Or at least lock the door," Nate teased again.
"Get out of here before she wakes up," Nicholas said, chuckling at his friends relentlessness.
"You are so screwed," Nate laughed softly. "Glad someone had a good night. It's been a long time coming."
Nate—finally—left the room, closing the door quietly.
Unfortunately, the noise from the door caused the blonde girl snuggled into Nicholas to begin stirring, enough to wake up. Nicholas gently stroked Brooke's hair that had fallen out of the ponytail she had had it in last night.
It had been an active night, Nicholas remembered with the lazy ghost of a smile.
Despite the momentary interruption from his best friend, Nicholas couldn't remember the last morning he woke up smiling this much.
"Hmm," Brooke snuggled her way closer into Nicholas.
Nicholas was a stubborn person, maybe even as stubborn as Brooke. So when he had been faced with the predicament of developing feelings for her, naturally he dismissed them as fleeting delusions. That was, at least, until he had to rush to the hospital after the car accident. After staying by her side the whole time, Nicholas was sure it was obvious to anyone around them that his feelings were no longer platonic.
As it turns out, accepting his feelings was the easy part, expressing them was not. The prospect of rejection, especially rejection from Brooke had been terrifying to Nicholas. He had thought that by ignoring her, he could quell his desire to push her up against a wall and kiss her until her legs buckled. Although, that clearly wasn't the case. He had tried to backtrack last night in their conversation and she hadn't let him. Thank God for that.
