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Chapter 9

Nick’s eyes widened as he got a good look at the girl standing before him. It was her. The dark-haired girl he had seen at the hospital.

“Who are you?” he asked, staring deep into her eyes, those ocean-colored eyes.

“My name’s Olivia Caisson,” she replied, shifting.

“Olivia. You live around here?” he asked.

She tilted her head to one side, looking surprised. “Yeah, I live right there,” she replied, pointing to the house next door to his.

“Really?? Since when?” Nick asked.

“Just a few weeks. But you… well, you haven’t really been here lately, so I guess you didn’t know,” Olivia said, still looking slightly perplexed.

Nick felt his cheeks turn pink at her words. She obviously knew of what had happened to him. But how? That was supposed to be kept private.

Nick wasn’t sure if she knew he had recognized her, but he decided not to play dumb. “I saw you at the hospital,” he blurted.

Now it was Olivia’s turn to blush. She shifted her eyes downward. “Yeah,” she said.

“What were you doing there?” Nick asked. “I mean, how did you know?”

Olivia gave him a strange look. “You mean, your family never told you… about me?”

Nick frowned in confusion. “No… what about you?”

She bit her lip. “Well, um… I- I was the one who… found you,” she stammered, hesitantly.

“Found me? You mean, after I…?”

She nodded, as Nick trailed off. “Yeah… I was on my way over to complain about your music. I rang your bell, but no one answered, and so I kinda went inside cause I was worried, and I eventually found you passed out on the bed.”

Nick stared at her in wonder. “No one ever told me…” he said softly.

She shrugged. “It’s not something you talk about around the dinner table,” she said dryly.

“So my family met you?” Nick asked.

Olivia nodded and told him the story about how she had ran into Aaron at the hospital, who had later introduced her to the rest of the Carter family.

“Wow… I had no idea,” Nick commented, looking rather astonished. “Thank you.”

She smiled slightly, looking embarrassed. “You don’t have to thank me. I didn’t do anything that any other person would have done in that situation. It’s just lucky that everything happened the way it did. I’m glad you’re still here. I mean, I know I don’t really know you, but I was really worried.”

He lowered his head in humiliation. “I’m sorry for putting you in that position,” he said softly.

“Don’t be sorry. Just be glad you’re alive,” she said firmly.

He nodded, looking back up into her eyes. “I am.”

She gazed back levelly at him. “Good,” she replied. Wrapping her arms tightly around herself, she shivered. “Gosh, it gets kinda cold out here at night, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does,” Nick said. He pulled off his gray hooded sweatshirt and handed it to her. “Here, put this on.”

Olivia looked at him in surprise. “Aren’t you cold?” she asked, eyeing the thin T-shirt he was wearing underneath the sweatshirt.

Nick already had goosebumps on his arms, but he shook his head. “Naw, I’m fine,” he replied casually. “Take it.” He thrust the sweatshirt towards her again.

The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile, and she accepted the sweatshirt. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied, watching as she pulled it over her head.

“Ahh, that’s much better,” said Olivia, hugging her arms to her chest.

Nick smiled. “I hope you don’t mind hanging out here with me,” he said.

“No, I don’t mind. Especially now that I’m warm,” she said, with a teasing grin.

He returned her smile. “So, do you live all alone, or with your parents, or what?” he asked, glancing at her house.

“Alone,” she replied. “My parents are in Iowa, where I grew up. They bought this house for me.”

“Wow. Nice parents,” Nick said, looking impressed. “So, you’re from Iowa? That’s pretty far from here. How come you came to live in Tampa all by yourself?” he asked.

“Mostly for the ocean. I’ve always loved the ocean, and of course, there’s no oceans in Iowa,” Olivia explained.

Nick smiled widely. “That’s why I live here too,” he said. “I love the ocean too.”

Olivia nodded, smiling back at him. Nick wondered if she sensed the same connection he felt towards her. While he was sometimes shy with people he didn’t know, he found Olivia easy to talk to, and they already had found something they had in common. Nick could easily picture the two of them having more conversations like that… and maybe even more.

You’re dreaming, Carter, he told himself. She’s not gonna want to hang around you. She probably thinks you’re a self-absorbed, suicidal freak. He frowned.

“What’s the matter?” Olivia asked suddenly, interrupting his thoughts.

“Huh?” Nick looked up at her blankly.

“You frowned just now. Whatcha thinking about?”

Nick blushed. “Nothing,” he answered quickly. “Nothing at all.”

***