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I lie in a cot out on the porch, thinking about her. She doesn't want to be with me, I can tell. Why couldn't she just tell me the truth already, huh? Instead of beating around the bush? The bracelet I gave her was a token of my esteem, as well as my love for her, but what's the point in calling it a 'promise bracelet', when she wouldn't even say, “I love you”?

Flashback

“Happy birthday, Marie...” Nick took out a little red box with a pink bow setting on top of it. With a huge grin, he lightly pushes it towards her awaiting eyes.

“Gee, Nick...what is it?” she opens it up, and a gold/diamond bracelet is staring back at her. She let out a small sigh which became lodged in her throat. “N...Nick...I don't know what to say...” “Just say: 'thank you'.” Marie sat the gift down and slowly looked up at him, her lip locked in between her teeth. “Thank you, Nickolas.”

He leaned in, waiting for another popular phrase that loved ones say to each other everyday.

Silence.

“Do you even like the gift?” he asked her while taking the bracelet out, ready to latch it onto her wrist. “Oh, I do, I really do...but we've been only going out for a little while, and I think it's just a little fast. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful gift...but---”

“Say nothing more.” He tugs at her wrist and wraps the golden trinket around it, clasping it on. “it suits you,” he says in a whisper. She feigned a warm smile at him and looked down at it once more. “Let's just call it, a 'promise bracelet.'” Her head shot up at his response. Was he listening to what she said at all? She had hoped that what she said would catch onto him, but at the end, he didn't follow through. “A promis--”

“You know...in case something else will spark.” “I see.” Nick looked at his watch, and curses under his breath. “Damn, I gotta go. Kevin's meeting me at the studio to lay down some tracks.” I nod, still shocked at what he said previously. “It's like he's the ringleader in this so-called relationship. I can't even think for myself, let alone TALK.”

She watched Nick get into his truck and drive off. Marie is left alone at the cafe, pondering.

Maybe I am going a bit too fast, but it's only because I don't want to lose her. She means everything to me, and no woman has ever had that effect on me. I really didn't think being in love with a woman wasn't all that important, but now, thanks to her, I see the light. I look over at my cell phone. I want to call her so badly, but I just left her house.

'Maybe I should call her to see if she's alright,' I thought. 'I mean, she could be thinking of me too, right?' quick, fast and in a hurry, I grab onto my cell, and call her. I get her answering service. I sit there a while and listen to her voice. So soothing...so natural...so...I can't describe it with any other word. After hanging up, I got up and walked out to my car. I wanted to see her again. Earlier wasn't enough. I start her up, and I race down to her place again.

Marie is in her room, in a deep sleep. To receive no calls while she slept, she switched her phone off, and placed it on the nightstand. As she slept, her thoughts did not drift towards Nick, but to Kevin. She smiles as he appears in front of her in a dream like state; she clenches onto her soft pillow and giggles lightly. Little did she know that while she dreams of Kevin, the Hunk, she's being watched from her big window with a wide view of the New York suburbs.

On the second floor ledge stood Nick, watching her in her nightly relaxed state. “Oh, Marie...” he whispers. His face was pressed against the tempered glass and he watches her intently with awe. Some people would think of this as stalking, but not to him. In his mind, he wants to see his 'girlfriend' sleeping alone at 1am. To him, it's perfectly normal. Where he got the information that it IS normal, is beyond anyone's knowledge. He sees that the latch on the window was unlocked, but he steered clear in opening it, for fear of frightening her.

Marie stirred in her sleep sitting up, mumbling. “Mmm...” her eyes squinted open and she turned to her window. She yelped after seeing Nick's figure still settled upon the tempered glass. “What the hell...??” he sees her expression, and runs off the ledge, landing safely on the ground. Marie couldn't believe it. Nick was at her ledge just staring at her...but why?

“Why were you up there staring at me?” I finally had the guts to ask him; this time, over lunch at Burger King. “What are you talking about?” “Last week, you were at my window, staring at me while I slept, and I want to know why you did that.”

Nick leaned over to me, and smiled slyly. He reached out and held my hands. “Because I wanted to see you, Marie. I was planning on calling you, but then I thought 'Why call her, when you can see her?' So, in a Romeo/Juliet kind of way, I went up to the balcony and saw you sleeping. It was a wonderful sight.”

While he finished his long ass statement, I broke my hands away, and folded them. “Nick, you scared the hell out of me that night. Don't ever do that again, got it?” Nick's eyes widened, a bit bewildered at what I told him. “You're mad?” Is he for real? “I'm not mad, I'm just—I just don't like to be watched while I sleep. It gives me the creeps...”

Nick nods in understanding and smiles again while sipping his shake. I look him over again: still hot, but at the same time, there's something about Nick Carter that I don't trust. I got up, grabbed my purse, and started to walk out the door. “Where are you going?” asked an instantly worried Nick. “Home.” “Let me drive you back, and--” “No. I'm a big girl, I can take myself home...”

Marie finally left the restaurant and headed home. Little did she know that Nick had other plans. He wanted to see her; all of her. So, instead of staying at the restaurant finishing his Whopper, he decided to follow her home.

She looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was beginning to prematurely set. “Strange,” she said to herself while walking down the street impregnated with pedestrians. She was almost home, but she stopped dead in her tracks in front of a metallic statue. She thought she saw Nick by rearview. She turned around, and was met with nothing. “Great, now my mind's playing tricks on me. I don't need this. A hot bath and a video would do me some good.” With that thought coursing through her brain, she kicked up her heels and walked the rest of the way home.