Chapter 28 You Need Love

***Nick’s Point of View***

The next day I got the chance to sit Kalie down after BSB left and I tried to convince her to give us a chance.

“So can we go on that date tonight?”

She let out an exasperated sigh, “You’re not going to let this go are you?”

“Just give it a try Kayl.”

“But I don’t want to give it a try! I don’t want to mess up our friendship that we’ve had for so long. You know me and my luck with relationships. They all end in disaster.”

“How about this… lets go out on a half date. It won’t even be a real date. I’ll just take you out to lunch and maybe a movie or to the park or whatever you like. It will also be my birthday present to you. Come on Kayl. Just give this half date a try and if it feels too awkward we don’t have to move any further and I’ll stop pursuing you. Just give it one try. Please? I promise I’ll be the perfect gentleman.”

She looked down at the ring I had given her for her sweet 16 and hesitated before answering, “Ok I’ll go on this half date with you.”

“Perfect! What time do you want to go to lunch?”

“How about 12:30? Gives us half an hour. I have to shower.”

“That’s fine with me. Park afterward?”

“Sounds like fun Nick.”

“Alright then. I’ll meet you in the living room in half an hour,” I chuckled.

She laughed her reply, “Ok Kaos.”

She climbed the stairs and I fished in my bag for a nicer looking shirt.

I took her to a local café we used to go to all the time when we were younger. Lunch was filled with a lot of laughs and smiles and we found each other getting lost in the other’s eyes. Whenever Kalie caught herself gazing into my eyes she would quickly look away and start to blush. She was being shy and nervous. In a way it was cute to see her like that yet it made me uneasy because she never acted like that around me before.

After I paid the check we walked through the park across the street from the café.

“Let’s go sit on the swings for a little bit,” Kalie suggested.

She and I started swinging slowly together and I spoke up, “I’ve been wanting to ask you something for a while now but I was never really sure when to ask you but here it goes… do you think you’ll ever get married?”

“No. Not after Ryan… what about you? What do you see happening in the future?”

“Well I see me making more and more music both with the guys and solo but I’m not sure if I’m the marrying type to be honest.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t think marriage is worth all the trouble… not after seeing my parents going through that nasty divorce.”

“Oh… I can understand that.”

“What about the near future?” I asked, “Could you see you and us becoming more than just friends?”

“I think I could, I mean look at how Dan and Tally, and Mich and Chris turned out but I don’t want to date you. If you haven’t noticed all my previous relationships end in disaster. I don’t want to ruin so many years of our friendship. And it seems like every guy I date changes drastically. I don’t know what I do to make them change but I don’t want you to change because of me. You’re a great guy Nick, one of the best I know and it would kill me to see you change because of me.”

“But Kalie it’s me you’re talking about, it’s us you’re talking about. I’m the same old Nick and you’re the same old Kalie. You did nothing wrong to make those ass wholes you’ve dated change. None of those disasters were your fault. None of them! Kalie let me prove that there is someone out there that will actually care for you and love you. Let me be that someone. At least let me try.”

She started to become very upset and she said, “Nickolas I don’t want to try! I mean I do but I can’t take that chance. I can’t take that chance of you changing and I don’t want to see you change. Nick please promise me you’ll be my best friend like you always have been and understand that I can’t fall in love with you. I just can’t. I can’t do that to you.”

She started crying and I brought her into my arms.

“I’ll always be your best friend. You’ll never have to worry about that I promise. And I promise nothing horrible will happen between us if we do start dating. I would never do that to you. You’re my best friend and I love you for being my best friend and I can’t imagine my life without you being my bestie. Just do me a favor and think about possibly moving forward… with me.”

***Kalie’s Point of View***

That night I dreamed of Nick and I.

We were walking through a park, holding hands, when all of a sudden all of my ex boyfriends approached us. They were all holding baseball bats in their hands and looked like they were waiting for a fight to break out.

Nick pushed me behind him to protect me as my exes, all of them from my first boyfriend Paul to Jasper and Ryan, ganged up on Nick and started to beat him fiercely. Jasper and Ryan broke away from the pack, grabbed me and started to drag me away. I screamed for Nick.

Something miraculous happened to him. It seemed like he was given the strength of 10 men when he heard my screams. He fought off all of my exes who were beating him with the wooden bats. Most of them fell to the floor after Nick threw these supernatural punches.

Ryan has holding me roughly and was kissing my neck but his saliva felt like acid burning my skin. I started to protest and Jasper started to slowly pull down my pants.

Nick was a blur as he ran over to me and knocked out both Jasper and Ryan and caught me before I fell to the ground. Nick became some type of superhero yet when he brought me into his arms he was the same old Nick. My breathing became heavy when I noticed Nick’s face getting closer and closer to mine. When our lips met I woke up.

I rolled over to glance at my alarm clock which read 4 am. That gave me 3 hours before I had to get up and ready for work. As I settled down to try and get more sleep I started thinking about my future with my best friend. Was Nick the one to protect me from my past? Was my best friend the one who actually loved me?

About a week later Nick and I were invited to a date night with our besties. The six of us decided on one of the fancier restaurants so I had no choice but to get dressed up.

I had just slipped on the dress I wore to Katie’s sweet 16 when Nick rang my door bell.

“What are you doing here so early? I still have half an hour to get ready.”

“I’m sorry I’m early but I really need to talk to you.”

“Ok come on in. I’m almost ready anyway. I just have to throw on some makeup and straighten my hair.”

He followed me up to my room and sat on the foot of my bed as I sat in front of my dresser mirror.

“So what do you want to talk to me about?”

“Have you thought about us at all?”

I hesitated before answering, “I have. I actually had a dream about you and I.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. You were some super hero and you saved me from my past boyfriends.”

“So do you want me to make your dream a reality?”

“You know how I feel about us moving forward.”

“Oh come on Kalie let’s be lovers. Girl you know I’ll be faithful, true and honest forever.”

“Nick I just can’t.”

“I know you’ve been hurt but you really need to give us a chance.”

“Nick it’s not going to work. My mind is set.”

“I need to know… can I be the one you trust? I’ll be your friend. I’ll give you all of the things you dream of. Tell me… can I be your man?”

“Nickolas you already do give me all the things I dream of just by being my bestie. It would hurt too much to see you change.”

“There’s a wound I wanna heal, it’s that whole in your heart. If you’re willing I’ll be here to fix the broken. Let me change the life you live.”

“Nickolas please stop.”

“You need love Kayl and I could be the one to give it to you. And please don’t change the way you are. You’re perfect. Soon you’ll find you’ll live within my heart. You deserve it, you know it. You’ve been searching for it all of your life. Kay you need love.”

I stopped straightening my hair and looked at Nick in my mirror behind me.

“Nick…” I started, “I really do want to try because I do think there could be something more between us but… oh god Nick I can’t go through another heart break… especially with you.”

“Kay babe,” he got up and placed his hands on my shoulders, “You won’t go through another heart break with me.”

I turned my head to look at his hand.

He bent down and whispered in my ear, “I promise.”

“Let’s see how tonight goes.”

The triple date went better than I expected. Nick was the perfect gentleman like he always was and people asked if we were actually dating. I guess I was looking for flaws in him or something about him to turn me off but who was I kidding? Nick was perfect! He was hot as hell, sounded like an angel, treated me with so much respect and he knew me like nobody else did. And that look he had in his eyes when he held my stare, it made those butterflies flutter around in my stomach. I’m not sure but I think that was the night that helped me figure out that Nick would never change and that maybe I was falling for my best friend.

A few days went by and Nick and I went on a few more dates. It was still a little awkward for me to be feeling this way about him but I knew I could be myself around him. I just still couldn’t believe I was falling, hard and fast, for my best friend.

One night Michelle invited all of our besties over to have dinner and hang out. We tried to watch some movie but instead we played Truth or Dare.

“Ok it’s my turn,” Michelle said. “Nick truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

Michelle looked at him and smiled, “I dare you to kiss Kay where ever you want to.”

My heartbeat started to quicken as Nick got up from the couch across from me and stood in front of me. He got down to my level and started leaning toward me. I was starting to quiver as Nick inched closer to me in slow motion. He was going to kiss my lips but at the last possible second kissed my cheek. He must have sensed my nerves. The room seemed tense and I knew everyone wanted us to kiss.  

He was driving me home one night from a date and my ipod was plugged into his radio system. It was on shuffle and just before he pulled into my drive way How Did I Fall In Love With You came on. The both of us sang the song subconsciously to each other.

He walked me to my door and said, “Good night Kayl. I had a really good time tonight.”

“I did too. Good night.”

Before he turned toward his car he kissed my cheek and smiled at me.

That smile made my heart skip a beat and smile back.

That night I couldn’t stop thinking of Nick as I was falling asleep. And the lyrics of How Did I Fall In Love With You kept playing in my head.

Remember when, we never needed each other
The best of friends like
Sister and Brother
We understood, we'd never be,
Alone

Those days are gone, and now I want you so much
The night is long and I need your touch
Don't know what to say
I never meant to feel this way
Don't want to be
Alone tonight

chorus:
What can I do, to make you mine
Falling so hard so fast this time
What did I say, what did you do?
How did I fall in love with you?

I hear your voice
And I start to tremble
Brings back the child that, I resemble

I cannot pretend, that we can still be friends
Don't want to be,
Alone tonight

chorus:
What can I do, to make you mine
Falling so hard so fast this time
What did I say, what did you do?
How did I fall in love with you?

Bridge:
Ooh I want to say this right
And it has to be tonight
Just need you to know, oh yeah

I don't want to live this lie
I don't want to say goodbye
With you I wanna spend
The rest of my life

chorus:
What can I do, to make you mine
Falling so hard so fast this time
What did I say, what did you do?
How did I fall in love with you?

What can I do, to make you mine
Falling so hard so fast this time
Everything's changed, we never knew

How did I fall, in love, with you?”

            I also had another dream about him.

            Apparently we had gone steady and I had moved in with him. One second in my dream he was the same old Nick then the next he morphed into this hideous monster right in front of my eyes.

He screamed at me, “Look what you did to me! You made me change Kalie! You did this to me!”

The nightmare played in a continuous loop all night except the boy changed each time. The worst being Dylan, Jasper and Ryan.

I woke up from the series of nightmares contradicting my feelings about Nick. Maybe it would be better for both of us to remain just friends.

The next day Nick came over to hang out and swim in my pool. We were just splashing around and enjoying each other. It reminded me of the I Got You music video shoot.

Then he hits me with a ton of bricks by asking, “Will you go steady with me?”

“Nick I… I,” my dreams from the previous nights rushed back to me and made me scramble for what I wanted to say, “I’m too scared to say yes or no.”

“I know you’ve got a million reasons to run and hide. I don’t blame you for being scared. I’m fully aware of all the pain those guys have caused you, right now it could be a novel long.”

“I know you’re aware of it. You’ve been there for me through it all.”

“I could change the story’s ending to me and you. I don’t know the meaning of pretending what to do. We should just go steady.”

“Nick… I can’t. I’m so haunted by my past it’s unbearable! I mean I still have pictures of Ryan and I all over the place. I just can’t get rid of them and I can’t get rid of him.”

“Just box up all those photographs, you’re moving on Kayl. And I can flip back over that hour glass and refill the better half.”

“But my heart has been broken so many times… I don’t think it would mend after another disaster,” tears started to roll down my face.

Nick came closer and lifted my chin so we were looking in each other’s eyes, “It’s a miracle how broken hearts can mend. So won’t you dry up all those tear drops and start again?”

“What about your music carrier? I’ll be left alone when you go on tour. Bad things happen when boyfriends leave me at home alone.” 

“What if I could show you there’s no risk of being left alone? Would you let your past go? I’ll take it slow. There’s no need to rush when I know that I could be the one to give you all my love. Just forget what they have done to you. I’m here now. Open up to me. Love will set you free. If you believe in forever, please believe in me.”

“I’m trying to believe but…”

He came behind me and pointed to our reflection in the pool, “Look Kalie we seem to morph together. This is us honey. This could be love.”

I thought about how happy Nick made me and how I could be myself around him and how many promises he kept.

“What do you say? Will you be my girlfriend?”

I turned around and looked into his eyes, “Yes I’ll be your girlfriend.”

He excitedly smiled then grabbed my waist and brought me closer. He crashed his lips against mine and I swear I felt fireworks.