Two days had passed and both Emma and Nick were getting ready to head to the airport. Nick was leaving earlier because he had to return his rental; he had offered to drive Emma, but Addie insisted that they would take her. He understood why and respected Addie’s wishes. At the moment, Addie was trying to get Caroline down for a nap but all he heard was the baby wailing.
“You heading out?” Howie said as he entered the guest room.
“Yeah, in a couple of minutes.” Nick replied. “I want to get everything settled and sneak my way up to the boarding gate without fifty people seeing me.”
It was tough on all the guys when they had to fly. Their fans were great but didn’t always understand that they had to be on the planes in time or, no matter how famous they were, the pilot would leave without them. Nick also preferred some quiet before he boarded the airplane to get himself mentally prepared for the trip. He wasn’t the biggest fan of flying but he didn’t want to put many more miles on the rental by driving it down to his home in Tennessee.
“It sounds like Caroline’s not going down for a nap anytime soon.”
Howie cringed as his daughter let out a howl; she had woken up with a low-grade fever and didn’t want anything to do with him. She wanted Addie only and her husband wasn’t sure that Addie would actually be able to leave to take Emma to the airport.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to take Emma?” Nick asked as if he had read his friend’s mind. “I know Addie was deadset on taking her but I’m not sure Caroline is going to agree with that plan.”
Howie thanked his friend for the offer and left to go talk to his wife. He knew she wanted to drive her friend in order to spend a little more time with her, but he agreed with Nick. Caroline was not going down for a nap any time soon and he knew she would only want her mother.
He came back a few minutes later and told Nick that Addie had agreed to let him take Emma to the airport. She wasn’t happy about it, but she knew she couldn’t leave her daughter when she wasn’t feeling well. She told her husband that she would let Emma know about the change if he could get Nick to wait a few minutes so her friend could finish packing.
“That’s fine,” Nick told him, “I am leaving in plenty of time, so we should be good.”
Howie and Nick met Emma, Addie and the baby in the living room ten minutes later and the friends said their goodbyes. Nick offered to load up the car and that gave Emma and Addie a couple more minutes.
“You set?” Nick asked as he came back in after getting the car settled.
Emma nodded and gave her friend a big hug. “Thank you both for letting me come visit and for letting me stay as long as you did.”
“You know you can stay as long as you want.” Addie answered and then looked at Nick. “Both of you are welcome whenever you want.”
Nick was shocked by the open invitation and Addie’s new attitude towards him. He didn’t know if Emma shared the conversation they had the night of the storm with her friend, but he thought that might have something to do with the new feelings. He thanked the couple for them opening their house to him and then turned to ask Emma if she was ready to leave.
Emma nodded and hugged her friend again. She reminded both Addie and her husband that they were welcome for the Labor Day weekend party that Michael threw every year. She was hoping her friends could enjoy a few days away and it would be nice to see them sooner rather than later.
Emma followed Nick out to the car and settled herself into the passenger seat. They didn’t talk much on the ride because neither was sure of exactly what to say. Things had changed between them and they couldn’t decide on how to deal with things. Were they going to be friends or just part as acquaintances? Emma had no idea when she would see Nick again and she didn’t want to put any pressure on either one of them to start talking when they were apart.
Nick was equally as quiet because of the same reasons. He was happy that the tension had disappeared and that his anger was finally in check. His behavior that summer had been unnecessary and in poor taste and he was glad that they worked their way through it. Pretty certain that they wouldn’t see each other until they were all together for Christmas at Addie’s, he didn’t know how to deal with the time in between. Should they bother to try and make conversation in the upcoming months or should they just be friendly when they saw each other a few times during the year? He couldn’t explain the feeling that told him he didn’t want the latter.
Nick stopped at Emma’s gate entrance to let her off; he had to return his rental and that was on the other side of the airport. Rather than make her walk that far, he unloaded her things and asked if she needed help carrying them in. She assured him that she was fine, gave him a quick smile and headed into the terminal. He sighed, got back in the rental and took care of what he needed to do.
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Emma watched as Nick took off and sighed as she headed down to her gate. She appreciated him taking her to the airport and was glad that they could be in the same space and not have any of the animosity that had been there for the better part of the last few months. Knowing that she probably wouldn’t see him again until Christmas made her sad and she wasn’t sure why she would care; it wasn’t like they were going to be the best of friends and start hanging out again.
Ignoring how she was feeling, she checked in at her gate and took a seat to wait for the boarding call. She started one of the books she had brought with her and she got about a quarter of the way through before they called her row. The attendant scanned her ticket and wished her a good flight; unfortunately, before she got far down the plank, she was met by a stewardess from the flight.
“I’m sorry ma’am but there’s a problem with your seat and we’re going to have to move you.”
Last Chance by Kyrie
