Chapter 3

emma sighed and collapsed on amandas couch,"this is hopeless."

brian sat down and put her legs across his lap,"still couldnt find a place?"

she sighed and shook her head. "well ive got about four extra rooms and im sure leighanne wouldnt mind, so why dont you just move into my house..."

she sighed and sat up,"thats a really nice offer bri but i dont want to intrude on you too." she stood up and stretched,"i guess im staying another day so i can search some more. im gonna go upstairs call me when the food gets here,"she said going up the guestroom.

aj glanced at nick who had been sitting on the floor silently playing playstation with amanda,"are you okay frack? ive never seen you lose this bad before."

"huh? what? oh...yeah, im fine. ill be rigt back." he set the controller down and went upstairs. he knocked on the guestroom door,"emma, can i come in?"

"yeah."

nick walked in and closed the door behind him,"hey..."

she smiled,"hey, whats up?"

he sat on the edge of the bed,"nothin..."

she hung her coat up and glanced at him,"now i know you didnt come up here to just sit on the bed...."

"well...um...i was thinking...i have this house....and its just me and my dogs...and i have a bunch of extra rooms...."

she sat next to him,"yeah....?"

he took a deep breath,"you can move in with me."

her eyes widened,"really? are you sure?"

"yeah...but i could understand if you didnt want to...."

"no, no...i want to. i mean, i wouldnt want to stay with bri and leighanne cause...well...you know..."

nick laughed,"so then you'll stay?"

she nodded and he smiled,"hey. do you need someone to help you pack up back home?"

"i was gonna drag aj and amanda along with me."

"you wont get much done with aj helping."

she laughed,"do you want to come? im sure amanda would be thrilled to get out of it."

"you wouldnt mind?"

emma shook her head,"just get one of their tickets."

nick smiled and nodded,"im glad you said yes."

amanda yelled upstairs,"FOODS HERE!"

"you are?" she asked as they headed downstairs.

"yeah, my mom was ready to move back out here to take care of me."

"is that the last box?" nick asked dropping the box on the floor of emmas new room.

emma nodded and sat on the bed. she looked around the room. it was so big her whole apartment in cali could have fit. "i really appreciate this," she said starting to unpack.

nick grabbed her hand and dragged her downstairs,"we'll do the unpacking tomorrow."

emma laughed,"okay what are we gonna do?"

"were gonna eat pizza and watch really old cheesy monster movies."

she laughed and sat on the couch,"good plan."

he glanced at his watch,"first movie starts in 15 minutes. im gonna order the pizza you find the channel."

she nodded and looked through the tv guide. nick ordered the pizza and came back in the room,"okay, 10 minutes. what channel?"

"34."

he turned the tv on, found the channel, and turned back to her."your sitting in my seat."

"oh well, im not moving," she said and stuck her tongue out at him.

"well...that would be a big mistake..." he slowly walked over to her.

she watched him and slid back as far as she could in her spot on the couch,"what are you gonna do....?"

he smirked, reached forward, and started to tickle her. she screamed and started to wiggle way,"nick! stop! im sorry!!"

"so your gonna move?"

"i aint that sorry...."

"then im not gonna stop," he said and continued to tickle her just as the doorbell rang.

she tried to laugh and talk at the same time,"..get...the doorbell...pizza..."

"oh yeah. but im not done with you." he let her go and went to answer the door. emma stood up, fixed her tshirt and went into the kitchen. she found the cupboard with the glasses, grabbed two, a bottle of soda from the fridge and went back into the living room. she glanced at nick who was sitting at the other end of the couch.

"what happened? you didnt take your seat back...."

he shook his head,"you can have it but i just want you to know that means your my offical headrest."

she laughed and sat down,"i think i can handle that."

they settled down and started to eat as the movie came on. about halfway through the first movie, nick moved over so he could stretch his legs out and rested his head on emmas shoulder. she smiled and played with his hair. by midway through the third movie she could hear him breathing and knew he had fallen asleep. she smiled and pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and covered them up. she was on her fourth monster movie, still up from all the caffine she had had, when nick suddenly jerked away.

"whoa...sweetie are you okay...?"

"did brian call here?"

"huh? no...whats wrong nick?" she asked gently brushing the hair off his forehead.

he shook his head and laid down, resting his head on her lap,"nothing. just a dream i had."

she nodded and went back to playing with his hair. "so what movie are we on?" he asked.

"night of the living creature from the black lagoon or something like that,"she said.

he laughed,"oh okay."

she smiled,"leave me alone carter." he smiled and went back to watching the movie.

"you know...these movies are all the same..."

she laughed,"your just now realizing that?"

he stuck his tongue out at her,"no, i mean, none of them ever REALLY have much of a pl---"he started to say but was cut off by the ringing phone. he made a face,"can you get that? your closer and im to comfortable to get up."

she nodded and picked the phone up off the end table,"hello? oh hey brian...hold on a sec..." she handed nick the phone. he rolled over so he was in a more comfortable position to talk and took the phone,"hey rok, whats up?"

brian sniffed,"tyke got hurt."

nick quickly sat up,"what?"

"he..he ran out...into the road...and...and...got hit..." brian said and started to cry a little.

nick got a sinking feeling in his stomach,"is he okay? where are you?"

"the animal hospital. they said he'll be okay but his leg is broken."

nick nodded,"okay, ill be there in a few minutes. bye bri," he said and hung up. "um...i...i uh...gotta go to the animal hospital. tyke got hurt."

"awww poor brian. ill come with you." he nodded and went to get his keys. emma glanced at him when he came back.

"are you okay?"

"huh? oh yeah...im okay."

"you look a little weirded out. why dont i drive? tyke getting hurt seems to really be bothering you."

he nodded and handed her the keys. she took his hand and led him out to the car. nick stared down at his hands in confusion as he got in the car. he wasnt weirded out because of the fact tyke got hurt...but by the fact thats what he had dreamed about 10 minutes before.