“Because what you did sent a bigger message than what I had planned.”
She looked like she was going to say something but the door opened and she swallowed it. My parents walked through the door with Aiden behind him.
“Nikki? Can we have a few minutes?”
“Yeah, of course.” She turned to me and said “I’ll come by later with Bear okay?”
“Alright. Bye, babe.”
We all watched as she left the room, everyone but Aiden that is. He was making his way to my bedside. When he got to me he held my hand tightly in his, let me know that he was here no matter what was to come. Good. At least he was on the same level as I was, neither of us knowing what was coming, both just waiting for the blow that their final judgment would bring.
“Okay, we’re alone. What’s going on?”
My parents gave each other that silent look like they didn’t know how to say what they wanted to. They took a seat facing us and began.
“Alright. We’ve been thinking about what’s happened and we believe we’ve come up with a solution.” He stopped there, letting us take it in.
“O-Okay. Wh-What’s that?” I hated hearing him sound so scared.
“We think maybe you should stay with us. Maybe then you two would be okay?”
“I don’t understand. First you wanted me to never even call much less come over and now you want me sleeping down the hall? I’m not trying to be mean or anything, believe me I’m just trying to understand.”
“You two did this to be together, right?” We nodded. “This way you’ll be close and we won’t have any problems.”
He shook his head. “This isn’t what we wanted. What we wanted was for you to give us a chance, to let us be together, we didn’t want to live together. We’re not ready for that yet.”
My parents looked at each other, puzzled by what he had said. My mother spoke first. “So . . . what do we do?”
“Just let us be together. That’s all we ever wanted. No more, no less, just that.” I squeezed his hand in mine as much as I could. I still felt so weak, not in the mood to negotiate on what terms I could see him, just ready to let sleep take me back to oblivion. But he was counting on me so I fought a little longer.
“Alright, but how do we do that?”
“I just want to be able to see her without having to sneak around or worry about getting her in trouble. I understand that what we did really upset you guys. And I understand that that is probably an understatement. I don’t care if you limit how much I can see her I just want your permission.” I admired him in that moment. The flame burned hesitantly, steadily in his eyes. He’d do anything for me. He had said that a thousand times, but now I saw how true it was. I
She looked like she was going to say something but the door opened and she swallowed it. My parents walked through the door with Aiden behind him.
“Nikki? Can we have a few minutes?”
“Yeah, of course.” She turned to me and said “I’ll come by later with Bear okay?”
“Alright. Bye, babe.”
We all watched as she left the room, everyone but Aiden that is. He was making his way to my bedside. When he got to me he held my hand tightly in his, let me know that he was here no matter what was to come. Good. At least he was on the same level as I was, neither of us knowing what was coming, both just waiting for the blow that their final judgment would bring.
“Okay, we’re alone. What’s going on?”
My parents gave each other that silent look like they didn’t know how to say what they wanted to. They took a seat facing us and began.
“Alright. We’ve been thinking about what’s happened and we believe we’ve come up with a solution.” He stopped there, letting us take it in.
“O-Okay. Wh-What’s that?” I hated hearing him sound so scared.
“We think maybe you should stay with us. Maybe then you two would be okay?”
“I don’t understand. First you wanted me to never even call much less come over and now you want me sleeping down the hall? I’m not trying to be mean or anything, believe me I’m just trying to understand.”
“You two did this to be together, right?” We nodded. “This way you’ll be close and we won’t have any problems.”
He shook his head. “This isn’t what we wanted. What we wanted was for you to give us a chance, to let us be together, we didn’t want to live together. We’re not ready for that yet.”
My parents looked at each other, puzzled by what he had said. My mother spoke first. “So . . . what do we do?”
“Just let us be together. That’s all we ever wanted. No more, no less, just that.” I squeezed his hand in mine as much as I could. I still felt so weak, not in the mood to negotiate on what terms I could see him, just ready to let sleep take me back to oblivion. But he was counting on me so I fought a little longer.
“Alright, but how do we do that?”
“I just want to be able to see her without having to sneak around or worry about getting her in trouble. I understand that what we did really upset you guys. And I understand that that is probably an understatement. I don’t care if you limit how much I can see her I just want your permission.” I admired him in that moment. The flame burned hesitantly, steadily in his eyes. He’d do anything for me. He had said that a thousand times, but now I saw how true it was. I
