When Angels Fall (Fallen Angels) (53 page)

“This would make a beautiful promise ring. Do you know her size?” a sales woman asked him.

“I’m not sure, but I can find out, because there goes her best friend,” Nick said, spotting Gabbie walking with her mom.

He ran out of the store and grabbed her.

Gabbie glared at him and pushed him off. “What the hell, Nick?”

“I need you. Only for a second. And you can’t tell Chloe.” He was out of breath from trying to catch her.

Gabbie stared at him. “What do you need me for and why can’t I tell Chloe?”

“You two wear the same size ring, right?” he questioned. When she said yes, he explained and then led her back to the store.

Nick took out his wallet and handed her his card. He didn’t know what he was thinking getting her the ring, but something made him buy it.

“What the hell did you get?” Kevin peered over his shoulder.

“He got Chloe another charm and wanted my opinion,” Gabbie answered for him.

“Yeah, what she said.” Nick laughed and put away his card.

Kevin rolled his eyes and glanced at Gabbie. “Gab, have you thought any more about going to the prom?” Kevin asked her.

“No, not really. No one has asked me. I think they think I’m damaged goods or something,” she answered.

“Hey, are you two going to help me or not?” Mark called to them.

“We’ll be there in a minute,” Nick answered; he had a feeling he knew what Kevin was doing.

Kevin stood next to her and took her hand. “I know you wanted to go with Dave. You’re not damaged goods. Don’t let the kids at school make you think that. I was thinking that if you really wanted to go, I could take you.”

Gabbie looked from him to Nick. “Yeah, okay. I’ll go with you. Um, we can talk about it later, I guess. Nick has my number, so you can get it from him. I have to go.” She looked confused as to why Kevin asked her, but then she smiled.

They watched her leave and Nick looked at Kevin. “I thought you were asking Shawna?”

“Shawna didn’t seem like she really wanted to go. Gabbie needs to have some fun again. Besides, I did it for you. Chloe would be miserable if Gab wasn’t there,” Kevin replied and then went back to helping Mark.

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A few days later, Gabbie sat down at the lunch table at school and sighed.

“Okay, I will ask, what’s wrong?” Chloe asked her.

“What are you doing Friday night?” Gabbie pouted.

“I have to work until ten.” She had to think of what her schedule was.

“So, do you want to do that slumber party then?”

Chloe smiled at her. “Sure, I don’t have a class this week so we can sleep in. Shelly is going to New York, so we have the house to ourselves.” She hoped this would help her through whatever she was holding on to.

“I thought you were going to come see my game on Saturday?” Nick asked while looking concerned.

She hugged him. “I am. Is it okay if Gabbie comes, too?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind watching baseball.”

“Hey, Gabbie, after the game on Saturday, you want to come back to the house? We’re having a barbecue,” Kevin asked her.

“Ah, sure. If it’s okay with your mom,” Gabbie replied while looking over at Chloe.

“She won’t care because she still lets Kevin live there.” Nick laughed.

Kevin punched his arm.

“What is with you today? You’re acting like him,” Chloe asked as she pushed Nick away from her.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s you. You’re just putting me in a strange mood today,” he teased, then moved her hair from her neck, and started to kiss her there.

“Hey, we’re at school! Wait until you take her home to do that stuff.” Kevin smacked him in the back.

Chloe laughed and kissed Nick, then headed off to class.

Chapter Fourteen

By Friday, Chloe was ready to unwind and have fun. When Nick pulled up, she got in and saw the pouty look on his face. “It’s for one night and Gabbie really needs this.” She knew right away what was wrong.

“Yeah, but you won’t even let me crash it. How do you even know if she’s at your house?”

“Because she just texted me and said she was almost there. Besides, who else am I going to talk to about you?” she teased.

“Okay, so you are having this slumber party to talk about me. Is it good talk, like ‘God, Gabbie, he is so sexy’ or is it bad like, ‘He is such a jerk sometimes’?”

“It’s a little of both. I can’t make you sound too sexy or she is going to want you for herself, and if I make you sound like a real jerk, then she is going to tell me it’s time to break up with you. So, I have to keep it mellow.” She laughed and held his hand.

“Gabbie is driving you to the game?” He wanted to make sure because he wouldn’t be able to get her as much as he might have wanted to.

 
“Yep, we will be there. I’ll be your biggest fan and cheer the loudest.” She smirked and then leaned over towards him placing her lips on his ear.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Giving you something to think about tonight while you’re lying in bed,” she said, nibbling at his ear.

He pulled up at her house, put the car in park, and then pinned her against the seat. She put her arms around his neck and kept him there, enjoying his kisses and longing for more.

Caressing her cheek, he looked into her eyes. “We really need to stop this.”

She gave him a playful smile. “Really? And why is that?”

“Because if we don’t, we are never going to make it to prom night. With the way I’m feeling about you right now…”

“Yes, love, how are you feeling about me right now?” She nibbled his ear some more.

“I want to take you up to your room, lock the door, and leave Gabbie in the cold while I have my way with you.” He started to kiss her neck now.

Gabbie’s car turned into her driveway they had to stop.

“You have a game tomorrow anyway and it would drain your strength.” She laughed and opened the door.

“Yeah, but it would be for a good reason.” He grabbed her hand.

“Nick, I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love ya!”

“Hey, love ya, too. Don’t talk about me too much,” he said and then, after waving at Gabbie, he drove off.

Gabbie sat in the den and waited for Chloe to start the movie. They were painting their toenails and just talking like they used to. It was a welcome change from the norm in the house. Shelly had left for NY that day, so they were alone.

“Okay, so I have to know, because I need to hear someone else is happy, are you and Nick—you know?” Gabbie asked her as she sat down.

“Are we what? Crazy? I would say…Um yes.” Chloe giggled and thought about him in the car.

Gabbie rolled her eyes. “No, have you two…? God, Chloe, do I have to spell it out?”

Chloe looked away. “Ahh, no, not yet. We have talked about it.”

Gabbie seemed shocked at that. “Wow, so are you still a—?”

“What the hell? Who else would I have been with? Yeah, unlike you, my purity ring is real.” Chloe threw a pillow at her.

“So is he a—? I mean, I never believe it when a guy says he is. It just makes me think there’s something wrong with them,” Gabbie said and looked at her finished toes.

“Why is it so wrong if a guy is a virgin? It is kind of sweet if you think about it. Maybe they’re saving themselves for someone special. And trust me, there’s nothing wrong with him.” Chloe felt her cheeks growing heated as she said that, thinking about him and wishing she had let him come and crash the party now.

“So wait, Kevin wears one, too. Is he…?” Gabbie wondered now.

“I really don’t know. Not something we talk about.” Chloe laughed.

Suddenly, she got really serious. “Dave wasn’t. He said his first time was with Tabitha and that was what led to them hooking up before he died. She wanted to see if he‘d improved. He said they did it in her bathroom and it was over really quick.”

Chloe put down her polish and looked at Gabbie. She was going to talk about it now, and that was what Chloe had hoped would happen. “Wow, Gab, I don’t know what to say.”

“The most recent times, they were in the bathroom at school, his bedroom, he even did it in the downstairs closet at my house the day of my party. She was bored he said and had just gotten turned down. He felt bad for her. I should be really mad at him for that, but I just miss him so much.” She was starting to wipe the tears from her eyes.

“Gab, what he did was horrible, and if he didn’t die, you would have ended up breaking up with him. You and I both know that. You would’ve never put up with that shit. You also would have beaten the hell out of Tabitha, and I still don’t know why you haven’t,” Chloe thought about how Tabitha had been walking around school like she was this victim who lost the love of her life. Someone needed to take her down a peg.

“Would you have broken up with Nick if he did that? I mean, you love him, I know you do, but could you have left him if he did that?”

“It would be hard, but, yeah, especially if I had trusted him and given him my virginity. I would have felt so betrayed,” Chloe answered the best way she knew how.

“Can I tell you something, something I should have told you a long time ago and trust you won’t say anything? It really wouldn’t matter now, but I have been carrying it around for a long time. I need to tell you, especially if you’re thinking about having sex with Nick,” she said softly

Chloe got scared. If it was something about Nick and she didn’t want to hear it, but she could tell Gabbie had to get it out. “You can tell me anything. You know that.”

“My first time really wasn’t that great. Dave and I had gone out after the dinner and we were back at my old playhouse. He kept telling me how pretty I looked and how he was so in love with me.” She couldn’t seem to look at Chloe; she just wrapped her arms around her legs and thought about him.

“Gab, that’s sweet,” Chloe reassured her.

“We were fourteen and we were messing around. It was like the first time we had ever really done that. I just remember how scared I was. He kept pushing to go further and I told him no, because we just made that promise, right?” Gabbie explained. She seemed to act really nervous now.

There was something in Gabbie’s voice that didn’t sound right and Chloe took her hand.

“So, he said it wouldn’t hurt. It would be over like that. To just trust him, and I did, but I still didn’t want to.” She stopped as though she was remembering everything. “It happened so fast. I was trying to fight him off and he held me down. He said I would like it once we did it. Chloe, he was so rough. I kept telling him no and I didn’t want to. Suddenly, he pushed into me so hard I thought he was killing me. I remember crying and he just said it was okay, that it would be better soon.” She stopped there and looked at his ring that she wore. It was all she had to remember him by. “When I went into the house, I ran to my room, took off my dress, and saw it was covered in blood. I threw it away and took a shower, and just thought that it was normal. I really wasn’t sure what happened. That was when I texted you.”