adalyn rayner (embracethestorm) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2021-12-27 19:08:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | #june 2018, adalyn, adalyn x nick, nick |
Who: Nick and Addie
When: Late evening, Thursday 6/21
Where: Nick’s place
Status: Complete
Addie couldn’t believe she’d had two amazing nights in a row. Toby’s birthday the night before and then going out with the Sheriff - whom she would have to get used to calling Grady - and his gorgeous girlfriend, Dahlia, tonight. She was so used to working and working and working that having two nights out with Nick was just heaven. It was also the second night she was buzzing with alcohol, which honestly made everything feel that much better - and funnier! Singing karaoke was one of her favorite things to do and after she and Nick had said goodbye to Dahlia and Grady, Addie climbed into Nick’s car, curling up on her side to watch him with a lazy, drunken smile as he drove them home. God, he was beautiful. A gorgeous male specimen and he was all hers. Addie wanted to glomp onto him and never let him go. Ever.
“Dahlia is really pretty. Gorgeous,” Addie exclaimed, once they were headed back to Nick’s apartment. “Like, unbelievably gorgeous. I kept finding myself staring at her lips, they were so pretty. Not as pretty as yours, but dang, you know?”
Nick had been having an equally delightful time for the past couple of days. Point Pleasant wasn’t bustling with nightlife by any means, it could be downright boring, so two events to spend time with friends in a row was pretty awesome. He’d had a great time at Dragonfly, meeting a bunch of Toby’s friends -- and Toby himself, who seemed really fun, Nick definitely wouldn’t have pegged him for a nurse if he didn’t know already. Then a double date with Grady and Dahlia for karaoke had been the perfect follow up. Pretty much anything felt perfect at Adalyn’s side, he had discovered. Nick grinned a bit at her gushing over Dahlia, glancing over at his petite lady all curled up in the car seat. “Was she? I didn’t even notice,” he teased, aware of how transparent that was. “Nah, you’re right, she’s definitely beautiful. Grady’s a lucky man. So far anyway, hope she doesn’t turn out crazy or something. But she seems real cool.”
Addie blew a loud raspberry between her lips. "Beautiful is an understatement. She should do commercials for... perfume or something. Where she's like, standing in the desert with this wispy black, see-through gown and wind blowing it everywhere. Or in the ocean! That's what she looks like. I didn't get any crazy vibes from her either, so I think she's normal enough. In all the years I've seen Sheriff Barrett around, I don't think I've ever seen him with a woman so it was like... woah. We all kinda thought he was gay. But we never saw him with a guy either, so..." Addie yawned into the side of her seat. "She's a perfume model for sure. I'd do commercials for like... mops." She laughed, not really all that serious. "You wouldn't do commercials though. You'd do... hot guy calendars."
“Ooh, can I wear a firefighter getup?” Nick asked, laughing as well. “I can pretend. Or like, hold little kittens or something.” He didn’t think of himself as much of a model, even though he knew he was attractive. He could see Dahlia doing that sort of work, but he wasn’t sure Addie would be able to hold still long enough to really pose, even with just a mop. “I can see you in a commercial for like, uppers or antidepressants or something. My little paragon of perkiness.” Grinning affectionately, he reached over to caress Addie’s leg and give it a squeeze. “I think Grady’s son is gay ... but pretty sure he’s just been married to the job all this time. It’s good to see him out and actually having some fun, so I’m glad some gorgeous perfume model rolled into town to seduce him.”
"Firefighter, police officer, chef... only wearing an apron." Addie giggled. "Kittens and puppies. Oh god, that would be so freaking cute. I keep thinking about a dog. Did I tell you that? But, hard to have a pet in a funeral home." She tried to imagine herself pushing uppers in a commercial, laughing again at the internal thought of spouting off all of the side effects with a big ass smile on her face. Impotence! Nausea! Death! Addie reached down to slip her fingers through Nick's. Guh, she loved his hands. So large and strong. "I'm glad for him too. I'm also glad a gorgeous writer rolled into town for me to seduce. It's been the best six months of my life."
Nick flexed his fingers to squeeze hers, always a little amazed at how tiny and slim her hands felt. He still couldn’t imagine them digging around in corpses, even if he knew that was part of her job. Hell, maybe having small hands made that easier. He chuckled a bit. “Did you seduce me? Or was it the other way around?” he pondered out loud, scrunching his nose in thought. Not that that particular detail really mattered. It had been the best six months of Nick’s life too. “We’ll get a dog someday, you won’t live in the funeral home forever, right? ... seems like the kind of place that would have cats though. Like black ones just skulking around and silently judging everyone, communing with the spirits, whatever they do.”
"I absolutely seduced you. I mean, I showed you the cremator the first day we met, remember? That was just the hook. You couldn't get me out of your head after that." Her cheeks were becoming sore from smiling so much, but Nick had that effect on her. She had no idea if she would be living in the funeral home forever. She had grown up there and it was hard to imagine living anywhere else. But Addie felt like she would go anywhere Nick asked her to. If it was even possible, her smile widened. She liked hearing we'll get a dog. We'll. "I bet Silas would love a cat," Addie surmised. "I can see him just carrying it around all day. Maybe I'll get him one for his birthday, or Christmas... or just because." Addie brought Nick's hand up to her lips to kiss his fingers. "I want a dog. A big dog. The kind that'll knock you down if it jumps on you."
He chuckled deep in his throat as he slowed the car down to turn into his apartment’s parking lot. “A Pekingese could knock you down, shorty,” he teased, brushing his thumb against Addie’s cheek as she kissed his fingers. “I want to get a dog big enough for you to ride on, like a steed into battle. One of those dogs that fights bears in Russia or whatever.” He was sure they would end up with a sensibly-sized big dog, like a husky or a German shepherd or something. Nick definitely saw a future for him and Addie, which was why he was so comfortable joking about their eventual pets. He didn’t feel like he was leading her on anywhere, because he really felt in love with her and like they could make a good life together. Nick just wanted to make sure that when he declared his feelings, it was special. As he pulled into his parking spot, he added, “Silas definitely reads like a cat guy. I’m surprised he doesn’t have six or seven of them already.”
"Give him time," Addie declared. "If I ever move out, he'll fill the house with them. They'll follow him around like proper minions. Every time he brings a guy home, they'll line up on the staircase and stare. Silas will know whether the guy is worthy or not from that." She was feeling buzzed... probably drunkish... and floaty and happy. She wanted her brother to be as happy as she was, though she understood that was difficult to find in Point Pleasant. She had just gotten lucky. Nibbling on Nick's fingers, Addie finally released him to make her way out of the car, fumbling a bit with her seatbelt. "What're those huge dogs... mastiffs? Ooh! Or the kind that look like huge lions? Or we get a tiny little lapdog, like a Maltese! That'll be good baby practice."
Nick was in the middle of unbuckling himself and trying to remember the name of those big bear-dogs when the word ‘baby’ registered. He let out a surprised little laugh and raised his brows at her. “Baby practice, huh?” he asked lightly. That was a conversation they hadn’t even begun to have yet, but he could tell Addie was a couple sheets to the wind and probably just babbling ... but it still gave him a nice kind of flutter in his chest. He knew she was very into him, at least as much as he was, but part of Nick was always dimly aware of their age gap. At least she didn’t think he was too old to start a family with. Not wanting to make a big deal out of anything, he continued to climb out of the car.
"Yeah, 'cause they're tiny dogs, like babies are tiny," Addie said, finally getting her seatbelt unbuckled. She pushed open her door and stumbled out before laughing. "You have to keep them alive too. Like babies." Closing the car door, Addie walked around to Nick, pushing up on her toes and slipping her arms around his neck, hoping he would carry her into the apartment. "I want to have babies with you. Or, baby, because I don't know about more than one yet. One would probably be good to start though. Have you thought about babies before? If you ever wanted one?" Addie pressed her nose against his chest, loving the way he smelled. She would have bitten him if she could get through his shirt. A loving bite. A love bite! God, she would bite him all over.
He skipped pointing out that you had to keep all pets alive too, ethically and legally speaking. It wasn’t really important. Nick bent at the knees and got a good grip on Addie to pick her up and guide her legs around his waist. He adjusted her slight weight a bit, hands under her ass, then started to walk to his apartment. Addie flat out saying she wanted babies with him made his heart pick up speed. “‘Course I have,” he murmured with a little grin, glancing briefly at her as he walked. “I think everybody thinks about it ... or they should, anyway, before they start having ‘em. Are you sure you wanna have a baby with me though, and not just ... have a baby?” Nick’s tone was still as light as hers was, he knew she might regret this conversation in the morning, but he was curious as to what kind of truths he could coax out of his tiny drunk girlfriend.
Oh god, she loved it when he picked her up. Whether it was just for fun, or for sex or to carry her around when she had too much to drink. It made her heart melt every time. His question prompted Addie to snort before she ducked her head to bite playfully at his neck. “I didn’t think about babies much at all until I met you. Okay, I thought about them a little, like you said, the way most people do. But I always wanted to fall in love first and I’m in love with you.” Addie lifted her head and nuzzled her nose to his. “You want to marry me, right? ‘Cause I want to marry you. Like, a lot.”
Addie’s words gave him three jolts in the chest in a row, and Nick stopped walking so he wouldn’t run into anything while she nuzzled him. Plus he just needed a moment. They really had opened the floodgates just by talking about dogs, hadn’t they? “I think you’re supposed to get on one knee if you’re gonna propose to me,” Nick murmured with a soft huff, his eyes searching hers for a beat. They couldn’t have a real conversation about this while she was drunk, and carrying her around like a tuckered out five year old wasn’t exactly the setting he’d wanted, but ... “I’m in love with you too,” he told her. “Have been for a while now.” Nick kissed her softly. He still had some reservations about marriage that had nothing to do with Addie, so he didn’t get into that part, just focused on the feelings for the moment.
“I’ll get down on my knee and propose to you when we get inside and you put me down,” Addie said with a grin. She knew Nick loved her, but hearing the words still sent a happy thrill through her. Isn’t that what real love was? She couldn’t remember the last boyfriend she’d had that made her this happy. She hummed happily into the kiss. It was dizzying and oh so good… although the dizzy part might have been the alcohol. It didn’t matter. She was happy and safe and in love and life was so good. She didn’t want it to ever end. “You probably think I’m too drunk to say things,” Addie said, smiling against his mouth. “But it’s all totally true.”
Nick gave a deep chuckle and gave her a smooch that was half-lip, half-teeth since she was smiling so much. “I definitely don’t think you’re too drunk to say things, you’re saying a lot,” he reminded her, though he knew what she meant. “And I believe you.” He didn’t doubt that she meant every word of what she was saying, he just didn’t want her to regret her timing later. Nick patted her ass with one hand and moved his head to the side so he could see the rest of the way to his apartment door. Glad he already had his keys in one hand, he managed to get it unlocked with minimal fumbling to let them inside. After nudging the door closed behind them, Nick carried Addie to the couch and sat down with her so she could stay in his lap.
Addie had learned a lot about timing in the past, when she had said things to boyfriends well before she probably should have. But it always felt silly to her to follow some kind of schedule set by society, or whatever it was. When she felt something, she wanted to say it. She had held off for so long telling Nick she loved him... waiting until he said it first - or in this case, serenaded her with it - and Addie was already convinced he was The One, so it made no sense in her mind to hold it all in until a time that was deemed acceptable by everyone else's standards. It was possible that the alcohol was controlling her brain but Addie didn't really care. She might have been this forthcoming even if she'd been sober, that's how happy she was. Once they were settled on his couch, Addie adjusted herself on his lap and kissed him again. She loved being in his apartment. It was quiet and cozy and his. "Would you marry me if I asked you to?" Addie opened her eyes to look at him, her hands coming up to cup his face. "Even if I wasn't down on one knee?"
Nick knew he was in love with this woman, he’d stopped questioning that a while back. It hadn’t come and gone in the intense way it had with Madison, and he felt confident now that it was real. He adored everything about Adalyn, even her weird gross stories from running the funeral home and the way she babbled when she was drunk -- or happy, or nervous, or anytime, really. None of the things she’d worried would push him away had done it. So why did it make his stomach all twisty in a bad way when she looked deep into his eyes and asked him that earnest question? He did want to make a life with her ... but he still had so many secrets. Ones that might scare her away or worse, put her in danger. Would the Foundation hurt her or her family to keep their cover? Make him disappear? Nick knew they were capable, he just didn’t know if he was important enough for them to care that much about ... and he couldn’t risk it, not until he knew she would be safe. He wet his lips as he gazed back at her, hands settling on her slender hips. “Addie ... if I marry anyone ever in my life, it’s going to be you,” he murmured gently, hoping this wonderful night wasn’t about to take a turn. “I love you, I do. I want to stay with you indefinitely. But I’m just ... not ready to say yes to that yet.”
Addie was so sure Nick would say yes and she was still pretty drunk from the night, so it did take a beat or two to really hear his words. Her smile didn't slip at all though, even if her skin felt a bit more warm than usual. It wasn't like she had actually proposed, so it wasn't like a rejection or anything. And they had only been dating six months, so... it was possible Nick was okay with following that appropriate schedule. It didn't escape her hazy brain that Nick said if he ever married someone, rather than when, which told her that he wasn't even sure he would be taking that step, but he was in his forties... shouldn't he know by now? It was very possible she had opened her mouth and messed everything up but considering how much she'd had to drink that night, Addie didn't think she could really settle back and think it all through. "Okay," she said finally, pushing her smile wide again before quickly leaning in to kiss him. Her heart was beating harder now and she was thinking it was definitely time for bed. "Are you ready to go to sleep?"
He immediately felt bad. Nick could see the flush in Addie’s cheeks and even if she kept smiling, there was a shift in her eyes that stabbed him with guilt. He suddenly wanted to explain everything to her, to confess that he’d been keeping this secret for six months, that he worked for a shadowy agency, that the supernatural was more real than she realized and Nick knew so much about it. But it was scarier to maybe put her in the line of fire of the Foundation than to make her upset for a little while. Nick wouldn’t have been able to handle it if something bad happened to Addie or Silas because of him. He didn’t want to tell her anything vague either, saying something like “I have loose ends to tie up first” would only make her think he was already married or something mundanely fucked up like that. Nick didn’t feel right letting it completely drop though, so he cupped her face in his hands and locked gazes with her. “It’s not you, understand? You’re perfect for me and I completely adore you. Just ... a little more time before we start talking about it, okay? Can you be patient with me?” he murmured.
Even if she felt a little silly for bringing it up, Addie still nodded, because she believed that he did love her. And she could be okay with it, if he never wanted to get married, or even have kids. She just wanted to be with him. It was her own fault for romanticizing things so early in their relationship. God, she could already see Silas covering his face with one hand and shaking his head. She had been so good for six months and then ol' reliable Addie decided to show up and make a mess. She brought her hands up to curl them around his wrists, her smile less bright now, but still genuine. "Can we just... chalk it up to a few too many whiskey sours tonight? That way I don't wake up and want to smother myself in my pillow."
Nick smiled back at her, his eyes warm. “Of course,” he murmured. He hated that she was embarrassed about being completely honest about her feelings for him, because that was part of what he loved so much about her -- she was so open and real. Nick wanted to say yes, he would marry her in a heartbeat and have a baby with her, he just had so much uncertainty around that one part of his life, and how it might spill over into hers. He wanted to talk to Chris and Kenzie now, get their opinion, see if they knew of a safe way to break his contract, because if it came down to Addie vs the Foundation in his life? Addie was coming first. Nick kissed her again, soft and lingering, then murmured, “I can think of much nicer ways to wake up.”
She was grateful that he wasn't clamming up, withdrawing or making her feel stupid for bringing it up. Addie knew how many guys would've been totally freaked out by a proposal, even a hypothetical one. Nick was still touching her and holding her close and Addie knew she would feel dumb in the morning, but right now everything still felt okay. "Me too," she said with a small smile against his lips. "I'm feeling sleepy now... do you want to go to bed with me?" She didn't mind if Nick wanted to stay up and watch television, or do whatever. But it was late and the alcohol was starting to weigh her down a bit. All she really felt like doing was curling up against Nick and sleeping for the next several hours.
“Yeah,” Nick answered, pressing another couple of kisses to her lips. He could tell that Addie wasn’t feeling as amorous as he was, which was understandable. He was content to cuddle up close to her and drift off for the night. He just hoped she didn’t feel too bad in the morning -- he wanted that kind of openness between them ... even though there were certain things he couldn’t tell her. Yet, maybe. Nick patted Addie’s ass with both hands and gave her a wry little grin. “You want another ride to the bedroom?”
Addie was sure the amorous feelings would come once the heavy weight of embarrassment eased a bit. Nick was still Nick and he still loved her and he was sexy and strong and all hers. Indefinitely. That was a good word and Addie was sure she could distract them both for a while until things felt better. Tomorrow she could deal with everything else, but Addie didn't want to ruin the rest of the night. "Yeah," she said with a smile, cupping his face to kiss him again. "And then I'll give you a ride too." A longer, more naked ride. One that would hopefully blot out all of the weird talk about proposals and stuff like that.
Nick made an intrigued sound and chuckled in his throat as he kissed her back. He wasn’t going to hold her to that if she didn’t feel up to sex once they got settled, but Nick had a feeling that stripping down and cuddling in close might lead to some nice warm intimacy. Part of him hoped so, anyway, he wanted to reassure her as much as possible that she hadn’t turned him off or scared him away or anything. Nick scooted forward and got a better grip on her, then stood up with a little grunt. He smooched Addie once more then moved his head so he could see where he was going as he headed for the stairs to take them up to her bedroom and hopefully a good end to an overall great night.