CHAPTER 66

Normally, I would have either gotten mad at her or just asked if it could wait, but I was emotionally sapped tonight and really didn't give a crap about anything. "Sure," I tossed out the window emotionlessly. I looked back at my door and added, "The front door is…" And turned back to see that she had already expertly scaled my wall and was climbing in through my window. She shut it behind her and shivered.

"J-Jesus Christ, Princess Aurora." She complained. "How deep a sleeper are you?! You kept me waiting for five minutes."

"Sorry." I flatly responded then climbed back into bed on autopilot.

Nicole jolted to attention, noticing how I was acting. "Are you okay?" She asked me urgently.

"I'm fine." I lied. "Long day. Really sleepy. What do you need?"

"W-well…" She started, still shivering.

Despite my state, I still took pity on Nicole, whom I knew hated the cold to begin with. "It's warmer in the bed." I offered.

I certainly didn't need to tell her twice. Instantly, she hopped in the bed, discarding her robe. As she entered the bed, her arm touched mine, and I realized just how just she was to the touch. It felt like a frozen metal pole. I could detect no warmth in her body. Nicole could catch hypothermia, or get frostbite. Instinctively, I hugged her. The feeling sucked, to say the least, and my body was getting cold very quickly, but after a bit, Nicole's shivering died down.

"Th-th-thanks, s-squirt." She said lovingly.

"You're welcome." I replied, a little bit more awake now. At this moment, I realized that Nicole wasn't wearing anything, and that her naked, cold body was pressed up against mine, with nothing but a pair of boxers separating us. The feeling was odd, certainly made odder with the cold added in the mix, but weirdly enough, not sexual.

"So what is it?" I asked after waiting a couple minutes for her shivering to die down completely.

She shrugged. "I just wanted to let you know that I forgive you, that's all." Nicole casually stated.

"You waited outside in the cold to tell me that? And you thought that couldn't wait until morning?" I asked her.

She shrugged again. "I felt like it was important, you know. I just forgive you for all of those things you did. We're a-okay again, hotshot."

"That's not all. Nicole, I've had a rough night. Don't lie to me." I said coldly, pulling myself away from her.

"Don't…" Nicole said immediately and urgently, pulling me back into her. "…pull away. Please don't pull away. Please don't go away." She pulled me even tighter against her, and buried her face into my neck. A few seconds passed, and suddenly I felt small wet spots on my neck. Nicole was silently crying.

"Woah, woah, woah!" I said out of instinct, hugging Nicole tighter. "It's okay, Nicole. I've got you. Please tell me, what's wrong?"

She kept crying for a solid minute, sobbing loudly now that I knew she was crying. When she could finally contain her crying, she managed to say, "Phil."

"Phil? What about Phil? What did he do?" I peppered her with questions.

She sighed and pulled her face away from my neck to face me. She cleared her throat. "Well, originally, I wanted to go to the party tonight…" She began.

That would have been a disaster and a half, I thought to myself.

"…But he just wanted to hang out at his place, so I agreed. Like, an hour in, we started… doing stuff. Before I know it, we're naked and Phil says he wants to go all the way with me. I wasn't ready, so I refused. I think because of how I acted with him about the kiss, he just took my refusal as a challenge, and he… had his way with me."

"Phil raped you?!" I asked.

Nicole paused. "It wasn't rape. I wouldn't call it rape. It was just a misunderstanding. Anyway, I didn't want it, and he didn't even think of me, and went fast, and just… he hurt me. It really hurt, Adam. I just… I don't know what to do." With that, she buried her face in my neck again and out came a fresh batch of tears.

I held her for the longest time, what seemed like hours, before I felt like it was the right time to speak. "It's okay, Nicole. Do what you think is right and I'll support you. But what I would do is be honest. Tell him how you feel. If he doesn't feel right for you, break up with him. After all, it doesn't sound like he cares a lot about you if he hurts you with the act of love."

"It runs in the fucking family." Nicole muttered bitterly. I don't think she expected me to understand what she meant as fully as I did. Thanks, Paul.

"Above all, I just want to see you happy. If he's not making you happy, break up with him. Let him know why. You don't deserve to be happy any less than anyone else. I'm sorry he hurt you, but I'm here to help."

Nicole lifted her head yet again and gave me the sweetest and most genuine smile I ever saw her give me. "You make me happy." She softly muttered. "Thank you, Adam." She added, moving in for a kiss.

"Woah!" I exclaimed as I dodged the kiss. "I'm happy to help and all, but I have a girlfriend."

"I missed a lot." Nicole said, her soft tone still keeping. "Who?"

"Megan." I said. Noting her questioning face, I added, "I know it won't last that long, but I have to respect her. I made the commitment."

Nicole's smile went from vulnerable and genuine to proud and very, very happy. "You sure turned yourself around, Adam. You're quite the altruist." She said proudly, pulling me in for a hug. "I'm really proud of you."

Her saying that just made me feel more guilty. I wish I had the strength to tell her, but I just couldn't. I wasn't an altruist. I was a bastard. A selfish, cheating asshat. But I was going to change that. Silently, I swore to Nicole that I would become the altruist she thought I was. I would change. Adam Watson was going to be, as of this moment, a good guy. No longer a terrible, cheating lowlife.

And with that final thought, I held her, saying nothing, until I drifted off to sleep.