Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Kate did not want to talk to Nick. She did not answer his calls on her name even though she clearly heard them. Not only did she not want to say anything, but she was also so hurt that she felt a huge lump was in her throat. Swallowing her own spit was even difficult. Kate's tears came out of control. She tried to hide the sounds, so she buried her face on her pillow as soon as she got inside her room. She was in so much haste she did not get to lock her door. But she could admit, locking the door did not come into her mind. But when Nick came in and walked closer to her on the bed, Kate felt her heartache intensify. His soft and sounding concerned voice pained her more. She could not help sobbing.

Nick panicked and did not hesitate to hold Kate by her arms to turn her over so he could see her face.

"Kate?!" Nick called her name again countless times already. But this time, agony filled his voice.

Nick felt a sharp pang of pain in his heart when he saw her reddened face with tears moistened her eyelashes. The pillow absorbed her tears, but as they were non-stop, her eyelashes were damped.

Kate did not have the strength to resist his firm hold to check on her face to face that she was turned over to lie on her back.

Kate covered her face with her hands. She did not want Nick to see her this way. It was so pathetic and embarrassing, but Nick did not let her hideaway. He gently held her hands and moved them away from her face. To his surprise, her suppressed sobs became pules. She began to cry weakly, alarming a worried Nick even more.

"I'm sorry," Nick wasn't even sure what offense has he committed, but he was willing to apologize no matter what. "It's my fault, okay? Please don't cry."

Kate paused. She wanted to clear something from him, so she asked.

"What exactly are you sorry about?"

Nick answered without hesitations.

"About everything. I'm so sorry. Forgive me, please? Please...?"

Kate frowned at him. Nick was now sitting on her bed while holding kate with her head on his lap.

"If you are aware of what you are sorry about, you will know how to express your apologies," Kate argued. Her voice was still sounding aggrieved.

Nick was lost of what to say. He wasn't really sure what he wrong he had done to upset her. He gazed at her blankly. He was trying to recall what happened on the way to the house, but all he could remember was kate slamming the car door before hurriedly going in ahead of him. Then he tried to recall if they ever had an exchange of words while inside the vehicle from the hospital to home, nothing that he could remember.

Kate was keenly watching every expression on Nick's face. They were too close not to see clearly all of them, but all she could see were the confusion in his mien. She could tell he could not point out what his fault was. Kate glared at Nick. With an annoyed face, she turned to bury herself into the pillow and cover again.

"No, wait!" Nick did not let her do as she wished. She was held tighter. This time Nick was on his side, spooning Kate on her bed.

Kate did not resist anymore. She could not see his face anyway. With her back to him, Nick closed his eyes and sniffed Kate's hair. After a while, Nick gave up. He could not remember when Kate started to get annoyed aside from when she heavily shut the car door.

"Baby, can you tell me?" Nick pleadingly asked. He had to come clean about not being honestly aware of what he had done to make her feel this way.

Kate felt outraged. How does he expect her to say such words? Like how can she ask him why he said he was scared to come home after she said they should sleep and give her mom a grandchild? Seriously?! Kate sighed deeply. She felt her anger hitting the roof. She tried to get free from Nick's hold. But Nick felt like he would be in greater chaos if he let her go. He was unsure what to do, but his wild intuition strongly told him to keep a hold on her.

Feeling extremely annoyed, Kate blurted her honest thoughts out.

"Why won't you let go of me when you even said you were scared to come home because of a joke I said in front of my mom?!" she ground her teeth as she asked. The thoughts of his words alone were making her feel needles were stabbing her mercilessly. The fact that she still had to spell it out for him was torture beyond the word itself!

Nick froze. He felt like he was brought back to that very exact moment. He realized what she was referring to. But he was flabbergasted with how she was reacting. In Nick's thoughts, he was wondering if he was right to think she was disappointed with his expressed reaction from what she said in front of her mom.

Nick held Kate even tighter. He nuzzled her hair and embraced her with his arms and his right leg, imprisoning her wholly in his squeezing hug.

Kate felt like a python was wound around her that she was almost suffocating. She tapped on his arm.

"Are you trying to strangle me? Does it mean rejection is not enough for me?" Kate wanted to cry again. Her stern voice became feebly.

Nick jumped from his position. Kate was left on the bed flat on her back, but Nick quickly hovered above her.

"Rejection?! What do you mean?" Nick paled. Kate's words left him aghast. How could she feel such horrible emotion from him? He was scared to come home with her because her spoken joke was like a detonator to a bomb he did not know how to dismantle. "How can I even do that? Reject you or the other way around?" Nick was lost of what to think. He was in a total mess of words and thoughts. The word rejection alone was overwhelming. How rejected who? And how?

"Humph!" Kate interjected. She scorned in dissatisfaction. She folded her arms above her chest, and her face turned to look away from Nick's.

Nick took fright at how Kate was reacting. She was, without a doubt, pissed to the deepest layer of hell. He felt terrified. A meek like Kate is scary when provoked or irked. And right now, Kate is beyond vexed. Or maybe she wasn't, only that it was the very first time Nick saw her in this state of emotion. It was different from how Kate was when she broke Andrew Kindberg's arm. Nick's offense seemed to double her annoyance level compared to how she felt with Andrew then. Nick had to think quickly. He needs to appease her before her anger worsens.

But how?!

He will have to prove to her that she is never rejected. She will never be. She might reject him, but Nick would never be able to do such a thing to her. He looked at her face again. He was hoping she would look him in the eyes so she would see how much she meant to him. Kate kept her face turned away from him. But she could not hide the tears that traveled down the top of her nose to the other side of her face.

Nick held her left cheek to guide her to lay straight back. Make them see their faces and straight into their eyes. She looked so sad it pinched Nick's heart.

"Kate... I love you... what I said was not enough to explain what I felt the moment you said you want to sleep with me right in front of your mom," Nick's voice was guttural. He was in difficulty explaining things that trigger and tickle his sexual senses. "How can I reject someone I am longing to have for myself?"

Nick moved a few strands of Kate's hair away from her face as they covered her eyes. KAte had them closed as she was still not ready to see his face without feeling hurt. But she was starting to feel convinced as he tried to explain.

Nick moved slowly to atop her, face to face. The tips of their nose poke each other. Both could feel the soft air of breath coming out of their nostrils. Kate felt Nick getting impossibly close. Subconsciously, she tilted her head, anticipating he would kiss her, still, with her eyes were closed.

Nick took her response as silent consent.

He lightly damped his lips on her. He felt Kate's lips tremble. But as she did not push Nick away, he closed his eyes and claimed her lips fully in his invading kiss.