CHAPTER FIVE

"Nick, I just, I mean, you were right, you were too young to be tied down, and I could never do that to you again..." she said, her voice trailing off.

Nick kept his gaze on her. "Laur, I know that I hurt you, and I said things that I didn't mean-"

Laurie cut him off. "Nick, you had every right to mean what you said, and I'm glad you said it. If we'd pursued the relationship, and gotten married, you would have gotten tired of it and gone somewhere else, and I couldn't have gone on if that had happened."

Nick nodded, but he wasn't satisfied with the answer. The doors opened and they walked out. As it turned out, his room was across the hall from hers. "Night Laur," he said quietly.

"Night Nick," she whispered. She hesitated, then walked into the room. Nick watched until she shut the door and he heard the lock turn. He stood in the hallway for a few moments, then went to knock on her door. He didn't know what he would say; he just needed to see her one last time. He drew his hand back to knock, but then a small noise from inside the room stopped him. He listened, and realized it was Laurie crying inside her room.

He gripped the wall, resisting the urge to knock on the door and comfort her. He forced himself to go into his room. He knew that she was crying because of him. He'd brought back memories she didn't want to remember. And how could he blame her? The first thing he did was open the tiny fridge in the corner and pull out one the bottles from the mini-bar.

 
 Laurie lay face down on a pillow, sobbing. She thought that she'd been away from Nick long enough to handle him, but in actuality, it had just made it harder to see him again. She thought of all the days since she left that she'd thought of him, wishing he were with her again. And now she'd had the chance and she threw it away because of her stupid pride. God, why do you have to be such a bitch?! You know it tears you up just as much as it does him! she screamed at herself in her head. She had to admit, she'd been judging guys she dated by what she and Nick had, knowing full well that no one could ever take his place. Still, when she thought of throwing caution to the wind and trying again with him, she thought of the fear she'd felt and the anger in his eyes that night...

She sat up and looked around the room through blurry eyes. Her head ached from crying so much. She walked slowly into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. Her eyes were red and her face was splotchy. Laurie splashed cold water on it and took a deep breath. Tomorrow will be better, she promised herself, ignoring the fact that she would see Nick then too. She brushed her teeth and fell asleep, trying not to think of Nick anymore that night.