Challenge #35: With 1 Second on the Clock
Title: Better This Way
Word Count: 688
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original: Locked Inside
Pairings (if any): Nick/Vanessa
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/etc): None
Summary: Nick Calls Vanessa after an argument.
(note to Tracy: this may be AU as to how I originally imagined this happening. LOL)
It was really dark that night with the moon beneath the heavy clouds and all the stars hidden in the sky. Nick sat on the pavement just inside the cemetery gates with his cell phone in his hand and stared at it for a long time. He didn't know if he should call her or not, but after the clock on his phone ticked after two am, he decided he better do it now or never. It was now midnight in California, and if she wasn't in bed now, she would be going there soon.
With a breath, he pulled up her number on his call log and hovered his finger over her name. After about a minute, he finally pressed it. Breathlessly, he reached the phone up to his ear and waited. It rang three times.
"What is it, Nick. It's really late."
"It's later here," he said. "Look, I think we need to talk."
"I don't really feel like talking. What you said..."
"I know." He pulled at a few tufts of grass alongside the curb that were longer than the rest of the lawn. "I know I said some pretty stupid things, but I want to apologize. You have to hear it."
There was a short pause and then a sigh. "Okay. I'll listen. But you have five minutes. I want to go to bed!"
He cleared his throat. He had thought about what to say to her over and over in his head a million times, but now that he had her on the line, none of it was coming out, and nothing sounded right. "I really am sorry. I know what I said was awful, but I didn't mean half of it."
"Nick--"
"I mean... not like that, I didn't. I swear it." He sighed. "You must think I'm a rotten person."
"No, just a rotten boyfriend."
He wasn't sure how to reply.
"I'm here alone in our apartment in LA while you're doing... your thing... in Minnesota. When are you coming back?"
He opened his mouth to answer.
"It doesn't matter," she said. "After everything, after these last two months, it's done. You can stay there. Send for your things, bring them back to minnesota. I really don't care if you come back."
"Vanessa..." He felt like the air had been knocked out of him. "YOu don't really mean that--"
"I've thought about it these last two days, nonstop, and I do mean it, Nick. You don't really want to come back here anyway. If you would stop to think about it for more than twoenty seconds, you would realize that.Stop pretending, and face the facts. You want to be there. So it doesn't matter what you said to me, and what I said to you, you're going to stay in Minnesota."
Now he was really stumped on the words. "I'm sorry," was all he could get out.
"So, give up the Hollywood dream, and go back to painting dead people's faces full time. Your brother will be thrilled."
He felt a little deflated. The conversation wasn't going how he had planned, and yet, he didn't feel like arguing with her. The truth was, he did want to stay in Minnesota, and she was right. But... he didn't want to give her up in the process. He just didn't know how to have both things at once, or how to explain that to her without pissing her off.
"I don't know what else to say," he said.
"Then don't. I'm going to bed. I"ll talk to you later. Call me about your stuff." She gave a little sniff.
"Okay," he said. "I'll call you tomorrow. Look, I'm really sorry. I never meant... for it to turn out this way. You gotta believe that."
"Trust me," she said. "I believe it. I'm going to bed. Bye, Nick."
He barely got out a goodbye before she hung up the phone, and with his shoulder's slumped, he let his arm fall back to his side.
So that was it, huh? It was really over. One hundred percent and truly over. Slowly, he pushed himself up off the ground and looked back over the cemetery. It was peaceful, and he took in a deep breath.
Yeah, it was over.
Title: Gonna Be a Long Day
Word Count: 595
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original: Locked Inside
Pairings (if any): None
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/etc): None
Summary: Cate suspects something big happened to Nick after he comes into the funeral home looking like Death. (Pun intended)
Cate was helping Allison with a giant stack of paperwork out at hte front desk when the front door opened and they both looked up. There, standing with his shirt tails pulled out, was a very tired looking Nick.
"I'll go make the coffee," Allison said and scurried off to the back rooms.
"What happened to you?" Cat asked and then set pile of papers down on the desk.
Nick slowly made his way to the desk. "Let's just say it was a long night. I don't really want to talk about it."
Cate looked up at him from under her bangs. "Um, okay. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't want to talk about." So he didn't want to talk about whatever happened between him and Vanessa. That was fine with her. She would hear about it eventually anyway. It would be the headline news on tomorrows rag magazine.
"Definitely don't want to talk about it." He walked past her and plopped down in Allison's chair. "Did Allison say she was making coffee? HOw long does that take?"
"How much sleep did you get, anyway?" Cate asked.
He didn't reply for what seemed like a good ten seconds, and then glanced up at her. "Maybe three hours. That's being generous."
"Geez." Cate leaned back into the hall to see if Allison was coming with the coffee. If it had been a long night, it was certainly going to be a long day for the rest of them. "Maybe you should take the day off. Rest up?"
His eyes shot open at that. "No! Absolutely not. There's a lot of work to be done today. I can't miss it." He grabbed her stack of papers and began to sort through it. "What is this? Mr Robert Carson? When did he die? I just saw him two days ago!"
She cleared her throat. "Last night. I took the call. We have to go get the body sometime today at the morgue."
He went to the next sheet and then slapped it down in front of her. "Amy Peterson!? I went to high school with her!" When Cate only stared back him, he leaned back into his seat and groaned. "This day is going to kill me."
"Not you, hopefully. Or it will be a much longer day for the rest of us."
He looked up at her through narrow slits. "That's not funny."
"Come on." She slapped his shoulder. "You usually like the mortuary humor."
"Not before coffee." He looked around towards the hallway. "Where is it by the way, it's been almost what... five or so minutes, it shouldn't take that long to make coffee!"
"It should be almost done!" Cate said. "Here, I'll just take these papers into your office and then once you've had your coffee you can go over them."
"And where is Reed?" Nick asked just as she was about to go into the back hall. "Did he come in yet?"
"He's already working on Amy Peterson," Cate said. "He figured you wouldn't want to."
"Hmm." Nick leaned back in his chair. "Did I mention I have a pounding headache?"
She moved back over to where he sat. "You should really take the day off. I promise you, I can handle it."
There was a brief second where there eyes met, and she saw something that looked like deep hurt. At that moment, he stood up and gently pushed her aside. "I'm going to go discuss something with Reed. Will you let me know when the coffee is done?"
"Sure," she said to his retreating form.
Whatever had happened to him last night was nothing small, that was for sure.
Word Count: 688
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original: Locked Inside
Pairings (if any): Nick/Vanessa
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/etc): None
Summary: Nick Calls Vanessa after an argument.
(note to Tracy: this may be AU as to how I originally imagined this happening. LOL)
It was really dark that night with the moon beneath the heavy clouds and all the stars hidden in the sky. Nick sat on the pavement just inside the cemetery gates with his cell phone in his hand and stared at it for a long time. He didn't know if he should call her or not, but after the clock on his phone ticked after two am, he decided he better do it now or never. It was now midnight in California, and if she wasn't in bed now, she would be going there soon.
With a breath, he pulled up her number on his call log and hovered his finger over her name. After about a minute, he finally pressed it. Breathlessly, he reached the phone up to his ear and waited. It rang three times.
"What is it, Nick. It's really late."
"It's later here," he said. "Look, I think we need to talk."
"I don't really feel like talking. What you said..."
"I know." He pulled at a few tufts of grass alongside the curb that were longer than the rest of the lawn. "I know I said some pretty stupid things, but I want to apologize. You have to hear it."
There was a short pause and then a sigh. "Okay. I'll listen. But you have five minutes. I want to go to bed!"
He cleared his throat. He had thought about what to say to her over and over in his head a million times, but now that he had her on the line, none of it was coming out, and nothing sounded right. "I really am sorry. I know what I said was awful, but I didn't mean half of it."
"Nick--"
"I mean... not like that, I didn't. I swear it." He sighed. "You must think I'm a rotten person."
"No, just a rotten boyfriend."
He wasn't sure how to reply.
"I'm here alone in our apartment in LA while you're doing... your thing... in Minnesota. When are you coming back?"
He opened his mouth to answer.
"It doesn't matter," she said. "After everything, after these last two months, it's done. You can stay there. Send for your things, bring them back to minnesota. I really don't care if you come back."
"Vanessa..." He felt like the air had been knocked out of him. "YOu don't really mean that--"
"I've thought about it these last two days, nonstop, and I do mean it, Nick. You don't really want to come back here anyway. If you would stop to think about it for more than twoenty seconds, you would realize that.Stop pretending, and face the facts. You want to be there. So it doesn't matter what you said to me, and what I said to you, you're going to stay in Minnesota."
Now he was really stumped on the words. "I'm sorry," was all he could get out.
"So, give up the Hollywood dream, and go back to painting dead people's faces full time. Your brother will be thrilled."
He felt a little deflated. The conversation wasn't going how he had planned, and yet, he didn't feel like arguing with her. The truth was, he did want to stay in Minnesota, and she was right. But... he didn't want to give her up in the process. He just didn't know how to have both things at once, or how to explain that to her without pissing her off.
"I don't know what else to say," he said.
"Then don't. I'm going to bed. I"ll talk to you later. Call me about your stuff." She gave a little sniff.
"Okay," he said. "I'll call you tomorrow. Look, I'm really sorry. I never meant... for it to turn out this way. You gotta believe that."
"Trust me," she said. "I believe it. I'm going to bed. Bye, Nick."
He barely got out a goodbye before she hung up the phone, and with his shoulder's slumped, he let his arm fall back to his side.
So that was it, huh? It was really over. One hundred percent and truly over. Slowly, he pushed himself up off the ground and looked back over the cemetery. It was peaceful, and he took in a deep breath.
Yeah, it was over.
Title: Gonna Be a Long Day
Word Count: 595
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Original: Locked Inside
Pairings (if any): None
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/etc): None
Summary: Cate suspects something big happened to Nick after he comes into the funeral home looking like Death. (Pun intended)
Cate was helping Allison with a giant stack of paperwork out at hte front desk when the front door opened and they both looked up. There, standing with his shirt tails pulled out, was a very tired looking Nick.
"I'll go make the coffee," Allison said and scurried off to the back rooms.
"What happened to you?" Cat asked and then set pile of papers down on the desk.
Nick slowly made his way to the desk. "Let's just say it was a long night. I don't really want to talk about it."
Cate looked up at him from under her bangs. "Um, okay. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't want to talk about." So he didn't want to talk about whatever happened between him and Vanessa. That was fine with her. She would hear about it eventually anyway. It would be the headline news on tomorrows rag magazine.
"Definitely don't want to talk about it." He walked past her and plopped down in Allison's chair. "Did Allison say she was making coffee? HOw long does that take?"
"How much sleep did you get, anyway?" Cate asked.
He didn't reply for what seemed like a good ten seconds, and then glanced up at her. "Maybe three hours. That's being generous."
"Geez." Cate leaned back into the hall to see if Allison was coming with the coffee. If it had been a long night, it was certainly going to be a long day for the rest of them. "Maybe you should take the day off. Rest up?"
His eyes shot open at that. "No! Absolutely not. There's a lot of work to be done today. I can't miss it." He grabbed her stack of papers and began to sort through it. "What is this? Mr Robert Carson? When did he die? I just saw him two days ago!"
She cleared her throat. "Last night. I took the call. We have to go get the body sometime today at the morgue."
He went to the next sheet and then slapped it down in front of her. "Amy Peterson!? I went to high school with her!" When Cate only stared back him, he leaned back into his seat and groaned. "This day is going to kill me."
"Not you, hopefully. Or it will be a much longer day for the rest of us."
He looked up at her through narrow slits. "That's not funny."
"Come on." She slapped his shoulder. "You usually like the mortuary humor."
"Not before coffee." He looked around towards the hallway. "Where is it by the way, it's been almost what... five or so minutes, it shouldn't take that long to make coffee!"
"It should be almost done!" Cate said. "Here, I'll just take these papers into your office and then once you've had your coffee you can go over them."
"And where is Reed?" Nick asked just as she was about to go into the back hall. "Did he come in yet?"
"He's already working on Amy Peterson," Cate said. "He figured you wouldn't want to."
"Hmm." Nick leaned back in his chair. "Did I mention I have a pounding headache?"
She moved back over to where he sat. "You should really take the day off. I promise you, I can handle it."
There was a brief second where there eyes met, and she saw something that looked like deep hurt. At that moment, he stood up and gently pushed her aside. "I'm going to go discuss something with Reed. Will you let me know when the coffee is done?"
"Sure," she said to his retreating form.
Whatever had happened to him last night was nothing small, that was for sure.