I'm Yours Only, Sophie J Brain [i am malala young readers edition txt] 📗

Chapter Twelve

It wasn't until he had finished packing that Chris realised he couldn't really go to Michelle's for the first time in months without bringing little something for her and the baby. As such he found himself out and shopping for the second time that day. Unfortunately due to his eagerness to get away from the area and clear his head he still hadn't had any breakfast so his stomach was making the most horrible noises.

He really should eat before going to Michelle’s. It would hardly be polite for him to show up out of the blue and ask for a meal. He hoped she would let him stay for a few days, despite the slight tension between him and his parents he had always got on very well with Michelle

She was younger than him but only by eighteen months so they were extremely close. When she was twenty two she had met Paul Foster and fallen madly in love with him, they had married 2 years later and now she was expecting their first child. Chris got on well enough with Paul. He wouldn’t say that they were good friends but Paul made Michelle happy so that was all that mattered to Chris.

He quickly stopped in the shop and grabbed a teddy for the new baby and a box of chocolates for Michelle. This done he decided to grab himself a hot snack for his lunch as he was starting to get pains in his stomach from the hunger.

Since that morning he was starting to like the idea of going away more and more. After Tom had left, Chris realised that he not only needed to work out how to win Nicky back but also that he had to make amends with his family. It was silly really that there was a rift there at all, even if it was just a small one. Chris rather suspected it was more a matter of pride than anything else that had caused it to last so long.

When he had broken up with Maisy and his parents had spoken out about their disappointment he had been tempted to tell them the truth. Once he had played it out in his mind, however, he realised just how badly he had behaved, towards everyone. It was true that when he had decided to give Maisy another chance it had all made sense in his mind and when he had proposed he had honestly thought that he was happy and that they would happy too.

Of course once he realised properly what he had done, that he had dated and then proposed to Maisy, while deep down knowing that his heart would always belong to someone else, he had been so ashamed of his behaviour that he hadn’t been able to tell his parents the truth. Instead he had suffered the disappointment and had chosen to keep his distance from them. From their end he always thought that they had decided to remain civil, they always saw each other on birthdays and special occasions and they were never rude but there was always this underlining tension. Chris knew it was because he felt like he had let them down. His parents had brought him up to behave better than how he had. He had let everyone down dreadfully and he would always have to live with that. He had been glad when Nicky had told him that Maisy had moved on and met someone else, he was glad that she had found what he had never been able to give her.

As for his parents, well he would go to see him and clear the air properly. It was something that was more than well overdue and maybe they would be ashamed of him, and maybe they wouldn't welcome Nicky straight away, but at least they would know the truth. Chris stopped to cross the road and then he saw her, Nicky, his heart tingled and he felt himself smiling.

She was scanning the street, looking for someone or something, with a concerned look on her face. Then she was looking at him, her mouth open in surprise, she gave him a little wave and then started to smile, he waved back and started to cross the road, calling a greeting as he got closer to her.

“Hi” she murmured back once he was beside her. “It’s nice to see you again so soon.”

“Indeed” Chris replied feeling terribly pleased with her cheerfully honest words “I’ve just been doing some shopping.”

“Anything nice?” she asked, looking over his shoulder slightly.

He moved his head so he was back in her line of vision. “Just some things for my sister” he smiled raising the flowers slightly “I'm going to visit her for a few days”

“Oh I see” she replied, he couldn't be certain but he thought she sounded disappointed “any particular reason?”

He couldn't very well tell her that he needed a break to work out how exactly he planned to win her back so instead he decided on a half-truth “I haven't seen her for a while and she is about to give birth, so, I thought I would stick my head in.”

“I imagine that would be quite awkward” Nicky joked “to stick your head in while she is giving birth”

It was exactly the type of thing she would have said before; he couldn't stop himself from smiling. This was the Nicky he knew, the Nicky that could say anything and lace it with sarcasm so much that instead of being angry you just had to laugh. This is the Nicky he had fallen in love with. “I don't intend to be there for the birth” he said still smiling “I just think it’s time we had a catch up”

Nicky nodded “When did you last see her?”

“I believe it was Christmas just gone”

“Oh that is an awfully long time” Nicky said “I would hate it if I didn't see Penny and Ant for five months, sometimes I think they are all that keep me sane”

“Well I don't intend to stay away for as long in the future” Chris bit off, hating himself for snapping but the guilt he felt from avoiding his sister always made him sharp. It was not been her fault that he felt awkward around their parents. He should have tried to maintain a relationship with her.

Nicky blinked, his tone had been so sharp but she could see it was more to do with his feelings than because of her so she just smiled cheerfully and murmured “Well I hope so, you will be an uncle soon. I hope you realise that is a very serious job, you have a role like no one else”

Her smile was infectious and he found himself beaming in the return “Believe me I will take my duties as an uncle very seriously”

“Very good” she replied “I have a nephew and you can be sure I am an extremely good aunt”

“I imagine you are” Chris murmured with complete honesty “Which one of your siblings has a baby?”

“Anthony” Nicky smiled “I do love him to bits.”

“Anthony, or your nephew?” Chris could not help asking

“Both” Nicky laughed “anyway I was supposed to be looking for Greg, El sent him out on some errand so I could speak with her alone but now I need to speak with him”

Chris wondered if she noticed that her face had changed, it wasn't the most noticeable of changes but he knew her well enough to detect it. Her eyes dimmed slightly and her mouth tightened, her whole face became slightly more pensive and he wanted to reach out but he held back sensing that that was not what she needed.

She let out a little sigh and shrugged “It's time he knew the truth about Kevin, I suppose I should have told him long ago” she let out a little laugh “I should have told a lot of people long ago.”

Chris just nodded not sure what to say to this, instead he reached out and gave her arm a quick squeeze, as he did her eyes flashed with something that made his whole body warm. He took a step back aware that if he didn't he would grab her and kiss her senseless right there. She did not need that right now, he needed to give her space so that when he did tell her how much he loved her she would be ready and willing to hear it. To do that she needed to get over her own demons, which Chris was sorry to realise he had not even noticed she had possessed.

“I will let you go to find him then” he murmured with a small wave .

“Oh, okay, no problem” Nicky let out a small sigh.

“I will see you soon” Chris promised.

“You will?”

Chris nodded “perhaps once I am back we can go out and catch up.”

“That would be nice” Nicky's face irrupted into a full beam, “I would enjoy that very much.”

“So would I” Chris smiled then with a final wave he started walking in the direction of home. Nicky was looking much better than she had been that morning, she looked refreshed and much more like herself. He, however, was beginning to feel pangs of guilt not realising sooner the weight that she had had on her shoulders. When Kevin had first attacked her he had been so furious that someone had hurt her that he had never bothered to think of how it might have affected her, then they had started seeing each other and even though she mentioned that she had never told her family the truth he had decided not to push the matter.

Of course he had said then that she could see the police about the attack, he had mentioned she could keep it from her family until she had to tell them but she had just said she didn't want to cause trouble. So he had let the subject drop, after all Nicky was a smart girl and he had thought when she was over her shock and it wasn't all quite so fresh she would realise what the right thing to do was and he could help her then, but it had never seemed to bother her. Oh, he knew that whenever Kevin was at her house she hated it and usually went out for a walk or to a friend's house but other than that it never seemed to have any effect on her.

But then she had had him to confide in, how foolish he had been not to consider how lonely and horrible keeping the secret must have been after they had broken up. Nicky had had four years for it to slowly build up inside of her without any outlet and for two of those the man who had caused the trouble would still have been a part of her life. At least now the secret was out, she would have plenty of people to talk to about it, he just hoped he would carry on being one of those people.

As she watched Chris walk away Nicky let out a small smile. Something strange had happened when she had been speaking with him, she had begun to feel tingly, tingly. It was the most bizarre