part 18

She woke the next morning from the morning light shining through the open blinds. She reached up to feel her throbbing face, but found an ice pack instead. She sat up holding the now water bag in her hands. She groaned and flung her legs over the side of the bed and sulked out to her kitchen. She found Nicklas sitting on her counter shoving a bowl of cheerios down his throat.

"Morning beautiful." he said through a mouth full.

She didn't respond, just threw the icepack back into the freezer.


"Good morning Nicklas" he mocked to himself.
"Morning." she mumbled her lips pressed to his cheek.
"Did you put that on my face?"
"Yeah." he said shoveling another spoonful in his mouth. "You kept spazing and groaning when you rolled over on it."
"How does it look?"
"Remember how my eye looked?"
"Yeah. It's still kinda yellow."
"Well, it's almost that bad." he said then tipping his bowl to drink the left over milk.
"Are you serious?" she said, her eyes wide.
"Mmmhmm." he said still drinking the milk. "Almost."
"Mother Russia!" she screamed, running into her bathroom.


He followed a few moments later and found her sitting on her knees on the bathroom sink, her face pressed to the mirror. She had a shadow of purple running from the corner of her lip up the left side of her face that ran into her eyebrow. Her lip was cut, dark red surrounding the cut.

"It's not that bad." he said watching her.
"I look like I got hit by a bus." she said back to his reflection.
"No you don't." he argued back. "Now get down, you're sitting on the toothpaste."
"You know," she started as she turned around on her knees. "You're very insensitive today."
"I'm not insensitive. I just don't think you should be worrying about it. Like you said last night, it's nothing a little make-up and ice can't fix." he said rubbing her knee. "Stop staring at me like that."
"You're phone is ringing, Dr. Phil." she said with a smirk.

He left her there alone to moan at the mirror. He found his phone ringing on the living room table.

"Hey Sasha."
"Nicky. You call me?" Alexander Semin said in his broken English.
"Yeah. I gotta talk to you."
"Oh! Something wrong?"

He held his hand over the speaker part of his phone. "Brooklyn! I'll be right back!"

He walked out of her apartment towards the elevators. He didn't get on them, but paced the hallway instead.

"Okay so Brooklyn went home to see her parents yesterday while we were in New York, and her mental ex boyfriend...um."
"What Nicky?"
"He hit her." he finally said.
"No! Why? Is she hurt?"
"No, she's okay. She's worried about the bruises though. She thinks people will think it was me."
"No. You'd never hit her."
"I know, but she's worried."
"So, why you need me?"
"I know you're not going with us to Detroit since you hurt your ankle again, I was wondering if you'd stay with her, keep her company."
"Of course I will."
"Most of all, make sure her ex doesn't come back." he said through clenched teeth. "You can't know how bad I want to kick his ass right now!"
"Don't you hurt no one Nicky."
"I'm not promising anything, come over around noon. She should be up. If not call her until she answers."
"Okay. I be there."
"Thanks Sasha"
"No problem."

He hung up and quickly walked back into Brooklyn's apartment.

"Planning something?"
"No. It was my mom."
"Mmmm. Where's my Cheerios?"
"I don't know. But I know where the empty box is." he said holding back a smirk.
"You're lucky your cute." she said reaching for a box of frosted flakes.
"Oh yeah? Or what? You gonna beat me up?"
"Whats that? Was that a challenge?"
"Only if you think you can win."
"Don't test me."
"Bring it."

With that she jumped on him, her face in his, her legs wrapped around his hips.

"Is that all you've got, Canada." he said staring at her.
"Roar." she laughed at her horrible Dinosaur sound.

She kicked the back of his knee causing him to fall to the floor, she pinned his wrists down with her hands, and pressed his hips into the floor with hers. She pressed her lips to his neck as if she were going to bite him, vampire style.

"I win."
"You wish."

He lifted his hands as if there were nothing holding him down, and flipped her over so she was lying on her stomach. Her hands pinned down at her sides. He mocked her biting to the back of her shoulder.

"Scores tied at 1." he laughed.
"I can't move."
"Good means I win, you forfeit."
"To a Stubborn Swede." she laughed. "Never!"

Some how she managed to squirm out of his grasps and flip him on to his stomach. She got up and ran to the bedroom, him right behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pinned her to the bed, and pressed a hard kiss to her lips.

"Are you trying to kill me?" she sighed when they finally parted lips.
"I might."
"I'd die this way, any day." she said pulling him by his shirt back to her.
"Watch your hands" he said into her mouth. "Unless you're going to finish the job.

She laughed, and pulled him down on top of her.