Chapter 24 - Nicholas
I glance at Donna, a smile curling my lips even though she stares out the window, the mid-morning sun catching her skin at an angle that makes her appear like a golden goddess.
The necklace she wears around her neck—her graduation gift—glows under the sunlight, and a sense of pride swells in my chest.
Then, an intrusive thought enters my mind, and I nearly choke, tearing my gaze away and returning it to the road ahead.
“You alright?” Donna asks, pressing a hand on my thigh. I’m instantly calmer, but then I’m highly aware of her hand, and I realize that this is going to be harder than I thought it would be.
First, I imagined what it would be like to sink my teeth into the flesh covering the scent gland on her neck. Now, there’s blood rushing to my core, awareness heightened by her hand placement. I need to calm down.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” I say, offering her a smile as I thread my fingers through hers, holding her hand on my lap while exercising some sort of self-control to get us to our destination in one piece.
The drive to Terramor has been quiet in the best possible way, allowing me to admire her as she leans her head against the window, the morning sun catching the copper strands in her hair, and me…white-knuckling the steering wheel like an idiot who can’t believe he gets to do this.
Take her somewhere beautiful, somewhere peaceful.
Somewhere that might have held good memories for us if I wasn’t a coward last summer, or two months ago, for that matter.
The gravel road curves into the familiar clearing, and her soft gasp as she looks out ahead is everything I hoped for.
Terramor looks almost dreamlike this early in the day: glass tents raised like gentle mountains spread out through the forest, wooden decks gleaming with dew, strings of warm lights unlit but still sparkling faintly in the shade.
Donna steps out of the truck as soon as I slide into our designated parking bay, and before I can open her door, her mouth parts in astonished silence.
“You kept this place in mind?” she whispers when I step out of the truck and join her at the front.
I should tell her no, that this is just one of many options I thought of, but I can’t lie to her. Honesty feels like the only language worth speaking to her now, and she should know that this place bears some kind of significance in our relationship.
“I’ve wanted to bring you back since graduation,” I admit. “I just…never had the courage to ask.”
Donna turns to me slowly, her eyes softening in a way that makes my chest ache. “Nicholas…”
Before she can say anything else, I reach for her hand and give it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “I know that we haven’t spoken much about everything that happened. Like Tobias…” my voice trails off, and Donna lowers her eyes with sadness.
“We don’t have to talk about it,” she whispers, but I stay rooted in my determination to do what’s right by her.
“Well, I want you to know that I’m here for you whenever you are ready to talk about it. I know how it feels to lose a friend, and I know what it does to you when you don’t open up about it.”
Donna smiles feebly. “I would know, too. I’m a psychologist by profession, remember?”
“I haven’t forgotten,” I say with a lighthearted chuckle.
“Which is also one of the reasons we’re back here.
Your graduation night ended in a nightmare.
And I offered to marry you because I wanted to protect you.
But I never wanted to cage you in any way.
In fact, I admire your strength, your individuality, and I don’t want you to lose any of that. ”
“So, why are we here, Nick?” she asks softly.
“We’re here ‘cause if there’s anything I could do, I’d rewrite the past and make things right. I never want you to feel like marrying me was a trap. You can choose differently this time.”
Donna stares at me for a long moment, her eyes filling with tears.
She tilts her head to one side, shaking her head slowly.
“If I could go back to that night, I’d still choose to marry you, Nick.
In hindsight, all roads would have led to you, and there’s nothing I’d wanna do differently.
We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be. ”
My heart swells inside my chest, and I feel a lump forming in my throat. I never thought it was possible to feel this much, but only Donna has that effect on me. For the first time in my life, I feel deeply.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” I say as I step forward and plant a kiss on her forehead. I pull back and gesture toward the path. “Come on. There’s something I want to show you.”
Once I’ve grabbed our overnight bag from the trunk, Donna follows me up the wooden steps of the luxury tent, and when she walks inside, her breath catches.
I’d arranged for soft tealight candles welcoming us into the tent, soft cushions on the deck at the back, and a playlist she likes humming quietly from the hidden speakers.
The small portable grill outside is already set up on the deck, and I take her hand as I lead her outside, flinging our bag on the bed as we pass it.
Donna stands in the middle of the deck, smiling at the song when it changes and turning slowly as if she’s afraid touching anything will break the illusion.
“This is…thoughtful,” she murmurs. “It looks nothing like last time.”
“Well, last time, I was pretending that I wasn’t in love with you,” I say with a sneaky grin as I grab the set of thongs from the table. Just as I requested, the staff had started our fire and laid out our meat on the grill just a few minutes before our arrival.
Donna’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t say a word. Her chest rises in a slow breath that trembles at the top.
I step closer, voice low as I slide one arm around her waist and draw her in. “Now, I don’t want to pretend anything.”
Her lips part, but she looks away before anything comes out, her cheeks filling with color. I let her have the space to breathe, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek before brushing past her to check the small patio grill.
“Hungry?” I ask.
She lets out a shaky laugh. “I’m always hungry.”
I grin. “Then you’re in luck. These steaks look done already.”
When I pull them off and place them on the tray she holds out for me, Donna blinks. “This is enough food for an entire pack.”
“This is me trying to be romantic,” I chuckle nervously. “Don’t ruin the moment.”
She huffs a quiet laugh, the kind she only makes when she’s trying not to smile too hard, and settles into one of the deck chairs, pulling her legs up to her chest.
I work the grill while she watches in comfortable silence, her arms resting on her knees, chin tilted to the sky. The scent of smoky meat hangs in the air while birds chatter in the distance. The world feels like it’s paused just for us.
When all the food is ready, I bring over two plates for us. “You okay?” I ask her, and she nods. “Yeah.”
But I hear the unspoken weight beneath it.
Yeah, but I’m scared.
Yeah, but everything is changing.
Yeah, but I almost lost you.
I sit beside her and gently nudge her knee. “You can talk to me, you know,” I remind her.
She stares at the forest for a long moment before answering. “I don’t know how to feel right now. Everything is so…peaceful. That almost makes it worse.”
“Because peace never lasts,” I murmur.
She swallows. “Exactly.”
I reach out, brushing a thumb across the back of her hand, and she doesn’t pull away.
“I can’t promise we won’t face more challenges,” I say. “But I can promise I’ll face it with you.”
Her eyes shimmer faintly, and she looks away quickly, pretending to be interested in her food. “You sound very sure of yourself.”
“I’m sure of you,” I correct softly. “Of us.”
Donna’s breath catches, and for several heartbeats, neither of us moves, staring deeply into each other’s eyes. The air shifts, warm and fragile and charged with something too powerful, too extraordinary to be named.
We eat in silence, spending most of the morning enjoying the comfortable quiet.
By midday, we’re walking around the luxury campsite hand in hand, exploring what Terramor has to offer, and playing a game of ladder golf.
This seems to work to lift Donna’s spirits, and by the early evening, she’s grinning from ear to ear as she munches on some cotton candy.
When we return to our tent, the fairy lights draped over the structure are lit up. Donna holds out what’s left of her cotton candy on the stick, then brings her hand up to her lips to lick the traces of colored sugar between her thumb and forefinger.
I can’t help myself, and end up indulging in the sight of her tongue skimming her skin, awareness pulsing through me like it’s in my blood, my mouth watering as if it’s my tongue tasting her flesh.
“I’m going inside to change,” she says, meeting my eyes.
I blink, snapping out of my daze. “Change?”
She raises one brow. “You said to pack a bathing suit, didn’t you?”
My pulse stutters, and I gulp hard.
Goddess, she’s going to kill me!
I force a casual shrug. “Maybe.”
Donna smirks as she heads inside. “Then maybe I’ll wear it.”
The tent door at the back closes behind her, and I inhale sharply, running a hand down my face before running my fingers through my hair.
Why am I nervous about this? It’s just a hot tub, and Donna seems eager about it. But the moment she walks out in her bathing suit, a towel wrapped around her hips, one thigh peeking out from the slit, I feel like I’m about to have a heart attack.
The heart palpitations are overbearing, and I have to pick my jaw up off the floor as she comes toward me, throwing a towel at me.
“So, is it the pool or the hot tub?” she asks casually, slipping her arm through mine.
Why is she so calm about this?
“H-hot tub,” I stammer, trying to compose myself as I lead her out there. “You didn’t get to experience it that night, and neither did I.”
“Good. Then it’s something we get to do for the first time, together,” she says, still smiling as we head to the hot tub.
Why am I so nervous?
It’s not like I haven’t seen Donna in a bathing suit before.