Nibble part 6

I walked to the front of the department store and turned to Nick, who was still following me. He eyed the store but didn't ask me anything. "This is my stop," I said. The half-smile returned again. "How long do you stay here?" he asked. I rolled my eyes, "If I tell you, will you promise not to come back at that time to walk me home?" He half-smiled again and shook his head. "Then I'm not telling." He took a step toward me and said, "Come on." I felt my breath catch in my throat and my eyes widen slightly, "Please?" I swallowed. "Four."

"AM?" I rolled my eyes, snapping out of it as he pulled back slightly, putting a comfortable amount of space between us again. "No, PM." He half-smiled and turned from me, walking away. I watched him disappear from my sight before going into the store.

This started to become a ritual. At about midnight, I would walk up to the alley and find Nick waiting for me. He would walk with me through the alley and drop me off at the store, and then walk off to who-knows-where, returning once again to walk me home at four. After this had been going on for about a week, as we walked up the store again, Nick suddenly asked me, "What do you do in there?" I blinked. We hadn't really talked since that first night. Ok, that's an understatement. We hadn't said a word to each other since that first night. The sound of his voice once again sent a chill down my spine and threw me off. "Um...I...I... write." Another thing that I had never told anyone that slipped out under Nick's penetrating gaze, replying to that deep, scratchy voice. "You write." I nodded. "What do you write?"

"Um... poetry." He tilted his head slightly at me. "You write poetry?"

"That's what I said."

"Could I see some?"

"No." Nick half-smiled and I narrowed my eyes at him, "I'm not asking you to do this whole thing for me. Don't think that just because you willingly walk me to and fro means that I'm going to give you the time of day." Nick smiled, a full smile now. It startled me more than anything else. "I know the time of day," he said, taking a step toward me. He came right up to my face and whispered in my ear, "Midnight." I felt my eyes widen, my heartbeat quickening. He chuckled and pulled back again, turning and walking away, literally whistling as he went. I groaned in irritation at how easily he could do that to me-throw me off- and turned, walking into the store.

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