Chapter 2

By the time they finished the lab, it was already past eight. It took them longer than they thought. Annie couldn't concentrate with Nikolas so close to her. Nikolas wasn't able to concentrate completely either. They made a lot of mistakes and had to start over at least three times.

"Hey, you wanna get something to eat?" Nikolas asked Annie after they cleaned up. His stomach was definitely growling.

"I'm fine. I really should go now."

Annie didn't want her worry to show, but it was getting late, and she wanted to get home as soon as possible.

"What's the hurry? I'll fix us something. I'm sure Jenny and Michael will like that too."

"Well..."

Annie really didn't know what to say. She couldn't possibly explain to Nikolas about her life. Her father would be furious if she got home late, but... He's mad either way, Annie thought, so what difference did it make?

"Sure," she said finally, after thinking for more than a moment about it.

"Great!"

Nikolas grinned and went. Annie followed after him. As they headed down the stairs, Nikolas shouted to nowhere in particular, "Jenny, I'm making dinner!"

"Coming!" Jenny's voice rang through the house much like Nikolas' had done. Annie had no idea where it came from.

"Shouldn't they have eaten already?" Annie asked. It was late. She'd completely forgotten about dinner upstairs, but the kids, they shouldn't have waited this long.

"Oh, Jenny's got all kinds of snacks, and there're always more in the pantry, so they won't be hungry."

Annie opened her mouth to speak, but Nikolas anticipated her question.

"Yes, we do have a cook, but I insisted on cooking, so the cook has most of the time off, but she comes back to check on us once every two or three days."

"So you cook?"

Nikolas didn't hesitate. "What's wrong with cooking?" he asked.

Annie blushed. "Nothing. It's just..."

Nikolas waited. Annie didn't consider herself one to believe in stereotypes, but still, Nikolas cooking? Something just didn't fit right.

"I... I'll help you," she offered.

"Nah. I'm just heating leftovers and making a salad."

Nikolas went to the fridge and pulled out the things he needed.

With nothing to do, Annie sat down in one of the chairs in the kitchen. She watched as Nikolas put a half-eaten pan of lasagna in the microwave to heat it up. Then he began chopping cabbage. She felt awkward. She always had something to do, or at least always occupied herself with things. It cleared her head and calmed her down.

Suddenly she heard trampling from the stairs and turned just in time to see Michael running down in front of Jenny, holding a Barbie doll.

"You can't catch me! You can't catch me!" Michael sang as he ran toward the kitchen. Jenny silently chased after him with the same determination as Michael. Annie was suddenly terrified at her brother's actions.

"Michael!" Annie said, jumping to her feet instantly. "Give that doll back to Jenny right now!"

Michael skidded to a stop on the tiled floor and Jenny snapped the Barbie right out of his hand. "You ruined the game!" Michael pouted.

"I win! I win! I win!" Jenny did a little dance while holding the doll like a trophy.

"Michael, what did I say about taking other people's things?"

"But we were just playing." Michael hung his head in shame at Annie's sharp tone.

"You're being too hard on him," Nikolas said from behind Annie. She jumped. She'd forgotten he was there. This time, it was her who hung her head in shame. She'd overreacted. Michael reminded her so much of her father. She often forgot that Michael was just a little boy.

"Jenny, take Michael upstairs. I'll bring the food up later." Jenny nodded and took Michael's hand. Together, they headed back upstairs. Then Nikolas remembered something, "Oh, and get into your pyjamas. You're going to bed soon."

"I didn't mean to be so hard on him," Annie said when the kids had disappeared. She felt compelled to explain. She didn't want him to misunderstand. She didn't want him to think of her as a harsh sister. She'd never cared about what others thought about her before. It suddenly mattered what Nikolas thought of her though. He was the first person who had actually nice to her in years. She'd never had any friends, and dared not to think of becoming one of Nikolas' friends, but she hoped that he'd at least have a good opinion of her even in the short time they'd spent together. "I don't want him to get in a habit of taking other people's things."

"He's just a kid, Annie. He should be able to have fun and be foolish like everyone else. I know you're worried about him, but at least let him be a kid. It's not healthy to grow up too fast."

"Sometimes you can't help it." Annie smiled sadly, remembering her own childhood, the fate she was fighting so hard to prevent Michael from experiencing. She shook her head to clear the thought away. "Oh, why are we talking about this? You're right. Michael should enjoy himself while he still can."

Nikolas didn't prod further. There was something she wasn't telling him. He had the urge to ask her, but knew that she didn't trust him completely yet. There was no reason for her to. He wished she did. She was attracted to him. He wasn't blind or dumb. He could see that. Yet somehow trust didn't come along with it. Nikolas hoped to gain her trust soon. He wanted to know everything about her.

"I'm going to get my stuff. It's really getting late." Annie knew that if Nikolas' looked at her with that intensity in his eyes any longer, she would melt on the spot. It wasn't something she wanted to happen. Without waiting for his answer, she ran up the stairs to Nikolas' room and left him downstairs to finish preparing the food. She wanted to get Michael as well, maybe even apologize, if only she had some idea where he was in this large mansion.

"Nikolas?" Annie didn't see him when she came back to the kitchen. There were two plates of lasagne on the table with a bowl of fresh-made salad, but Nikolas was nowhere in sight. He must have gone to find Jenny and Michael.

After dropping her things in the kitchen, she went back up. This time, she didn't stop at the second floor but went to the third. "Nikolas?" A light was coming from under one of the doors, so she headed there.

She opened the door, only to see Nikolas tucking in Jenny. She walked into the room quietly, afraid of disturbing the children. Annie couldn't help the smile when she saw Nicolas brushing back Jenny's curls tenderly. Michael was already tucked in on the sofa in front of the TV. They were both sleeping soundly, and the food that Nikolas had brought up was on the ground. The room was completely a girl's room, with flower wallpapers and posters of teenage celebrities plastered everywhere. Jenny's bed had all kinds of stuffed animals. Others littered the floor with Barbie dolls and video games were thrown carelessly around the room.

How the kids fell asleep this fast, she had no idea, but she had to wake up Michael. They couldn't stay here for the night. Annie tripped on one of the stuffed animals as she tried to get to the sofa. She'd have made a loud bang waking up the children if Nikolas hadn't caught her.

"Sorry," she whispered as she stood up. Why was she always making a fool of herself in front of him?

"Don't be," Nikolas held her hand because he liked the feel of it in his larger one. "Come on. Let's go downstairs."

Annie stared up at him. "But Michael..."

Nikolas didn't say anything until they were out of the room. "You can stay here tonight. It's too late anyway."

"Stay here?" Annie said in shock and disbelief. Stay with Nikolas? Her face flamed up at the simple thought. She felt like hyperventilating. Never in her dreams had she thought about anything like this. There were all kinds of reasons she shouldn't stay. She already had dozens of them on her tongue, but with one look at Nikolas, she knew she couldn't say no. She'd never be able to refuse him anything no matter the consequences. Besides, it was too tempting to stay in the same house as Nikolas.

"Why not? It's not like there isn't a room for you." Nikolas didn't want her to leave. In addition, he didn't want to think of driving back into her neighborhood at this time of the night. There were bound to be robbers and all kinds of criminals hiding there at night. He didn't even know how Annie could live there with Michael and her parents.

"I suppose it's okay."

"Good. I'll show you the room." Nikolas led Annie down the stairs and showed her the room opposite to his. It was almost the same, but without the amazing view and the lived-in touch.

"Do you like it?"

"Of course I do," Annie replied quickly. She didn't know why he bothered to ask. How could she not like it? The room, though not as beautiful as his, was heaven to her. She'd die to stay a night at a place like this. She must have been sucked into a fairy tale. It was too good to be true.

"Now that's settled. Let's go eat." Annie smiled at the enthusiastic look on Nikolas' face. He looked like a boy who hadn't eaten forever. Now that she kind of knew where she was going, she didn't follow him as closely and went down the stairs at her own pace while enjoying the feel of the soft carpet under her feet. She would never forget this night. This was like a once in a life opportunity others experience. Yet, unlike winning the lottery, she simply wanted to stay in a place where she and Michael could be safe from her stepfather, even if it was only one night.

By the time she was downstairs, Nikolas had just finished his plate and was looking through the fridge again. "You can have mine if you want," Annie offered. She was hungry just like Nikolas, but it was his food, and his home. Maybe he didn't know it, but he was already doing her a great favor and kindness by letting Michael and her stay in his beautiful home.

Nikolas looked back at her and Annie saw a short war raging inside of him. He was really cute.

"I'm not really hungry," she said. She noticed the fridge was almost empty. Nikolas felt himself flushing when she saw the look Annie sent him, and that feeling only made him redden more. He had never blushed in front of a girl before, unless you count the time two years ago when he'd had his first tumble on the backseat of the car with Deidre Connoski, the young hottie with the siren's body.

"I was going shopping tonight, if not for the project."

"I'm sure you were." The sarcasm came out before Annie could stop it. Nikolas was just as surprised as she was. He didn't know she had a sarcastic side. The Annie he knew was always quiet and shy and never said a word unless answering a question. She'd never even defended herself against bullies, but just took in their harshness with indifference. Annie had simply been too embarrassed to think of anything. It was a slip on her part. She didn't know she still had an attitude after all these years. She always had to keep all of her thoughts and feelings to herself, unless she wanted punishment.

Nikolas wanted to grin, but he held it back and instead went to take Annie's plate of lasagna. Less than five minutes, he was done with it.

"I'll clean the dishes," she said. Annie took the empty plate and fork from him. She had already put the other plate in the sink.

Nikolas didn't argue with her. He'd always hated cleaning up after eating, so he decided to get out of the way. He thought Annie would like to be alone for a few minutes as well. "Thanks. I still have some homework to do, so I'll come back down later."

Annie only nodded. She'd already put the plates and everything in the dishwasher and was wondering how to use it. She didn't own one of these at home, but she'd used plenty of dishwashers when she was cleaning houses for other people either during the summer or weekends. After about five minutes or so, she figured out which buttons were which and turned it on. With only the humming of the dishwasher accompanying her, Annie took a wet towel and started cleaning the rest of the place. By the time she was finished with that, the dishwasher had also stopped. She took out the plates and stacked them in the cabinet where Nikolas had taken them out earlier.

Oh shit. Annie froze, recalling the plates of food up in Jenny's room. How had she forgotten about those? The answer came easily in mind. Nikolas had distracted her with thoughts of staying here, or she would've at least reminded him about those plates. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go get them.

Annie turned just as Nikolas came up from behind her. He'd wanted to surprise her, since she was so concentrated on her work, but he didn't expect her to turn. She bumped into him with a squeal of surprise, and Nikolas felt every one of her soft curves beneath the large shirt she wore. Instantaneous desire had his body hardening to steel. Annie was looking at him with shock. His eyes were so blue and intense. She felt as if she was drowning.