It was raining.

No, it was pouring.

A constellation of cold little watter droplets screened over the windows, the windshield wipers moving furiously against the tiny waves. It was like a zombie attack, and the windshield wipers were the survivors.

And they were losing.

A sigh slipped past Nick's lips, " we have to pull over."

" What?" I asked, arching a brow.

" We have to pull over."

I groaned, " Why. It's just a little rain."

Nick nodded, " uh huh, just a little bit of rain is completely killing my wind shield wipers. You're right angel, I should never doubt you."

And as if on cue, a bolt of lightning spiderwebbed it's way to the ground, hitting it with such a force, I could feel the boom of thunder pulse through me, " alright, pull the van over."

Once were on a considerably stable portion of the road, Nick turned off the majority of the power, so we could avoid our chances of getting electicuted. That, and if the van was struck, and killed all the power while it was on, we'd lose a lot.

I tried to argue that we had rubber wheels, and that it would be much worse if we lit the van on fire. waving me off, Nick placed candles around the van, lighting them with his grandfathers lighter. I watched him flick it open, and light another one.

I muttered a string of unclassy words, that caused him to chuckle, " Angel, dear, try not to be a downer, you're ruining my good mood."

I huffed.

" You could say something." He said, voice light.

" I'm giving up on you?" I tried, nudging his shin with the toe of my converse. He chuckled.

Sitting across from me, he handed me a previously made bowl of soup. Taking a bite, I said, " You're always prepared."

" I know."

Rolling my eyes, I kicked his foot, " You could say thank you."

He flashed a crooked smile, " I didn't think it was a compliment."

" It wasn't. But still." I took another sip. Steam rolled off the surface of my soup, and licked my cheeks, warming my skin. reaching over, I grabbed a blanket, weary of the candles positioned around the cabin, and draped it around my shoulders. Without heat in the van, it got chilly fast.

We both sat on the floor, my back against the couch, his against the lower cabinets of the kitchen.

I jumped when more thunder dropped the bass. He snickered softly, watching me with curious gaze, " Afraid, Angel?"

" Hardly." I snorted, gripping my soup closer. Of course, I jumped again when more thunder boomed, and curled just a bit tighter next to the couch.

" You're so cliche." He said, rolling his eyes. Non the less, He stood, and turned so he could sit next to me. The heat of his body was both welcome and unwelcome. He also took me by surprise when he mumbled, " You're cold."

I huffed, and scooted a bit away, " I know."

He offered to take my empty bowl. I handed it to him, easily. Placing the dishes in the sink, he found his phone and turned on some music. I almost doubled over laughing when Over Again by One Direction came on, " you like one direction?" My disbelief showed in my eyes. It wasn't a bad song, I just couldn't see him listening to them.

I could see color flush to his cheeks as he turned off his phone and chucked it onto the bed, " just a few of their songs. So what?"

" It's just funny."

He smirked, " yeah, and it's funny that you still listen to Backstreet Boys."

I kicked him as close as I could to his stomach. And missed. He fell against the counter, cuss word after cuss word rolling from his tongue as tears dabbed his eyes, " Shit Angel. I thought we fucking clarified that balls weren't in fucking play! That was a huge ass bitch move!"

Laughter bubbled from deep within me, " Don't mess with my backstreet boys."

" I was kidding! They're a really damn good band, okay?" He put on hand up in defense. He limped to what was sadly our room, " I'm getting changed."

I stuffed down the part of me that felt bad. No on was to tease the backstreet boys, and that was final. But there it was again, the nagging in my stomach, telling me I should feel bad, which I did feel bad, for hitting him where the sun normally did not shine.

When he came back out, I was occupying myself with flappy birds. Looking up at him, I went a bit wide eyed. There he came out of the bedroom, content in just his sweatpants and socks, a black Of Mice and Men t-shirt in his hand. He looked at me and flashed a grin, " like what you see?"

My eyes narrowed, as I took his his toned and well, rather nice phique. there was no way I was telling him he was eye candy. No, " hell no, I hate every inch of it. With a passion."

He shrugged, and pulled on his shirt. When he pulled it down over his torso, it brushed against his well shaped abs. I had to avert my eyes away from the sadly hot scene taking place in front of me. He tooke his seat across from me, and revealed a deck of cards, " let's play a game.

" Don't pull a joker on me."

" It was an accident."

I rolled my eyes, as he handed me seven cards. We played a few games, Jen, War, Trash, even Go Fish. Then that question came out of his mouth, " Wanna play strip poker."

I choked on my own spit, " Excuse me?!"

He raised his hands in defense, " It was just a suggestion."

" Nicholas I don't give a damn what your middle name is Arson, I will not, nor will I ever, get naked for you." I hissed, crossing my arms, making it very clear I was going to keep my clothes on.

He laughed, " Okay, okay, fine, how bout I play strip poker, and you can play it however you'd like?"

I went wide eyed, " I have seen far to much of you already and lord knows I wish to see nothing more."

He sighed, and shook his head, " to bad, I'm quite the sight to see." He took a moment to relish in his self love.

" there is no way you really love yourself that much."

His face became dead serious, " yes, yes there is."

I sat there for a moment, before bursting out into laughter. He smiled, and something about the way he smiled caught me off gaurd. Like he had accomplished something, done something that he was glad to have done. I stopped laughing, and the smile fell.

" Normal poker." I replied, " for both of us."

" fine."

I nodded, and he delt. So we played normal poker, and He won. I suppose he knew he would. I've never really been good at poker.

When we finished playing cards, he asked, " do you know any magic tricks?"

When I shook my head, he told me to pick a card. That night, I learned to never break out a deck of cards when around Nicholas Arson. Any game we played, He could win. The only time I would dare bring out cards, is when I wanted to see his magic tricks. Because the way the cards could move in his hands, and the way he could know which card was mine, was pretty amazing. It sounds corny, but when someone shows you what you thought they couldn't possibly know, Well, your mind gets blown.

" Where'd you learn all that." I asked, curiously.

A faint smile touched his lips, " My dad was a magician, always had a deck of cards in his pocket." There it was again, that lost look in his eyes.

" Where is he now?"

" He's.... occupied." he replied, with reluctance.

I sat there, stunned, for a minute. I finally said, " Oh. doing what?"

" Lord knows what." Nick responded, put the cards away in the cabnets and stretching, " I think i'm gonna head to bed."

WIth that, he dissappeared down the hallway.

I looked down the hallways, after a good set of minutes. then, a large clap of thunder rang out across the sky, and I shook like a miraca.

gaining my wits, I stood, and opened the door to the bedroom, " um, Arson?"

" Yeah Angel?" he asked, groggily, voice hoarse from being on the edge of sleep. I swallowed hard, feeling stupid that I had woken him up.

" Im kind of...." Another bit of thunder sounded, and I jumped.

" scared."

" yeah."

" come here."

" excuse me."

I heard him sigh, but I couldn't really see him in the darkness, " Angel, come here."

I moved foreward slowly, unsure about what he wanted. Suddenly, my shins hit the bed, and I tripped. Nick caught me, and pulled me close to him. All I could think was that i was on the right sight of the bed, instead of the left, and that was right. or left.

I couldn't think straight with the smell of him filling my senses. it was that, and my lack of sleep.

" Go to sleep, Angel."

" don't tell me want to do."

Anther shot of thunder erupted in the sky, and I squeaked, turning in his arms and pressing myself closer to him. His arms went around me tighter. I couldn't wrap my head around why he was doing this. Holding me, making sure I was safe during something I shouldn't even be afraid of.

When more thunder hit, i didn't even think about that as I burried my face into his t-shirt, " jesus christ I hate thunder storms."

He chuckled, voice low, and I could feel the rumble against my frame, " I can see that."

" no you can't, it's dark in here."

" okay fine, I can feel and hear that. better?"

" much, thank you."

After a few more shots of thunder, I got the strength to say, " i'm sorry I hit you in the family jewels."

He was quiet for a minute, then sighed, long and drawn out, like he was trying to stretch the amount of time I would feel bad for him. He was about to blow it. then he said, " I'm still sore from that, actually.... but its' fine."

" what?"

" I forgive you."

" you're brave."

" No... I'm just really fucking amazing."

" right. Go to sleep, Arson."

" yes ma'am."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I woke up, Nick was asleep. His tight grip on me had loosened in his sleeping state, so I took the chance to snake out of his arms, wrap my blanket around me, and move to the couch. The rain was still strong outside, seeing as it had only been a few hours since we fell asleep, but the thunder had died down a considerable lot.

I draped my blanket on the couch, then wen to the bathroom to brush my teeth and rake out my hair. After that, I moved back to the couch, and blew out the majority of the candles. I left a few lit, so I could finish part of my book. Currently, someone was falling in love with someone else, while the person who they just broke up with was jumping off a bridge. It didn't make sense really. I can't see how anyone would be worth risking your life for, at least if they weren't family.

I sighed, and shut my book after reading a few more chapters. It wasn't a bad book, parts of it just didn't make sense to me. I grabbed a pillow from the other side of the couch, and fixed it up underneath me. With a small sigh, I curled deeper into myself, wrapping my blanket around me and snuggling my face into my pillow.

A bit of thunder was still grumbling in the distance, not enough to make me squeak. I couldn't help but notice how my pillow wasn't as warm as Nick. A really, really large part of me was glad for that, but the other part was kind of sad I wasn't that warm anymore.

It didn't matter.

I drew into myself, and fell back asleep.

~~~

I woke up to someone whispering jibberish in my ear, " Angel, get up."

I shoved Nick back, " What the hell are you doing, Arson?"

" waking you up." He replied, with a frown.

He handed me a plate that had a cinnomon roll. The smells wafting off it were smells of pure perfection. Never the less, I tried to raise a brow, and said, " I need a fork. there's no way I'm eating this with my hands."

Huffing, he tossed one at me, " you're welcome."

" Don't be all butt hurt i left you last night. I'm sure you can cuddle with a pillow just fine."

He flipped me off, then got himself a cinnamon roll, " I'm not mad at you, Angel."

I shrugged, and started eating the roll, " and once again I hate you for making an amazing breakfast."

" You have a weird way of complimenting people." He replied, sitting in the front seat. I turned around and looked outside at the weather. The sky cleared to a stunning morning view, the sun was just over the horizon.

" you, my Angel, have a weird way of complimenting people." He replied, sitting in the driver's seat. I turned around, and looked outside at the weather. The sky had cleared considerably, flaunting a stunning morning view. the sun was just moving over the horizon, greeting the sky with it's endless sorce of light.

The roads were slick with water and the trees looking ruffled, but other than that, it seemed safe to drive. I offered to take his plate to the sink while he started everything back up. He handed it to me, and I rinsed it off.

Sitting next to him, I buckled myself in as we drove.

I asked, " How far are we?"

" We're going across country Angel, we have at least a week left."

I shifted in my seat impatiently, " alright, I think I can handle the wait."

" can you."

" Shut up! and yes, I can." I took a deep breath.

He chuckled, " sure you can, Angel."

" Stop calling me that." I hissed.

" What, Angel?"

" Yeah, it's annoying."

He seemed to think about it for awhile, not quite watching the road like he should. Finally, he shook his head, " It's that, or Grace, and we both know you'd hate that."

" You call me Grace even once and I'll cut off your family jewels."

He gave a nod, " Angel it is!"

I huffed, and turned to look out the window.

then he asked, " are you really that anxious to get rid of me?" part of his tone, a very small part, was seriously asking. The majority of it, was all jokes and teases.

I nodded, " yep, It's pretty hard to live with you. and really boring, might I add."

" right to the self esteem."

" you're welcome."

~~~

Bang the gong, get it on, came on the radio, and it was jamfest all over again.

Nicholas patted the beat on the steering wheel, both windows were rolled down, and sweet are was whipping my hair and our laughter around the van.

" Get it on, Bang the gong, get it on!" We both hit the notes in unison, and shook our hands in the air. He probably should have held the wheel tighter, but right then, we were both being stupid, so I wasn't to worried.

I started laughing when I had to reach over and help him drive, " Eyes on the road, Arson."

" Don't remind me, Angel." He fired back, a sly smile on his face.

Then we both fell into lyrics and started laughing. I climbed into the back of the van to find something for lunch. I produced an apple, because I was too lazy to put anything together. I threw the fruit and Nicholas, a fruit in which he expertly caught, " try throwing better next time."

I rolled my eyes, and found myself an apple, taking a bite into the flavorful fruit.

He slowed as we entered a town. I nearly did a cheerleader jump in joy, " Yes! It has a strip mall, we are making a side trip."

I heard him groan, and smiled, " Pull over Nicholas Arson."

Mumbling a string of colorful words, he parked, and climbed out of the van after me. After all this time in the car with Nick, it was time for me to have my fair share of girl R and R.

~~~

" How does this look on me?" I asked, checking myself out in a mirror. I honestly wasn't a big fan of their jeans, but the shorts were awesome, they fit just perfectly, and so were the graphic tees.

" You can't rock anything, Angel. You have the body of a whale." he replied, while looking at something intently on his phone.

I laughed at how serious he sounded, " we both know that's not true."

" You look fine." He stated, flatly.

" Thank you." I decided on buying a superman t-shirt, just to bother Nick, and a few pairs of shorts. Paying for the merchadise, I mumbled a slight thank you to the store owner, and headed out of the store, " I'm gonna go put this stuff away, and then we're gonna go get some real lunch."

" My cooking sucks that bad." Nick joked, a smile kissing his lips.

I rolled my eyes, " Hardly. Your cooking is to good, I need bad food."

" I can't tell if that's a compliment, or an insult."

" Both."

We found ourselves in front of a whole in the wall restaurant called Teedee's.

Inside, we were sitted at red tables. The flooring was checkerboard patterns, the walls painted grey and adorned with movie posters, pictures, and license plates. I couldn't help but like the feel of the place, the random metal tree in the center of the room.

Our menus were tall and thin, lined with rows of food that sounded wonderful. I ended up ordering a meatstacked sandwich with tater tots, and Nicholas jumped at the French Twish Roast Beef, aka, FTRB.

And the food was wonderful, melting in our mouths good. Nick nodded, " yep. I deffinately needed bad food."

I snickered, " I told you."

He cut off part of his sandwhich for me to try, as I did the same for him. I couldn't help but nod my approval, " Everything's good here, I've already decided."

We even ended up getting cheesecake. And getting left overs for on the road. In the van, I nibbled at another serving of cheesecake. Nick laughed at me, " You're going to get yourself sick."

" Whale's don't get sick from to much food." I stated, simply.

Which threw him into another fit of laughter, " Whatever you say, Angel, Whatever you say."

Author's Note;;

sorry for a long wait on this chapter, and sorry for it being choppy and not so well written. I just felt like getting another part of the story up, and sort of needed a filler so.... tada! hope it's still enjoyable.