Grim as Ever.

Brian hoped that Nikki wasn’t hiding how she was feeling. It would be ridiculous to think that anyone could go through what she just had and not be scared, and because Brian knew that he was afraid that Nikki was just hiding how worried she really was. He was afraid that she was just putting on a face until she could get out of here and then he’d never see her again. He couldn’t blame her. To try and reassure Nikki that he really liked her and would keep her safe, Brian grabbed onto her hands and leaned in quickly, placing his lips on hers.

---

Morgana didn’t drink often, mostly because all her father kept in the house were beers and she had never liked the taste. But seeing all the different bottles of wine, she felt as if that was just what was needed to take the edge off. Morgana couldn’t help but want to keep going over the event in her mind, trying to piece together anything that would help her understand what had happened. For some reason, she kept thinking back to the guys who had busted in on her and Matt in that little restaurant, and she wanted to believe they had been behind it. Where they werewolves? Where they the ones behind the murders of Matt and Brian’s exes?

She watched as Matt filled the wine glass about a third of the ways full and she picked up and took a small sip. “Didn’t really take you for a wine guy, or are these Brian’s?” She laughed.

@ foREVerYours.

To be perfectly honest, Nikki was more worried about Brian’s well being than anything else. Nikki was slightly shocked when Brian pulled her close and kissed her. She kissed back quickly, before pulling away for a moment, smiling.

---

Matt could tell that Morgana had a million and one questions running through her head. He sighed softly, “You can ask questions if you want, I can answer them to the best of my ability.” If she really wanted to know, Matt would feel better with her being able to understand what they’ve been dealing with.

He poured her a glass of wine and passed it to her, “It depends on the day.” Matt got himself a glass and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, “And today I need something like this.” He said as he filled his glass and took a drink.

@ dezzy

Brian's eyes lingered, looking down at his hands as Nikki pulled away. All at once, anxiety and worry washed over him. He kept his hands over hers and chewed on his lip, "Was that okay?" He whispered, before looking back up at her. Brian hadn't felt like this in a really long time, anxious, sweaty, nervous- all because of a girl. He even felt scared, terrified that he was going to just push her away, but a voice in the back of his head questioned if that would be such a bad thing. At least then he knew she'd be safe.

He forced his eyes up to look at her and let out a small sigh of relief when he saw the smile that was dancing on her face.

---

Morgana could hear the tension in his voice and she didn't want to stretch him to thin, but she had gotten permission and she was going to take it. She held the wine glass tightly in her hand, almost to the point of her knuckles turning white. "The guys at the restaurant...are they...?" She didn't really know how to piece together her question, but she knew he would understand where she was going. "It's them, right?"

@ foREVerYours.

Nikki couldn’t understand why Brian wouldn’t look at her right away. Was he really that afraid that she wouldn’t be okay with their kiss? “That was fine, really Brian,” she told him softly, still not able to get the smile to leave her face. A wave of relief hit her when his eyes finally met hers.

---

Matt had a moment of hesitation before he answered Morgana’s question, “Yes, it’s them. They’re probably upset with us, and honestly I’m not sure how far they’re willing to go. They’ve never done something like that before, normally they bother us a few times a year and then they’re gone.” He took another drink of his whiskey, “He got a cheap shot on Brian, that won’t happen again.” Matt assured her.

@ dezzy

It was hard for Brian to push down the small feeling of guilt eating away at him inside. The anxiety and worry had melted away with Nikki's smile, but he couldn't help but now feel guilty that was he was starting to move on.

Grabbing up Nikki's hands in his, Brian squeezed them and returned the smile, "Good. In that case, I'd really to give another date a shot." He laughed, "To give a better first impression." He joked.

---

Morgana was ready to put the conversation to rest. Everyone was okay and that was all that mattered. She'd rather try to enjoy the rest of time they had tonight.

She brought the wine glass back up to her lips before looking up at Matt. "Well..." She said, crossing her arms, and swirling the drink around in the glass, "Are you...going to ask me on another date?" She blushed, trying to hide the tiny smile that was creeping onto her face. She usually wasn't this assertive, but she was feeling pretty confident.

@ foREVerYours.

Nikki looked at him as he grabbed her hands. Seeing him smile, Nikki felt a wave of relief. “I’d love to give our date another shot, even though before the whole incident, it was a pretty great date,” She assured him. There wasn’t really a need for him to make a better first impression, Nikki had been interested in him from the start so knowing he wanted another date was enough for her.

---

Matt couldn’t help laughing slightly when she mentioned another date, of course he had every intention of asking her out again. He nodded as he looked at her, “Morgana, would you like to go on another date with me? Hopefully this one would end on a less dramatic and more happy note?” Matt asked her as he looked at her.

@ dezzy

It was finally the day that Brian had been dreading for quite some time. It was finally the start of fall, and also the beginning of Nikki's first semester in college. The university was a few hours away in a city that was much larger than the one they were in now. And that made him nervous. If something were to happen to her, he'd be to far away to get there in time. Over the past couple of weeks their relationship had grown stronger, and Brian was finding it harder and harder to just let her do this. Even though he knew it really wasn't his decision.

But he had also promised to be the one to drive her. He had a truck after all, so he could easily haul all of her things and help her move in. So there he was, arriving bright and early at the girl's house on that Saturday morning. Classes started that Monday after all, and she would need time to learn the campus. Brian was hoping to be able to stay the weekend as well to scout out the campus and make sure it was safe.

---

Just as Morgana had planned, she did have enough money to finally move out from her father's house, right at the same time her sister was leaving. She really didn't want to be the only one left in the house alone with him after all. The closer it got to Nikki leaving, the more their dad got clingier and sadder. She felt bad about also rushing out too, but she couldn't handle all of that. Matt was supposed to go looking at apartments with her.

@ foREVerYours.

Nikki knew that Brian was on edge about her leaving and to be honest, she was nervous. She got dressed after hauling her bags down to the living room. Their dad had already left for the day, he had decided to take off before Nikki left. She knew that he didn’t want them to leave, but Nikki didn’t have any other choice and she knew Morgana had wanted to move out before.

Seeing Brian pull into the driveway, Nikki ran out the door to hug him, “Hi!” She wrapped her arms around him tightly, Nikki had every intention of visiting and seeing Brian every chance she had while being at school.

---

Matt had been getting a few ideas for Morgana’s apartment search. The last few months had been great and he was closer than ever with Morgana. As it got closer to Nikki going to school, he gave Brian some space and made himself more available to Morgana and hoped to keep her mind off it. He pulled his phone out and sent her a quick text. You ready to go apartment hunting? He smiled as he hit send and got dressed.

@ dezzy

Brian smiled, wrapping his arms tightly around Nikki immediately. "Hey, beautiful." He pulled away, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Don't you look cute." He took a step back, his hands still resting on her shoulders as he looked over her outfit.

"Are you ready to go? Your bags inside?" He went up the stairs of the porch quickly, before slipping into the house and grabbing three bags and a tote. There were still a few things lying there, but he could come back for them. He wobbled out of the house, packing the items up tight against his chest.

"I'm really going to miss you, you know." Brian chuckled, teasing her. "I know I'll see you just as much-" Because even now they really only saw each other maybe once or twice a week because of work or other things, "But it's gonna be weird knowing you aren't just a five minute drive away."

He had gotten so used to protecting her, making sure she was okay every single day. He couldn't help be over protective.

---

Morgana and Nikki had already said goodbye that morning over the blueberry muffins Morgana had made her. She had even helped her pack the night before. She was super proud of Nikki for going off to college, but she knew it was going to suck, she was going to be a lot more lonely. She spent most of her time with her sister, especially now that they had moved.

Up in her bedroom, she was finishing getting ready, and was already completely dressed. She was just finishing curling her hair when she got Matt's text and answered, Yes!

@ foREVerYours.

Nikki smiled as she felt Brian’s arms around her. “Thank you,” She said as she let go of him and watched as he looked over her outfit. Hearing him ask about her bags, she nodded, “Its all in the kitchen.”

She followed Brian up the steps and grabbed a couple of her bags after Brian grabbed most of it. Leaving two smaller bags, she felt better knowing that most of her stuff was already packed up and ready.

After everything was in the truck, Nikki looked at him, “I’m going to miss you too, but I’ll come visit all the time.” It was going to be strange for her to not be just minutes away from Brian. She gave Brian a smile before climbing in the truck and waiting for him.

---

Seeing Morgana’s text, Matt grabbed his keys and jacket and walked out to his car. A few minutes later, he pulled up to the girls house just as Brian and Nikki were leaving.

He walked up the steps and knocked on the door before opening it a little, “Morgana?” Matt stepped inside, knowing no one else was home. He figured he would just wait for her in the kitchen.

Grabbing his phone, he started double checking a few of the places he had found for her to look at. None of them were too far, but they would give her the freedom she wanted.

@ dezzy

Brian watched Nikki climb in to his truck before he rounded around to the driver side and go in himself.

The drive was about three hours and forty minutes, which wasn’t horrible, but it was long enough to where he’d always have to set a day aside for the trip. Brian pulled into the parking lot for her dorm, on the schools campus which was large enough to make Brian start worrying just a little bit more.

“Here we are.” He forced a smile as he got out of his truck and went around to the bed to start gathering some of Nikki’s bags.

---

Morgan’s grabbed her jacket, hearing the front door close and she knew it had to be Matt just letting himself in. Grabbing her purse, she left her room and went down the stairs two at a time.

“Hey.” She greeted with him a smile as she entered the kitchen. “You ready?” She asked, wrapping him up in a big hug as a hello.

@ foREVerYours.

Once they pulled up to the dorm, Nikki looked over at him, she could tell the smile was forced. “It’s going to be okay,” she smiled softly before climbing out and grabbing a couple of her bags.

Nikki lead the way into the building and stopped in front of the dorm, “This is it.” She opened the door and stepped inside, it was exactly what she had expected. Placing her bags on the side of the room she was taking, Nikki looked at Brian.

“Are you okay?” She asked as she sat on the edge of the bed. Nikki knew there had to be a few things running through his head and he was worried about them being so far apart.

---

“Hey,” Matt wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. He smiled down at her, “Yup, did you have any places you wanted to look at first?” He asked her.

Matt pulled his keys out of his pocket and opened the door for her. He followed her out to his car and opened the door for her.

@ dezzy