Plans to Make & Hearts to Break

When I awoke the next morning, I was covered in a blanket and curled into the end of the couch. I'd slept pretty hard and was still disoriented - was Danny home?

No. He was in California, and mad at me. Which I probably deserved. William was here yesterday. And he still was, I realized, because I wasn't resting on the end of the couch but somehow on his side, and he was laying with his head on the armrest at the end of the couch. Oops.

I stood from the couch and quickly went into the kitchen, unplugging my phone from it's charger and looking at the time. Seven thirty in the morning. Things are not supposed to exist this early. I'm sure if I walked outside I'd see the streets being put into place like I lived in the damn Matrix. Maybe I could just go back to bed.

On second thought, I didn't feel very tired yet. Instead, I trudged back into the living room and nudged William with my foot. He woke up slowly, grumbling something that sounded vaguely like "What do you waaaant?"

"Wake up, Beckett!" I almost shouted, and his eyes shot open. "We're going to breakfast."

"Breakfast?" He mumbled, closing his eyes again. "I'm not hungry."

I furrowed my brows and let out a huff of a sigh. "Well I am and you're asleep on my couch. Just wake up."

"You're the one that fell asleep on me," He protested. "I was here by force." With that, he rolled and turned away from me.

I shook my head before I leaned down and grabbed the top of his arm, tugging at it until - finally - I pulled him completely off of the couch.

Now his eyes were open. "Dammit Nicole," He mumbled, "I think you just broke my ass."

"Well if you had some breakfast you wouldn't be so damn skinny and your ass wouldn't be so vulnerable. Now wake up. I want biscuits and gravy."

---

"I should not be eating food this early in the morning," William groaned, taking a bite of his french toast. "The sun's barely even up. I shouldn't be, either."

"It's summer, the sun rises at like six. It's got almost two hours on you." I shook my head. "Just appreciate your breakfast and you can go back to bed later."

William rolled his eyes and we ate in peaceful quiet for a few minutes. The waitress brought our check and before I could ask her to split the bill, William snatched the paper from the table and gave the woman his credit card. "I can pay for my own food, y'know." I snapped.

"I know you can, but I got it this time." He smirked.

I shook my head again. "Whatever. I'll pay for your food in the future, somehow." I feel like he's going to think we're on a date. This is not a date not a date not a date. Nope.

---

"This is my favorite bookstore in the world," I said excitedly, running ahead of William and opening the door to the building. "It's always so peaceful. And look! They have a resident cat!" I gestured towards the orange tabby cat that was curled in a bed just inside the doorway.

"This cat gets to sleep and I don't?" William pouted. "How did I get dragged here anyways? I thought I was going to eat breakfast and go back to bed."

"Oh shut it, Beckett," I glared weakly at him. "You're already up! Just deal with it! And look around at the coolest store of your life."

"Whatever, I guess I'll enjoy myself." He groaned.

"You're an angsty seventeen year old emo kid, aren't you?" I teased.

William started to speak, but I was drawn away by a book with a too-familiar cover. I'd read it many times, but whenever I saw Inkheart sitting on a store's shelf I had to take a moment and flip through the pages. Thank god I did - looking inside I saw that the inside cover page was actually signed by the author. I could've screamed. Instead, I ran over to William and shoved the open book under his nose.

He took a confused step backwards and looked at me. "Signed first edition!" I managed to exclaim. "I am so buying this, before anyone else sees it."

William smiled at me, and I hugged the book to my chest as we wandered through the store. I was flipping through a shelf when William spoke. "I'm gonna go pay for these really quick."

I nodded in response and continued hunting the shelves, now alone in the far wing of the store. After a few moments, I felt my phone vibrate - I pulled it from my back pocket and read the screen - Danny was calling. I answered the call and quickly held the phone to my ear, speaking quietly. "Hello, love." I couldn't hold back a grin.

"Hey, I just thought I'd let you know I'm in town," He said simply. He didn't sound as... happy as I'd hoped, but my eyes widened with surprise at his statement.

"Holy shit, you weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow! Can I come see you?"

"Of course," He said sheepishly. "I'll be at my apartment."

"I'll be there as soon as I can! I love you!'

"Love you too, Nicole," He said simply before ending the call.

"Who is it that you love?" Another boy's voice spoke from the doorway. I felt my face go red, but did my best to ignore it.

"It's... my aunt," I said slowly, making up the statement on the spot. Slowly, everything else fell into place. "She's downtown for a meeting and was going to visit, but she's here earlier than I expected."

I walked past William and he followed me, still speaking, "So I guess our date's at an end, huh?" He asked, dejected.

This was not a date. Not a date.

"I've just gotta pay for this," I avoided his question as we reached the counter towards the front of the store.

The woman sitting behind it was older, and she smiled, looking between us. "Your boyfriend already paid for that, honey," She said with a grin.

"He isn't my boyfriend," I responded quickly. "Give him his money back and let me pay for it, please?"

She shook her head softly. "I can't do that," She shrugged, pointing to a small sign on the counter that simply read ALL SALES FINAL.

"How much was the book, William?" I asked, looking towards him now.

"Free," He responded with a smirk.

I glared at him. "You don't have to buy things for me. How. Much. Was. The. Book."

"I told you, it was free!" He laughed.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Whatever," I groaned. "Just take me home. I've gotta go see my aunt."

The ride back to our houses was quiet and awkward, and when I exited William's car I left the book sitting on the seat.

---

"I missed you so much," I mumbled into Danny's chest, holding him in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're home. I'm sorry about what I said. I know you love traveling, and your job. I'm happy you're doing something you're so passionate about."

I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket.

"I missed you, too," He said quietly, planting a kiss on the top of my head. "I overreacted to everything. I'm sorry. This job's been really stressful. It's way bigger than we thought."

Again, my phone vibrated.

"What do you mean?" I looked up at him, confused. "You couldn't fix it?"

"It seems like it keeps getting worse, no matter how much we do it fix it." He shook his head. "The details aren't important right now. I've just... I've gotta go back, tomorrow morning. For probably another week."

Another bzzzzz in my pocket.

"Back? To California?" I questioned. "You're just home for the day?" I felt my voice raising, but couldn't stop it.

He nodded. "I'm so sorry," His lips pursed. "I didn't know until late last night."

"I know honey, I know," I sighed. "It's just, I - I thought I'd be seeing you more. It's... disappointing. But I'm not mad."

His lips raised in a small smile. "Good," He said simply. "I came out here today just to see you. We can do anything you want."

"Let's just stay in," I smirked, meeting his lips with a deep kiss.

Oh, how I missed this boy.

"Sounds perfect." He smiled. His attention was drawn from me when his cell phone started ringing from another room. "But let me go get that. It's probably something about the job." Before I could respond, he quickly walked towards the noise.

I took that moment to pull my phone from my back pocket. Three texts, all from William.

you left your book!

guess i'm just gonna read it now, since i can't fall back asleeeeep

fuck. did buying the book really make you mad? it was just 15 bucks. sorry? :/

Instead of responding, I held the power button down until my phone turned off. William could wait.

Forever, as long as I had Danny.