Mercy

Nikki didn't get much sleep that night. She had been outed by Leland's brother of all people, earlier in the day. Would he run to Leland and tell him what he knew? Would he tell him that they had shared a kiss in the pool? She didn't want what had happened to ruin her job, she loved her job.

Sometime around 1:00 she was awoken by Bailee's crying, stumbling out of bed and across the hall to the little girls room, she runs into Leland. "I was coming to check on her." she says, trying to keep her eyes open. "I've got her." Leland says picking Bailee up.

Nikki turns the small bedside lamp on, casting a golden glow over the small nursery. "Nice" Leland says glancing down at her bare legs. Nikki blushes, having forgotten she was in her shortest nightgown. "Right...." she says, a little embarrassed.

"Well, I think she just needed a diaper change." he says, throwing her old diaper in the trash can. "Okay... in that case, I'm going back to bed." Nikki says, walking away. "Wait. I'll walk you back to your room." he says, after laying Bailee back in her bed.

"Alright..." Nikki says, a little confused as to why he felt the need to walk her across the hall.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute." he tells her, closing her bedroom door behind them. She was afraid of what he might say, she just knew that his brother must have said something to him earlier that day.

"It must be important if you want to talk to me at one in the morning." she says hesitantly, sitting down on her bed.

"I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted the other night, after the party. I didn't mean to dump all that on you... I'm sorry." he says, sitting down next to Nikki on the bed.

"Leland, its okay to talk about it, and sometimes its nice to have someone who's... outside of it all, to tell things to." she explains to him. Nikki had been to enough therapists in her life to know what she was talking about. "Trust me... I know these things." she says smiling.

He lays back, onto her bed closing his eyes. "In that case, I don't apologize, because it felt good to get it off my chest." he says smiling. Nikki couldn't help but laugh at that. She was just happy that he felt comfortable enough to share things with her.

"You know what else? That was the best sleep I've had in a long time...thank you for that." he says, reaching out to touch her arm, his hand lingering longer than it should have.

"Now I'm gonna have to lay my head in your lap every night just to fall sleep." he says with a yawn.

Nikki looks up, surprised that he said that. "Is that so?" she asks, leaning back against her pillows.

"What happened to the blonde chick you brought home a while back?" Nikki asks Leland as he lays his head down on her lap, making himself comfortable. They had been talking for hours about everything and nothing at all.

"You mean Melody? I’ve seen her a few times since then."

"Hmmm..."

"Hmmm? What does hmmm mean?" Leland asks, looking up at her. "You didn't like her? I thought she was hot." he says smiling, causing Nikki to roll her eyes. "She thought I was your maid!"

"I know, I meant to apologize for that. I got on to her." he says seriously, then pulls his hair out of its ponytail. "Play with my hair." he demands.

"What’s with you and the hair?" She didn't know if it was from the lack of sleep or the fact that she laying in the bed with Leland, watching the sun come up, but Nikki was feeling silly. "Yeah, I bet you got on to her." she says coming back to their original conversation.

"I did... and it was good too." he says, nodding his head up and down. "Shhhh... I don't wanna know..." Nikki says, covering her ears and laughing.

"You better watch out, or I'll get on you." he says seriously. Nikki opens her mouth, shocked, then leans over close to his ear and whispers, "You couldn't handle it." and leans back, grinning at him.

Pulling her head back down to his, their foreheads touching, his lips barely grazing hers as he spoke."Wanna find out?" he asks.

"Maybe..." Nikki replies back to him.

Leland was suddenly leaning over her, one knee between her legs, his hair falling around her. "Whens the last time someone loved you the right way Nikki?" he says roughly. She blinks a few times, unsure of how to respond to his forwardness. "Hmm? When was it?" he asks again.

"I.... um....uh..." she stammers, breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling quickly. She watches as he licks his lips, then runs his finger tips slowly up her leg. "I'm waiting for an answer." he says, pulling his shirt off, and sitting down on top of her right leg.

"I don't know." she says very low, not sure if she had actually said it out loud.

"I can show you how a real man does it." he says, leaning over her, whispering in her ear. She gasps as his knee brushes against her thigh.

"Its you who cant handle it." he says laughing and then kisses her on the cheek.

"Payback is a bitch, Leland Chapman." she says pushing him out of her bed as they both laugh.