Thank You, Gravity

The Following Morning.

I slide the spatula under the crape and flip it gently, and it bubbles and sizzles as the other side begins frying. Humming a tune to myself - one of our old songs, - I head over to the fridge to pour a glass of milk.

"You're making crapes." Nick dashes over to the stove and smiles as he looks into the pan.

I grin at him. "Your favorite." Nick smiles - I haven't made crapes in years. I flip the pancake-like pastry again, plopping it onto a plate scooping some jelly onto it, rolling it up and handing it to Nick. He smiles hungrily, licking his lip a little as he sits down at the table. I flip mine and watch kind of distractedly as Nick cuts off little pieces and eats them quickly.

"You're finally eating." I say happily after he asks for another, and he nods and comes over to the counter. I scoop mine onto my plate and put the jelly on it, rolling it up and topping it with some cinnamon and whipped cream. Bon Appetit!

"Can I make the next one??" he asks eagerly excitedly. I smile and hand him the bowl of batter and sit down at the table, taking a bite of my own. Nick sits on the counter and waits for his crape to fry, banging his feet against the side. When his crape is ready to be flipped, I watch amusedly as he hops off the counter and flips it on the air, catching it on the spatula and putting it back on the pan upside down.

"Why so cheerful?" I ask, slightly laughing as I saunter up to the counter. Nick shrugs.

"Let's go to the mall today!" he suddenly says cheerfully.

"The mall?" I ask, laughing slightly. Nick gives me a hopeful grin and I smile and shrug. it would be fun to hang with him for a day, and I owe him anyway.

--

We enter the mall and Nick grabs my hand, dragging me around to every store he can find. Very soon our arms are totally full of shopping bags, and two frappuccinos. Double chocolate chip.

Suddenly Nick grabs my arm again and hurries over towards one of the entrances. I realize he's headed towards the photo booth, and I smile and follow him. We both slide in, even though we're almost too big to fit. I put the money into the machine and the screen turns on, Nick picks a striped border and we each put on quirky smiles.

Then Nick and I cross our arms over our chests in gangster poses, and for the last picture Nick jumps up and kisses me on the cheek as the camera's going off.

We're both giggling like idiots as we come out of the tiny booth with all our stuff. I pull the strip out of the slot and we look at the photos. I put an arm around Nick and squeeze his shoulder, slipping the photo strip into one of my bags as we hurry to the next store.

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Nick and I walk into the apartment, dropping our bags in a pile on the floor in a corner.

"That was so fun!" I exclaim.

"I can't remember the last time we hung out together," Joe says, thinking a little. I bend over and puts one arm under Nick's knees and one on his back, lifting him up and running towards the other end of the room, both of us screaming and laughing. I drop him on the couch, tickling him like Ia little kid before lying down on top of him.

"Kiss me," I whisper, smiling as I'm looking down at him, Nick hardly pauses before crashing his lips against mine.

"So," I say as I lifts up. "You're okay with going to hell now?" I joke.

"If I go down, you're coming with me," Nick smiles. I grin and our lips clash again.

My arms move from Nick's sides to sliding up his shirt, barely breaking us apart to take it off. I know that he still doesn't want to go too far.

I move my lips down his neck and start to nibble on it. A moan slips out from Nick's lips as he starts to play with the bottom of my shirt. I quickly pull away and tear my shirt off, going straight back to his neck.

I started to play with his belt, then feeling him start to get hard. He slowly pushes me off of him.

"Not right now," I know that he doesn't want to go further yet. We just got back into our relationship and I dont want to push him.

"Sure. So... dinner?" I ask while standing up, I don't bother to put on his shirt and go to look in the kitchen.

I'm mixing a whole bunch of things in a pot and he just walks up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and starts to place kisses on my shoulders. I melt instantly.

"Stop, just so I can cook this?" I ask, smiling, Nick obeys my request, but leans up a little and places his chin onto my shoulder. This could work out better then I had thought.

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"You're finally eating," I mention to Nick with a proud grin. He just smiles and shrugs a little, twisting his fork around the spaghetti and gulping down a large forkful. And we actually have a nice discussion for the first time in a while - no awkward silences, tears, tension or mentioning of Mom. And it's nice.

Later That Night

I clear the plates off the table and put them in the washer, leaving Nick to himself as he goes to watch TV for a while. I'm happy he's finally coming out of his depressed state, and even more happy we're starting our relationship again. I only just realized how much I'd missed him. As a boyfriend, that is. And if God had a problem with me loving my brother, then He could just send me to Hell.

I go to my room and I actually start cleaning up for once, picking some shirts up off the ground and tossing them into the hamper. It's rather late, but I hadn't been able to sleep earlier.

"Joe?" I turn around to face Nick at my bedroom door. I smile slightly.

"Yeah?" tossing a pair of pants into the hamper.

"Can I..." he looks down, before looking at me with a slight smile. "spend the night in here?" Picking up a book and putting it on the desk I nod with a grin, I look at him.

"Of course." I smile, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "I'm just going to clean up the room a little." Nick gives me a sideways smile as he gets into bed, already wearing only his boxers.

He falls asleep in a rather short amount of time, lying on his side with one arm draped over his bare chest and resting on the bed. I just stand there watching the rise and fall of his chest for a while before I go back to cleaning the room for a few more minutes. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps now, rather than the grief-stricken face he used to wear.

When I'm satisfied with the small room - which looks so much bigger without the clutter - I try not to disturb Nick as I slide into bed, facing him.

His eyes open and he turns his head, looking at me smiling. He yawns a little, turning his head back. I scoot closer, slipping my arm underneath him and one around his chest, so I'm hugging him. He wraps his fingers in mine and lets out a relaxed sigh and I feel the movement of his chest against my arms.

He falls back asleep quickly, his grip on my hand loosening a little. I wonder what he dreams about. I close my eyes and fall into a deep sleep beside him, one much more peaceful than any night I've spent alone.