An Aria for Nick

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

ARIA closed her eyes against the bright Georgia sun, feeling it bake into her skin. She was lying in the middle of the track field, half-asleep. What a wonderful feeling, she thought, knowing she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to for the next three months.

She smiled and stretched, when suddenly, a shadow fell across her. She opened her eyes, startled. Nervous energy slowly replaced the fear when she realized that Nick Williams stood over her. She sat up slowly, brushing the grass out of her hair as she did. She shielded her eyes and looked up at him. "Hey, Nick."

"Suarez." Nick acknowledged, thrusting his hands into his pockets. "Saw you laying out here motionless. Got worried something had happened to you."

"I'm just getting into the summer relaxation mode," she said with a smile. She patted the ground next to her, inviting him to sit.

Nick hesitated, but finally sat next to her on the soft grass, the sun beating down on them. "Why are you out here? School's out now, remember?"

"Carol had to come get some stuff from the band room. I drove her." Aria picked a stem of grass and twirled it in her fingers.

"Big plans this summer?" he asked.

Aria smiled and leaned back on her elbows. "Nothing at all. I'm sleeping until noon every morning, then I'm going to put on a bathing suit, go down to the pool at the NCO Club, and sleep in the sun every afternoon."

"Sounds boring," Nick mumbled.

Aria laughed. "I worked my fingers off for the last ten years to get that scholarship to Eastman. For the first time since I sat down at a piano, I'm taking a break. I plan to relax and catch up on all the sleep I missed for last week's finals before I have to go back to school in the fall." She had graduated third in her class of two hundred. "What about you? What are you doing this summer?"

"Basic training here at the Fort," Nick simply said.

"You aren't going to take the summer off?"

He looked like he wanted to say a lot more than, "Why? I got no money and nothing to keep me here."

Aria shrugged, a little sad that there wouldn't be an opportunity to see him over the summer. She heard a sharp whistle and looked up. Carol waved at her from the school building before she walked toward Aria's car. "I have to go. Two of my brothers come in town today for tonight's graduation, and I'm supposed to pick one of them up from the airport."

She didn't want to leave, though. She wanted to sit here in the warm sun with Nick Williams. Before she realized what happened, Nick reached out and brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. She felt her breath catch in her throat. "Nick —"

"Aria," he said. It was the first time he had ever called her by her first name. Whatever else he intended to say remained unsaid. Instead, he leaned closer to her and pulled her to him. He let his lips brush hers softly, then leaned back and looked into her eyes with his very pale blue and very sad eyes. He stared into her gaze like he was desperately searching for something, maybe the answer to some question he never asked or maybe something he only dared hope to find.

She thought maybe her heart would beat itself out of her chest. He started to pull back, but she grabbed the front of his T-shirt and pulled him to her again.

He kissed her, cupping her cheeks with his hands, the strong calloused fingers of his right hand supporting the back of her neck while the fingers of his left hand cradled her face so very, very gently. Aria heard a buzzing in her ears, a rush, as he deepened the kiss.

She had wanted his attention for so long, and now, in his arms, it felt so perfect and so right. Continuing to grip his shirt with one hand, she let her other arm go around his neck, trying to bring him even closer to her. Every part of her felt alive. Even her fingertips tingled. Her head spun and she had no thought outside of the feel and sound and smell of him.

Until he pushed her away. Out of nowhere, suddenly, he stood, hands fisted at his sides. He looked down at her and cleared his throat. "Sorry, Aria. I have to go." He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned away.

"No, Nick. Wait!" Aria demanded, pushing herself to her feet and running after him. She grabbed his arm and he spun around.

"Forget it, Aria. I'm out of here tomorrow morning," Nick said. He looked down at her and put his hands on her shoulders. "You don't want me. I'm no good."

Aria felt the tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't say that, Nick. Of course I want you. I always have."

He cupped her cheeks with his hands. "No, you don't. You have better things to do with your life and better men to do them with. Besides, you're so little. I could easily hurt you," he said. He dropped his hand and turned and walked away from her.

Aria watched him go, and felt a tear slip down her cheek, crying for something she had lost that she'd never had.

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THRONGS of students in their blue and yellow graduation gowns milled around the football stadium. Graduates took pictures with groups of other students, with parents, with siblings, or with favorite teachers or coaches. Aria smiled with Carol, her brothers, her parents, her entire family — dozens of pictures until she thought her face would permanently stay in that excited "I've graduated!" grin she sported for all the poses.

Finally, she extricated herself, promising her parents she'd be right back. She could see Nick, still in his blue gown, walking away from the crowd.

She kicked off her shoes and ran after him, holding the hem of her yellow gown up so she didn't trip on it. "Nick!" she yelled, clutching the package. She saw him pause before he kept walking. "I know you heard me. Please wait!"

He turned, a fresh bruise on his cheek shining in the evening sun. "Not now, Suarez. I need to go sign in to my unit. I'm finally free."

She skidded to a stop in front of him. "I know you're going. I just wanted to give you something." She held out the package.

He stared at the small cloth-wrapped square. "What's this?"

Nervous butterflies flew up her stomach and threatened to cut off her breathing. She felt the hand she held out tremble with nerves. "It's a graduation present, sort of. It's a gift. It's like a tradition. For luck." And love, she added to herself, annoyed that she didn't have the courage to say it out loud.

He finally took it from her. "I don't believe in luck."

Aria sighed, a bit exasperated. "Just open it, okay?"

Giving her a long stare, his blue eyes reflective, he finally pulled the ribbon loose. The handkerchief slid open, revealing the small, palm-sized Soldier's Bible.

When he looked at her again, she nearly took a step back at the intensity of his expression. Instead she gestured toward her gift. "My dad often said how his favorite gift going into Basic Training was his Soldier's Bible. I hope you don't already have one."

"I —" Nick had never even held a Bible. He looked down at it and looked back at her again before clearing his throat. "I don't. Thank you." He shifted the Bible out from under the handkerchief and held it out. "You can have this back."

Instead of taking it from him, she took his hand in both of hers and closed his fingers over the linen cloth. "That's yours, too. Traditionally, a lady would give the knight of her choosing her handkerchief as a favor before he went into battle. It's like a talisman. A token of her …"

His eyebrows knitted.

"… of her affection for her favored warrior." She was such coward.

Aria could feel his hand tense under hers as he tightly clutched the handkerchief in his fist. He closed his eyes and a muscle ticked near his jaw. Finally he opened his eyes and pulled her to him. Instead of kissing her, like she hoped, he just wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to him.

It felt like they stood that way forever. She leaned into him and inhaled his scent, memorized the feel of his body against hers. Why did it take this long to finally get to this point? Right when he would have to leave?

She felt him rest his cheek on top of her head and she wondered if she felt as perfect to him as he felt to her. When he spoke, she thought maybe she felt the rumble of his voice before she heard it.

"I'm not who you need."

"You don't know that," she said quietly.

He lifted his head but did not step away. Instead, he cupped her face with his free hand and lowered his mouth to kiss her. It was such a sweet, beautiful kiss that it stole the breath from her chest. She slipped an arm around his neck and tried to get him to deepen the kiss, but he did not. Instead, he broke contact and lifted his head, brushing her hair off of her cheek.

"Good bye, Aria," he said. He searched her face, for what she did not know, then stepped back and completely broke contact with her.

"Bye, Nick," she said in a whisper.

Without another word, he turned and walked away. She watched him walk all the way out of her field of vision without so much as a backward glance.

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