IRIS Pov
We left the hospital and as we got to the car my phone rang , i look up at Bella and she asks "who is it ?" And i proceeded to tell her it was Alex oh by the way Alex is my boyfriend of 5 years , i started dating him before my sister and her husband passed . Bella just nodded and i picked up "hey mylove he said to me" and I replied "hey love what's up ?" He began to tell me about Nicolai party and that if me and Bella was going .I said yes knowing full well i would have to force Bella to go , i told him "i love him " and hung up we got in the car and i drove Bella to work in an awkward silence.She works at the only fancy cafe in our town called the hang out, it's a nice place . Well we're here i tell her and she nods and says thank you , i give her a look wondering if I should ask her if she feels ok to work considering the news we got today but i know her all too well , she will just say she's ok and not to worry like she always does. I sigh and just say have a good day, she waves and goes inside.
Im off to start planning her 18th birthday but ima call Sandy so she can help me, her birthday is September 15th so i wanna do something she's been through so much that i just want to do something nice for her even though she doesn't really care about parties.
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Nicolai Pov
So my mom received a call from Iris asking if she would help her plan Bella 18th birthday party and of course my mom says yes .
My mom lives for that sort of stuff . My mom gets off the phone and I couldn't help but ask when is bella birthday and my mom smiles and says September 15th and winks at me .
I shake my head and she walks off to head out to meet Iris.
Today is my welcome home party ,i hope Bella comes .
Untill then I'm just going to relax with my dog Baxter he's a german shepherd and he doesn't like everyone he hated tilly my ex .
I go to the fridge and grab a beer and sit on the couch and baxter jumps up and joins me on the couch.
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Bella Pov
My aunt dropped me off at work and if I'm being honest it was the best place to be after getting the news i got .This cafe is almost always busy.
So it's the perfect place to get my mind off things . I walk in and I'm greeted by Oliver he's the owner son he's always here when i work but doesn't help out "hey Bella you look beautiful " i shake my head and say "hey,thanks Oliver " with a serious face and walk to the back to clock in and get my red apron with my name tag and go to the register to relieve maxi so she can get her break ,"go for your break maxi i got it from here "
she smiles and says "thank you Bella" i just nod at her .
she walks to the other side of the register and i ask "what would you like ?"
She begins to tell me her order " I'll have a bacon ,egg and cheese on a onion bagel with a large caramel frappe " i nod punch it all in and put it out , our boss gives us free food for our break .
Maxi grabs her stuff and sits in the table outside saying hi to all the people she knows as she makes way to her table.
I continue to take orders and hand them out , it's so busy I didn't realize the time it's now 3 pm and my boss tells me to eat something and that i can go home since he's closing early today , i nod and just clock out and head home , I'll eat at home .
Once i get home my aunt greets me all dressed up and hair done beautiful as always and then Alex my aunts boyfriend greets me "hey Bells how was work ?" I hug my aunt and then turn to Alex and give him a weak smile and say busy but ok , thank you for asking ".
My aunt says "hey get dressed something nice we going out " i look at her and say "where to ?"
She just says "get dressed " .
I don't fight her cause im too tired to.
So i nod ok and go put a nice but simple button down red shirt with my black leggings and black shoes , i wash my face attempting to wash away my tiredness .
I look my self in the mirror and see my dad , gosh do i miss him . Welp let's get the rest of this day over with .
I head downstairs and my aunt and alex are already at the door ready to go , so we all start walking a little bit till we stop in front of our neighbors house , Sandy house my aunt and alex look and me and say "come on only for a bit please " i nod ok and we go in .
I'm not much of talker , I rather be with animals than people .
As we walk in to the house sandy welcomes us and i say hi and ask where baxter is ?
Sandy smiles and says he's out back so i head out back .
Soon as i do baxter runs over to me and knocks me down and licks my face , i smile wide a genuine smile as i rub his head and say you missed me that much huh ?
He moves and sit aside so i can get up .
As I'm about to stand a deep but smooth voice says sorry about that he's normally not excited to see people and helps me up.
I didn't look up all i did was grab the hand that was extended to me, once I'm standing i fix my shirt and smile at baxter and say it's ok he's always done this to me I'm usto it , then i rub baxter and turn to see who helped me.
To my surprise it was Nicolai, he was looking at me and baxter with a smile ,
i say thank you for the hand and he tries to say something but before he could i walk away and baxter follows me .
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Nicolai pov
I haven't seen bella but it's still early and people are now starting to show , as i was thinking this i see her at the back door about to come out back then out of nowhere baxter runs straight to her , in my head I thought he was going to bite her , to my surprise he jumped up and knocked her down and started licking her face .
For the very first time i see bella genuinely smile , her smile lit up the room cause everyone around stoped to look at her but she didn't notice her only focus was my dog that i had since high school .
How is he so sweet to her did i miss something I've only been gone for 4 years , i shake my head and go to help her up and say sorry to her about baxter that he normally not excited to see people.
As i extended my hand she grabbed it, I honestly thought she would look at me but instead she smiled widely at baxter and said
Its ok he's always done this to me I'm usto it.
She then rubs baxter im standing looking and them with a smile Her smile is so contagious and finally she turns to face me as she realizes it's me , she says thank you for the hand and as i was about to say something she walks away and baxter follows . Did my dog just leave me for her I thought to myself .
My mom and iris walks over to me and say yea baxter is her best friend , i look at them like did i think out loud but they laugh and say no but you're expression gave the question away , i ask how long have they been like this and my mom begins to explain that when i left to boot camp baxter would escape some times and that one day he escaped and almost got hit by a car bella saved him before the car could hit him.
I was shocked i looked at iris she was smiling weakly and i said to her wow i need to thank her for that her aunt smiled .
I walk around the house looking for her till i see the home library door slightly opened ,so I peeked and see bella reading to baxter his head on her lap as she strokes his fur , I knocked and went in and she looked up and said look i wanted to thank you for saving baxter four years ago when i left .
She told me sit down and so i did and she turned towards me still with baxter head on her lap and said look you don't need to thank me .
I cut her off and said yes i do no one would have done that risk their life for a dog that's someone else's,
she rolled her eyes and said let me finish .
I said "ok " she began to talk and say no need to thank me cause baxter saved me too , i looked at her with a questioning look and she told me i may have saved him but he also saved me in a way no one was able to. The day i saved him my anxiety was high ,some days i just can't stop reliving the accident and that day was one of those day .when i saved baxter he became an anchor to me like he knew when I needed him and he was there . So no need to thank me .
She smiled down at him and i said to her well whenever you want you can come hang out with him , she looked at me and said thank you I appreciate it .
She then looks like she's thinking i ask her what's she thinking about and she tells me you're the only person I've said this to im not a people person , i smile and say I'm honored to be a person she feels Comfortable talking to.
She gave baxter a kiss on the top of his nose and said well I'm going to go , i get up and say hey let's be friends , she nods and says we'll see .
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The end