11. Breathe!

Nicole moaned lowly as the taste of mint invaded her mouth. Alexander held her face and kissed her desperately. He bit her lower lip softly; she moaned again just as he used his tongue to caress the place he had bitten.

He was teasing her and it was working. She wanted...no, needed more.

She pressed herself against him wantonly and wrapped her legs around his waist. He took the invite, palmed her butt roughly, then hoisted her up and placed her on the kitchen counter.

The kiss deepened, his tongue stroked hers and she moaned. She could feel a bit of wetness in between her legs and couldn't think about anything else except how good he tasted.

His mouth was so warm and inviting...

"Um...sorry to interrupt boss, but Violet is back."

At the sound of Trevor's voice, Nicole pushed Alexander back in a hurry and jumped off the counter. She quickly covered her face with her hair to hide the blush forming on her cheeks - thank goodness she had let her hair down.

Alexander spoke after a second, "Where is she?" He was quite out of breath like she was - she could tell from the way his chest heaved slightly.

"Sitting room." Trevor answered casually like he hadn't just caught his boss making out with his employee.

Alexander left her side and she looked up to see him leaving with Trevor. She tried to catch her breath after they left. She was embarrassed they had been caught but still, she found herself licking her lower lip for that remaining taste of mint.

Nicole finally found courage and came out of the kitchen. She held her popcorn in hand - it smelt like a burnt mess, but it wasn't entirely uneatable. She had bidded her time by cleaning the microwave which still smelt a little bit like burnt popcorn.

"Popcorn!" Violet signed, her eyes widened in excitement when she saw her approaching.

Nicole smiled and dropped it on the table before signing to her, "It's burnt, I'm sorry."

The little angel didn't mind and just delved into the popcorn. Nicole knew Trevor had made her wash her hands already so she didn't mind it.

She intentionally avoided Alexander's eyes.

"Violet, come on... let's go change you out of your uniform first..." She said as she stretched her hand. She had to get away from him or with the way he looked at her, she would end up taking him back to the kitchen and they would finish what he started.

Violet stopped eating and nodded. She held Nicole's outstretched hand with her less messy hand and without glancing back at him, Nicole took her and they both walked away from Alexander's piercing stare.

Right till she left, Alexander didn't speak about the kiss and she was very grateful for that. She wasn't ready to face it just yet.

She got home and lazied about until Theo called her and asked if he could come over. She agreed and here he was in the cool evening, sitting down beside her on the couch as they watched Men In Black II. There was pizza, which he had brought along with him, and two bottles of chilled beer on the table.

She had just finished narrating to him what had happened between her and Alexander that morning.

"You said he kissed you..." Theo pointed out.

She nodded in response.

"After confessing to you that he has always liked you and still likes you?"

She nodded again.

"Hmmm, tough." He said thoughtfully while munching on a slice of pizza. "But really though, who likes a girl and bullies her at the same time?"

"I couldn't even think at that moment. He just kissed me and every reasonable thought flew off my head."

"And moreover, he told me he had a stupid father who taught him to disrespect women." She continued.

"So, you felt it was not his fault...is that why you kissed him back?" Theo asked.

She sighed, "I didn't feel like it wasn't his fault...I don't know, Theo."

"You sure you don't? Or you don't want to admit it?" He pointed out with raised eyebrows.

"Admit what?"

"That you've had a crush on him since high school too."

Nicole looked at him in surprise, "No Theo, I hate him." She pointed out.

Theo chuckled and shook his head, "No, you don't...that is just what you tell yourself."

He sat up and turned to face her, "Okay look, remember that math test we wrote in school one time, and you helped Roth despite how strict the invigilation was? That was when I knew you liked that guy and it didn't make sense to me because he was such a big bully! Like, of all boys, Alexander? You risked expulsion so you could help him get his grades up! You knew he was going to get kicked out of the football team for bad grades."

She remembered the scene in bits. Principal Darlington had been so strict with his invigilation that it was a miracle she wasn't caught helping Alexander. The rule for the test had been, "No malpractice or risk expulsion!" and they were serious about it due to the high rate of cheating during tests in the school. She was at an even bigger risk because Alexander was the school's starboy and could maneuver his way out of any problem.

She had gone to the extent of switching seats with a random classmate so she could be closer to him. For a slight moment, Alexander had been surprised at her willingness to help him because he never asked her to. He had been withdrawn from school for a while due to the news of his conditional withdrawal from the football team.

Usually, she threw a fit when he demanded things of her but that day, she had gone out of her way to provide answers to the math test questions for him, all on her own discretion! Unfortunately, at the end of it all was when he did the worse and made her break-up with her bestfriend.

She wouldn't admit it though, "That is so not true. He was a douchebag and would have made me pay if I didn't do it."

"Just admit it, Nicole, you felt sorry for him. Alexander didn't talk to his friends or even attempt to bully you for a week and you were worried about him."

"You're talking nonsense, Theo." She said bluntly.

"Think about it, you thickheaded bull. You were worried and when you found out he was sad because his coach threatened to remove him from the team if he didn't get his grades up, you risked malpractice to help him out!" Theo exclaimed amusedly.

She was about to say something smart when her phone rang.

"Bullshit." She mouthed to him just as she picked up the call without checking the ID.

"Hello?"

There was labored breathing at the other end, then: "Nicole! You have to start coming to the hospital now, it's Nicholas!"

It was Darcy and she sounded in a hurry.

"Darcy...Darcy...what happened?" She asked in panic. Her hands trembled and she felt like the phone would fall off her ears due to her inability to keep them stable.

"Just come quickly!" Darcy said and hung up on her.

Theo got up in concern, "Hey, what happened?"

Nicole suddenly couldn't breathe and quickly pushed her phone in his hands so it wouldn't fall and crack. She wheezed desperately, trying to gasp for breath. Her eyeballs felt like they would roll into her head.

"Nicole! Nicole, breathe! Breathe for me, baby girl..." He was frightened and tried holding her up so she wouldn't fall to the floor.

She couldn't remember the last time she had a panic attack. It had been years; they had stopped coming after college. She tried to calm down and breathe slowly like she usually did anytime she had one.

In...out...in...out...in...out...

She could feel herself calming down, "I'm okay." She told Theo who slowly released her till she no longer trembled.

"What happened?" He asked calmly.

"I need to go to the hospital now, something happened to Nicholas." She told him in a rush.

"Calm down, okay? He is fine. Come on, I will drive you." He said. She nodded as he picked up his car keys. She leaned against him for support as they both walked to his car which was parked outside.

God, if you're up there, please let him be okay; she prayed silently.