Love & Loss

Chapter 20

Nico's POV:

It was long past midnight and Khloe still wasn't asleep.

I realized a while ago that I had gained a habit of waiting for her to fall asleep before I did, and I knew that she had no problems falling asleep when she was with me.

Except for a couple of nights like this one, when she had some pressing matter or question in her mind that she usually brought up the next day.

Although this one seemed to be consuming her thoughts at the moment.

I could feel her fingers fidgeting against my shirt and the frequent curling and uncurling of her toes.

Not to mention the occasional deep breaths she would exhale.

I'll admit I was curious about what the topic of her thoughts was.

None of the ones prior made her this antsy.

I gently trailed the hand that I held against her down her back, silently letting her know that I was awake; hoping that maybe she would just get it out of her system now.

My movement surprised her, her body growing stiff against mine.

I guess she thought I was asleep. Or that she woke me up.

I pulled her tight against me, placing my head on hers and breathing in her scent.

Kissing the top of her head, I spoke.

"Talk to me, sweetheart."

She was silent for a moment, her head lifting to meet eyes with me.

"About what?"

"Whatever's on your mind right now. Whatever's bothering you enough to keep you awake."

I could see the blush appear on her face after I spoke.

"How did you-" she cut herself off, biting the inside of her bottom lip.

I grinned at the surprise from my accuracy that she had. As well as the embarrassment that was now prominent on her features.

It made me ever more curious about what it was she was thinking about.

"I'm more observant than you might think," Is all I said.

She crossed one of her arms, rubbing her upper arm.

"It's nothing, it's just... embarrassing," she mumbled.

I had figured out that practically everything she thought was embarrassing, I thought was cute, so her words didn't sway me much.

"Does it have to do with me?" I asked.

She waited a moment before speaking.

"Yes," She said reluctantly, and so quietly that I almost didn't hear it.

Something embarrassing that had to do with me?

Well, now my curiosity was at an all-time high.

I pushed myself up onto my elbow using my other hand to tuck away the hair that was hiding her face.

"Were you going to bring it up eventually?"

Her lips pulled to the side, her face deepening even more in color.

"Yeah... at some point," she replied.

"Alright, well then why not just do it now and get it over with?" I offered. "If it's something that you're worried about, let me hear it and I'll do everything in my power to fix it."