Until Tomorrow

Chapter 2

Nick was having a good day, until he met Danya. It wasn’t Danya himself that made it bad, it was the fact that he was incredibly good-looking and saved his life. Nick’s face felt warm every time he thought about it. It was completely stupid; he had been standing on the dock watching the boats and jet skis go by when a big wave hit, causing the dock give way--it wasn’t that sturdy in the first place-- and he fell in. He didn’t know how to swim and nearly drowned. He was thankful that Danya had been there and saved his life and yet he was mortified at the same time. Danya had kissed him-okay not really; he had administered CPR, which had been the thing that had saved his life, but he wasn’t complaining. He had wanted to do nothing more than slink off to his home and curl up in a ball, but Kai had insisted that he be taken to his house and his clothes dried and repaired; Danya had ripped his shirt open to save his life. He hated being fussed over by a complete stranger. To make matters worse, Kai had insisted that he walk him home and ended up meeting his parents. It was hard to keep the accident a secret from them so now, after Kai had left, they were fussing over him.

“I’m fine,” he kept saying. They finally let him go up to bed where he put on his warmest pajamas and covered himself up in bed. There was a knock on the door, but he ignored it. A few seconds later, it opened and there were quiet footsteps.

“Nick?” he heard his father Jake ask, but he didn’t answer. The footsteps came closer. “Nick, I know you. You’re not sleeping.” Nick sighed softly and rolled on his back. “Are you okay?”

“I’m…” he couldn’t say the word fine.

“Do you want to tell me what’s on your mind?”

Nick sighed softly. “It’s just that…I looked like a real idiot today. It seems like I’m always messing up everything, in one way or another.”

“That isn’t true. You just have a…certain knack for finding trouble…or, I should say that trouble has a certain knack for finding you?” Nick smiled one of his rare smiles. “Now get some sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow.” Jake gently kissed his forehead and left. Nick closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

He woke up the next morning when Blake jumped on his bed.

“Wake up Nick!” he cried.

Nick groaned softly and opened his eyes.

“What’s going on?” he asked groggily.

“Papa says it’s time to get up! We have stuff to do today!”

Nick groaned again and tried to push the seven year-old off.

“Come on!” Blake persisted.

“All right. All right. I’m up.” But Blake would not leave until Nick was out of bed. Yawning slightly, he pulled on his clothes and went into the kitchen, which was already alive with movement.

“Glad to see you’re awake,” his father, Kalil said. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” Nick said uncomfortably, turning away. He busied himself with making breakfast and somehow found room at the crowded table.

“All right, here’s the plan for today,” Jake said once all the dishes had been cleared away. “We’re going to start remodeling the basement. Amee, you and Nick are in charge of Blake and Ruth; make sure they’re occupied, all right?” Amee and Nick nodded silently. The adults left for the basement.

“So what do you guys want to do today?” Amee asked Blake and Ruth.

“Swim!” Both of them answered at once.

“Well…I suppose that’s all right,” Amee said slowly. “As long as we’re careful…and stay off the dock. Let me make sure dad’s okay with it first.” And without further ado, she vanished into the basement. She returned several minutes later. “Yeah, it’s all right as long as we don’t go out on the dock.” Blake and Ruth cheered. “Why don’t you guys go and put your suits on while Nick and I get some stuff to bring with us?” Blake and Ruth nodded and rushed off. Amee turned to Nick. “I’d better and go help Ruth put on her bathing suit.” She rolled her eyes and set off after the little girl. Chuckling softly, Nick began to gather things he and Amee would need to baby-sit Ruth and Blake.

--

Danya was sitting down at the lake staring moodily at the water when he heard a loud commotion. He looked up in time to see a group of children coming down the path next door. Three of the four kids were in bathing suits. The two youngest kids ran down the path.

“Ruth, Blake wait! Don’t run!” the older girl protested, hurrying after the two young ones.

“Amee wait!” a male voice protested. It belonged to Nick. He was the only one not wearing a bathing suit. His arms were full of beach towels, sunscreen, and other assorted things. Somehow, he managed to get it all down to the shore with dropping anything. He put it all on the broken down bench that sat a couple feet from the water.
“Come here Blake and put some sunscreen on. You too Ruth,” he ordered. Danya was surprised to see the kids obediently run over and wait while Nick slathered sunscreen all over their bodies. The other girls put life jackets on them and the three of them went in the water. Nick did not join them for some reason. Danya had a sneaking suspicion of why. Instead, Nick sat on the broken down bench next to all the stuff with a thick book. After a few moments, Nick buried his nose in it. Danya looked away for a few moments. He stared at the water before glancing at Nick again. The blond-haired boy was staring at him. Realizing that he was caught, Nick blushed and turned away. He buried his nose back in the book, but he didn’t keep it there for long. He glanced at Danya again, who caught him but didn’t mind. He liked the glances the boy was giving him. Nick’s lips curled up into a smile. Danya returned the smile. The two of them exchanged glances all day and Danya got more and more comfortable thinking about him.

To be continued…

A/N: Yeah this chapter was rather short. I apologize. It’s sort of a filler chapter. The next chapter is a very important one. It’s when things really heat up, both figuratively and literally. The beginning was the same as the original version but the rest is completely different. I put things in Danya’s perspective because I thought it worked well. And the events are not the same. It’s very important for the next chapter. Please review!