Give It A Shot

Amber Moore sat up in her seat as she abruptly heard the front door open, followed by a sharp slam. She got to her feet and quickly rushed over, finding her daughter red-faced, wiping her eyes and sniffing. "Nikki, honey, what happened? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, mom," Nicole blew out a long, skipping exhale before forcing on a smile, "I'm okay. I'm probably going to call Gwen or Devin and go hang out in a little bit. Sorry for crashing in," Nicole had just about mastered the art of pretending to be happy, but even she had her limits; tricking Amber was the biggest.

As she attempted to walk by her mother, she was met with a gentle hold on her hand, "You hold on; I don't want you going anywhere until you talk to me. What happened, honey? I haven't seen you like this in..." Amber sullenly thought back to the last time her daughter showed any true genuine hurt, and it was with the loss of her father, "Please, hon, tell me what's going on,"

"I'm fine, mom, okay?! Just leave me alone!" Nicole abruptly screamed back, but Amber wasn't fazed in the slightest, holding steadfast as she looked down at her daughter,

"Is it that young man...Kenny?" Nicole squeezed her eyes shut, "Oh honey," Amber softly exhaled, pulling her daughter into an embrace, "I'm so sorry, Nicole; I genuinely felt he had feelings for you. Everything seemed to be right; I know how much you cared for him," Amber rubbed her daughter's back as she let out a sob, "But just because Kenny couldn't like you for who you are doesn't mean another nice man won't. You have everything to offer someone."

Nicole sniffed a few quick times, swallowing down her sadness, and pulled out of the hug. Her eyes were full of shame, "No, mom, that's not what happened. Kenny, he -- He did want me. And I pushed him away," Nicole's whole body trembled, and she tightened her hands into fists, "I fucking pushed him away, mom!" The redhead stomped her foot in disgust,

"What?" Amber tilted her head, "Honey, why did you push him away? You told me before that he was different, that he meant something to you,"

"He does," Nicole shook her head, exhaling in defeat, "He really does, mom,"

"Then baby, why? What scared you?"

"That he meant something!" Nicole finally blurted, the weight of the world coming off her shoulders at the very same moment, "I can't...I can't do it. I can't have something like that, mom. The moment I do, that's the same moment that I could lose it all...like how you lost it with dad. I don't want to go through it again, to be so sad it makes me sick and so lonely that I wish I never even knew him in the first place. I can't mom, I --"

"Nicole," Amber cut her daughter off in a tender but serious tone. She cupped either side of her face, forcing her daughter to look up at her, "You need to listen to me. What happened with your father...it was unfair. It was cruel. And I know...I know, baby, that it hurt you more than anything else in this world. But Kenny, he's not your father." Amber gave a bittersweet half-smile as her eyes turned a bit misty, "There were so many days, Nikki, so many, that I woke up in the worst pain of my life. My heart was in a million pieces, and I felt like it'd never get better. I hated that William had left us, had left me, and what's worse is I knew he didn't choose to. I felt robbed, and yes, you're right, some days I wished I had never even met him. So I didn't have to experience that hurt any longer."

Nicole's lower lip trembled, and her body was shivering, "But honey," Amber gave a full, heartfelt smile, "The love I experienced with your father was something I'd never trade for anything in the world. All that hurt, all those terrible days, it was all worth it to have those days with him. I don't focus on the pain anymore, only on the memories I had with him. And every time I look at you," Amber gently stroked her daughter's cheek, "I remember that he gave me the most important thing to me in my life. I know the idea of losing someone that means so much is the most terrifying thought in the world, baby, but..." Amber let out a soft exhale, "You can't let that fear ruin the rest of your life. It'll rob you of the only real happiness you'll experience in your life,"

The words hit Nicole and let a freight train, her whole body went from numb to crumbling piece by piece, and finally, a full genuine release of emotion overcame her, "Mom..." Her voice cracked, her eyes filled with tears, "I think I really fucked up," Nicole dove forward, slamming her body against Amber's while the mother could only hold her wailing daughter.

Twenty minutes later, Nicole was now in her bedroom; she was silently lying in her bed. For once, no music played, no movie or show absently played in the background; she merely sat in the dimly lit silence. She replayed the last moment she had with Kenny, how she kept throwing his words back at him, doing whatever she could even to hurt him. She lightly shook her head, scolding her actions each time they returned to the forefront of her mind while regret overflowed. Suddenly she heard the window behind her blackout curtain start to lift open, "Sonofabitch...this thing doesn't open as smooth as mine..." Nicole immediately sat up, her eyes widening as she saw a figure pressing against her current, attempting to climb in, "Shit!" With a hard tumble, the curtain was ripped right off the window, and Kenny came tumbling inside.

"Kenny?" Nicole quickly wiped her eyes and scooted forward. Her lips curled into a smile, and she let out a very welcome laugh as she watched him tussle with the curtain, fighting to get free from its wrapped uphold, "What the heck are you doing?"

Kenny let out a final few grunts tossing the black fabric aside. He jumped up and gave his hair two quick pats and a slick back before trying to put on his most charming smile, "Trying to sneak into your room to surprise you?"

"Yeah?" Nicole sniffed and climbed out of bed. She took a few steps towards the teen, crossing her arms and looking him over, "Well, it's working like a charm," Her teasing was returned with a toothy smile from the teen, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at BMU?"

"Because you came back to town," Kenny rubbed the back of his neck and gave his eyes a very slow roll, "Aaaaand I may have gotten into one hell of a screaming match with Juliet, Quinn, and Ellie over everything so the faster I got out of there, the better."

"Screaming match?" Nicole raised an eyebrow, "Um, you're Kenny Clark; you don't scream,"

"I do when I'm sticking up for the people I care about," Kenny sincerely replied before giving his head a quick shake, "But that's not the point of me being here. Nikki, please, we need to talk. Please, please, just hear me out." He held his breath, hoping Nicole wouldn't demand him to leave, but to his relief, the redhead gave a nod, "Thank you! Okay, uh -- Shit, you think I would have actually thought of something on that fucking ride over," He muttered under his breath. Nicole stayed silent, merely waiting and watching as the teen worked everything out in his head, a smitten smile resting on her lips, all the while, "Okay, Nikki, I know you're unsure about us. I know this is one hell of a huge fucking step to go from friends who were messing around to boyfriend and girlfriend. Hell, I don't even know how to be a boyfriend! I don't know a lot of things. But Nicole, the only thing I do know is I want to be with you. I've never been so sure of something in my life."

"I...I know, Kenny," Nicole softly agreed, "And I know I like you too. You were right; everything I said back at the university was bullshit. So..." Nicole sucked in a long calming breath, "Let me be honest with you." Kenny gave a quick nod and stepped closer to the girl, "Kenny. I'm...fucking terrified to be with you. Because if I'm with you...then I can lose you. And I don't think I can handle that,"

"Nikki, you wouldn't lose me," Kenny warmly assured, "The only thing that could make me go away right now is," He let out a short half-laugh, "Well, you,"

"But you can't know that forever. We don't know what could happen. I told you before, and I'll say it again, I don't want to risk losing you as a friend, even if that means this is all we'll ever be,"

Kenny reached out, cupping Nicole's cheek, "I can't, Nicole; I can't let this be all we are," He denied, "I can't because I already know that we're more than that. You're right; I can't promise you what will happen in the future, but can't we...give it a shot? Please? Can you try; for me?" Nicole reached up, taking Kenny's hand in hers and keeping it pressed against her cheek.

Her stomach twisted into nervous knots, but a gleaming smile fought its way into control, "Okay," She whispered with a shaky voice, "I'll try." Kenny let out a bursting exhale and dove forward, jamming his lips against Nicole's, the pair sharing a deep fervent kiss.

Nicole's arms wrapped around Kenny, pulling him in tight, and their kiss began to turn deeper. However, before it could progress anywhere, the two both knew it was going; the bedroom door opened, "Nikki, honey, I was going to make -- Oh! Kenny!" Amber exclaimed as the two-lipped-locked teens quickly broke away.

"H-Hey, Ms.Moore," Kenny awkwardly waved to the mother while taking a quick step away from Nicole, who let out a sheepish huff, tucking her thumbs into the hem of her jeans,

"I don't remember letting you in this time," Amber noted with a small smile. Kenny nervously chuckle and glanced over to Nicole's window, "I take it this means he's staying for the night?"

"Mom," Nicole scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Come on, geez,"

"Yes," Kenny surprisingly answered, "I-If that's alright with you,"

Amber warmly smiled back, "I'll set another plate for dinner," With that, the single mother turned around, happily walking off while Kenny turned back to Nicole,

"You've really done it now," Nicole sighed with a shake of her head, "The rest of that kiss is to be continued until later," Nicole motioned to the door, "C'mon, she's gonna have questions for you,"

"Oh great, I'm totally prepared for this," Kenny sarcastically returned as he and Nicole left her bedroom, but as they entered the hallway, he found Nicole's hand reaching over, wrapping tightly around his.