Part 19

                                    

                                          
Megan cried on Nick's shoulder until his shirt was soaked. 
For a long time, countless emotions had been building up inside her, not only those concerning her mother but in general - the cases they were currently working on, Dean and of course everything about Nick.
She didn't really know how to deal with the situation, for months she hadn't been able to stand him, she would have liked it best if he had decided to just move away and now? Now he holds her tightly in his arms and he' the person she feels safe with.
"I'm sorry. I..I don't know what came over me," she was sobbing as she looked at him with her puffy teary eyes.
"Don't apologize for something like that Buttercup. It's alright," with his thumb he wiped away the last scattered tear that was making it''s way down her cheeks, smiling gently at her.
When Megan had finally let go of him and wiped her nose to get a decent breath of air again, Nick got up and went into the adjoining bathroom.
He searched the bathroom shelf for the samples that are provided in every hotel and found what he was looking for.
A small black bottle with a white label that told him it was a vanilla-scented bath additive.
Megan could hear the water splashing into the bathtub in the room and curiously stood in the doorway to watch Nick.
Slowly, the free-standing black bathtub filled and the hot stream of water formed a thick foam with bubbles that reflected all colors in the light. 
Nick didn't notice that Megan was watching him scurrying around the bathroom, lighting candles in all corners.
After the events of the last months and after he had noticed again and again that Megan was stressed and something seemed to be bothering her, which is why she never dropped her facade, he wanted to do something good for her.
He wanted her to be able to relax for at least 30 minutes and not have to think about anything.
The hot bath would clear her head and relax her muscles, making her more productive at work, but of course that was not the only intention behind it.
Even though he didn't know why or how it had come to this, he liked Megan and he wanted her to be okay.
Slowly but surely his personified nightmare, even if he would fight against it, earned a small place in his heart.
It was not possible to speak of friendship or even love, but she belonged to the people in his life, whom he didn't want to hurt and to whom nothing was allowed to happen in his presence and under his protection.
" What's it going to be when it's done?"
"W-what?", Nick flinched when he heard Megan's voice behind him and it made him uncomfortable to know that she had been watching him preparing the bath, humming to himself.
Megan had to laugh at the startled look on Nick's face and walked up to him. "What's it going to be when it's done, I asked, old man."
"Well, I don't know if you know it but it's called a 'bathtub', you know where you put water in, relax and get clean by the way," he returned sarcastically with a smile.
"Yeah then have fun, I'm going to sit back down in front of the computer."
Megan was about to leave the bathroom again when she felt Nick's hand wrap around her stomach. "The bathtub is for you silly. Now don't be such a baby and hop in the tub."
"Ok.", Megan replied, leaning back for a brief moment to feel his muscular body.
She had to admit, she was enjoying his closeness a little more than she wanted to but she blamed it on her hormones and the natural urges that came with them.