ESCAPE [Completed] (NOT EDITED)

Chapter Fifteen

It was Nina's birthday today. October 29th. Lincoln, Kade and I were in the kitchen cooking dinner for later tonight. Nina had specifically told us that she didn't want any big celebrations. She just wanted a small dinner with her family and closest friends. I understood where she was coming from. The whole clubbing thing and having big parties to celebrate a day of birth got old after a while. Nina turned twenty-four today. Kade dropped her off at her mom's earlier. Nina whined about us fussing over making a special dinner for her and she was refusing to leave. I didn't know what Kade had whispered to her after but she blushed and then got into his car without another word. I could only guess it was something very explicit.

It was a Sunday. Lincoln had spent the night before at mine and Nina's apartment. I liked having him over and Nina didn't mind. Kade and Lincoln had also become quite close , since I started dating Lincoln. Their bro-mance was fun to watch and I was glad that Kade and Nina approved of him.

Two weeks had passed, post the 'I love you' slip up from me. How embarrassing was that? I didn't mean for it to come out. I thought about it for a while, after and convinced myself I meant nothing by it and it was just a mistake. I mean, this thing between us was still brand new and my emotions were all over the place since the Damian incident. An uneasy feeling suddenly sat in the pit of my stomach. I hadn't thought of him in a while. My nightmares were becoming less frequent lately which I was thankful for but in the back of my mind, I couldn't get rid of the thoughts that Damian was still not ridden from my life completely.

"What are you thinking about, babe?" Lincoln's voice drew me out of my mind and I jumped when his hands settled on my hips causing the knife in my hand to fall on my index finger instead of the spring onions I was chopping.

"Shit!" I gasped, letting the knife go and grabbing my finger with the other hand. Lincoln immediately whizzed me around to face him and took my finger in his grasp.

"Christ, Ava. I'm sorry." He apologised, studying the cut. Lincoln pulled my finger up to his mouth and then sucked on the spot of blood that had managed to seep out. I watched him carefully as he moved my finger away from his lips and studied the cut again. "It's not too big of cut, luckily."

"Here." Kade was by our side in the next second handing Lincoln a band aid.

"Thanks, man." Lincoln tugged me towards the sink and then ran my finger under the tap before covering the minor injury with the band aid. "Are you alright?" Lincoln asked, brushing my fringe to side.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"I thought you heard me coming up behind you. I'm sorry."

"It's just a tiny cut, Linc. I'm good." I assured him.

"What were you thinking about so hard over there?" Lincoln questioned with a small frown on his face.

"Nothing important." I shrugged and turned back towards the chopping board. Lincoln stopped me when I reached out for the knife.

"I'll finish that for you." I started to protest but stopped myself because I knew Lincoln was as stubborn as me and wouldn't change his mind. Nodding, I silently moved over to the side. "Are you sure you're okay?" I sighed and reassured him that I was fine. Lincoln looked at me skeptically but he let it go.

Two hours later, the whole apartment was filled with mouth-watering aromas. I would have liked to have taken credit for the spread of delicious looking food on the dining table but it was mostly Lincoln's doing. His brain had conjured up a variety of dishes and Kade and I had followed his orders to help him make them.

"Damn." Kade whistled as he placed the steamed vegetables onto the table. "This looks fucking restaurant worthy. Good job man." He praised, slapping Lincoln on his shoulder.