Catching Faith

Chapter Eight: Respite

"Mackenzie! I'm home!"

Nick opened the door and walked back to his car, opening the trunk to carry the groceries in. Mackenzie appeared a few seconds later.

"Hi. I woke up and you were gone already."

"Yeah, I wanted to get our shopping done early," Nick said, Mac, following him into the house, both carrying groceries.

"At 6 am?"

Nick didn't answer as he opened the cabinet, putting the cans away.

"Babe, I feel like there's something you're not telling me. You've been weird these past few days, weeks even. What's bothering you?"

"I'm fine, Mac," Nick said, standing up and shutting the cabinet. He went to walk away but Mac grabbed his arm. She didn't say anything, just hugged him and Nick melted into her.

All the stress of his sister, Jake, the world they lived in now, and planning the wedding even though it was the best time in his life, it was stressing him out. 

He hadn't realized he was crying until Mackenzie started gently rubbing his back, a thing she had been doing since they started dating. She knew it always calmed him down.

"Oh, Nick. It's okay. It's gonna be okay. Talk to me," she said, leading him to sit down at the kitchen table. Nick put his head on the table, sighing as he leaned into Mackenzie.

"What a fiancé I am," he said. "I should be comforting you... not the other way around."

"Nick, that's... not true and you know it. We both have to be there for each other. It doesn't matter who's comforting who as long as it happens, okay? I love you."

"I love you too," Nick said, kissing her. "Everything might just be alright," he thought, smiling at his beautiful girl.

But Nick didn't know how bad things were about to get...

Jake woke up to the sound of his dog scratching at the door and the faint smell of coffee downstairs he rolled over, a sleepy smile on his face until he realized how he felt. He felt even worse than yesterday if that was possible. He heard feet on the stairs and rolled over, his back to the door.

"Jake? 'You awake?"

"Barely," Jake mumbled.

"You okay, babe? You sound awful," Riley said, putting her coffee cup on the night table, putting her hand on Jake's forehead. "No fever so that's good."

"I'm fine, Riley. You better go so you don't get sick too," Jake said, his eyes closing out of fatigue.

"I don't want to leave you like this," Riley said, running her hand through Jake's messy brown hair.

"I'm fine, hun. Really. Or I will be after some sleep."

Riley slowed her hand in his hair and that was all Jake remembered before he fell back asleep.

Meanwhile, Nick was woken up the same way, feeling a lot more refreshed after a night's sleep. His problems were still present but he had a feeling he could handle it with Jake and his beautiful fiancée by his side. Speaking of his best friend, he had spoken with Jake earlier and he said he was feeling better and he wanted to chat. Nick took a glance at his clock. It was still early, 7 am early, but Nick knew Jake would be up.

Nick hated early mornings but if they were being used to check on Jake, he would wake up any time.

Nick gently rolled out of bed, stopping stealthily when Mac stirred and relaxing when she rolled over and her breathing evened. He unplugged his computer and walked down the stairs, quietly shutting the door to his office, turning on his laptop. It was only a few moments before Jake popped onto the screen.