Fire on Ice

Part 28

Nora POV

"I knew it!" My mom points at me accusingly. "I knew there was something going on with that boy!" I can't help but laugh along with her.

"I can't believe my Nori Noor finally has a boyfriend." She says teasingly.

I roll my eyes playfully, "Thanks mom."

After a couple more minutes of laughter, we settle down, "So you're sure you're not overworking yourself?" My mom's playful expression is replaced with worry in almost an instant. "Mom, trust me. I'm doing great. My routine with Nikolas is getting really good and I've been able to get some extra shifts at the café, so I have been on top of the bills this month." This eases her worry a bit as she relaxes back into her bed.

I place my hand on hers, "I'm going to win at the NIDC. And I'm going to use the money to help us. Just you wait."

"Nora," my mom's voice goes down to almost a whisper as she places her other hand on top of mine, "I love that you care, but the money is not what I need the most. I need you to be happy, to stop worrying for just a minute and breathe."

"But I need you." I manage holding back tears.

"I know," she smiles, "but, you're going to have to let go eventually." At this point I can barely see through the tears in my eyes. It takes all the strength in the world for me not to let a tear drop. I don't want to let her see me too upset because then that will upset her.

"I love you, Nora." She says with a sad smile as she places her hand on my cheek

*********

Nikolas POV

Nora has not been answering her phone. It's Saturday and it's 12 pm. I know she visits her mom at 8 am on Saturday mornings, but she should usually be done by now, because she's not allowed to visit for more than 2 hours.

Also, we're supposed to meet up at the rink in 2 hours to start practicing. Since 10 am I've called and texted her some 6 different times but all I'm getting is radio silence.

I have a feeling it has to do with her mom. I don't know if I should give her some space and wait for her to text me, or if I should do what I am more inclined to do, and drive around all of San Francisco until I find her.

But I'm her boyfriend now. And it's my job to make sure she's okay, so I get into my car and head to the café. She usually picks up shifts any spare time she gets.

When I walk in I ask the lady at the register if Nora's there, "Hmm, no. She hasn't called in today. She usually does, but..." I waste no time and I am already at the door after saying a quick thank you.

Next, I decide to check the rink, but she is also not there. I'm starting to get even more worried, but there is still one more place I can think of to check, her apartment. I practically run every red light on my way there. I'm surprised I didn't get pulled over.

I took note of her apartment number from last time so I park my car and head straight to her floor. "Nora, open up." I bang on the door. I put my ear on her door and hear some shuffling in the apartment. I raise my fist and am about to bang again when a short figure suddenly props the door open a bit. I see her big green eyes looking up at me and my stomach drops to see that they're red, and I'm pretty sure it's from crying.

"Hey, baby" I soften my voice as I gently push the door open, "what's wr—" I blink and she's suddenly wrapped around me. The top of her head just hitting my chest and her arms grabbing a handful of the back of my hoodie. I wrap my arms around her as I move us forward and close the door. "Hey, hey, hey" I place my hand on the back of her head and rub her hair, a movement so endearing yet it came so naturally that it surprised even me. She's still holding on tight, but thankfully I don't think she's crying. "What's wrong?" I repeat while maintaining our embrace. She's silent for a few seconds before she responds, "It's my mom." That's what I thought, but it's not a good feeling knowing I was right. "Do you want to talk about it?" More silence. "No."