The vanished

vi

As they ate their sandwiches, Nick thought about Skye. On the one hand, she practically saved his life. Not to be alone was so reassuring.

Skye was really pretty, too. Gorgeous brown eyes, that usually turn a shade of grey and hazel when she gets excited or sad, light and beautiful brownish hair, and a nice figure. Well this wasn't too bad, he grinned to himself, it could be a lot worse. Plus, she wasn't all stuck up and full of herself neither. Nick realized he really liked just talking with her.

Except . . . .

She was extremely needy. And she was terrified of being alone. Not like a 'scary movie' sort of fear. Her type of fear was like a....panic. She needed to be with him.

All the time.

So she'd been abandoned by her father, her mother didn't have a lot of time for her. Lots of kids have that happen.

This was more serious.

When he'd excuse himself to go to a bathroom or restroom or something, she would almost break down. He'd expect her to want to follow him and hold his hand, but she had at least realized that was overdoing it. But she had waited outside, breathing so hard she was hyperventilating, until he'd come out again. She'd had the same problem when it was her turn to go in.  She'd rushed as fast as she could.

"Skye", he said gently, as they picked through CDs in the store, "you have to relax a bit."

"Relax?" she asked, her eyes moving around crazily. "How can i relax? Nick, everybody in the world, maybe, but the two of us have vanished, and you want me to relax? Are you crazy?"

Nick wanted to reply: no. but you are. But he didn't. He knew it wouldn't go to well for him.

"I understand that," he said. "But we can't live in the edge of a loss of control forever. I promise to stay right with you if it's my power to do so. But I won't give you a promise that I might not be able to keep."

Skye gathered her strength, and nodded. "I understand, Nick. I really do. It's just that...." she paused, "you can't imagine how terrible it is to be all alone, and unwanted. I know I overdo it, but it's because I've never been showed love before. I can't help it. I panic."

"Yes, I kind of noticed that." He smiled gently at her. "So we'll just have to work on it, that's all. How are you doing with the music?"

Skye hands up a handful of CDs, "Pretty good, how about you?"

"The same. I guess they will keep us sane this afternoon. We could work our way through the whole store with time." He took a bag and filled it with as much packs and packs of batteries he could find. "Wouldn't want the power to run out on us."

They headed back to the Empire State Building and spent the rest of the afternoon there. Most of the time they were either in the lobby or exploring, and simply allowed the music to play on till they had to change it. Together, they found a crowbar I'm a closet, which made things simpler when they wanted to break into places. Try also came across a gun in the drawer of one of the offices. Skye looked at it.

"Maybe we should take it," she suggested.

"What for?" He asked puzzled. "There are no dangerous animals, and hardly any robbers left, even in New York."

She swallowed, "not everybody is as nice as you," she said softly. "Some of my moms boyfriends were......lets just say not really gentle."

Nick winced. I guess she really has been through bad things, he thought. Abusive boyfriends, too. No wonder she was a bit anxious. "I'd rather not carry it," he admitted. "I don't like the thought of having to hurt anyone."

"They may not feel the same way," Skye pointed out.

"Maybe not," he agreed, "but we don't even know it there are any other people around. If it's al the same to you, I'd choose not to shoot them."

After a moment, she nodded. "You have a point. But I'd feel a bit safer with a gun around."

"I wouldn't," he said firmly. "My cousin shot himself to death playing with one of those things. It's more dangerous to us than an actual person we can come across on."

"I'm sorry," Skye said quietly. She turned away, and he closed the drawer.

The afternoon went pretty well. They mostly sat and talked. The sun was getting low and the shadows had crept into the building now. "I think we'd better start out for the plaza," he suggested.

"We can come back here tomorrow morning and wait again, i-if that's okay with you." He suggested.

"Sounds good," Skye agreed. She turned off the music and then grinned. "I guess we can leave this where it is. Nobody's likely to steal it."

"True enough." Nick followed her lead, heading up Fifth Avenue toward Central Park. "Maybe we should do some shopping on the way. Dinner would be nice."

"Yes," Skye admitted. "But I hate having sandwiches all the time."

"We don't have to," Nick answered. "All we have to do is find somewhere that sells gas."

She looked surprised. "I never thought of that! We could heat up a grill and make some roasted goods!"

He chuckled, "Heh-heh, yeah."

They finally reached the plaza, and the stars were already peeking through.

They were finally ready to take a nap, and get energized for the next morning, hopefully.

"Wow, I should've moved to New York ages ago," he says, admiring the big plaza, gaping.

He turns his attention to Skye, who's just standing there, looking at him until he realizes that they need sleep.
He finally snaps out of the glorious trance.

"S-shall we?" He reaches out his hand and bows as if she is a princess going to a royal ball. They both laugh, and Nick follows her into the rooms with the comfortable mattresses. The bedrooms.

They finally reached the point where they see a big maze of plenty rooms, and hallways, and doors.

"Which one?" He points to all of them.

"The first one? So we couldn't be too confused." They laugh.

"Sure. They better have a big window. I want to see-" he cuts off and his eyes glitter when she opens the door, and there beyond him is a ginormous room with a window as big as the wall, and one king sized mattress, a kitchen, a dining room, a tv, a closet, even a restroom. All in just one big room.

Skye gets the bed ready with the pillows, while Nick is exploring and trying to turn on the tv, but of course, no power.

She looks at him hilariously while he's pretending to change the channels.
He then turns to look at her, to see her reaction.

"Worth a shot?" They laugh.

"Just get into bed, doof."

They take off their shoes, and unbuckle their pants, just to feel comfortable.

Then, they lay their tiresome bodies to rest.

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