10. I'm Yours

"Hey" Nicki said as she got into Drake's car and put on her seatbelt.

"Sup?" Drake asked starting the engine.

"So... What film we watching?"

"I don't know, we can decide when we get there"

"Oh okay" Nicki sat back and enjoyed the ride.

~

After deciding what film they were going to see, Drake bought a large popcorn for them to share and they walked to the screen for their film. During the film, Nicki couldn't concentrate on the screen. She kept glancing at Drake.

"What?" Drake finally caught Nicki looking at him.

"Nothing... this film is kind of scary. Can you hold my hand?"

"Sure" Drake returned his focus on the screen and slowly connected their hands.

As their hands connected, Nicki felt a spark shoot through her body. She looked over at Drake and could tell he felt it too.

Nicki began to put her full attention in the film and started to actually enjoy it. She reached over to grab some popcorn but accidentally touch Drake's crouch. 

"Shit! I'm so sorry" Nicki whispered and blushed from embarrassment.

"Its fine" Drake moved the popcorn closer to her so she could grab some. Nicki grabbed a handful and went back to watching the film.

The film was about 10 minutes from ending and Nicki hadn't move, she was still embarrassed from earlier.

"Nicki?" Drake whispered.

Why isn't she answering me?

"Nicki?" Drake whispered again.

Nicki looked over at him, "Huh?"

"Want some more popcorn?"

"No thanks" Nicki turned back to the screen, Drake just shrugged and went back to watching the film himself.

After a few moments, Drake felt someone staring at me. He turned around and saw Nicki looking at him again. Do I have something on my face? Drake mentally asked himself using his hand to wipe his mouth.

Nicki didn't say anything, she just leaned over her seat and moved inches closer to his face.

You can do it. You've waited to do this since the film started.

Without hesitation, Nicki grabbed the back of Drake's neck and kissed him. The kisses they shared got more heated, Drake's hand was on Nicki's waist and the popcorn bucket had fallen off of Drake's lap onto the floor.

~

"I can't believe you made me miss the ending of the movie" Drake said as they got inside his car.

"Oh. So should I have not kissed you?" Nicki asked.

"Nah I'm kidding. The film was crap but you made it more enjoyable"

"Really?"

"Yeah" Drake smiled at her.

~

Drake arrived outside the Maraj household and watched Nicki as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Wait" Drake said as Nicki was about to open the car door, "What are we?"

"What do you mean?" Nicki asked with a confused expression on her face.

"We admitted we have feelings for each other. I've kissed you and you've kissed me"

"I understand what you're saying, you tell me what you think it means"

Oh I see what she's trying to do.

"I think it means we are definitely more than friends so now I have a question to ask you"

"And the question is..." 

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Nicki didn't reply. She just gave him a light kiss on the lips.

"Does that answer your question?" Nicki said as she pulled away and bit her bottom lip.

"No actually, could you answer it again?"

He thinks he's slick.

Nicki again leaned over and kissed him but this time she let her lips linger on his for a bit.

"I've answered twice now so I'm going to go" Nicki opened the car door and closed it.

Drake watched as she walked to her front door and unlocked it. Nicki gave him a quick wave before she went inside. Drake drove home with a smile on his face.

~ 

"What are you so happy about?" Carol asked when Nicki walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face and a bounce in her steps.

"Oh nothing" Nicki said as she grabbed an apple and bit a chunk out of it.

Carol shook her head at her and continued unpacking the dishwasher.

~

Later in the day, Nicki was in her room lying on her bed.

Where did I put my phone?

She hopped off her bed and searched all around her room for it. 

Damn it how do you misplace a freaking phone?

After out 5 minutes of searching, she remembered where she last put it. 

She reached into her handbag and there it was.

"I'm so forgetful" Nicki said while she tried to unlock her phone.

Why won't it unlock? Oh I turned it off at the cinema.

When she turned her phone, she had 4 missed calls and 2 voicemails.

"Let's see what all this commotion is about" Nicki told herself.

"One missed call from TT, one from Candi, another from TT and one from Lauren. What do they want?"

Nicki called her voicemail service to listen to her voicemails.

You have 2 new voicemails. 

"The girls and I wanted to.... later.... Call me or them back.... Bye"

I'll call one of them in a minute. 

"Hey..." Who sent that?

Voicemails are deleted. You have no new voicemails.

Nicki sighed before calling TT.

"Hello?"

"Hey, we were trying to call you earlier"

"I know. I was at the cinema with my boyf.... I mean I was at the cinema with Drake"

Nicki silently prayed TT didn't hear her slip-up but of course she did.

"Oh, well it doesn't matter now cause we already went out. Did you get my voicemail?"

"Yeah but I couldn't really hear what you were saying"

"We were in the car with the windows down that's probably why"

"Okay so where did y'all go?" Nicki laid back down on her bed.

"Shopping and other places"

"Aww, I wish I was there"

"I bet you do. Anyways Jerome is calling me so I'll call you later, k?"

"Okay, bye"

"Bye" TT hung up the phone.

~

2 weeks later, Nicki had absolutely nothing to do. She had no homework due for that week and she had no tests to revise for.

Wonder what Drake's doing. Nicki scrolled through her contacts and finally saw his name, Aubs ❤

* Hey baby x

* Baby? I can't keep up with these names you give me x

* Whatever. What you doing? x

* Talking to you x

* Let me rephrase that, what were you doing? x

* Working out x

* That's hot x

* I know ;)

* I'm gonna call you after I have my dinner, k?

* Okay babe x

Am I going to fast? Maybe I should slow down this relationship.

This chapter might have been a bit cheesy but someone wanted them to date around the 10th chapter so... yeah. 

9. Make Things Right

They sat in silence for a while before Drake decided to break the silence.

"Um... you look nice"

"Thanks"

Why are they taking so long?

"Why did we stop talking?" Drake asked with sadness in his voice.

"I just needed time alone to try and grasp why you kissed me."

"Do you want me to tell you why I kissed you?"

"Yes"

"I love you... No actually, I'm in love with you"

Nicki looked at him with her eyes wide open. "Y-you're in love with me?"

"Yes"

"How? Why? Why me?"

"I don't know how to explain it. Your eyes, your smile, your laugh, the look in your eyes when you talk to me. It all just makes me fall for you."

"Are you being serious?"

"As serious as I've ever been"

"I honestly don't know what to say... I'm sorry"

"Sorry for what?"

"Cutting you off. You're my best friend, I shouldn't have stopped talking to you"

"I'm sorry too. I should have told you how I felt before I decided to kiss you"

"It's okay" Nicki smiled.

"Can I ask you a question?" 

"You just did" Nicki laughed. "I'm joking, yes ask away"

"Why did you kiss me back? I don't mean for it to sound rude because it was one of the best kisses I've ever experienced"

"I have feelings for you too" Nicki admitted. It feels good to finally admit my feelings.

This is great. The girl I'm in love with has feelings for me.

"Really? Wow" Drake said, taken back from Nicki's comment.

"I'm so glad we're talking again and we've made up because I've missed you"

"I've missed you too" Drake opened his arms and Nicki leaned over and gave him a big hug.

"What's taking them so long?" Drake asked as they released from each other.

Just as Drake finished his sentence, the three adults returned with the bowls of soup in their hands.

"Sorry we took so long, I had to reheat the soup"

"Yeah I'm sure" Nicki side-eyed them.

They passed the bowls of soup around the table and then Sandi, Carol and Robert sat down. After a short prayer, everyone tucked in.

"This is really nice, Carol" Sandi said and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Oh thank you" Carol grinned.

~

"Thank you for the dinner, I really enjoyed it" Sandi said as she hugged Carol.

"You're welcome, we should do this again sometime" Carol waved as Sandi walked down the driveway to her car.

"Bye Nicki" Drake said.

"Bye" Nicki reached up and gave him a hug.

"Goodbye" Drake said as he hugged Carol and Robert.

"Goodbye sweetheart" Carol said as the family waved Drake and Sandi off.

"That's was a nice dinner" Robert said when he closed the door.

"I know" Carol replied as she began to clear the table with Nicki's help.

"Oh I forgot to ask you something, where's Caiah and Jay?" Nicki said putting the plates into the dishwasher.

"Micaiah's at one of his friends house having a sleepover and Jelani is at his girlfriend's or something" Carol answered.

"Oh okay, do I have to help you with anything else?"

"No, I'll get your father to help me"

~ 

"So how was the dinner?" TT asked as Nicki got into the car.

"It's was good, great in fact" Nicki put on her seatbelt.

"Ooh that's a good sign. Did you and Drizzy made up?" Candi asked.

Drizzy? Nicki shook her head at the nickname, "Yes we made up" She smiled.

"That's wonderful" Lauren said.

About 20 minutes later, they pulled up at the school car park.

"The joys of school" Nicki sighed unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Tell me about it" TT said as she parked the car.

~

6 hours later, school was finally over. Nicki walked out her English lesson and went to meet her girls. She walked towards the school's doors.

"Aye Nic! Come on" Candi waved her over and Nicki walked faster to catch up to them.

"So what about we go and grab something to eat?" Nicki suggested.

"That sounds like a plan" Lauren said. 

~

TT pulled up outside Nicki's house.

"See you tomorrow guys" Nicki shouted getting out of the car.

"Bye" They shouted back as the car drove off.

"I'm home" Nicki sang as she unlocked the door and walked inside.

"You're later than usual today" Carol told her.

"Sorry, I was hungry so we went to go and get something to eat"

"It's okay, glad I didn't cook a big meal today then" Carol smiled. Nicki smiled back and went up to her room.

~

It was almost 9pm and Nicki had just finished her homework.

"I swear school only gives me homework to stress me out even more" Nicki said to herself.

Her thoughts were disturbed by her phone buzzing.

* Cinema's on Saturday? My treat :)

Nicki read it and knew she definitely wanted to go with him but didn't want to seem too excited so she waited for a bit before she replied.

* I would love to, what time? x

About 3 minutes later, she got a text back.

* I haven't checked the times for the film yet but around 4 ish x

Aww he's cute sending me a kiss back.

* That's fine, this isn't a date is it? x

* No, do you want it to be? ;)

Yes. 

* No Aubs x

* I thought my nickname was Aubbie? x

* You can have more than one nickname you know, well I'm going to have an early night. Night x

* Night :)

~

It was Friday lunch time and Nicki was a bit late arriving at the cafeteria. 

"Right y'all I think we should just tell about the Drake thing" TT announced.

"You sure?" Candi asked.

"We have known about it for a long time now. She has the right to know"

"That's true" Lauren agreed.

When they finished talking, they heard people laughing and saw Nicki running over to their usual table.

"Did you hear?" Nicki said as she sat down.

"Hear what?"

A few moments of silence before Nicki spoke again. "I forgot" She laughed.

"We have something to tell you" Lauren said.

"Oh God, please don't tell me one of you guys is pregnant"

"No, no" 

"Good. So go on and tell me" Nicki smiled and looked in her bag for her bottle of water.

"This is hard for us to tell you but... Drake has a crush on you" TT told her.

"Like a HUGE crush" Candi said. She, Lauren and TT looked at Nicki waiting for her to respond.

Nicki simply laughed at them and drank some of her water. "I know"

"You know?!" They said with shocked expressions on their faces. 

"Yep. He told me at the meal"

"And you didn't tell us?" Candi stated.

"I didn't think you wanted to know about my personal life and how long have you known about it?" Nicki asked.

"Umm... A few months now. You're not mad, are you?" Lauren revealed.

"Of course, I'm not. I told him how I felt about him too"

"And how do you feel about him?" Candi intrigued.

"Almost the same as him" Nicki admitted.

"Seriously?" TT questioned.

"Yes, are we done with this conversion yet cause I'm hungry?" Nicki said getting up from her seat.

"Yeah" TT answered for all of them

~

After a long week, Nicki was exhausted but she was excited to go to the cinemas with Drake.

Hmm... What should I wear? Nicki thought as she searched through her wardrobe for a nice outfit.

She finally decided that she was going to wear. A cropped sweatshirt, a pair of black jeans and her wedged ankle boots. 

After she finished getting dressed, she put on a bit of make-up, just a bit of mascara and lip gloss. Lastly Nicki looked at her appearance in the mirror.

I look good. Nicki grabbed her jacket and bag then closed her bedroom door behind her.

"You look nice, where you going?" Carol asked.

"Oh, just to the cinema" Nicki replied.

"Are you sure?" Carol raised her eyebrow.

"Of course, I'm sure" Nicki laughed.

Carol was about to speak again but was disturbed by the sound of a beeping car.

"That must be Drake, bye" Nicki shouted and raced out of the house.

8. Forgiving Dinner

It had been two weeks since Drake and Nicki last acknowledged each other in any sort of way.

"Nicki" Carol shouted up the stairs.

"Yes mum?" Nicki replied.

"Come downstairs, I have something to tell you" Nicki didn't bother to respond, she just walked downstairs.

"Onika?" Carol called again.

"I'm here" Nicki followed the voice and saw her mother cleaning the kitchen so she sat on one of the stools around the 'breakfast bar'.  

"What do you want to talk about?" Nicki asked.

"I just wanted to tell you that I’ve invited Sandi and Aubrey over for dinner tomorrow. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

This is great. "No, why would I have a problem with it?" Nicki questioned.

"I don't know. You and Aubrey just drifted away from each other recently, that's all"

"Oh... Can I go now?" I don't want to be here right now.

"I guess so" Nicki hopped off the stool and went back up to her room.

~

"I didn't mean to cut you off. I just...." Nicki started to say.

"No, I didn't mean to put that on you" Drake said.

"So do you forgive me?" Nicki asked.

"Of course I do" They hugged.

Nicki woke up to see it was all a dream; she rolled over and unplugged her phone from its charger.

"6am" Nicki said as she saw the time on her lockscreen. 

"No point in going back to sleep" She groaned and lazily got out of bed. After stretching, Nicki grabbed her towel and went to have shower.  

"What should I wear?" Nicki said as she looked through her wardrobe. She settled on her purple vans, a pair of skinny jeans and a white sleeveless sheer collared shirt.

Nicki grabbed her phone, walked downstairs to the kitchen and made herself some toast and a cup of tea. She heard her phone alarm go off. Now I know I'm definitely early. 

She ate her breakfast and then washed up what she used. Nicki decided to watch a bit of TV before school. During her little TV session, Nicki heard her parents talking.

"I'll go wake up Micaiah and Jelani, and you can wake up Onika" Robert said. Carol knocked on Nicki's door and entered.

"Onika, time to wake up" Carol softly said. She noticed that Nicki wasn't in her bed and her bed was spread.

"Strange" Carol closed the door before her when she left. Jelani walked past her and went into the bathroom.

~

About 20 minutes later, the rest of the family came downstairs, all dressed and ready.

"Have you seen Nicki this morning?" Carol asked Robert.

"No, I haven't" Robert replied.

"I'm here!" Nicki said walking into the kitchen.

"Where have you been? Have you eaten?" Carol asked, grabbing the bread out of the bread bin.

"I've been down here, I woke up at 6am and got ready early. I had my breakfast already"

"That's not like you but I believe you"

"Thank you... I think" Nicki said. Carol smiled at her.

"Oh and remember to be back home so you can help me set up dinner"

"I will, bye" Nicki waved at her family and went outside to wait for TT.

~

"It's Wednesday and you know what the means?!" Candi screeched.

"Ice cream parlour and bowling" The girls screamed except for Nicki.

"Why aren't you screaming?" TT asked.

"I can't go" Nicki frowned.

"What do you mean you can't go, this is a tradition!" Lauren said.

"I know, I know but my mum invited Drake and his mum over for dinner and I have to be there" Nicki explained.

"Aww man, looks like you're trapped" Candi said.

"Tell me about it" Nicki sighed.

~

"Are you wearing that for dinner?" Robert asked.

"Yes, why not?" Nicki raised her eyebrow.

"Don't you think that's a bit... you know?"

"No"

"Onika, please just go and change what you're wearing" Carol sighed.

"But," Nicki began to say but was stopped by the glare she was receiving from her parents.

Nicki huffed and went to her room to find something more appropriate to wear.

I don't see why I couldn't wear what I was wearing before.

A few minutes later, Nicki walked downstairs again in a black skater skirt with sheer tights and a similar top to the one she wore before but it was tucked into her skirt.

"That's better" Robert smiled.

~

A knock disturbed the table being properly set up. Nicki continued to place the cutlery on the table. Maybe this will make me avoid him for a bit longer.

"Onika, can you answer the door please?" Carol asked, taking the cutlery of Nicki's hand and finishing off her job.

Another knock was heard; Nicki mumbled a few things as she walked towards the front door. 

"Hello!" Nicki smiled.

"Hello Nicki dear" Sandi asked giving Nicki a hug and went inside.

Drake stood awkwardly at the door. "You can come in, you know"

"Yeah" Drake rubbed the back of his neck; Nicki walked away and left him standing there.

Come on man. Drake walked in and shut the door behind him.

"Nice to see you finally joined us" Sandi laughed.

"So where am I sitting?" Drake asked.

"Next to Nicki" Carol said.

Let's see how this is going to work out. Drake walked around the table to where Nicki was sitting and sat down.

"Since we're all here, we can get started" Carol began, "I'll go get the soup" she got up and made her way to the kitchen.

"I'll come help you" Sandi get up and walked to the kitchen as well.

"Robert! Come and help us!" Carol shouted.

Robert pushed his chair back and made his way to the kitchen too, leaving Nicki and Drake at the table.