apology

Nancy listened to the phone ring, her lips already pressed into a thin line, her brow already creased slightly in a meaningless gesture of apology.

"Nancy!"

As soon as she heard her boyfriend's voice, all the anxiety melted away, even if it was only for a moment. "Hey baby," she replied, her lips curved up in a gentle smile. "Almost done?"

"Almost. So close."

"I bet you're looking forward to getting home."

"And spending time with my favorite girl in the whole world? Hell yes."

Nancy chuckled, but then her brow creased again. "And I can't wait to see you either," she replied. "I've been looking forward to our summer kick-off for... God, for months now."

"Me too."

"I... I'm really sorry..."

Ned was quiet, waiting for her to finish. When she took a while to find the nerve, he added a quiet, "But."

"But it might be a couple of days before I can finish this," she said, her voice quiet and tense with apology. "I didn't mean for it to be this way. We can just make it extra-special to make up for it..."

"Well..." Something about his tone made her imagine him rubbing the back of his neck, and she tilted her head. "That's probably for the best, actually. I got roped into something, so I'll be at the Omega house an extra day anyway."

"Roped into something?" she repeated.

"Yeah. Remember last month, when I changed my flight...?"

"Yes," she replied, cringing slightly. Ned had needed to get back to campus, but he had changed his departure by a day to help her. She had appreciated his help, and would have landed in the hospital at best if he hadn't been there. Neither of them had lingered on what would have happened in a worse scenario.

"Well, Michael took care of something I was supposed to do, and signing me up for this was his payback. I'll be on my way home Thursday, and if you're home Friday, we can do something awesome. Even if it's spreading out a quilt in the park and cloud watching."

"Aww. You really are tired, huh," she said sympathetically.

"You have no idea," Ned groaned. "No idea."

"I'm sorry I can't be there to help."

"No, no. Seriously. I—"

"I mean, it's only fair. You helped me so much."

"You're welcome, Nan." Ned chuckled. "And you don't owe me anything. Especially... well. Trust me. Take care of yourself, so I don't worry about you, and I'll just live in my hopes for Friday."

"That's a pretty high bar, Nickerson." Relieved at his easy acceptance, she flopped back on the bed, one hand above her head. "Can you be a little bit more specific about your hopes?"

"Afraid I can't," Ned mourned. "You, me, and... seriously, that's it. Maybe something delicious."

"Literally, or figuratively?"

"Why not both?" The low, lecherous tone in his voice made her laugh.

--

"What is it he's doing again?"

Nancy shrugged as she navigated onto the off-ramp. "Something at the frat."

Bess growled quietly. "I don't like it, Nan," she said. "It just sounds... suspicious."

Nancy burst into laughter. "Suspicious?"

Bess crossed her arms, and was scowling when Nancy glanced over at her. The expression was out of place on her; Bess was generally so cheerful.

"Oh, sweetie. Ned is the last guy on earth who would be lying to me that way."

"That's what I thought, too," Bess pointed out with a sigh. She glanced over at the strip mall they were passing. "Ooooh, an iced coffee would be so good right now."

After a few seconds of hesitation and internal debate, Nancy sighed. "Yeah, it would," she agreed, switching on her turn signal. "What... I mean, Ned had to do a favor because he took an extra day helping me on that case last month."

Bess sighed. "And maybe he is," she said, her tone reluctant. "I guess. It's just... it's the end of the school year. You two haven't seen each other all that much. Has he been weird on the phone otherwise?"

Nancy shook her head decisively as she swung into the drive-thru lane. "Certainly not," she said, though her conscience gave a tiny ping. She definitely hadn't been able to talk to him as much as she had wanted, thanks to his busy schedule and her cases. That had made her anticipation of their grand summer reunion all the sweeter; it was their tradition, a way to rekindle or stoke a romance that might have faltered a little.

Although that sweet time post-finals, pre-departure at Omega was nice, too. Nancy frowned. Ordinarily she would be there now, taking advantage of their uninterrupted time together, and Ned's sweet single room. Summer was fantastic, but it also meant having to find opportunities and locations that would allow them, well, as much privacy as possible.

"You think I'm just projecting."

Nancy glanced over at Bess, the rental car idling as they waited to place their orders. "Maybe," she said, trying to keep her tone gentle.

"It's just weird that he wouldn't be super disappointed that he couldn't see you, you know?"

Nancy nodded reluctantly. "I... Maybe he's just so used to my cases keeping us apart," she said, and heard the defeat in her own voice. That scenario wasn't ideal, either, that he wouldn't at least make a token protest. And after he helped out with whatever he was supposed to do, that would have been ideal time for them. Not the weak excuse of cloud-gazing at the Muskoka River, or whatever they came up with to explain their absence.

She pulled forward as Bess said, "Well, I know I'm not you, but I think I'd find a way to surprise him. If you're right?" Bess shrugged. "No harm done. But... wouldn't you rather know?"

Know that, at worst, Ned had fallen into a relationship with a co-ed and was hoping to spend a little more time with her before coming home? Just the faintest suggestion of it was making her stomach churn violently. She and Ned had shared so much; while they had skirted around that level of betrayal before, it had been a long time, and their ultimate commitment to each other had helped choke off any spark she felt with anyone else. What she had and felt for Ned now was so, so much deeper and stronger than it had ever been. Even contemplating that he might not feel the same made her sick.

If it worked out so she could surprise him with a little visit... what would it hurt?

--

Emerson was deserted, which was no surprise; the mass exodus had already begun, turning the place into a ghost town. Some eager students would be lugging plastic milk crates to dorms soon, ready to start summer classes. Most of them, though, were already far away, relaxing on beaches or couches, utterly spent.

Greek Row was also pretty dead, with a few notable exceptions. One was the Omega house. The driveway and all space at the curb were choked with cars, some even parked haphazardly on the lawn, but not a single human was in sight.

Nancy's rental car approached the Omega house slowly. Ned had said he would be finishing up and heading home today; they could return the rental and she could ride home with him, if he was willing. Four hours in the car together would give them a few minutes to laugh over Bess's insecurities, and then three and a half to tantalize each other with nascent plans for summer adventures.

Since she'd had no idea when Ned was planning to depart, she had left home close to dawn, and the day was already bright and scorching-hot in Emersonville. Fueled by two iced coffees and a lingering backbeat of nervousness she hadn't quite been able to squelch, she found a space to park at the next house over and swung out of the rental.

A van was pulling up.

A-1 Deep Cleaners

You Got It, We Can Take It!

Specializing in: Pre-Rental, Renovation, Crime Scene Recovery

Nancy recoiled, and her gaze swung back to the Omega house. No crime scene tape was fluttering around it; no cop cars were haphazardly parked nearby. Crime scene?

She hitched her purse up on her shoulder, idly and automatically feeling for her keys and phone, and strode quickly toward the house. The van pulled up as close to the house as it could, but the occupants didn't open any of the doors.

Might be perfect for dead body disposal. No one would question them moving something corpse-shaped, wrapped in plastic, that might just be a dirty rug. Nancy gave her head a little shake and chuckled. If she could turn that part of her brain off... well, maybe she would, but she probably wouldn't.

She tried the front door, and wasn't entirely surprised to find it was unlocked, given the chaos outside. Then she gasped.

Nancy had seen the Omega house after the record-setting damage of the campus-wide paintball assassin tournament. She'd seen it after the "minor" house fire, thanks to a recent pledge getting ridiculously high and forgetting about a pan of hot oil. She'd even seen the aftermath of the pre-back-to-school luau.

This was... a quite literal nightmare.

The door was unlocked, but opening it was difficult—and she soon realized why. A completely prone body was propped against it, and she had to push firmly to squeeze through a narrow opening to step inside. If the unconscious shirtless guy hadn't been loudly snoring, Nancy would have checked for a pulse.

Pools of disturbingly pastel vomit had dried on the carpet, and trailed toward the stairs. Every available surface was crowded with red party cups, and a few of them had been turned into makeshift ashtrays. Nancy wrinkled her nose at the lingering, mingled scents of tobacco and a few other, even less palatable smells.

The floor, the couch, a pair of armchairs—everywhere she looked, she saw passed-out people, abandoned clothes, vomit, popcorn, crushed potato chips, spilled drinks, playing cards, poker chips. A few discarded condoms.

Her gaze jumped away in shock and offended sensibility. This was the public area of the house, and people had been...? Of course she had seen people drunk here before; she had even been one of them, a few times. But a part of her thought that she'd somehow walked into the wrong fraternity house. Omega just wasn't like this.

Bess's dark warning came back to her. If Ned had participated in... this...

The downstairs guest bedroom door was ajar. Breathing shallowly, Nancy cautiously moved toward it, finding space to step between debris and bodies, noticing some faint smeared handprints on the wall and recoiling. In any other situation, she'd have blamed some kind of anesthetizing gas being pumped through the air conditioning on the number of unconscious people around her.

The guest room's bed was visible through the door, and Nancy's initial impression was just a sea of naked limbs. She swallowed, forcing herself just to focus on the hair. Because of course Ned wouldn't—

A dark-haired guy was near the center of the bed, one arm slung over the body beside his, facing away from Nancy.

Her heart lurched.

No. This...

She had to be sure.

Her eyes were already squeezed tightly closed. She took a quiet gasped breath and forced herself to look at the bed again, taking a few steps toward it, as silently as she could manage. Her skin was prickling with fear, with the first wash of sick grief.

No. She saw a tattoo at the nape of the man's neck, and it wasn't fresh.

She knew every inch of Ned's body intimately, and the last time she had seen him, he definitely hadn't had a tattoo.

She let out a breath that was almost a sob, cursing internally. Fuck, how had she almost thought this was even remotely possible? Ned wouldn't do this. He wasn't this.

Shaking her head, she took the time to study him, to reassure herself. The scar from Ned's broken arm, so faint it took concentration for her to even find it, wasn't there. His jawline was different. And none of the other bodies in the room bore any resemblance at all. Her gaze skipped jerkily over the evidence that whatever had happened in here, it had been—something she thought was only found in lurid fiction.

Nancy backed out of the room and headed for the stairs, picking her way a little less gently between the bodies and debris, still scanning in case he was somehow passed out down here, curled up in the corner of a couch or slumped against a wall, at least partially clothed. She saw hair in every possible shade, including rainbow-dyed, but no Ned. Adrenaline had made her jittery, and she just wanted to see him for herself, gaze into his eyes...

Because even if he hadn't been downstairs... well.

Ned's room was in a prime location, at the corner of the house, with large windows he kept covered with blackout curtains while he slept, flung open while he studied or relaxed. Thanks to his status, he didn't need to fully move out over the summer; there was no haphazard stack of boxes and crates bracketing his doorway.

Her steps were slow, her stomach still doing nauseating flips.

As she drew within a foot of his door, she could hear quiet murmurs.

"Yeah—yeah, I'm really sorry. Good. I'll be right down."

Then Ned released a loud groan.

Her heart was in her throat as she raised her fist, steeled herself, and knocked quietly.

Ned muttered a curse. Nancy took a small step back, her gaze automatically rising to the height of his head, as she heard a few muffled thumps, some heavy footfalls.

The door swung open. Ned stood there, completely rumpled and bleary, shirtless. A pair of pajama pants hung from the points of his hips, barely staying up, offering a tantalizing glimpse of the taut flesh below his belly button. From experience, Nancy knew he had just yanked them on. Ned's jaw was lined with dark stubble, and his tired dark eyes were fringed with impossibly, unfairly-long lashes. Those gorgeous eyes went from complete exhaustion to warm, sweet joy when he recognized her.

The sight of him, as always, took her breath away for a few seconds.

"Nan!" His voice was gravelly, sending a shiver down her spine. "Oh, God. You've seen downstairs."

She nodded.

His bed was visible behind him, rumpled, clearly recently occupied, and empty. No discarded thong on the floor or half-collapsed pyramid of empty beer cans, or huddled, stacked knot of drooling, snoring, nude partygoers. While that wasn't definitive proof, she did feel herself relax a little.

Ned stepped back, inviting her in with a gesture, and she sat down on the edge of his bed as he picked up a worn t-shirt and tugged it over his head. "Have to go meet the cleaners," he apologized. "Be right back. Ish."

Nancy nodded. "I saw them downstairs."

Ned released a mirthless chuckle. "Yeah." He stepped into his sandals, then came over to her and brushed a kiss against her forehead. He smelled intensely masculine, like day-old aftershave, stale sweat. "Oh, God."

She took a deep breath after he had closed the door behind him. Well, the room didn't smell like sex, so there was that—

Shut up, she ordered herself. She knew from experience how hard it was to prove a negative; seeking evidence that he hadn't cheated was the definition of insanity. But she definitely wasn't stumbling over any evidence that he had been involved in the previous night's...

Nancy wasn't even sure what exactly to call it. Maybe just disgusting.

A squeal of sound from a bullhorn made her jump a few inches in startled terror off the bed.

"Guests! You have now overstayed your welcome! Anyone still here in five minutes will be fined, per the agreement. Please take all personal belongings with you, as none will be returned. Have a good summer!"

Imagining Ned's amplified, sharp-edged words bouncing around in likely still inebriated and tender skulls downstairs did curve her lips up slightly.

Ned apparently had started packing; she saw laundry baskets, a wheeled suitcase, a backpack. His photo of her was standing on his bedside table, dusted, facing out.

She closed her eyes briefly and allowed herself to relax. She'd never imagined the scene she had walked into downstairs, but this... his room felt like the safe haven it always had been.

When she realized that Ned was likely going to stay downstairs for a few minutes, she took out her phone. No sidepiece in bed with him, she texted Bess. False alarm.

The pulsing icon representing a pending message appeared on her screen for what felt like far too long. That's a relief, Bess replied. Check for condom wrappers in the trash before you relax.

Nancy just rolled her eyes, then considered for a moment. Thx for caring about me. Love you girl.

Love u too. The emoji after blew her a kiss.

After a series of alarming thumps, once the motors had kicked on downstairs, Ned returned and flashed her a wide grin. "Well, at least it's on its way to back to normal," he said, stepping out of his sandals. "Ugh. What...?"

She smiled at him. "Sorry for the surprise," she said. "I just wanted to catch you and get some time with you before you headed home, or maybe even on the way. And you sounded... weird on the phone."

He gave her a half-smile. "Can you blame me?"

"You knew this was going to happen?"

He stripped his shirt off, and Nancy's mind went totally blank for a minute as she gazed at the incredible rippling abs on display.

"Hey. Eyes up here, Drew." His dark eyes were sparkling when she brought her chin up.

"Sorry. I'm probably drooling."

"Probably," he agreed. "Anyway. Long story, or short?"

"Well, short, now," she replied, with a pointed glance at his chest. "We have an agenda, Nickerson."

Ned chuckled. "A previous president had this stupid party written into the laws for the frat. Michael finally phased it out, but that left this as the last one. We came up with a bright idea: charge cover, and use that to pay for the cleaners. The late fee will go to our community service projects."

Nancy laughed and shook her head. "'This stupid party'?" she repeated. "Were you here for it?"

"Remotely," Ned sighed. "Maury hooked up some cameras before he left for summer. I spent most of the night between here and Theta Pi. Put out three separate fires last night. As in literal fires, which those assholes will receive itemized bills to cover those repairs. And I told the cleaners to go over the entire main floor and basement with a fucking blacklight. After what I saw last night... please tell me you didn't touch anything downstairs."

"God, I hope I didn't." She reached for her top and stripped it off as Ned stepped out of his pants. "Oh..."

He read her mind and turned the lock on the door before crossing the room to her.

"How... how long?"

He grinned again. "The estimate is three hours, and that's even with another team on the way to help. It's a nightmare down there. And with all those loud motors..."

She tugged the waistband of her skirt away from her hip, shivering in delight as Ned cupped her hips and helped her slide the skirt and her underwear down. "Mmm."

He paused. "I... Sorry. God, baby, I've been living in anticipation of seeing you for so long that I just..." He gestured vaguely. "I mean, we can go get breakfast..."

"Or work up an appetite," she suggested with a grin. "Unless you're saying you need some fuel for what you have planned?"

"Oh, honey... I'll work through it." He moved over her, caging her under him, gazing down at her. A lock of dark hair flopped down against his forehead, and Nancy reached up to stroke it back, to draw her fingers through it all. His intense gaze softened, and he nuzzled against her palm, then pressed a kiss against her skin.

"I missed you," she murmured. "I've missed you so much. And this."

He leaned down and captured her mouth in a long, deep kiss that left her head spinning. She slid her arms around him, and they both moaned softly as he lowered his hips to the valley between her thighs. Another kiss, another, another...

"Nan," he murmured. "Oh my God..."

She wrapped her legs around him, and they both tensed and relaxed as he nestled against her. "Hmm?"

"In three weeks," he caught her earlobe in his mouth and gave it a little tug, "we need to come up with a very elaborate case in... Chicago. Away from home. Hotel room."

Her heart was so light as she giggled. "Three weeks?"

"Two," Ned amended, his breath warm against her neck. "One. Tomorrow."

She laughed again. "Let's see what we can come up with for next week."

"Deal."

He rolled over and she grinned as she caged him under her, feeling the warmth of his skin, the intensity of his gaze. "I love you," she said softly.

"I love you," he replied immediately. "So much. Why are we apart so much?"

She shook her head, still gazing into his eyes. He reached up to cup her cheek, and his thumb stroked over her skin. "I don't know," she murmured. "We shouldn't be."

His grin lit up his face and made her warm all the way to her toes. "Deal," he repeated, and drew her to him.

She ended up praying that he was right about the machinery downstairs drowning out anything happening in his bedroom. Her orgasm brought her to breathless sobbing cries, her inner flesh pulsing around him as she rode him, his fingers tangled in her hair, his other hand teasing her clit with rapid strokes. "So good," she cried. "Oh my God!"

"Yes," he groaned in agreement. "So good..."

She held out as long as she could, until she was trembling, jerking, and the pleasure was so intense that it was edging over into pain. She tried to catch her breath, to beg him to come, but then he was rolling her onto her back.

He brought her to another earth-shattering orgasm, until she could feel nothing beyond him, until the entire universe was his bed alone. Dimly she could feel his hips, the perfect weight of him inside her, one last thrust and his groan as he reached his own climax. He lowered himself to her and it took a moment for her to even focus on him long enough to do it, but she wrapped her arms around him and just worked on catching her breath. He was still inside her, and she relished it, relearning the sensation all over again. Nothing in the world was like it, like this. Like him.

"Mmm." Her eyes popped open as she realized. "Are they gonna come in here with a blacklight?"

Ned laughed. "God, I hope not," he replied, and brushed a kiss over her lips. "No. I made sure all the rooms up here were deadbolted. No one likes to come back after summer break to find..."

"I get it," Nancy said hastily, as Ned tried to figure out how to phrase it. "Good. Okay. So, let's clean up, get some breakfast, come back here, and... wait for the cleaners to finish."

He kissed her again. "Hmm. Sounds boring."

"Not with the itinerary I have planned."

He grinned, and she stroked his cheek as she gazed into his eyes. "Well, my girl does like a few things that I think are technically illegal back home..."

Nancy's eyes twinkled. "Guess it's a good thing your summer break hasn't quite started yet, huh."

"You bet," Ned replied, and Nancy's lashes fluttered down as he caught her in another kiss that swept the rest of the world away.

The most important part of it was already here with her, anyway.