My body aches in the most beautiful way when I wake up the next morning. I open my eyes to find Nik asleep beside me. He looks so peaceful as his slow breaths cause his chest to rise and fall. Watching the rhythmic motion almost lulls me back to sleep, but then he stirs, shifting onto his side and his eyes flutter open. A sleepy smile crosses his face when he sees me staring at him.

I smile back as he pulls me closer to him, trapping me in his embrace. I can't help but sigh in complete bliss. This is all I need in my life. Him, his arms wrapped around me and that smile. Right here in this moment, I feel more complete than I ever have in my entire life. This is where I want to stay forever.

"How do you feel?" He murmurs into my hair.

"Amazing." I reply through my smile. The events of last night come back to me, filling me with a warm sensation that settles in my lower abdomen. His hands trailing over my body, my hands pulling down his pants; him holding himself above me, me guiding his lips down to mine as we merged our bodies together; Nik whispering I love you, me whispering it back.

"More than amazing." I grin as I lift my head and plant a light kiss on his lips. When I pull away he leans back in, closing the gap and pressing his lips back to mine. He pulls me closer to him and I know exactly where this is going and I am completely okay with it.

Unfortunately, in that moment, my bedroom door bangs open.

"Just so you know I completely reamed Chase out for..." Jennie stops mid-sentence and freezes where she stands in the middle of my bedroom. Her eyes fall on Nik and I wound together under the blankets. He only wears boxers and I am in nothing but his t-shirt.

If this were anybody but Jennie, or Becca, my face would flush with embarrassment. Somehow in the short time I have known her I have become unguarded with Jennie. Luckily, Nik seems unfazed to and only loosens his hold on me slightly.

She stares in shock for a moment and then a wide, knowing grin overcomes her face. "I'm going to leave the room for like two minutes, when I come back there better be no half-naked bodies in this bedroom and you," she points a manicured finger at me, "better be prepared to give me every single detail."

Jennie flounces out the door and closes it firmly behind her. Nik and I share a look and then burst out laughing together.

"Come on," I kiss him swiftly on the lips. "She isn't joking, we better get dressed."

When I pull the blanket off myself, I am surprised to find that I do not have the urge to cover my exposed body, and apparently, neither does Nik. He shamelessly stands from the bed and stretches his arms high in the air, his early morning erection bulging from within his boxers. This makes my face flush.

"I should probably go so you can give her every single detail of the best night of your life." Nik grins and watches as I pull on a pair of pink lace underwear. I can't stop myself from wincing as I lift my leg into each side of the fabric. "Are you hurt?" He questions.

"No, I'm just sore." when he looks at me confused, I elaborate. "You know, from the best night of my life and all." A cocky grin crosses his face and I know he is mentally giving himself a pat on the back.

We finish getting dressed, and when Jennie knocks on the door with a thirty second warning, Nik tackles me back onto the bed and crushes his lips to mine. I haven't brushed my teeth yet, and I need to fight the urge to open my mouth and allow his tongue to mingle with mine. I hear the door open, but don't push Nik off of me. He raises his face, pecks my lips once and mouths "I love you," before rolling off of me and jumping to his feet.

"Are you sneaking me out of here or should I just waltz out the front door?" He questions me with a wicked grin. There is a light in his eyes and his smile seems brighter than I have ever seen it. Maybe last night was the best night of his life.

"My grandparents aren't here, if that's what you're concerned about. And like I have told Haven a hundred times they wouldn't care if Haven had anybody over, anyway."

I roll my eyes and stand up from the bed. "Come on, I'll walk you out. You," I point to Jennie, "stay put." she obeys, and I close the door behind me. Thankfully, Jennie wasn't lying, the Hutch's are nowhere in sight and I can avoid the awkward introduction of Nik to my Airbnb hosts.

"Call me later?" Nik asks as he intertwines his fingers with mine.

"Mhmm." I agree, "We can talk later."

Nik grins. "What do you want to reminisce every detail with me too?" he jokes.

"No," I laugh lightly. "I mean about everything else. You promised remember?"

Nik's grin fades quickly and I know he was hoping our intimacy last night would have driven everything else from my mind. He isn't that lucky.

"Yeah, I remember." The light in his eyes is gone, his tone is distant and when I lean in to kiss him goodbye, he only offers me a swift brush of our lips before turning on his heel and stalking towards the elevator.

"Bye?" I mumble as I watch him leave.

There is an awful aching pit in my stomach as I walk back to my bedroom. What is so bad that it would cause Nik to have a complete mood swing like that just at the thought of having to talk about it? Who is Joey really, and what association does he have with Nik?

I know the second I walk in that bedroom Jennie will pelt me with questions, not settling until she gets every single detail she desires. With a deep breath, I enter the room and leave behind the thoughts of what Nik might be hiding from me. 

It didn't take long for me to fill Jennie in on mine and Nik's first time having sex. Mostly because I wanted to keep the most intimate details to myself. And despite her begging and pleading, I only walked her through the moments leading up to the big moment. She almost seems more thrilled about it than I am.

When I am done giving her all the information I am willing to give, I explain the Joey situation and get her opinion on it. Because she wasn't there to see Joey, how he was dressed, his mannerisms, the way he made my skin crawl, she doesn't seem as concerned as I feel.

"Jennie, I am telling you this guy was just..." I pause, not wanting to sound like a judgmental bitch, "he just does not fit the mold of Nik's friends."

"I think you are getting yourself worked up for nothing. I mean, Nik works construction, right? Maybe they used to work together or something, have you seen how grungy some construction workers are?"

I roll my eyes in frustration. "Then why did Nik get so weird about it? The way he spoke to me, and then how deflated he felt afterwards. It just doesn't make sense."

"Okay," Jennie begins and puts both of her hands on my shoulders, "Don't take this the wrong way but have you considered the idea that you may be trying to find something to be concerned about?" I cock my head to the side in confusion and she continues in a delicate tone, "You and Nik have always had... issues, but now you guys are actually happy and in a good place. So maybe, your subconscious is trying to make something out of nothing because you are used to the... chaos."

I consider her words and feel slow to register their meaning. She thinks the old Haven is somewhere in the back of my mind, still trying to destroy the bond between Nik and I. Could she be right? Am I reading too much into this?

I think about the short time Nik and I have been together. There have been no issues. Not between us anyway, not until last night. The fight with Hayden is definitely an issue, but he insists that had nothing to do with me. The thought of Hayden brings forth a memory in my brain, two actually.

The first party at Nik's, when Hayden and I were talking in the kitchen. He was trying to tell me something in that moment alone, "Listen, Haven.I am glad you're here because I know Nik has missed you a lot. Watching him with you tonight... I rarely see him that laid back with girls. I just feel like I should war..." And then he was cut off by everyone rushing in from the rain. What was he going to say?

And the second memory, when we were camping. Hayden had pulled me aside again and was trying to tell me something about Nik. But again, he was cut off. And then twice that night Nik asked what Hayden had said, and now that I think of it, he sounded concerned.

Hayden's attempts at warning me, Nik's suspicion about what Hayden may have revealed, Nik's tension with Hayden, the odd connection with Joey, Nik's reaction to him and his unwillingness to talk about it. As I consider all of this, I know it is not me who is trying to cause an issue between us. I am simply being perceptive to my surroundings; Nik is hiding something from me.

My gaze falls on Jennie, who has watched me as I work through all of this in my head. I narrow my eyes at her and my back tenses. "Do you know something?" I accuse her.

"What?" She sounds incredulous. "No, I know nothing."

"Then why are you trying so hard to make me drop the whole Joey thing?"

"Because I think you are self-destructive, Haven."

She may be right, but that's not what's going on here. "There is something he isn't telling me." I rise to my feet and pace the room as I explain everything I just realized. When I finish she is staring at me and I can't tell if she believes me or if she still thinks the old Haven has hold of my brain.

"Alight." Jennie rises to her feet and folds her arms across her chest. "Here's the deal. I'm going to ask Chase about all of this." I object but she holds her hand up to silence me. "Come on, you know I know how to work him without him realizing it. He won't even catch on."

I nod. "Okay, that sounds good. When are you going to see Chase next?"

"Later today. But Haven, please try not to stay in your head about this. What you and Nik have is amazing and I really think you might be over analyzing things."

"I'm not." I protest angrily.

"Just stay cool. Try to talk to him about Joey but do not accuse him of anything, that's just going to make him shut down."

This I can agree with. I look up at Jennie with wide fearful eyes; I know they look this way because the look she gives me is one she would give a frightened animal. Then she pulls me into a tight hug and tells me not to worry. How does she expect me to do that?

I am almost positive the guy I am head over heels in love with is hiding something from me. Something that even one of his best friends has tried to tell me. Something Nik is so dead set on keeping from me that he punched his best friend in the face to keep him from telling me.

My stomach wrenches at the thought that maybe I don't know the real Nik at all.