We were so close to leaning in. So close to kissing. So very close to entering the territory of being confused as to where we would be standing if we actually had kissed.

As soon as we heard the female voice say Nick's name we jumped apart fast. Nick got up off of the couch, walked over to his dresser and pulled out a white t-shirt to go with his black sweat pants. The shirt did nothing but good things for his appearance.

The footsteps coming down the stairs got louder and louder as they reached the bottom. A woman with dirty blonde hair pulled up into a neat pony tail with blue eyes and a very cute dress on. This had to be Nick's mother.

"Nick, honey." She gives him a warm smile.

"Hey mom." He greets her with a slight shake in his voice. Good. I'm not the only one still reeling from what almost happened.

Mrs.Ross glances from her son to me -the girl standing in her sons bedroom with what I'm sure is a face as red as a tomato.

"Your father told me you had a friend over." She mentions.

"Yes. Mom this is che- I mean Taylor. She's a friend from school." Nick explains to his mom. I try to hide my smile when Nick almost slips and calls me cheerleader. I unfortunately don't miss the way mt heart flutters when he says my actual name.

"Mrs.Ross, it is nice to meet you." I say as politely as I can manage.

"You as well. You're the first of Nick's friends I have met from Kennedy Prep. I was starting to think he hadn't made any friends in the two years he's been there." She says with a slight concern for her child not making friends.

"Well, he has at least one." I laugh nervously and play with my bracelet.

"It is lovely to meet you." Mrs.Ross says with a smile and I return one.

Nick clears his throat, "Um...did you need something?"

Mrs.Ross eyes light up, "Actually yes. Your father and I have a few friends from college in and they invited us to dinner. Are you staying in tonight?"

"Yeah I am." Nick tells his mom.

"Would you mind watching your sisters?" She asks.

"No problem." Nick nods with a slight smile. Something tells me he likes spending time with his younger siblings.

"Oh thank you sweetie." She says and gives him a hug. Wow.

"I better be going." I inform the two.

"You know Taylor, the girls might prefer your company rather than their brother's. You are welcome to stay and give Nick a hand." Mrs.Ross suggests.

I look between Nick and his mom. I had no idea how to get out of this. Did Nick want me to stay and meet his younger sisters or did he prefer I leave? He already made it clear he wasn't mad at me for last night but people can change their minds in the blink of an eye. Especially after we almost kissed.

Nick and his mom were both waiting for me to give an answer. "I would love to but I need to call my parents to make sure it's alright with them." I say as an excuse.

"Of course. Nick come upstairs, your dad and I will be leaving soon." She orders her son.

"I'll be up in a minute." He tells her as she goes up the stairs. The door clicks shut and now we are completely alone once again.

"I can leave if you want." I whisper.

Nick scrunches his eyebrows in confusion, "Why? You heard my mom, my sisters would prefer you over me. You are a girl."

"I've never watched a little kid before. I was only four when Carter was born." I say.

"You also said you wanted him to be a girl." Nick points out.

"That was then. Now I quite like having brothers. My parents don't need two Taylors running around and getting into trouble." I state stubbornly.

"Please stay. You've met my parents, might as well meet my sisters." He playfully pouts.

I sigh in defeat and roll my eyes. "Fine. But I do need to call my parents."

"Okay. Make your call then come upstairs. My house isn't as big as Charlie's, you won't get lost." He smirks.

I gasp, "I only got lost because you left me!" I hear him laughing as he goes up the stairs. Jackass.

- - - - - -

After calling my parents and asking for their permission to stay over at a friend's house for a little while longer I made my way up the stairs. Dad did tell me to keep an eye on the snow. We were getting a heavy snowfall and if it got too bad out there I either needed to get home or call my dad to come pick me up. I was hoping the latter wouldn't happen, I didn't tell my dad that I was over at Nick's house. Knowing my dad, if he sits and thinks about the very little information I gave him, he will surely figure it out. Then I would be in trouble for lying...again.

When I entered the living room I saw Nick sitting on the couch with his parents standing in front of him. He looked like how I look when I am being scolded by my parents. From the conversation, Mr. and Mrs.Ross were giving their son rules for his siblings.

"Ah, Taylor. Did you get permission from your parents to stay?" Mrs.Ross asks me as soon as I am in her sights.

"Yes, they are okay with me staying. My dad told me to watch for the snow storm though." I explain.

"Good." She nods "Girls can you come down here please." She yells upstairs. "Oh and there is a lasagna baking in the oven, the timer is set to go off in thirty minutes." She tells her son who gives her a thumbs up.

I take a seat next to Nick on the couch and soon we all hear the pitter patter of two children coming down the stairs. One girl has long dirty blonde hair like her mother and the other has shoulder length brown hair like her dad and brother. The blonde haired girl is a little taller than the other which suggests she is older.

"Girls, mommy and I are going out for a bit so Nick is going to watch you along with his friend Taylor." Mr.Ross tells them after he crouches down to their heights.

The girl with the blonde hair gasps and turns to look at me and only me. "She's a girl!" She exclaims with her bright blue eyes lighting up.

"That is Lauren and this is Jenna." Nick laughs as he picks up his little sister who giggles.

"It is very nice to meet you ladies." I smile softly at them.

"Darling, we have to go." Mrs.Ross says looking at her watch.

"Right. Kids be good." Mr.Ross says in an authoritive tone. The three siblings smile and nod at their father.

After a round of hugs and cheek kisses Nicks parents were out the door. And if you are wondering, yes Mrs.Ross did give me a hug. I honestly thought once I met Nick's parents, one of them would be mean or hateful but just as Nick shocked me, his parents did the same. From what I have seen, Nick comes from loving and caring family, just like me.

"Bubba, do you think she will play with me?" Jenna asks her brother in a quiet tone, but I still hear her.

"I'm sure she will if you ask her." Nick tells her.

Jenna's gaze swithes from her brother to me. At first she seem shy and timid but Jenna gets up from her brother's lap and comes to sit in mine. She does a quick scan of me before asking, "Do you like Barbies?"

"I love them. I used to play with them all the time when I was younger." I inform and Jenna's eyes light up in excitement.

Jenna's grabs my hand and shouts, "Let's go to the toy room!"

"Toy room?" I whisper to Nick.

"It's a room where we keep all of the toys. Aka, my old room." Nick informs me.

"Can we please go to the toy room, bubba." Jenna pouts and I can see Nick's shield crumbling.

"We can. Come on." He goes to pick Jenna up but she clings to my leg.

"I want her to carry me." Jenna laughs. I lean down to pick her up, settling her on my hip.

"I'll lead the way." Lauren says as we go up the stairs.

Once we get up the stairs, Lauren leads us down the hallway and to the third door on the right. Lauren opens the door and moves inside for the rest of us to enter. Let me tell you, toys were everywhere. A Barbie house sat in the far left corner, there was also several bean bag chairs, a tea party set, an art easel and a couch that sat in the view of a t.v mounted on the wall.

"Okay, this is an exceptionally cool toy room. I'm very jealous at the moment." I say in awe as I glance around the room.

I put Jenna down who runs over to the Barbie house to start playing, I guess she forgot all about me. Lauren goes over to the art easel and starts drawing something. She said we weren't allowed to see it until she was done.

I eye the bean bag chairs and decide to plop down in one of them. Carter has one of these in his room and I am always tempted to sit in it but since my brother likes to sit in it while he plays his video games, I'm afraid of what it smells like. Xander also had one in his dorm room freshman year but after he told me he did the deed with a girl on it, I was not only disgusted but scarred for life. Why my older brother felt the need to tell me that, I will never know.

Nick comes over and plops down in the bean bag chair next to me, "Tell me why your parents turned your bedroom into a toy room."

"When I turned sixteen, my dad thought I needed my own space. So he and my mom let me have the basement and I turned it into a bedroom. With their help of course. I did spend time helping my unlce making money to do it but my parents were very generous." Nick explains.

"Why did your dad think you needed space?" I ask.

Nick chuckles, "He said I was a man now and needed privacy you know in case I brought a girl home. We would be in the basement where no one would hear us." He finishes with a slight blush on his cheeks.

I can't help but laugh, "Oh my gosh!"

"Jokes on him. Until today, I've never had a girl in my room you broke my streak, cheerleader." He says out of nowhere.

"Wait what? You said you've been with a girl." I was confused now.

"I have but we didn't do it here." Nick confirms with a smirk.

Ohhh...

"Wait, you said I broke your streak. Am I really the first non related girl you've had in your bedroom?" I ask in shock.

"Mhm." Nick nods.

Wow. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I was also feeling a tad bit pleased to be the first girl in his room. Micah can suck it.

Jenna gets tired of playing at her Barbie house and comes over to where we are sitting with a brush and hair ties in her hands. I already know where this is going.

"Can I play with your hair?" She asks with a smile and I notice she is missing her two front teeth.

My heart melts, "You may." I tell her and take my hair out of the braid it had been in.

Lauren comes over next and shows us her finished drawing. It turns out she has a love for panda bears. I wasn't going to lie, Lauren was a pretty good artist.

"I like your bracelet, Taylor." Lauren comments after looking at my nails.

"Oh. Thanks. My best friend and I have matching ones. Do you know what that charm is?" I ask her and she shakes her head no. "It is an infinity charm, it means we will be friends for infinity." I say with a sad smile. I can't help but remember the meaning behind this bracelet.

I peer over at Nick who has his face all scrunched up like he is thinking really hard about something. I know he is trying to piece together what I just said considering the bracelet is still unknown to him. I suddenly realize my mistake and I so wanted to facepalm myself.

Before anyone can say anything a loud ring comes from downstairs. Nick mumbles something about the sound being the timer his mom set for the lasagna and heads downstairs to the kitchen. I grab Jenna with Lauren following us as we follow behind Nick to the kitchen.

Once we get there the smell of cheese and meat and noodles fills the air. The aroma is absolutely mouth watering. I set Jenna down in a chair at the bar and ask Nick if I can help him do anything but he declines my offer. For some reason his attitude has changed and I have a slight idea as to why, I was very nervous for the next time we were alone.

Throughout the meal Jenna entertains us with what happened at kindergarten the past week. Apparently a boy gave her a kiss on the playground near the jungle gym and the next day he gave her his chocolate pudding cup. It was very cute to see Jenna's brown eyes light up as she talked about the boy. Nick's mood changed as well when he heard his five year old sister talk about the events, he went from crabby to protective in an instant. He told her that if the boy did that again to tell him and he would deal with it. Jenna just giggled and told her big brother he was still her favorite.

After we finished eating, I got up before Nick could and cleared our plates from the bar. From the glare Nick gave me, he wasn't thrilled that I beat him to the punch. I just smirked back at him.

"Nick, I think mom made a double chocolate cake for dessert." Lauren informs her brother.

"She did." Nick confirms and gets up to get the cake off of the counter near the fridge. "Who wants a slice?" He asks.

"Me!" Jenna and Lauren cheer at the same time.

Nick puts their small slices on to saucers, something tells me these kids get extra hyper after they have had a lot of sugar, which explains the small portions.

"Cheerleader, you want a slice?" Nick asks pointing to the cake. Don't get me wrong the cake looks and smells amazing but I can't have any.

"No thanks." I decline.

"You don't want cake Taylor?" Jenna pouts with a chocolatey face. I can't help but laugh at her.

"I can't have any, I'm allergic." I tell them with a sigh.

Lauren furrows her brows the same way her brother does when he is confused. "You're allergic to cake?"

Nick and his sisters look at me like I just grew three extra heads. "No. Chocolate." I say.

"That sucks." Jenna sighs with sadness.

"Are you really?" Nick asks in disbelief. I nod.

For my first birthday my parents got me one of those smash cakes and it was chocolate. They found out the hard way I was super allergic to chocolate. It wasn't really an issue until I started trick or treating and going to school. Most of the candy and cakes kids have were chocolate based. You can only imagine my frustration once I started getting periods and craved something I couldn't have. It was hell.

"Bubba are you going to have cake?" Jenna asks after she swallows a large piece of cake.

"Um...not right now. Maybe later." He replies then looks at me with a smirk. What was that all about?

- - - - - -

Over the next hour and a half we watch Frozen, a special request from Lauren. I loved this movie. When it came out, Lacey and I went to see it. We had a blast. Of course when Elsa sang Let It Go I joined in with the girls and sang our hearts out. Then when Olaf's solo came on, I belted that out as well. I remember watching this movie with Carter once, he said I made him tone deaf with my singing but Lauren and Jenna had no complaints. In fact, I even seen a hint of a smile on Nick's face.

Frozen ended and according to Nick's parents, the girls had to be in bed by 9:30 so they could rest up for school tomorrow. Before Jenna dozed off to sleep she said she enjoyed spending time with me and that caused my heart to warm and a smile to appear. She is a sweet kid, as is Lauren.

"I think Jenna has found her new favorite person, I am slightly jealous." Nick chuckles as he sits down on the couch next to me.

"By tomorrow you will be back in her favorites." I say.

"We will see. Want to watch a movie that doesn't involve a singing snowman?" He asks as he grabs the remote.

"Sure." I comply.

Nick and I ended up watching The Longest Ride, only because I suggested it. I think once Nick found out that I thought Scott Eastwood was insanely hot, he regretted his decision of letting me choose. Nick made popcorn before the movie started, he said popcorn should always be present when watching a movie. I laughed but agreed, popcorn was one thing I always purchased at the movie theater.

At some point during the movie I found myself scooting closer to Nick, I kept telling myself it was for warmth. I was starting to feel chilly but not chilly enough to need the warmth of another person. Nick sensed me moving closer to him because he kept scooting closer to me. So by the time we scooted as close as we could get, we found ourselves in the same exact position we were in earlier in Nick's bedroom.

We were both looking into each others eyes. My gaze was going from his gorgeous hazel eyes to his lips that were begging to be kissed. Nick's gaze was burning into mine. We were leaning in, so close our lips touched slighty but not enough for it to be a kiss. We were right there when we heard the door open and in walked his parents.

That would be the second time tonight and I was very disappointed.

After having a small conversation with Nick and his parents I made the decision to head home before the snow more intense. There was already two more inches on the ground.

Nick was kind enough to walk me out to my car, "If the snow keeps up we may get a snow day." He comments looking anywhere but at me.

"Hope so. I have math assignment I didn't do." I laugh lightly to break this unwanted tension. On cue my dad texted me and told me I should get home. I quickly sent him a text saying I was leaving and would be home shortly. "I gotta go." I mumble.

"Okay. Be careful. And...and let me know when you make it home." He says nervously.

" I will." I say and feel a blush creep up my neck.

Nick suddenly leans in and gives me a kiss on the cheek. When he backs away I notice he is now sporting a blush.

"Night, Batman." I whisper.

"Night, Cheerleader." He whispers.

On the drive home I couldn't help but replay the days events in my head. Two particular ones stood out to me. Nick and I almost kissed not once but twice.

I found myself wishing they weren't almosts.