He averted his gaze, looking down at his shoes briefly, then bringing his gaze back to mine. "I wondered if... I need to talk to you for a minute."
"Why?" I asked, my expression guarded.
He glanced around and said, "I don't really want to talk about it right here. Can we step outside?"
I sighed again, that time on purpose. "Derek, I'm really not in the mood right now."
"Please," he said, looking into my eyes.
Even as I cursed myself for falling into those blue eyes, I found myself nodding. "Okay, but just for a second."
I stepped out of line and followed Derek out of the cafeteria. We walked silently down the hall and out the doors, then Derek sat on the stone bench and waited for me to join him.
Since he didn't start talking immediately, I decided to prompt him. "Did you have something to say to me, Derek? I would like to eat my lunch."
He sat there for another couple seconds, so I got up to leave, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back down beside him.
"I made a mistake, Nikki."
That was the understatement of the century.
"Actually, I've made a few mistakes," he amended, looking at me solemnly. "I miss you."
I felt my heart give an inch, but I quickly brought myself back to my senses, reminding myself what had happened last time I let my guard down with him.
Since I didn't respond, he continued. "And I don't even know how you feel about me now, if you even... want to be with me anymore, but Nikki, I still want to be with you. I know I screwed up by getting Kayla pregnant, and I wish that I wouldn't have, but I think, if you were willing, we could still work this out. I'm sure she's going to be a bitch about it, and I'm sure she's going to make it hard on me, but I don't want to make the same mistake that my dad made."
Wait a minute, was he saying what I thought he was saying?
"What exactly do you mean, Derek?" I asked him skeptically, not wanting to jump to any wrong conclusions.
"I'm not really good at this," he muttered. "I've never done it before."
"What?" I pressed a bit impatiently.
He stared at me for a second, then said, "I'm asking you, even though I don't deserve it... to take me back."
My heart faltered briefly and all I could do was stare at him. "You mean... but what about Kayla?"
"I don't give a damn about Kayla," he stated. "I'm still going to take responsibility, but like my dad said, my responsibility is to the baby, not to Kayla."
"Your dad?" I said, finally feeling completely puzzled.
Derek nodded. "We had another talk. It was very Ward Cleaver, but... he even advised me to do this. He told me not to make the same mistake he made."
I never thought I would be glad for Mike giving Derek advice about that particular situation, but in that moment, I was.
Or was I glad? Was Derek even serious? Was he able to follow through?
"But you're with Kayla, Derek," I reminded him.
He shook his head. "No. I only went back to her because I didn't know what I was doing, Nikki. I was... confused and I had no idea what I was supposed to do... I can't even explain to you the way I was feeling."
Reluctantly, I felt myself sympathizing a little bit.
"But I can't do it," he said. "If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but... I don't want to be with her, I want to be with you. I know I don't deserve you, especially not after this, and I know I'm asking you to put up with more now, because... I am going to be a father, and with Kayla being the mother it isn't going to be simple, but..."
"Did you break up with her?" I asked.