𝑻𝐇𝐄 𝑵𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒━━ 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘯𝘢𝘱

26

i was on the bed scrolling through instagram and eating my gummy worms when nick finally finished showering. as soon as he came out of the bathroom, he threw his towel at me and hit me in the face.

"hey!" i covered my gummy worms to protect them.

"that's what you get for unfairly showering first," he said. he jumped beside me on the bed, and i stuck my tongue out at him.

"it was totally fair," i replied. "you need to work on being faster."

"hey now. you may run fast, but i can beat you in an actual fight," he scoffed.

i rolled my eyes. "i took mixed martial arts classes, buddy."

"no you didn't."

"okay, i didn't, but i know like three moves from watching kung fu panda," i told him.

"see, i would dominate you."

"you wouldn't," i argued.

"i totally would. i bet you don't even know how to punch properly or-"

before he could finish, i had stood up and tackled him, knocking us both against the bed. the air left his lungs, but he rebounded quickly and tried to push me off of him.

i backed off the bed and nick ran at me. laughing, i ducked under his arm and jumped back onto the bed.

"oh you're not getting off that easy, thalia monroe," he warned me.

i grabbed a pillow and the bag of gummy worms. using the pillow as i shield, i started pelting him with the remaining gummy worms, laughing when he started trying to catch them in his mouth. when i ran out of gummy worms, he grabbed the pillow from me and threw it across the room. then, he picked me up and threw me down on the bed.

i kicked him in the side, which did nothing except cause him to fall onto me. he was inadvertently pinning my one arm down, so i used my free hand to try and tickle him. he moved fast enough that all i managed to do was enable him to pin both my arms.

"what are you going to do now?" he smirked.

i don't know what came over me. all i know is that i should have thought about it before i did it. maybe it was the tension from wrestling around, or maybe it was something i always wanted to do.

whatever the case, i didn't even hesitate before pressing my lips firmly against nick's. i could feel the tenseness in his body as i took him by surprise. his grip on my arms loosened after a minute and he seemed to melt against me for a few seconds before pulling back.

"wh-what was that?" he asked after catching his breathe. his dark eyes were a little glazed over.

it hit me suddenly- the rush of feelings that i hadn't ever considered before. feelings directed at nick.

"i'm not- i don't know," was all i could say. "i wasn't thinking."

nick looked at me for a long moment. his gaze was searching, but i don't know what it was he was looking for. after a minute, he slowly leaned down close to my face.

"i think i like it when you don't think," he whispered, gaze caught on my lips.

i let out a small laugh, the discomfort i had felt evaporating, and sat up a little. "i think i like it too."

before i could move, nick's hands were tangling in my hair as he brought his lips to mine. i relished in the kiss and surrendered myself to the electricity that sparked through me. i was high on adrenaline and kisses.

when we finally broke apart again, nick had a small smile on his face. "well that was not what i expected to happen tonight."

i laughed as i pushed him off me. "really? i had this planned out from the beginning," i said, a hint of sarcasm.

"i mean, i'm definitely not complaining. but now i owe karl and dream money," he said.

i got off the bed to try and clean up the mess we had made. "money for what?"

"oh they've had a bet going for ages that something would happen between us one day," he said, casually.

i straightened up from retrieving my pillow off the ground. "what do you mean?"

nick smiled a little. "karl has been convinced that i'm in love with you since the first time he met you, and dream thought we were secretly dating for months. they also claim that we're soulmates."

i felt my heart lurch a little at that. i always told nick we were soulmates in the platonic sense, but now i was questioning that. how much of my love for him was platonic?

sure, i had a crush on him when we were younger, but i always chalked that up to him being the first person outside of my family that i spent so much time with. maybe over the years i had convinced myself that it was nothing but crush, and maybe that was false and i'm actually in love with him.

i shook my head a little and faked a yawn. "i was going to suggest we watch a movie but i'm exhausted."

nick nodded. "i'm tired, too."

i turned the light off and climbed into bed, resting my head on nick's shoulder the same way i had for years. we fit together perfectly, just like we always had.

when nick's breathing steadied and i was sure that he was fast asleep, i untangled myself from the blanket and made my way outside. there was barely a breeze, but the sound of the ocean waves gently lapping at the shore made it more comfortable.

i sat away from the water and stared into the dark ocean for a long time. my thoughts were swirling around my head and i desperately missed the empty calmness i had felt earlier.

i was an idiot. i mean, who kisses their best friend without even knowing if she actually likes him or was just acting on impulse? who can't tell if what they're feeling is real or not? it's ridiculous.

i gave up on trying to figure it out on my own around three in the morning. i grabbed my phone from beside me and dialed the one person i knew would be awake and willingly to talk to me about this.

word count: 1068