Impress Me Not: The Handyman

Chapter 82

This was going to be awkward. And he was going to have to make a lot of apologies tonight. But all of that was okay. He could go through all of that if it meant that he got to have Solomon again.

He just really didn't want to get hit with a bat.

"Stay here," Solomon told him. They had spent the rest of the contest outside, just talking. It wasn't long before they started seeing everyone pile out of the giant concert hall. Niko didn't care that he missed the other performers. He had only come to see one tonight. And he was especially happy with how it turned out.

He reluctantly let go of Solomon and watched as he disappeared into the crowd. He probably thought that the best way to get through this was to talk to his friends and sister about this before they saw him. It took away some of the awkward interactions that he had to do. Niko was sure that they would probably hate his guts for a while.

Everyone seemed to. Even though this time he hadn't done anything wrong. That was just his luck in life. That was why he didn't have many friends in general.

He went over to the parking lot to wait, since it was getting rather crowded where he was at the moment. The last thing he needed was to make a scene in front of all of these people.

"So," Riko popped up next to him. "How'd it go?"

"I didn't have to go with plan B," Niko told him, smiling. He was so happy that this was finally over. It had been a hell of a week, and he was glad that it had a happy ending to it rather than a sad one.

"You look happier than before," Angel said. His car was right next to Niko's. Riko had come in his own car as well. "I take it that you and Solomon are back together?"

"Yeah," he couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "Although I still have to make sure that his friends don't kill me."

"I'm going to leave you to that," Riko patted his shoulder and got out his keys. "I'm not exactly the best person when it comes to getting on people's good sides."

"You somehow managed to get on my cousin's good side after that party," Niko joked.

"That was different," Riko said. "I'll see you later, Niko! Try not to have too much fun tonight!"

Right when he was pulling out, Niko saw Solomon looking for him. He waved him over, glad to at least have Angel there for the time being. He was probably waiting for Lee. The driver probably got stuck in the crowd. It looked thick enough.

"I thought I told you to stay put," Solomon raised crossed his arms. He could tell that he wasn't actually annoyed about it though. He still had a smile on his face.

"It was getting too crowded," Niko told him. "I just figured this would be a better spot for all of this."

There was a whole group following him. Niko recognized Jessy, Maya, and Avi. But the other three were completely knew faces. The blond that he had seen with Jessy at the concert was giving him the death stare.

Were these all of Solomon's friends? He hadn't exactly met all of them yet.

"Nice to meet you finally," a guy with dark blond hair put his hand out. "I'm Gary."

"Niko," he shook the hand. "I wished we could have met under better circumstances."

"No hard feelings," Gary gave him a soft smile.

He slowly started meeting the rest of the group. Olivia was a petite woman with a kind smile. It seemed like her and Gary were the quickest to forgive. Avi seemed a little worried, but he still said hello to him. Solomon had told him that Avi was his oldest friend. They had known each other since high school.