all we have is now / feral boys fanfiction

~9~ lydia

"We need to finish Criminal Minds," Nick thinks out loud.

"We have a couple seasons to go." I nod. "Why the rush, though?"

"I just get excited for the ending," he shrugs, "but also I feel like we'll be hanging out with Dream and George more once George arrives, so there will be less time for us to watch it."

I fake gasp. "You mean Dream will let me finally see his ogre-like features?"

Nick shakes his head with a chuckle.

"Come on, tell me the truth," I say, "As someone who has seen his face, can you confirm that he kind of resemble shrek?"

"I don't know about Shrek," he says honestly, "Maybe Mike Wazowski."

"Actually?" I laugh, keeping my eyes on the road.

"Maybe," he leans his head side to side as if he's weighing each of the options on his head.

"What about a mix between the green teletubby, Mike Wazowski and Shrek?" I ask excitedly.

"Why do you keep wanting to add Shrek?" he asks, taking a sip of his water bottle.

"Just answer the question." I laugh a little, "If you saw a fanart with those three, would it be an exact replica of Dream?"

"As long as it's smiling," he gives me a big cheesy smile.

My heart flutters a little bit at his grin. Really? Right now, heart?

"Now I have to see this man," I say, trying to shake the fact that I just got butterflies.

"Oh, he's a treat," Nick nods as he sets his water down.

"I'm sure," I laugh, "Do you really think we'll all hang out once George moves here?"

"Yeah, Dream hates that we get to hang out without him."

"Oh really?" I joke, "He wants to hang out with a little old me?"

"I mean, who wouldn't?" Nick glances at me before messing with my air freshener, which is shaped like a squirrel in a diaper.

"You're right," I jokingly toss my hair behind my shoulder, "I'm great aren't I?"

"Oh yeah," he laughs, "too bad for Dream because, for now, I get you all to myself."

I blush a bit, not sure how to respond. I don't want to lose Nick because George is in Florida. I'm selfish. I want to have Nick all to myself sometimes.

 It's quiet for a for a few moments before I ask, "Can we still hang out just the two of us? Even when Dream and George are around a lot."

He smiles as if that's just the question he wanted to hear. "Of course."

I return the smile. I'm glad that we can hang out just the two of us. I love being friends with Dream and George, but I like the idea of still having my nights with Nick to watch Criminal minds.

I think back to my conversation with Quackity.

"I tagged along with Tae," Nick shrugs.

"Tae?" Quackity whispers to me, "Getting pretty close aren't you?"

"A lot of people call me Tae," I roll my eyes, although my cheeks grow a little hotter, "Don't overthink it."

"I'm not overthinking it if it's the truth," he puts his hands up in defense, "and you can't deny that with how red your face just got."

Quackity knew for sure before I knew for sure. Of course he did. He knows me better than almost anybody in the world. We talk almost every single day about anything and nothing at the exact same time.

But the question is, do I do anything about my crush? I mean, he's one of my brother's best friends. That could be a little awkward, but I also don't think Karl would mind.

You don't even know if Nick like you back, Taegan. I can't get too far ahead of myself. I can't let myself get too excited before even knowing the full thing. Maybe I could just-

"You good?" Nick asks, snapping me back into reality.

"What?" I try to focus on the road again, "Yeah, I'm good, sorry."

"All good," he chuckles.

We're quiet for a moment before he once again points to my squirrel air freshener. "Do I want to know the back story behind this?"

I laugh a little bit. "Probably not."

We listen to music for the rest of the way with the occasional comment about something we pass or a song preference.

Usually I'm not the biggest fan of long road trips like these, but Nick makes it really enjoyable, even just being in his presence.

I try not to get myself too excited about something that doesn't even exist, but it's really hard not to.

~author's note~

i just love the idea of her having this old beat up car and im not sure why haha

anywayss i realized i haven't written an author's note the past couple chapters so i thought i would check in :) how are you guys enjoying the story??

hope you have an amazing day <33