the strangers series. (mgk ; machine gun kelly)

4 • 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊

It's been a couple weeks since the night of the party, an eventful night that I still couldn't quite remember. Bits and pieces came back every now and then, the harder I tried to remember, but they mostly came back from me looking at Lola's snapchat memories. We apparently drove up to a lookout with an amazing view, a view I wish I could remember.
There was just something about that night that I knew was important, but I just couldn't remember. It was as if I was missing something important, something that happened between Kells and I- an exchange of words. If I concentrated hard enough, I could almost hear his voice and the words he spoke but I just couldn't remember. I vaguely remember him asking about Nick but I don't think I could trust my drunk memories to give me any answers.
I tried getting something out of Lola but no matter how many times I asked her, she stuck to her original claim- that she didn't remember anything either but I knew she remembered something; it was obvious in her body language whenever I interrogated her about it.
It was honestly a lost cause- there was nothing else I could do.
I focused back in on the familiar faces of my best friends as I tuned back into their conversation. I glanced over from my perch on Lola's bed as I stared at the rest of them laying down on her shag carpet.
Camila rolled her eyes at something that was previously said, and I immediately knew what it was,
"So? Did you guys fuck or...?"
I heard Ethan and Reece start whistling as Lola blushed, leaning her head into my leg as she laid down on her bed next to me,
"Oh my god- can we not talk about that?"
It was obvious to me that they had been talking about Kells' tattooed side-kick, Rook- the one she had been up on all night long. I couldn't help but feel the smirk growing on my lips as I, too, wanted to know.
Ethan chuckled as he tossed up a baseball of Lola's, letting it fall onto his chest as he kept tossing it,
"What about you, Lilly? I saw you eyeing the MGK."
I immediately wanted to sock him in the face as everyones' eyes landed on me. Their sudden shift in focus from Lola to me slowly started to suffocate me as I averted my gaze from theirs',
"Nothing happened, dude."
I heard a scoff and I knew who it was ftom with a quick glance up. I was quick enough to see Nick shaking his head as he looked away, disappointment and something unfamiliar written all over his face. Reece noticed the little gesture, as well, sitting up straighter against Lola's dresser as he stared Nick down from across the room,
"Yo, what's your problem, man? Lookin' like someone pissed in your drink."
He chuckled it off but Nick stayed quiet, diverting his eyes away from mine as I stared at him, his back pressed up against Lola's nightstand. It was weird how at the mention of Kells, he shut off and acted like an ass.
I rolled my eyes, noting that i'd have to talk to him about his attitude later. In the meantime, I had to deal with the rest of our friends' accusations,
"Seriously, though, nothing happened. We're just friends."
I was surprised, yet again, to hear Nick finally speak up, the incredulous tone in his voice making me angrier,
"You two are friends?"
I raised an eyebrow as he raised one back, leaving us in a staredown as the rest of our friends watched us watching each other. I pursed my lips, trying my hardest to control my emotions,
"Yes, actually, we are."
Nick laughed a little as he rolled his eyes, tearing them away from mine as he studied the toes of his scuffed-up Converse,
"You never mentioned it until now."
I was quick to retort, the anger and annoyance running through me taking full control of my rational side. It was as if I totally forgot how to control myself,
"Well, you never mentioned you two were friends at all so I guess we're even, now, aren't we?"
To add to the attitude dripping from my words, I added a small, sarcastic smile as he glanced up, obviously shocked from my snarky remark. Ethan immediately sat upright, letting the baseball roll off his chest, while Reece, Camila, and Lola sat up straighter, their wide eyes switching from me to Nick. The silence immediately enveloped us, leaving us in our thoughts.
I didn't dare tear my eyes away from him, causing him to look away first with the evident embarrassment and anger written all over his face. He scoffed, getting up off the carpet as he picked his way over the legs and hands, whipping the bedroom door open as he disappeared from sight,
"Whatever."
He left the rest of us in the bedroom to stare after him, until their heads turned back to face me. Camila gasped a little as she started to talk, stammering over her words,
"What the- what the hell was that about?"
I shook my head, staring down at my polished nails- I really didn't wanna talk about it because that involved me actually speaking about my feelings; I was never great at that, even if they were my best friends.
There was no way I could portray my annoyance towards Nick and his secrets without seeming paranoid and overdramatic and I didn't need anybody elses' judgement.
Lola audibly sighed as she spoke up for me, a defensive tone in her voice kicking in as she backed me up,
"Well, I mean, Nick didn't tell us he was friends with a drug dealer, a man we were told to watch out for since we were old enough to understand how dangerous the streets are- aren't you guys a little weirded out by that, too?"
I glanced up at our friends' faces, seeing the familiar facial expressions I must've had on my face that one night on the football field, when Kells said he was friends with Nick.
Ethan cleared his throat, grabbing the baseball up off the floor once again as he talked about his brother,
"Well, yeah, that's definitely understandable... but I don't think that's what Cam's talkin' about."
Then what the fuck was she talking about? I raised an eyebrow, about to ask him to go on, to elaborate, but Reece interrupted, running his hand over his curls as his brown eyes flitted from Lola to me and back to Ethan,
"Yeah, uh, he seemed kinda jealous- or somethin' like that, I don't know."
Jealous? Nick?
My palms immediately started to feel clammy, my breathing increasing as my brain started formulating reasons to explain Nick's odd behavior. There was no way he was jealous- it had to be something else.
I shook my head, my denial fully setting in,
"No, he's probably being overprotective."
Camila sighed, shrugging as she leaned back against her elbows. She flipped her black locks behind her shoulder as she looked up at me on the bed, her pursed lips and sincere eyes starting to worry me even more,
"Well, I don't know, girl... you should go talk to him."
I knew I should but I didn't want to- that was the last thing I'd rather do.
You know you have to.
I sighed, nodding as I unraveled myself from Lola's scrunched up sheets. I felt the mood in the room shift around me as I walked out, my feet making a soft padding noise on the carpet as I made my way down the familiar hallway and down the stairs.
I heard some shuffling coming from the other side of the wall that separated the stairwell and the kitchen, and I knew he hadn't gone far- no one else was home except us.
I mentally prepared myself for the onslaught of accusations and yelling as I rounded the corner, my eyes settling on Nick's back as he rummaged through the fridge. His tensed shoulders and relentless muttering set me on edge- he seemed agitated but also on the hunt for something and it was best if I didn't bother him.
No, stop making lame ass excuses.
I cleared my throat, gaining his attention as he glanced over his shoulder, his furrowed eyebrows relaxing as his eyes focused on me. He sighed, glancing back at the condiments and leftovers stacked in the fridge, his soft, monotone voice barely reaching my ears,
"What- you come down here to chew my ass out some more?"
I rolled my eyes as I took a seat on a stool by the breakfast bar, facing his back as he continued to stare at the open fridge,
"Maybe."
He dramatically sighed as he let the fridge door slam shut on its own, finally turning around to face me. I knew he was annoyed with me but so was I- and I wasn't gonna let this down anymore; I had been putting this aside for as long as I could and it was time that someone confronted him about it.
He leaned against the closed door, crossing his arms as he finally made eye contact with me,
"Fine- go on."
His subtle cockiness in his attitude and body language started to tick me off but I swallowed my pride, crossing my arms, as well, as I sat back against the stool,
"Why the fuck didn't you tell us you were friends with him?"
Nick visibly tensed up again as he glanced away, clenching his jaw before he spoke,
"Because I didn't think it was important."
The fact that he didn't think that wasn't important ticked me off even more- he was acting dumb and it wasn't helping either of us. I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms tighter across my chest as I felt the anger inside me growing,
"We all think that's pretty fucking important, Nick. You don't think that you having a friendship with him wasn't important to mention, at least once?"
I felt as if my eyes deceived me as I studied his reaction but they didn't- I watched Nick shrug nonchalantly, leaning his head against the stainless steel of the fridge door, closing his eyes,
"No, because we aren't friends."
Well, sorry to break it to ya, buddy, but he said otherwise.
I leaned forward in the stool, resting my elbows against the counter as I drilled a hole into his head with my stare. I didn't even know who to believe anymore, my best friend who seemed to have secrets of his own or a man I barely knew that showed me no reason for me to doubt him,
"That's not what he said-"
"What he said or says isn't fucking important, alright?!"
I wasn't taken aback by the sudden change in the volume of his voice but from the way his mood changed in an instant. One second he was calm and bored, the next he was annoyed and heated- this wasn't like him at all. I gaped at him as he made his way to me from across the kitchen, every part of me suddenly feeling scared of him. Every muscle in my body tensed and screamed at me to get up and run back to the safety of our friends, but I stayed frozen in my seat.
I watched his brown eyes come closer to me, his clenched jaw unclenching for seconds at a time as he spoke, the breakfast bar being the only thing separating our bodies, thankfully,
"We aren't friends and you two shouldn't be friends either. What they say about him- it's true. He's not the man you think he is- you know nothing about him, nothing like what I know. He's dangerous and not someone you should be around or seen with so stop talking to him now since you have the chance."
Since you have the chance...
A part of me, deep down, had a feeling there was more to this than I knew and it was starting to actually scare me, but it went straight over my head as I stared at him, the intensity in his voice drawing me in.
The way his eyes softened as he continued to speak made my heart start to beat faster. It looked like he actually cared, and not in a best friend way- in a more-than-friends way. This was more than just a friendly warning and we both knew it.
Maybe Reece was right.
I shook my head, my annoyance fully replacing the little bit of fear I felt earlier,
"You can't tell me anything I don't already know, Nick. And you definitely can't tell me who I can and can't talk to. What I care about right now is that you didn't tell us that you even knew him, in the first place."
Nick groaned, pulling away as he rubbed both sides of his temples with his hands, walking away from me before I could say anything else,
"I can't talk about this right now- I can't talk to you."
What the fuck does that even mean?
He left me in the kitchen, wide-eyed and with a gaping mouth as I watched him walk out of the kitchen and soon, out of the house. The sound of the front door slamming shut with finality confirmed my suspicions- this confronting shit was more complicated than I thought it was gonna be.