Miles Away | Nick Mara

Fifty

He was in a random parking lot a couple blocks away. I walked towards him. He sat in the back of a stranger's pick up truck, legs hanging from the edge. He looked up as I climbed up to sit beside him.

"Don't ask me if I'm okay." He said quietly.

"I wasn't going to."

He looked at me.

"You're clearly not." I shrugged. "Don't need to ask to know."

He laughed a little and turned away again. I sighed, watching as he played around with his jeans.

"What happened?"

He shrugged. I waited for a response, trying to meet his eyes. A minute passed, and I looked away.

"You're not the only one who's allowed to love her." He said.

I blinked. "What?"

"That's what I said to Nick. He told me to back off and stay away from you."

I sighed. "Jesus."

He laughed. I looked at him in surprise. But the laughter soon turned into tears. I didn't know what to do. Holding his hand or hugging him would give him the wrong idea. But I did it anyway. Pulling him into a hug, I held him for as long as he'd let me.

"This doesn't mean anything." I clarified.

He laughed. "Damn. Way to hurt my feelings."

I let go, slapping his arm. But I smiled with a sigh, laying back and looking up at the sky. The sun was beginning to rise, flashes of red and orange appeared along the clouds.

"Wait," I said, sitting up. "You punched him?"

He didn't answer for a moment. "Yeah.."

I slapped him again. "How stupid are you."

He laughed. One of the doors of the building in front of us opened, and a man walked out. He looked up at us and frowned.

"Hey!" He yelled. "I'm calling the cops! Get away from my truck!"

We jumped off and started running as fast as we could, past the gas station, cutting through someone's backyard and running towards the apartment. I could hear Zion's laughter from behind me, and I couldn't help but laugh along with him. We ran to the elevator, finally catching our breath.

When we opened the door, everyone was inside, acting as if nothing happened. Edwin and Nick has controllers in their hands, intently watching the TV as the game went on, yelling at each other. Brandon was still asleep on the floor, clutching the blanket up close to his nose. Nick stood up when he realized we were back. He walked to Zion.

"Nick.." I warned.

"I'm sorry." He said. Zion blinked, confused. "I was outta line. I can't tell you what to do and what not to do."

Zion sighed. "Nah, we're good."

"Hug it out." I said.

They laughed and complained, but hugged all the same. Edwin clapped from behind them, a huge grin planted on his face. Brandon sat up slowly, confused. When he saw that Nick and Zion were friends again, he smiled and went back to sleep.

Nick walked towards me. "Can I talk to you?"