Crossroads → Nicholas Scratch [CAOS]

vii. a welcome distraction

A WELCOME DISTRACTION
CHAPTER SEVEN

Dani's peaceful binge-watching was interrupted by the obnoxious sound of the smoothie blender in the kitchen. Calum had been going at it for at least ten minutes. What he was making exactly, she wasn't sure. Knowing him, Dani could only assume it was one of his creative drinks, made up of a mixture of fruits, leafy greens, and miscellaneous protein powders, that she was convinced didn't work together whatsoever. She groaned at the incessant noise, positive that her brother's smoothie was already made and he only kept the loud machine on to bother her. When Calum walked into the living room, she rolled her eyes at how he was innocently enjoying his smoothie, as though he hadn't made her miss the best part of the movie.

"Was that necessary?" she asked sarcastically, her eyes then travelling to the lumpy-looking green drink in his hand. She cringed in disgust. "And what even is that?"

"Want some?" He held it close to her face, snickering when the smell of it made Dani withdraw from her comfortable position under the soft blanket. She sat up, shaking her head at the revolting odour.

"Most people make smoothies that are made of ingredients that are, you know... actually edible."

"And most people actually have their own relationships and don't obsess over pathetic fictional ones like these." He nodded his head toward the TV, scrunching his face up at the sight of the short kiss that occurred on the screen. "Why the hell are they sucking each other's faces off?" he asked, appalled by the scene as though he hadn't done the exact same thing when he had to say goodbye to his girlfriend before they left Riverdale. He took no notice of the glare Dani shot him, too busy grimacing at the romantic scene.

"This is one of the rare times I'm home without any homework to do and without Dad to nag me about how I shouldn't be wasting my time watching 'juvenile, cliché films', so let me watch in peace, okay?" She dropped her head back onto the cushion and looked back to the television, frustrated that she had missed a few minutes of it. Calum was about to respond in his defence, but the doorbell rang, cutting him off. Dani groaned in irritation, reluctantly pulling herself out of the couch. "Great, another distraction," she mumbled, prodding toward the front door. Sighing, she pulled the door handle down. When she pulled the door open to reveal Nick, the frustrated expression on her face dropped within seconds.

"Hey, Dani." He smiled his signature grin, shiny teeth sitting between his perfectly pink lips. Dani tried to discreetly hide her body behind the door with the hopes that Nick wouldn't notice her baggy sweatpants and off-the-shoulder pyjama sweater that was stained by juice and yogurt.

"Uh, hi." She quickly pulled the frizzy strands of hair that escaped her messy bun behind her ears, smiling back awkwardly, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you were busy..." he trailed, looking her up and down before chuckling softly. "... which I can see now that you aren't." Dani bit her bottom lip sheepishly, her cheeks reddening slightly at his reference to her clothing.

"Where d'you wanna go?" she asked, trying to divert the conversation to anything but her messy outfit. She didn't know why exactly she was so bothered by Nick seeing her dressed so embarrassingly. Of course, she didn't want to show herself as a mess, but normally a bit of messy hair was nothing she was ashamed of having in front of her friends.

"It doesn't really matter where." He shrugged. Dani's eyebrows raised at his nonchalant response, surprised by how unfussy he was being. She had been waiting for him to say either Sweetwater River or make a comment about how there weren't many good options in Greendale.

"Okay..." Dani responded, deciding not to prod just yet. She moved back a few steps to let him in. "I'll go get changed." Scurrying into the living room in excitement, she earned a questioning look from her brother. "It's Nick, one of my friends."