"What?" How could I forget that event? I swear Kai is never gonna hear the last of it.
"Do you know about Allie? Or at least have an idea what she's done?"
I knew I shouldn't speak. If I spoke, it'd come out all stuttery and I'd look stupid in front of him.
"I mean I-" I was right. I don't know why I didn't just listen to my mind telling me not to speak or I'll stutter "It appeared on Kai's timeline and they liked it?"
I sounded so bad lying but I wasn't going to rat out Kai for stalking him after I said I wanted to know more about him. I have no clue if this is my fault or Kai's. What if I just blame everything on Cody, yeah it's Cody's fault.
"Now see, why are you lying?" He asks, staring down at my hands "If you were stalking my socials, you can just say so. I won't judge"
"It's embarrassing. I just wanted to get to know you more so I checked your twitter and stuff but I forgot I was logged in on Kai's account and accidentally liked a tweet" That definitely sounded more convincing than the last lie I told. Kai will definitely pay for this.
"So you know about Allison now, just not much of what she did?" He was becoming more and more vulnerable as time progressed. I'm scared I'm stepping over the line now and he was forcing himself.
"I know her name and how she made your mental health dip? That's all I know, I promise. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to" I don't know what took over me but I felt my hand flick to his and gaze it slowly.
I hear his breath hitch at the connection, watching his lips quiver at the sight of me holding his hand softly.
"Okay.. You said you wanted to know some things about me?" I saw the small smirk on his face. From my nervous state, I was able to calm down and finally have a jokey conversation with him.
"Shut up" I rolled my eyes
"Come on, ask. You know you want to" He teased me, scratching the back of my hand "Ask me"
I sighed, blurting out the first sarcastic thought that went to my head "Will you have sex with me?"
"Don't need to ask twice Daffy" He answered so fast, it took me a second to realize what he said. He was laughing while
I sat dumbfounded in front of him.
"Shut your ass up, I'll bite you" Now I know that sounded wrong, but I meant it as a threat.
A kinky thr- Okay Daphne lets not go there..
"Where exactly?" He raised an eyebrow and I wanted to hit him. And so I did.
I playfully punch him on the shoulder which I thought was too hard from the way he reacted. Then I realized he was being over dramatic for the moment.
"OWW YOU ARE LIKE ERIN" The way he said it sounded so much like Eleven yelling at Hopper. "AND CLAY.. And George... Wait I just realized everyone has violence as an ans- OWW WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"
Huh so he really does whine like a baby when you pinch his ear.
"I wanted to see how Erin felt when she did it to you" I shrugged my shoulders while he pouts across from me "You're such a baby"
"WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP SAYING I'M A BABY! I SWEAR I WILL TELL MY MOMMY ABOUT YOUR BULLYING"
At first I thought he was joking when he said that, like he was purposefully acting like a child to continue the act of me calling him a baby, but then he literally called his mom in front of me to tell her that I called him a baby.
"Yes mom, she's sitting in front of me and she called me a baby" He complained to his mom.
"Sweetheart, the fact you're calling me because your friend called you a baby is highly proving her point right now"
"Mommy please tell her to stop"
"Nick, you're literally older than me and telling your mommy on me" I said.
"Mom, she's doing it again"
"Honey, you're a grown man with dick and balls. Sweetheart, how old are you?"
"Mom! You don't know how old I am?" Nick exclaimed, looking offended before his mom clears it up.
"I'm talking to the girl. What's your name?"
"Oh me? I'm 19 and you can call me Daphne" I answered. Why did that make me sound so young.
"Oh Daphne! I've heard so much about you. Nick constantly talks abo-" Without another word, Nick ends the call and slams his phone down onto the table.
"Hey that's kinda rude, cutting your mom off like that"
"Well she was awfully quiet towards the end of so I'm assuming she didn't want to speak anymore" He cleared his throat and put his phone back into his pocket "Look Daph, I really wanna talk to you about Allie and stuff because it's killing me that you know her but not what she's said and done"
"I don't really know her but you know, whatever you're comfortable with" I braced myself for what he was about to tell me.
He sucks in a breath before letting it all out. He explains how during high school, he had a huge crush on this girl named Allison and all she did was lead him on.
"Maybe she was being nice and you misunderstood it?" I wasn't really helping but I wanted him to have less problems if it was simply because of that.
"No, she would constantly invite me over to hang out alone with her, hold my hand in private and even kiss me. She even.. took my virginity"
Well now I look like an idiot
"She did all of that with me in private and I genuinely thought she liked me. One day I went up to her in school and asked her if she wanted to stay at my place for the night and she just laughed along with her friends, calling me short and ugly in front of everyone" He let out a shuddered breath, looking down to his hands "Clay entered when he realized what was happening and Allison started flirting with him in front of me"
I've never felt more bad for a person until now. I was starting to understand why his humor revolves around being egotistical and reacting the way he did when I compliment his appearance.
"Something she also did, which I never really thought off until after I cut her off, was that she had to beg me to say yes to having sex with her. I always wondered why I felt so uncomfortable during the time I lost it but it was because I didn't really see her in a sexual manner and she was forcing it onto me"
This poor teenager was so in love with a girl he couldn't even see her in an inappropriate manner. He was someone that was genuinely hard to find these days and was ruined by someone who took advantage of him.
"Then what I mean by Erin being like an older sister to me was because she let me cry in her arms that day. I was 15 or 16 then and Erin was 19 or 20. Clay was trying his best not to yell at Allison for doing so"
I love the way his group took care of him during those times. I feel like high school me would be laughing at him or be one of Allison's friends. I'm thankful matured past that.
"I had a really rough path in college because of that. I wanted to convince myself girls were attracted to me by sleeping with literally anyone while drunk. It was a stupid coping mechanism and I really hope those girls are okay but that's what drunk me wanted to do"
"Nick, I'm not even going to lie to you, you're one of the most amazing people I've ever met and a one handsome one as well. Don't let that bring you down, okay? You have me as your friend now and as your friend, I won't let anyone say those things to you again" I felt like my inner child was healing when I stuck my finger out for a pinky promise.
He looked at it for a moment and smiled, curling his pinky around my finger and locking it in.
"Thank you Daphne" He grabs my hand and I feel my heart start racing when he started rubbing it with his thumb "Thank you for needing a coder and finding me, for commissioning me, for being my friend and everything that you've done that led me to talking with you right now"
Nothing stings me more than the word "friend." I don't know why it's affecting me so much but slowly I'm starting to learn to accept it.
Accept that I like him.
It would take a few days to get used to but it's progress.
"Come to Orlando, please? I wanna show you to my friends. They will love you" His voice had gone soft at this point, it felt like I wasn't talking to the usual Nick.
"Give me a date and I'll tell you if I can"
"Uhh how about February 19th? This Saturday, George and Erin come back from the airport and I can tell them you're visiting"
"Wouldn't they be tired? Long flight and they've been on a honeymoon so I think they would be tired"
"They literally just went around London, god knows where George brought her, and had sex every night. I they'd be pretty energetic once they come back and saw their friends again" He perked up, squeezing my hand I completely forgot was holding his "What do you say?"
"Okay, that seems fun. I'll take the train there" I've never rode a train and I definitely think it'd be more fun than sitting in a cab for an entire day.
"I can pick you up with my car so you don't have to use your money on a ticket" The way he knew I was going to pick the train and started thinking ahead was astonishing "Okay cool, here's a $100-"
"No- I'm not taking that Nick" I slid the money towards him and moved my hand away "The fair is $78 and I can pay for it myself"
"Yes but I'm the one inviting you so here's $100 and you can keep the $12" He slid it back to me with a smug smile on his face, seeing the unsatisfactory smile on my face.
"You graduated high school and college yet can't do basic math, it's $22 and no I am still not taking the money" I handed it to him and refused to take anymore offers.
"Consider this as a tip for your great service" He handed me the hundred dollar bill once again but I didn't take it
"I didn't even make your drink, dumbass" I pushed his hand away and watched as he thought of reason he could give me money. "And I don't need a tip"
"What, so you want the whole length?"
"NICK!" I don't know what I was expecting from him but also wasn't surprised by this. "I'll take the hundred but I'm giving you extra for the mod, deal?"
"No, I can send Kai back their money and just give it to you for free even. You're my friend and I'm willing to code everything for you without any pay" He pulled out his phone and I immediately snatched it from him "HEY! I WAS GONNA GIVE THE MONEY BACK"
"YOU LITERALLY WORK FOR ME, I'M SUPPOSED TO PAY YOU" I held the phone up in the air but that was no use. All it took was for him to stand up and snatch it from my hand. "Why the fuck are you tall"
"I'm not tall, you're just really short" He snorted "I'll get another job and code for you guys for free"
I feel like he would actually earn more money from doing that than working for me. Enchanted FairyCraft was my only project in mind anyway so he would be broke for a while.
"Sent the money back"
"NICK! WHY??" He was being ridiculous right now. He worked so hard for it to get to the current state of the mod and he just did it all for no pay at all.
"Quit thinking I did this for money. I opened commissions because I was bored out of my mind and wanted to code because it would've taken me a really long time and would give me something to do" He started typing on his phone before placing his phone down.
I heard a ding come on my phone and I checked it. I received $200 from Nick on paypal. I look at him in shock as he just laughs at me.
"See what pretty privileges can get you?"
-
a/n: ik train rides from Miami to Orlando are like double the time of just riding a car but it's a fanfic, im done using real life facts in them. give me a break 😭😭