Sutton was standing in front of the stove when I came downstairs. The pan sizzled with smoke. Without turning back to look at me, she said, "Good morning, sunshine."
"It's noon."
"I know, that's why I'm cooking lunch. Had a good sleep?"
I nodded. "Yeah. The chicken smells good."
She glanced at me with a grin. "I'm almost done with this batch, but you can help yourself with what's on the table."
"It's okay, I'm not that hungry. I'll mix the drinks," I offered, moving to grab the juice sachets on the counter. "Pineapple and mango. Good choices."
"Thanks." Sutton turned off the stove and faced me suddenly, eyes narrowing. "Are you alright? You seem down."
I shrugged and reached up on my tiptoes to take two empty pitchers. "I'm okay."
The blonde looked skeptical. "Where's Nico? Are you two okay?"
I tore open the sachets. "In his room. We're fine. It's just...he's a little sad right now. And I'm not sure how to help him."
"Oh," Sutton said, wrinkling her nose. "I'm sure your presence alone can make him feel better, babe. I'll fix him up a plate then you can bring it upstairs. We're not supposed to eat in the rooms, but I don't think Mr. Finch cares."
A grateful smile made its way onto my face. "Thanks, Sutton. You're the best."
She gave me a cheeky smile back. "Of course I am."
Sutton and I went inside the dining area to serve the food and drinks, and the students at the table hollered their thanks. The door opened, and JJ came in together with the rest of the basketball players save for Faust and Nico. All of them were laughing loudly as they wiped the sweat off their faces, and noticing there was food on the table, they instantly dug in with their bare hands.
Sutton slapped their hands away. "Wash your hands and get some plates, you bffoons. No cavemen."
"No cavemen in this house," Paula echoed around a mouthful of eggs.
JJ laughed. His curls stuck to his forehead. "We got it, beautiful. Wash up, guys. Hey, Thea. You okay? I haven't seen you all morning."
Theo passed me and ruffled my hair. "She was busy lazing around with her boyfriend."
I rolled my eyes and ignored him. "I'm fine. You? Had a good day out?"
"Yeah, played some more volleyball and I'm beat. Do you know where Nico is? I didn't see him at the beach and I thought he was here."
I turned back to head for the kitchen and he followed me. The basketball players were busy fighting over the sink. "Um, Nico's tired, so he's going to get up a bit later."
"Oh."
"Where's Faust?"
"Outside, on the phone. Here, let me get that," he said, grabbing the tray of glasses I was reaching for. He shot me a wink. "Gotta put these guns to use, right?"
A genuine laugh escaped me. "Right. Just put it on the counter near the dispenser. Thanks, JJ."
"You're welcome, sweetheart," he called over his shoulder.
Oh, JJ. Was it you? Did you do it?
Taking a plate from the cupboard, I headed for the table again when the plate was suddenly snatched from my hands. Killian stared at me in worry. "I'll get you the food. You alright?"
"Fine." I sent him a small smile before he leaned over the table to place a piece of chicken on it, an egg, and two servings of rice. "Thank you."
"No problem." His eyebrows were still furrowed as he gave me back the plate. "You look tired. Is there anything I can do to help?"
I shook my head. "I'm okay, Killian. Thanks again. I'll see you later."
As I was nearing the staircase, Sutton handed me a full plate with two sets of utensils. "This is for Nico, love. I'll bring up glasses for you two."
"No need," I told her with a smile. "Thanks, Sutton."
"Go," she said simply in reply with a wave of her hand.
Upstairs, Nico was still staring at the ceiling when I entered the room. I set the plates on the dresser and sat beside him. "Hey."
"You didn't have to," he mumbled, voice hoarse.
"I just figured you were hungry since you said you ate so little last night." I reached out to run my fingers through his hair gently. "I'm sorry I had to be at dinner with the staff."
"We talked about this," Nico reminded me softly, turning his head to look at me. "It's alright. I, uh, honestly don't know why I'm feeling like shit right now. We're not even sure of anything yet."
I took his hand in my free one. "Because you don't want it to be him."
Nico shut his eyes tightly. "It's not him."
My shoulders slumped at the tone of dejection in his voice. "Nico."
He sucked in a deep breath. "But...but I think we should tell Faust and Theo. Just so—just so they can be careful. In case."
I squeezed his hand. "Okay."
"Let's have lunch first," he said, sitting up.
"Then we can go to the beach," I suggested with a small smile. "To take our minds off of this. What do you say?"
With a hesitant smile, Nico nodded. "Yeah, sure. That sounds good."
*
"One lemon buttermilk with blueberries, please, and one salted caramel chocolate chip."
"You hate caramel," Nico said.
"It's for you. You love it," I answered with a grin, turning my head a little to kiss him quickly. "And I don't hate it, it's just a strong—"
"—dislike, yes," he finished, wrapping his arms around me from behind. "You said the same with mayonnaise. How did you know I liked caramel?"
I pulled out my wallet. "You remember."
A snort. "Of course I do."
"And I might not have crushed on you for four years, Nico, but I notice things from time to time."
"Let me pay for that—"
"No, shut up, keep your wallet." To the cashier, I handed her the cash with a wide smile. "Here you go."
Nico breathed out a laugh and led me aside, and the next person in line shuffled forward to order. "You know, I didn't even want ice cream."
"I'm determined to make this day the happiest it can be," I told him with a nod, "and ice cream is step number one. So if you have something in mind that you want to do, let's do it today."
Nico leaned down and dropped a kiss on the top of my head. "Spending time with you without thinking of anything else is more than enough. I feel better already, thank you."
"Always the romantic." I grinned and reached up to toy with the hair peeking out from under his ball cap. "This looks good on you."
"This looks good on you, too," he said, finger playing with the strap of my crochet crop top. His other hand slid around my bare stomach, and he whispered, "It'll look better on the floor though."
I pushed his shoulder and looked around wildly. "Stop flirting with me, we're in public."
"You started it."
"I did not! I—"
Two ice cream cups were suddenly placed on the counter in front of us. "Here are your orders."
My cheeks still felt warm. I grabbed the cups immediately and handed one to Nico before scooping a spoonful of the dessert. "Thanks. Oh, this is good."
"Where to next?" Nico asked as we walked out of the ice cream parlor. "This flavor is amazing, too. Nice choice, babe."
I took his arm and dragged him along. "I saw a souvenir shop on the way and I want to get something for your parents."
Nico chuckled. "Wife material."
"What?"
"Nothing, let's go."
I squealed in excitement once I spotted the store and headed inside. "I wanna get matching bracelets for the two of us, too."
"No," Nico said firmly, gaze narrowing as he followed me. "No way."
I ate another spoonful of ice cream before pointing at the bracelets behind a glass case. "Come on, babe. I've always wanted to get matching bracelets with someone when I was younger."
"This is stupid."
"Nico."
He rubbed the nape of his neck. "Thea..."
"Okay, fine," I said with a loud sigh, moving towards the other things on display. "Would Alejandra like it more if I got her earrings instead of a shirt? Oh, look, they have handcrafted body lotions. Maybe I should get her body lotion instead, and then a keychain for your dad. What do you say—"
"These look good," Nico said quietly from behind me. holding up two bracelets around his fingers. "They have Castelrock Beach's sand inside."
I blinked. "You said it was stupid."
He cleared his throat. The tips of his ears were red. "Do you want them or not?"
"I want them," I answered quickly, snatching one from his hands. Wrapped around the leather cord was a small, cylindrical glass filled with white sand, and on the end of the cord was a starfish charm. I beamed at Nico. "This is beautiful."
Nico cleared his throat again and bent down to grab two bottles of body lotion with his free hand. "Ma's fine with anything you're buying for her. Get her a trash bag and she'll still love you. Here, I'm getting one for your mom, too."
My lips stretched into a wide grin. "You're so cute."
"Shut up. Come on, let's find keychains for our dads."
Ten minutes later, we were exiting the shop with two paper bags and matching bracelets around our wrists. We finished the last of our ice cream, then I reached for Nico's hand as we walked along the beach in the company of the sound of ocean waves.
"Have you decided yet?"
Nico interlaced our fingers. "On what?"
"You said before that you were considering on taking the Dunham in your name. Are you?"
He exhaled heavily. "No, I don't think so. I, uh, I've been a Romero my whole life, and though I'm grateful for Nathaniel and I do see him as my dad, taking the Dunham would feel like stripping me of my identity or some cheesy shit like that."
I squeezed his hand and looked up at him. "Romero suits you better, too."
Nico laughed. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Then it's good that someone else is going to be the Dunham, anyway."
I arched an eyebrow in question.
Nico smiled at me. "I think my mom's pregnant."
A surprised gasp left my lips. "Congratulations. Oh my God, this is huge."
He nodded. "She hasn't told me yet, but Dad slipped a while back. They've been wanting a child of their own for so long, but I think my mom was scared before. That Nathaniel would leave too."
"I'm glad she isn't anymore."
"She isn't, but she's hesitant about telling me," Nico said with a chuckle and a shake of his head. "She thinks I'm going to be worried I'm not going to be the only child anymore. Honestly, I'd love a baby sister. Or a brother. Whatever works."
I jumped in my steps. "You'd be a great older brother, babe. I know it."
"Thanks, I'll try my best," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "I'm excited, but I'm waiting for Ma to tell me."
"She will soon," I said reassuringly. "Ah, this is nice."
"I just remembered something out of nowhere. Do you remember the day Faust and I were both being dickheads and referred to you as a piece of property?"
I groaned and shut my eyes, immediately pulling away from Nico. "You were such an ass. The both of you. I couldn't believe you disrespected me like that."
Nico reached for me again. "I'm sorry. I was really out of line."
I scrunched my nose. "Well, you apologized that night, too. Just don't do it again, babe."
He nodded. "I'll never let it happen again."
"To be honest, I expected better from Faust at that time. You did make me cry already."
"Ah, no, that's not fair."
"I expected better from Faust because I liked him, you know? And my feelings weren't that deep yet at the time but we were together and I hated that he was lying."
Nico took my hand and interlaced our fingers. "Yeah, I get it. Now that we're talking about it, do you think I moved too fast? I specifically remember flirting with you days after you and Faust just broke up."
I tilted my head to the side and thought about it. "Well, you always were impatient."
"Babe."
"Okay, uh, no, I don't think so. Like I said before, I was more hurt that he was lying to me than hurt that he wanted someone else. Really, I would've let him go easily if he'd just told me. My feelings weren't that deep, Nico. I liked him, but not enough to be heartbroken over him." I took a deep breath and stopped walking to look at him. Nico stared back at me intently. "And I was catching feelings for you, too. I just didn't want to acknowledge them because it would've been wrong. Anya just gave Faust and I that push to realize who we're supposed to be with...but even without Anya, I'm sure we would've broken up either way."
The corner of Nico's mouth lifted. "And your feelings for me? Are they deep?"
I bit my lip. "You know the answer to that question, Nico."
"I do," he murmured, tipping my chin upwards to kiss me slowly. "I want to hear it anyway."
I curled my hand around the nape of his neck. "Yeah. I'd be really heartbroken over you."
Nico kissed me again in response. "I won't let that happen."
"Good. I have a question for you."
He pulled away and tucked a strand of loose hair beneath my ear. "What?"
"Why were you babbling about raw oysters and sponges yesterday? Why'd you stop suddenly?"
Nico groaned and turned to walk away. "Not answering that."
I laughed and ran to jump on his back. "That's not fair!"
Nico grunted in surprise but immediately hooked his arms around the back of my knees to keep me steady. "What's not fair is this. You're heavy."
"Now you're just lying," I said, smacking his shoulder. "Come on, why'd you stop?"
"I had to," he said lowly, keeping his eyes forward. "I was, ah, getting too excited. I had to think of other stuff."
I buried my head on the crook of his neck and left a sweet kiss on his sun-kissed skin. "Such a gentleman."
"Stop teasing me," Nico grumbled. "I get you your bracelets and this is how you treat me?"
I laughed loudly again. "You're so cute, babe."
"Glad to be your source of entertainment," he said dryly, but there was a smile on his lips. "We should walk some more before we head back to the house. We have to talk to Faust and Theo."
"Okay."
"I like seeing you happy like this."
I jumped off his back. "I like you."
"You're fucking cheesy."
I locked my hands around his neck and turned him around to face me. "I like you a lot. A lot, lot."
"Good," he whispered, and I wanted to drown in his eyes. "You're stuck with me."
"Hopefully for a long time," I whispered back.
And for a while, we stood in the sand while the ocean waves roared and the sun hid behind blankets of blues.
*
Faust's stare was piercing. "I don't understand. You're saying that JJ was the guy who attacked Anya that night."
"We're saying there's a possibility," I corrected calmly, holding my phone out. "This is Paula's exact conversation with James. The number is JJ's, and JJ's full name is—"
"James Jonathan Ford, yes," Faust muttered, reading through the captured texts.
Theo leaned closer to him with his features drawn together. "Their conversation is so fucking vague."
I nodded. "We're not sure of anything, and we don't want to assume, but...have you guys seen JJ with his shirt off?"
Faust handed me back my phone. His fingers were shaking. "No."
"No," Theo repeated quietly.
"We can't assume shit," Faust said, clenching his jaw. "We need to confront him."
Nico raised his head and spoke up with a voice so icy it sent chills down my spine. "And achieve what?"
"It doesn't make sense, though," Theo cut in. "JJ knows Faust was seeing Anya before he and Thea broke up, right? If he'd known, then shouldn't he have been worried about getting caught?"
Faust took a seat on the bed. "He only knows that Anya remembered me and that we were in touch. Not everything else. Not the attack, and not Beau. He doesn't know about the case, either."
There was killing silence in the room before Nico looked at Faust and asked, "Are we friends with a murderer, Faust?"
"A murderer," I whispered, rolling the word around my tongue. "Is that what he is?"
"If JJ's the guy we're looking for," Faust said, voice empty and painful at the same time, "then he killed Anya. He killed us."
*
"Since we're all here tonight, I'd like to make a toast to us seniors," JJ said, raising his glass of Sprite with his face etched with seriousness. "For finishing four years of hell. Cheers to the next."
"Dude," Theo intervened with a smile. To anyone else, it didn't seem forced. "We still haven't taken our finals."
Sutton added, "And graduation's still months away."
"And this is Sprite," Faust cut in.
I frowned. "Well, the wine's too expensive—"
"Honestly, guys." The blonde jock rolled his eyes and raised his glass again in exasperation. "Just go with the flow, please?"
"Fine, then." Paula cleared her throat and raised her own glass. "I'd also like to make a toast to the four greatest basketball players the state has ever seen. For bringing back the championship trophy after three years."
"To Nico and Thea." Faust tipped his glass towards us with a genuine smile on his lips. "We wish the both of you happiness."
Nico raised my hand and pressed a kiss to the inside of my wrist while cheers rose around the table.
I raised my glass. "To Faust. For everything."
His smile stretched to a grin.
"To the most hardworking and dedicated person Northvale has ever seen," JJ continued, winking at Sutton. "We all know you're going to be valedictorian, anyway. Congratulations."
We all echoed him, and Sutton lowered her head and smiled in gratitude.
"To Paula." Nico used his free hand to raise his glass. "For being our friend. Gracias."
It sounded like a goodbye. And maybe it was.
Oblivious to Nico's meaning, Paula grinned. "Cheers, everyone!"
We all clinked our glasses together and drank.
Cheers to high school friendships.
*
as always, i love hearing your thoughts. c: