Everything came flooding back to me in one, terrible, painful burst. With Nico hovering above me looking so similar to how he had looked when he had fucked me a week ago, my body reacted before my brain could even register what was going on.
Suddenly, there was a loud smack and a stinging pain in my hand as I punched him, knuckles meeting jaw. Nico's head snapped to the side, his eyes darkening at the sudden contact, his body stumbling back from mine. I bolted up from his bed, eyes wide as my hand trembled, Nico giving me a smouldering look as he glared, lips pulling back in a snarl as he pressed a hand against his now throbbing jaw. From the force I put into it, it would definitely be hurting right now.
"Oh my fucking God," I whispered, taking a tentative step back, hands outstretched. "I am so sorry. I just... I mean... I didn't mean... fuck... sorry!" I blabbered, Nico opening his mouth to say something, but his words were lost as I ran out of his room in a flurry, arms flailing as my heart hammered in my chest.
I seemed to be making a habit of running out of Nico Beckett's bedroom in a panic.
Rushing into the kitchen and grabbing my backpack from the floor, I got the hell out of that house, quickly running back home with a speed that would rival any member on the track team. Pulling out my keys quickly, swearing at the red patches on my knuckles, I quickly opened the door and ran through it. My had immediately smacked into something soft which yelped, a hand reaching down to slap me on the head.
"What the hell, Wes!" Jamie grumbled as I stepped backwards, rubbing my nose as Jamie crossed her arms, foot tapping in frustration until she looked at me properly, her stance relaxing as a small smile crossed her face. "You look as flustered as you did last week, where did you go?" Jamie pestered, her smile widening as my cheeks flushed. I gave her a withering look, which she deflected with the flick of her hand. "Where did you go, Wes? Who did you see? Or more like... who did you do?"
"Fuck off, I was working on a bio project, okay?" I snapped, my sister laughing as she pulled me into a headlock, my body flailing.
"I know, little bro," Jamie snorted, releasing me as she rolled her eyes, though there was still a broad grin on her face. "Just messing with you. Your reactions are too good."
"I hate you," I mumbled, Jamie just ruffling my hair before disappearing into the kitchen as I made my way upstairs. Flopping onto my bed, I rubbed at the red, tender skin at my knuckles. My hand throbbed, and I could only imagine how much Nico's jaw smarted now.
"I am so fucking dead," I said weakly, covering my eyes with my hands, slither of light filtering through the gaps in my fingers.
This is the worst.
~~~
"Wes!"
I glanced around at the voice, heart swelling a little as I saw Sofia waving over at me from a cluster of seats, Rachel and Parker sitting beside her. Parker had one of his feet propped up on a free seat, waving me over as another commuter began to make a beeline towards the seat. Apologising as I pushed past the standing travellers in the aisle, I threw my bag onto the seat as the business woman gave me a withering look, heels clacking on the seat. Meekly, I lowered myself into the seat, Parker laughing at the shame on my face.
Since having lunch with Sofia and her friends last Monday, Benny and I had been hanging around them a lot more, and I had found that everyone except for Leo (who had football training early in the morning) took the same train as me in the morning. It was now unspoken knowledge that we would all travel to school together, and I found having someone to sit with in the train was nice, despite Parker's noisiness, which often garnered unwanted attention to our group.
Parker was now chatting about some video game he had bought over the weekend, which was the reason for his dark eye bags and messy hair. Sofia had chastised him for it, giving me an apologetic look as Parker's naturally loud voice continued chatting, the boy energetic despite being so sleep deprived. Rachel sat on the window side, quietly reading over some revision notes for the chemistry quiz she had in the morning, her brow furrowed as she nibbled on the back of her highlighter.
"Get up to anything fun on the weekend, Wes?" Sofia asked, brown eyes soft as she looked at me, ignoring Parker who pouted with the lack of attention. Her question made me immediately think back to Saturday, Nico straddling me, the other time he had straddled me, and my bruised knuckles which were turning a little yellow.
"N-No," I stammered, mentally slapping myself as the shaky voice left my mouth. "It was pretty boring. Just studying, really."
Studying. With Nico.
"Ugh, same here," Sofia groaned, leaning heavily in her seat, before brightening. "Oh, but your notes were honestly such a life saver. I got through that whole unit so much faster with your notes. You're my hero." Sofia feigned a swoon as Parker snorted, my cheeks flushing as the boy kicked my leg, wiggling a brow. Sofia grinned, but her cheeks were tinged a light pink as she looked at me coyly, her hands suddenly fiddling with the end of her ponytail.
"It's our stop," I blurted out, already standing up before the train began to stop. I blushed a little harder as Parker just gave me a knowing grin, Sofia standing up quickly as well. Parker just looked at the two of us from his seat, the two of us hastily walking out of the train. Parker and Rachel followed behind us, and Sofia groaned a little as she saw Parker whispering something to Rachel, her eyes immediately flicking towards us.
I swear, there were hearts flying out of her glasses.
"Ignore them," Sofia sighed, giving me a small smile as we walked towards school.
"Kind of hard to when they're staring at my back like this," I said, glancing cautiously behind me to see Parker wiggling his brows and Rachel with a wide, beaming smile on her face.
"They're always like this," Sofia said, rolling her eyes. "Well, only Parker really, but Rachel always goes along with whatever he's doing."
"They're like this a lot?" I asked, Sofia nodding. "So you have lots of 'heroes', then?" I chuckled a little as Sofia grew red, hitting my arm roughly in embarrassment. I just laughed as I rubbed the spot she hit, her arms still gentle despite trying to put some force into it. Sofia just gave me a look, letting out a breath which made the loose strands of hair in front of her face fly upwards. She was quiet for a moment, before softly speaking.
"You're the only one," Sofia whispered, the words almost too soft for me to comprehend. There was a little falter in my step, my head snapping down towards her, only to see the side of her face hidden by her hair. Though her face was obscured, the tips of her ears that peeked out from behind her hair were pink, and I smiled a little.
She's adorable, unlike that bloody tattooed bastard.
Sofia and I were quiet as we walked into the school, Sofia soon stopping as we were about to walk down separate hallways to our lockers. The girl shifted nervously on her feet for a moment, looking up at me shyly.
"Um, well, have fun at class," she said, her voice a little stiff, and I nodded, lips curling.
"Yeah, see you at lunch," I said, Sofia's face immediately brightening with my words, relieved.
"O-Okay! See you then, Wes," she said, eyes crinkling as she smiled, before linking her arms with Rachel, step perky. Parker just let out a low whistle as he walked past me, making me glower at his back.
Now alone, I slowly turned to go to my locker. Without Sofia and the others around me, fear started to lap at my feet again, my sore hand suddenly throbbing a little louder. I had laid awake in bed all night dreading coming to school, because Nico was definitely going to kill me and bury my body in the bushes somewhere. Definitely.
I warily glanced around the halls, scanning for Nico's mop of black hair and tattoos, but he wasn't to be seen anywhere in the hallway. Letting out a tight breath, some of the tension leaving my shoulders, I neared my locker and spun my code into its lock. I jumped and audibly cursed as I felt hands land onto my shoulders, whirling around with my hands up.
"Woah, Wes! Calm down," Benny cackled, amused. "Jesus, why so jumpy today?"
"Someone sneaking up to you will do that, you know," I said dryly, Benny shrugging as he opened his own locked beside me.
"I saw you walking in with Sofia," Benny said suddenly, peering from behind his open locker door. I choked on my own spit as he snickered. "Ohhh yeah. I saw everything. The girl was basically a puddle on the floor and you-" Benny couldn't contain his laughter anymore as he doubled over, tearing up. I hissed at him to stop, pinching the back of his neck as he hiccuped. "F-Fine, Wes. It's just... so funny... I can't handle it." Benny wheezed as he clapped his hand on my shoulder again, giving me a dead serious look that was only disrupted by his shaking lips, which were trying not to smile. "Just... remember to use protection, alright?"
"Screw you, Ben," I groaned, shaking my head as Benny beamed in glee at my discomfort. Benny opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes moved behind my back, whistling a little.
"Damn, that looks like it hurts," Benny said, rubbing his chin. I heard hushed whispers build up in a crescendo behind me as I turned, feeling sick as I saw Nico walking down the hallway. His hair was messily pulled back from his forehead, his dark brows creased as he looked through the crowd. There was a dark, purplish bruise that spanned the length of the left side of his chiseled jaw, and there was a cut on his lip that had scabbed over. His mouth was set in a frown, though it didn't deter a few girls from walking up to him with their chests pushed out and the hips cocked to the side. Nico just glanced down at them with disinterest, ignoring them as he brushed past, eyes returning to his surroundings as he looked for someone.
Don't be me, don't be me, don't be me, I chanted, clutching the books in my hands tightly, knuckles on one hand white, the other red.
Nico's eyes moved across the hallway, stopping once they found me. His steps quickened as his eyes focused, his body turning towards me. The throng of students that were in the hallway parted like the Red Sea, eyes curious.
"He totally got into another fight, look at his face!" a voice whispered from behind me, followed by a few giggles. "He's still hot though."
"I wonder who he beat up this time," a male voice laughed, and I paled. "They must be looking way worse than he is."
Well, my ass is, at least.
"He looks pissed," Benny said, laughing. "Whoever he's pissed at is so fucked."
If I wasn't in my spot, stricken with dread, I would have clocked Benny on the head. As Nico grew closer, Benny started to become a little more tense behind me, his eyes glancing around. There was no one else around us, most people moving out of Nico's path, which was a beeline towards the two of us.
"What the fuck? Is he walking over here?" Benny whispered, Nico taking two long strides to step in front of me, eyes peering down at me, flashing as he scowled. His jaw was locked tight, straining against the bruise. Nico's face looked like he wanted to say something as he stared at me, the hairs on the back of my neck standing erect. Blue eyes left mine for a brief moment, giving Benny a cold look before turning back to me. I felt Benny shake a little behind me.
"You..." Nico started, his voice low. Looking around the room and all the eyes on us, Nico clicked his tongue in annoyance, before sighing. "I'll see you in bio."
"Y-Yeah, see you," I stammered, Nico turning on his heels and walking back the way he came and out of the school, lighter and cigarette in hand. A chill washed over me as people cast me curious looks, swallowing as I slammed my locker shut, the loud noise making everyone turn away.
"What the hell was that?" Benny demanded, looking shellshocked. "Why is he talking to you? Why did he look so pissed? When the hell did you even start talking to Nico Beckett? What. The. Fuck?"
He's talking to me because we fucked. He's pissed because I punched him. We started talking when I got wasted at that party you forced me to go to.
"We're biology partners," I said, the cloudy truth easier to say than the clearer truth.
"Still doesn't tell me why Nico Beckett is talking to you! Even if you're lab partners, he doesn't just go up and talk to anyone. Ever. He doesn't even have any friends at school after all of his graduated last year, and he sure as hell hasn't made an effort to make any, but now he's talking to you?" Benny said, eyes somehow widening even further.
"I guess I'm just a really good bio partner?" I said, laughing pathetically as Benny gave me a short look.
"Okay, I still call bullshit, but I'm freaking the hell out so I'll drop it for now," Benny said, and I gave him a grateful look. "But seriously, if Nico Beckett wants to kill you, please don't drag me into it." Benny gave me a pleading look just as the bell rang.
"Wow, you're such a great friend," I said wryly, but managed to smile a little as Benny gave me a salute, before ducking away to his class.
I sighed as there were a few stragglers still casting me curious glances as I made my way to class, head down.
This was going to be a long day.