Darkness's Flower: Pulling It Together

Chapter 42: Boys...

~Nico~

"Since I'm an Apollo kid, I already know medicine. There are a few Apollo dudes at the hospital and they put in a few favors for me. So I'm already a doctor," Zach explained.

Lilly stared at him. "What do you do? Like, what kind of doctor are you?"

He smiled. "I deliver babies and stuff like that. It's actually very interesting and I enjoy it. I've already delivered three babies."

"That's awesome!" Gabby squealed.

I nudged Lilly a little bit. She looked at me and blushed bright red. She knows exactly what I'm thinking. I bet you can figure it out too. Ya know, the whole Zach can maybe deliver our kids sort of thing...

"So I have an apartment until Ash and I get married, then we'll get our own place," Zach continued.

Ash looked down and smiled. "I can't wait."

Lilly smiled and stood up. I held my hand out and she rolled her eyes.

"Get up! Quit being so lazy! That's my job," she said, putting another spoonful of frozen yogurt in her mouth.

I laughed a little bit and stood up. I hugged her tightly and we all squeezed in the car again.

"Hey, Lilly?" Zach asked from the back.

"Yeah?" Lilly answered.

"Why don't you just drop Nico and me off at my place? That'll give you guys more time to spend together. I know you're all going to college in different places and stuff."

"Alright. Where's it at?"

"Right down here. At the light, go left. That one right there."

"Oh, alright."

Lilly turned and parked by the apartment building. I hopped out and Zach followed. Ash got out and kissed Zach. I went over to the driver's side to kiss Lilly, but she hopped out of the car really fast. Her fingers locked together on the back of my neck. I pulled her against me and looked into her sparkling eyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow, babe," I said.

She smiled. "Okay. Don't do anything really stupid, Nico. I know how you are."

I smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be fine. That goes for you too, Lillian."

She giggled and pushed my head down to hers, our lips brushing against each other. "I'll be alright. I love you."

I pressed my lips into hers and she let me kiss her. She kissed me back a little bit, but mostly let me do most of it. It was a good kiss though. Her soft lips left mine.

"I love you too," I whispered.

She smiled and hopped back into her car. Ash slipped into the passenger's side and they drove off. I followed Zach into his very nice-looking apartment.

"Welcome to my somewhat decent looking apartment," Zach said, plopping down on his couch.

"Dude, this is sweet!" I replied.

"Thanks." He got up and went over to his mini fridge, tossing me a can of Coke. "When are you gonna pop the question? I know you want to and I know she wants you to."

I opened the can and took a sip. "I really want to, but neither of us are completely ready for that yet. I know she wants me to, but still. I know once we do get engaged, it'll probably be a while before we do get married. I'll ask her, don't worry. And it'll be soon. Really soon."

He smiled. "Awesome. So will you be one of my groomsmen at the wedding? We might want to ask Leo too. He and I agreed to do a double wedding sort of thing."

"Yeah, sure. Is Lilly-"

"Yup! She's both of their best friends. It'll be fine, dude. Don't worry."

That night, we stayed up for hours and hours talking about a bunch of different stuff I honestly don't remember. We both crashed around five in the morning, him on the couch and me in the recliner.

~Lilly~

Ash hopped into the passenger's side and we went back to my house.

"Ash, just to prepare you, my mom is sick and has the flu. My dad should be home soon too," I said.

"That's cool," she replied.

I parked the car and we went into the house. My mom was in the living room and my dad was in the kitchen.

"Hi, Dad," I said.

"Hello, Lillian, Ashlynn, and... Who is this?" Dad asked.

"Dad, this is Gabby Todd, a friend from camp. Mom said she could stay here tonight. Gabby, this is my dad Mark."

"Hello, Gabby. It's nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too, sir," Gabby said, shaking his hand.

"So can Ash stay here too?" I asked.

"Sure." He smiled. "But don't stay up too late and if you want anything to eat, that goes for any of you, just ask or come down and get it."

"Thank you, daddy!" I kissed him on the cheek.

I ran upstairs with Ash and Gabby right at my heels. I laid down on the floor on my stomach, after closing my door. Ash and Gabby sat on my bed.

"So when do you think Nico's gonna ask?" Ash asked me.

"Ugh! I don't know! Please don't bring it up. You both know that I want to be with him forever and he wants that too. But I don't think either of us are completely ready to get married yet. I kinda want to graduate first. I know what I want to do, but I don't think Nico really knows what he wants to do. I want to go into music and art, but he just doesn't seem to have a specific interest. The only thing I can think of would be darkness. That's it!" I explained.

Gabby sighed and rolled onto her back. "I know. I understand it. He does like darkness and he's said himself, he used to like the dead more than the living. The only thing I can think of that involves death would be, I dunno, like, a funeral director or something!"

Ash and I both snorted in laughter and started dying. But she's right. That's about it. We ate, then talked, told stories, and laughed for hours on end. We crashed at about four-thirty, Gabby and Ash on my bed and me on the floor surrounded by pillows and blankets. I woke up and looked at the clock. Ash and Gabby sat up and yawned. It was about ten.

"Why don't we eat, then go over to Zachy's place to see the boys? I bet they're not even up yet," Ash said.

"Alright. That sounds nice. Gabs, you're probably gonna go back today, aren't you?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'll eat, then go. That's what I love about my powers!" Gabby replied.

We went downstairs and ate the pancakes that were set out. Gabby, Ash, and I all got dressed and Gabby left. Ash and I went over to Zach's place and she used the key he had given her to get in. There they are, Zach laying on the couch and then you have mine. He's curled up in the chair, half actually in the chair and the other half falling out of it.

Ash woke Zach up on the spot and they went into his kitchen to probably make-out or something. I walked over to Nico and gently let my fingers brush through the top layer of his hair.

"Aww. He's so cute when he's asleep," I whispered.

I brushed his hair back and kissed him on the forehead. The smallest smile danced across his face as I backed away slightly. His eyes opened.

"Hey, beautiful," he whispered.

I giggled and he situated himself so that he was actually sitting. He pulled me down so I was sitting on his lap. His lips found mine and that was it. Boom. Make-out. Right then and there. His hand went to the back of my neck and I let my fingers go through his messy hair over and over again.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We're not doing any of that in my apartment!" It was Zach.

I pushed Nico away from me and got off of Nico. "Sorry, Zach. He did it, I swear!"

"Ratting out your own boyfriend. Thanks, babe," Nico mumbled.

"Sure thing, sweetheart!"