WANTED // Sapnap X Reader

20

You could hear him walking around as you made your way up the stairs. No doubt he was just pacing the room - waiting for you to come back so that he could flop down onto his bed the second before you opened the door and laugh when you rolled your eyes at his antics. Normally, you would have been looking forward to it.

Now, you hovered before the door, hand on the doorknob, waiting. For what, you didn't know. Maybe you were just savoring the last moment of the Nick you had come to know before you inevitably ruined everything you had built by telling him what you had found out.

Taking a breath, you pushed down on the handle of the door, and stepped into the little attic room.

As expected, Nick flopped down onto his bed the moment you opened the door, grinning up at you with that mischievous smile of his. Normally, you would say something do him now, about how he really shouldn't be up and about on that ankle until it was fully healed. He would say something back - usually a thinly veiled compliment of some kind - and you would laugh.

Now, you just closed the door, leaning back against it as you looked down at him.

Nick frowned, propping himself up on his elbows. "What's wrong?" He asked, concern flooding his voice.

Your eyes connected with his, and you exhaled shakily. "Nick... we know."

For a moment, he was confused, eyebrows coming together to meet in the middle of his forehead. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself when it hit him - you knew. Fear flooded his face instantly, and before you could say anything, he was struggling up to his feet, digging through the covers of the spare bed until he found the pack he had come with the first night, slinging the bag back across his shoulders.

"Wait." You said, pressing yourself against the door firmer. "What are you-"

"I have to go." Nick said, reaching to grab the doorknob beside you. "Please, Y/N." His gaze stayed glued to the door your were leaning against, resolutely not looking at you. Everything about him was tense, and he gripped the doorknob so tight that his knuckles turned white.

"You can't go just yet." You said. "We need to talk about this-"

"What's there to talk about?" Nick asked. "I'm a wanted man - I can't stay here."

"I- we can't just let you go." You replied.

Nick's eyes darkened, and he leaned closer, voice dropping into something dark and sinister. "I didn't ask for this." He said. "And even though I appreciate the help, I'm not just going to sit here while you and your friends turn me in to the sheriff. I'll tear this door off the hinges if I have to, so I suggest you get out of the way now before I do."

A shiver ran down the length of your spine - from the close proximity of the threat he had just uttered under his breath you weren't sure. Suddenly, it wasn't so far fetched that Nick had robbed the Kempton bank - not if he had been this version of himself.

Still, you weren't about to just let him walk away.

Hand shaking slightly, you reached down to cover Nick's hand on the doorknob with your own, eyes flicking up to meet his. Slowly, carefully, you said, "Running away isn't going to fix anything - especially not that ankle."

Nick clenched his jaw, and for a second, you were worried that he actually was going to tear the door off it's hinges (whether you were standing in front of it or not), but then your eyes met and Nick melted, all the tension that he had been holding in himself draining in an instant. His forehead hit your shoulder as he folded inward, sucking in a shaky breath.

"'M'sorry, 'm'sorry." He chanted, voice barely above a whisper. "I just- I didn't mean for it to end up like this. They were threatening foreclosure on the ranch and Ma and Pa couldn't scrape up the money to pay, so I thought that if I just... I don't know. It was dumb, I know, and I'm so so sorry but I can't-"

Your hand that rested on top of Nick's shifted, uncurling his fingers from around the handle slowly, loosening his white knuckled grip. Your other hand wandered up to his broad shoulders, running along his back soothingly as he shakily breathed. "It's going to be alright." You said. "We can figure this all out - no need to do anything drastic now."

"I'm so sorry." Nick said again. "I didn't mean... I just wanted to help my family. And now I've gone and fucked everything up, and now you and your friends are all wrapped up in it just because you were being nice, and I-." He exhaled, picking his head up out of your shoulder. "If anything happened to you because of me, I..."

Nick's hand slipped off the doorknob to grab at yours, twining your fingers together and squeezing.

"It'll be alright." You said, squeezing back. "We can figure something out."

"You keep saying that." Nick said softly. "But what can I do besides run?"

You paused, mind scrambling for any alternative solution you could have offered up at the moment, but ultimately coming up with nothing. You had nothing to say, but Nick seemed to have been expecting that anyway. He leaned back, stepping away from the door with a solemn sort of look on his face.

You let out a breath. He had been so close for so long that you had almost forgotten to breathe for a moment.

"Anne's downstairs talking to Perkins." You said softly. "All of us together are sure to think of something. We can figure this out."

"Yeah, sure." Nick said, sitting back down on the spare bed. There was a tinge of bitterness to his voice as he said it though - he didn't quite believe you.

You weren't sure you believed you either.