𝑻𝐇𝐄 𝑵𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒━━ 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘯𝘢𝘱

06

nick's pov

"...with her best friend nick by her side, thalia was finally ready to live the life she wanted to. one full of adventure and love," i said quietly, staring into the darkness in front of me. i stopped telling the story when i noticed that thalia was fast asleep.

a slow smile spread across my face as i saw how peaceful she looked. the moonlight coming in from the window seemed to dance across her skin. when the three of us moved in together, dream and i always asked her why she didn't put up blinds or close her curtains at night, but thalia insisted she couldn't sleep if she couldn't see the moonlight.

it sounded ridiculous at first, but the more time i spent around thalia, i started to understand how she saw life. for example, on rainy days, most people saw a boring day stuck inside. not thalia. she saw an adventure, a day full of dancing in the rain and enjoying every moment of life. she saw the world being cleansed and a chance to start everything all again. for thalia, everything was a new adventure and a chance to have fun.

thalia was one of the most live-in-the-moment people that i had ever met. anything new or seemingly fun that came along, she was the first one to try it. she was absolutely fearless and took so much pleasure in the little things in life, like the rain and simply staring at the stars on a clear night.

i met thalia when i was eleven. she had just moved to the town i lived in and started school in the same grade as me. on her first day, we were assigned to be partners on some science research project. all i remember is that we had to go observe things in nature. so we set out after school that day, me grumbling and complaining and thalia full of excitement. we argued about everything, from the type of flowers we saw growing to the height of a tree. and then suddenly, we were friends.

i smiled to myself as i thought about our childhood years and all the fun things thalia had introduced me to. as i stood up from the bed, thalia stirred in her sleep and started talking.

"please, don't take the ketchup from us. it's all our poor town has," she pleaded.

i almost started laughing at how ridiculous that sounded, but i was used to thalia talking nonsense in her sleep by now. "i want the ketchup. i'll kill for it if i have to."

"no please. you can have anything else. how about the mayonnaise? i'm allergic to it anyways," she said.

"how dare you insult me like that! i think i'll just kill you and take the ketchup," i replied.

thalia mumbled something incoherent and turning on her side, going silent again. with one last glance at her, i turned to go to my own room. the floorboards creaked under my shoes, somehow waking up thalia.

"nick?" she asked sleepily. "are you leaving?"

i turned back around and moved to the side of the bed. "i was going to go to bed. did you need something?"

"stay please," she whispered. "i don't want to be alone."

thalia rolled to the other side of the bed and i let out a small sigh as i kicked off my shoes before laying down beside her. once i had the blanket pulled over me, thalia moved back over and laid curled against my side with her head on my arm. in just a few minutes, her breathing evened out and she was fast asleep again.

without even thinking about it, i placed a small kiss on the top of her head and whispered very quietly, "goodnight, thalia."

unfortunately, i was wide awake. the alarm clock on the nightstand showed that it was past one in the morning. i had accidentally left my phone downstairs in the living room when i carried thalia up to bed, and i couldn't go get it now because she had my arm pinned down.

humming quietly under my breath, i glanced around and saw thalia's laptop on the nightstand. with my free arm, i reached over and grabbed it, moving it onto my lap. with nothing else to do, i opened up twitch and started watching some of my friend's recent streams.

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when i woke up the next morning, thalia was already up and sitting at her makeup desk thing, straightening her hair.

"why are you doing that when your hair is already straight?" i asked groggily, shielding my eyes from the sun that shone through the window.

"because sampam, it makes my hair even straighter and it just looks better," she replied, looking at me in the reflection of the mirror.

"it looks the same to me," i mumbled, rolling off the bed. "i'm going to get ready."

"wait!" she yelled suddenly. "do you want to go to seaworld on wednesday with me and julian? dream said he'd only go if you go."

"yeah, sure," i told her. it sounded fun and she knew i wouldn't say no to her. she'd just persuade me into doing whatever it was she wanted.

"yay!" she exclaimed as she jumped out of her chair and gave me a hug. "thanks for staying with me last night, by the way. i don't know why i was so lonely."

"anytime," i said as my stomach twinged again. i didn't know what that meant, but it felt like i was hungry so i decided to go eat once i was done getting dressed.

i squeezed thalia back and then went to my own room, shutting the door firmly behind me. i could hear the sounds of thalia skipping through the house as she ran downstairs to tell dream.

seconds later, their laughter floated up the stairs and i smiled to myself. i was in a sentimental mood for some reason and i all felt was love for my friends. and an overwhelming anxiety about the thought of losing them, but i pushed that away. there was no point in thinking on things that weren't going to happen.

word count: 1038