Secrets | TMR | One

5:9

Adeline can feel faint cracks appearing over the surface of her heart at Nick's words.

It shouldn't have happened.

Sure, it maybe should not have happened in the bathroom, when the only thing covering Adeline's modesty was a skimpy towel, and Nick himself was clad in just a pair of pyjama bottoms.

Maybe it should not have happened whilst Nick was on the brink of having a panic attack from the harsh sounds of Adeline calling upon him.

Maybe it should not have happened when they were both hopped up on the excitement of Adeline finally beginning to gain a reaction from her injured leg.

But in every other sense, it should have happened.

Long before now.

It should have happened the first time they ended up in a situation like this one, during the brief blip in their friendship, when he had rushed to her aid - giving no care to the fact that they were not on speaking terms as he stood by her side and stitched up her hand.

It should have happened the moment Alby informed her of the flowers Nick had bestowed upon her during the evening she spent in the Medhut with a cracked skull.

It should have happened at the bonfire, when Nick took the time to tie her foot on top of his and held her close to his chest while he gently spun them in slow circles. All so she would be allowed the luxury of dancing.

Those times meant something more.

She knows they meant something more.

But apparently she was wrong, apparently those blissful moments shared between them only meant something more to her.

It shouldn't have happened.

That is not what Adeline wanted him to say.

At least now she knows, and she can start the process of pushing her feelings deep into her chest, locking them up and throwing away the key. To be ever forgotten about.

Adeline makes a vow to herself at the time, whilst she is slowly edging away from Nick that, although her heart may have taken a fatal blow, she will not allow this ordeal to change the way she thinks about him.

He is still her best friend, after all. And, regardless of what has happened or may happen, it will always just be "us three and the beach."

Shuffling her body around, the girl begins to take her leave, ignoring Nick's calls to her as she shimmies herself past all the discarded chairs in the dining area.

Nick watches her retreating figure, cursing himself with the worst possible words his brain can conjure up.

You're a fucking idiot.

It shouldn't have happened.

Why the fuck did you say that?

He tries to speak up, telling her that he did not mean it, and pleading with her to turn around and come back.

But it appears to fall on deaf ears, for Adeline continues with her departure.

"Shit" he grumbles to himself, drawing his hands up to either side of his head and gently tugging on the hair at the top sides of his scalp.

A commotion can be heard from out in the Glade, followed by the sound of the boys voices, shouting and screaming and melting together as they waft into the air. The leader throws his body forward, completely oblivious to his second-in-command jumping from the back of the fridge and rushing behind him.