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Things Aren't the Same

"Nic you know what you have to do now."
"Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright."
"Hey guys, you'll miss the grand opening."
"Nic?" "She's so beautiful." "You don't know my life." "Dude... You could've been killed."  "I need you..."

"I love you."

Voices began to flood his mind while he sleeps, as he dreams about all the past events. Nic suddenly wakes up, opening his eyes in the sunlit room. He looks over to his right, seeing that he still wakes up alone. He sits up in the bed momentarily, intaking the eery silence in the house. He makes his way to the dining room, sitting at the table, haven't even looked at the breakfast yet. Nic observes the clock as it ticks, playing with his fork in the process, watching until the time hits 8 o'clock. He gets up, grabs his backpack, and heads off to school. As he walks on the sidewalk, he pauses for a moment, playing with something in his hand.

"Something wrong Nic?", he remembers, visualizing that one moment she asked him, on the night of Barry's birthday. He stares at the empty space next to him, coming back into the present, holding the Lumiquoine. He puts it away, and continues walking towards school. Nic arrives to class, sitting in the front of the class rather than behind it with his friends, like he normally does.

" Do you think he's alright? ", Barry asks Link in a low voice, leaning over to him.

" Dude, he hasn't been the same since what happened, it's been three years since he's spoken to us."

"Do you think I should try to talk to him after school?", Link adds in.

" We should all try to talk to him, let's all meet up in the market after school", Leo adds in.

"And what about me babe?", a girl asks, kissing Leo on the cheek.

" Of course Tess, I'm sorry you couldn't meet Nic before, he's been having.... Issues moving on. "

"Moving on from what?", she asks, with Barry and Link giving each other a concerned look.

" It's a long story babe, I'll tell you when I get the chance to." Four hours pass, and Nic sits alone at a table in the cafeteria.

"Man, this isn't him at all", Barry comments.

" I know, I really miss the funny and stupid side of him ", Link adds. Both of the boys look over to Leo, as he's making out with Tessa.

" Aw come on bro, not at the table please", Barry reacts with slight disgust, causing him to stop kissing her.

"Leo come on, aren't you a bit worried about Nic?", he asks him.

" I mean I am, but there's not anything we can do about it."

"Yes, we can do something about it."

"I really don't think so, there's not a way we can cheer him up, so just let him be." Link becomes a bit enraged, whilst Barry moves over two seats, observing their tension build up.

"So you're just not going to do anything about that?" Leo observes his visible frustration, causing him to sigh and roll his eyes.

"Hey babe, can you go get us snacks? I have ten dollars, just get anything", he tells her, as she looks amongst the group with worry. She walks off, and Link moves closer to Leo.

" What happened to you Leo? Ever since you got a girlfriend, you been cutting yourself away from the group, you never like to hang around with us anymore", Link explains.

"Neither has Nic!"

"He's basically in mourning! You have no idea how much it damaged him to send her away. Look, I'm glad you and Tessa are happy together, I really am, but we need to help Nic, we don't know what's going on with him whether if he's depressed, suicidal or just having a hard time moving on."