Sober

Ch. 13

(CW: Sexual themes)

Despite Deja's outburst in the middle of the night and the entire situation with Zeke, I woke up refreshed. I glance over with a yawn where Nick's still beside me, snoring as he clings to my arm.

I smell the breakfast Deja's cooking, but I'm too unprepared to deal with her at the crack of dawn. I'm better off pretending she doesn't exist for now so I can finally relax. I mean, it'd be nice to have a stress-free day for once, and I knew that wasn't gonna be today, but I could procrastinate the confrontation that was soon to bite me in the ass.

I watch as Nick shuffles in his sleep and try not to laugh at his insane bedhead, but he eventually leans away from me and stretches, opening his eyes a little.

"Morning," I say softly, greeting him with a smile. "How'd you sleep?"

He sits up and returns the expression after yawning. "Um, surprisingly well, to be honest. You?"

I scoot back and lean against my pillow. "Same here. I could use like another hour, though," I admit, and he chuckles while scratching his head. "You don't feel hungover?"

He shrugs. "Eh, I mean, my head hurts a bit, but I'm fine."

"Do you...remember last night?" I mumble.

Nick blushes a little and grabs his arm, looking at the sheets. "Kinda. It's all a blur, but I know you practically saved my life, so...thank you for that."

I smile. "Hey, don't mention it! You know me—I just want you to be okay."

"I should be checkin' in on you," He chuckles and glances at me. "Yeah, you destroyed Zeke, but he still got some good hits on you."

I stretch again, only being a bit sore in a few places. "Nah, I'm good. I don't break that easily," I brag and flex my arm.

The boy smiles. "That's a relief." He says quietly and moves some hair out of his eyes. "I was honestly terrified," He mutters. "I'm sure I just looked drunk and half-dead, but internally, I was having a panic attack."

He leans back onto the headboard and exhales. "I wanted to help out so bad but...I couldn't do anything."

I place my arm around him. "Meanwhile, I was worried as hell about you!"

We laugh, and he begins to get off the bed. "Well, he's hopefully learned his lesson. Anyway, I'm kinda hungry—"

"W-Wait!" I blurt, grabbing his arm and pulling him back onto the bed. "Don't go out there!"

He cocks an eyebrow. "What? Why?"

I rub my face. "I kinda got in another disagreement with Deja..." I mumble. "But it's not even my fault! It was just a misunderstanding—she wouldn't hear me out!"

"What? What happened? And when?"

Nick sits in front of me, confused as hell. No matter how I put it, it was gonna be awkward.

"In the middle of the night." I groan. "You were still sleeping."

Nick waits for me to continue, and I hesitate.

"I-It doesn't matter—it'll work itself out, just like before."

"What? Don't just push it off! What if she never talks to you again!"

I comb my fingers through my hair, Nick blushing a little as I do so. Based on how last night ended, I wouldn't be surprised if Deja never talked to me again. But I was being the good guy! Just, at a cost...and that cost happened to be her.

"She got mad that I deserted her again and...saw you sleeping next to me and thought I'd taken advantage of you or some shit."

Nick turns red.