Savior [Completed]

Savior: [Seventeen] [I/II]

Seventeen: Max

For a few moments I didn't react. I'd like to think that it was just because I was surprised that Nick had started on me too, despite promising not to, but it wasn't just that: something in his voice had sounded funny. You know that if you're missing more than a friend too, that's okay too, right?

What was that supposed to mean, anyway?

"Okay, I'm sorry. None of my business. I was just-"

That snapped me out of it. "No, that's not...Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you just say that? In that way?"

"In what way?"

Was it just me, or had Nick paled slightly?

"There's nothing like that," he paused. "It's just that this is bothering you, and so I think you should just sort it out."

I wasn't satisfied though. I still wasn't able to put my finger on it, exactly, but something had definitely been weird. "But where did the other thing come from? About more than friends?"

I didn't miss how he took an extra second to respond. "I...don't know. It really doesn't have anything to do with me, does it? I really don't know where that came from."

"Right."

I didn't buy it, and the knowledge made him uncomfortable. "I guess I just turned into Ryan or something for a second there."

"Except you weren't teasing me or already implying that I like him." I was stating it, but it was a question and he realized it. He shook his head.

"No...I guess I was just trying to tell you that it wouldn't be a bad idea if you started seeing someone because...I don't know! I'm sorry, alright?"

I knew that whatever it was that had gotten Nick so flustered wasn't actually because of me – or rather, I didn't think that my questions had been enough to get him so rattled – but I still felt guilty for getting him so flustered. I supposed it didn't make that much of a difference either way, so I let it pass.

"Okay, never mind. I was just really surprised that you'd... but whatever, right?"

 "Yeah, just forget about it." He shifted uncomfortably. "But, I did mean it, yeah. As in, if you want to go over, I can take you there."

I took a moment to really consider it before shaking my head slowly. "I...I'm not mentally prepared for a confrontation right now, or whatever it'll turn out to be, so thanks, but no thanks."

"You're sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Please just take me home."

*

So I'll admit that when I thought about it, it wasn't so much about what it'd be like to have an impromptu confrontation as it was about what Nick had said – the 'more than just a friend' part, and the way he'd said it, more specifically, had really made the bigger impact in guiding my decision.

I was probably over-thinking it, giving it more meaning than was actually due, but I couldn't help it. I was so sure there had been something completely off in the way he'd said it, like it was influenced by a very different thought process than the one he'd been presenting...but then again, it could have just been because I hadn't been expecting it at all. And that was plausible, too, because Nick had promised not to start on the whole Dylan thing, so it made sense that I'd be really taken aback if he actually did.

But if that were the case, and I was imagining the 'unknown thought process' thing, what had prompted him to say it at all? Had I somehow given off the impression that I'd started crushing on Dylan? I had to have - there wasn't any other place he could have got it from – nor any other reason he'd have said it – I highly doubted that Jake or someone decided to trouble me and contacted him and told him that I was in denial and needed some pushing...