𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 • 𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐧𝐚𝐩

fifty

hahahaha remember how much you guys love me and how i definitely have kept the story so nice for so long and i would never do anything to mess up bugnap hahahahahah please dont hate me

the flight home from texas was intolerable for ailee. the constant nagging of the small child beside her, the kicking and volume of screaming that the poor three year old has somehow managed to continuously screech over the duration of the flight was impressive in a twisted sense. ailee didn't even know this child, yet she was constantly being asked about her favourite colour in between ear-splitting screams that the parents were doing close to nothing about. maybe when the flailing of limbs started, the small kid was victim of a stern "no", but that was the true extent of discipline that they had been facing. ailee wanted to be left alone.

and thats exactly what she was. alone.

the less than impressed girl stared blankly at the empty seat behind her, the one that had been booked with the intent of nick sitting there, accompanying her and helping her through the torturous mayhem of the devil re-incarnated as a three year old.

but he wasn't there, and he wasn't in ailee's top people at the moment.

in fact, funnily enough, he probably wasn't even in the top 50.

the whole thing came as such a surprise to ailee, she was absolutely enamoured with the boy and she had suspected he felt the same way, due to how obvious he had made it. or maybe through how good of an actor he was. she scoffed menacingly to herself as her mind corrupted with the simple thought that maybe his acting didn't stop at lore. she knew it wasn't really the time to be thinking about nick's stupid streams, especially since this is what caused the whole debacle, and it seemed childish to be considering nothing but his stupid hobby of roleplaying on minecraft.

just about everything regarding nick sounded stupid right now. his stupid acting, his stupid hesitation in confessing his feelings to her just a few weeks ago, his stupid almost-kisses, his stupid actual-kisses, his stupid laugh and his stupid face. his stupid girlfriend that was completely blind-sighted by the stupidly beautiful boy.

just a week ago the couple had been kissing in the pool under the fireworks welcoming the new year. they were each other's new years resolutions. they were each other's promise. and it had all been thrown out the window in a week. in an odd way, she wanted to almost laugh at how quickly it had managed to go to shit.

let's rewind!

FIVE DAYS AGO. jan 3rd.

ailee sat on nick's childhood bed, mindlessly scrolling through twitter as she awaited her boyfriend's return from whatever he had been doing that day. he left that morning with nothing but a "ill be home in the evening" before closing the door and driving off throughout the town that ailee couldn't navigate if there was a map stapled to her forehead. she had decided to leave him alone, regardless of how weird he had been acting for the day prior. he was glued to his phone, hiding it and being overly reserved. it seemed as though ailee had been talking to a brick wall for the past 2 hours, and she couldn't help but feel the sickening suspicion growing and spreading through every bone in her body.

it seemed almost unrealistic to her, the cliché thing that happens in every book when the storyline needs a bit of a fresh face, she had known it all too well and could always see it coming for her favourite characters. but she never thought she'd be this clueless to her own situation.

the clock reads 5:02 when nick finally arrives home, seeming even more closed off, if it were even possible. the dismissive behaviour's growth almost sets a spark off in ailee, and she felt the overwhelming compel to know why he had suddenly almost changed personality.

"hey, nick. where have you been?" she asks innocently, standing up to be face-to-face with him, placing her two hands lightly on the boy's cheeks as she smiles up at him. he flashes a tight-lipped, rushed smile in return before leaning down to quickly peck ailee's lips in greeting, the sweet taste of cherry meeting the girl's taste buds.

"nowhere, how's your day been?" he responds, taking a step past her causing her to drop her hands to her side as she now stands awkwardly in the centre of the room, staring at the closed door in front of her. "nowhere is a weird place to be for 6 hours" she says quietly, in an almost whisper that reflects the uncertainty that is taking hold of her. bug was never one for confrontation, in fact she avoided it at all costs by what ever means necessary.

but her heart was on the line this time.

"it doesn't matter" nick mutters back, suddenly very interested in a message he received, smiling wider at the notification than he had shown ailee in hours. "nick, what's up? did i do something wrong?" ailee suddenly asks, almost louder than she had hoped it would be as she feigns confidence. he doesn't answer. instead, he shrugs lightly and doesn't dare to look at the girl. "nick come on. talk to me" she says, voice wavering lightly. "i just went out, okay? no need to worry" he says and finally faces her. his eyes land on hers, seeing the tears brimming her bottom lid as she immediately breaks eye contact in order to procrastinate their fall.

unfortunately, the second nick steps forward and places his hands on ailee's shoulders, its too late to even attempt to hold them in any longer. the waterworks flow as nick worriedly searches her face, still not making eye contact as ailee stares deathly at the ground. her stare is only broken as nick places his hand lightly on her chin and lifts to make her look at him. "why are you crying? what's wrong bug?" he coos, softly wiping her tears away. the action almost gave the girl whiplash as he completely changed his behaviour in a matter of seconds. for a moment, she had thought she imagined the weird behaviour.

"you've just been very off today and i got nervous" she whispers, the faux-confidence long gone as her tears clouded her vision. "off how?" he asks, still gently caressing her cheek comfortingly. it was messing with her feelings. "never mind, i was just tired i guess" she says, not wanting to bring anything up if he had been so sweet. he hums dismissively and places a small kiss on her lips with a smile. that same cherry flavour makes its way to her mind and she can't help but notice it closer this time. "you taste like cherry" she hums, returning the same small smile that he had shown her.

that smile didn't last long.

"oh sorry, that's charissa's lip gloss, i must have forgotten to wipe it off after i kissed her goodbye"