His Identity

13

|Aveline's POV|

Nick's been digging hole in my soul. I could practically feel it the whole time.

He hasn't stopped looking at me ever since we've walked in. Why? I have no idea. But I can't stop thinking about what he said.

Of course I want to keep Rhys safe. I would never want to hurt him or let him get hurt. But how's this related? How dangerous can this shit be? And why does Nick seem to know so much?

For fuck's sake.

He's never going to tell me anything if he does. He kind of literally hates my guts. He doesn't even like talking to me. And I know, deep down that if there's anyone I know who's deeply involved in  illegal stuff, it's him. I don't know how but I know he is.

I mean I've watched enough movies to know that someone don't just appear out of nowhere, wanting to start a new life because he's bored or just wanted a change in scenery. Maybe he's fleeing from the cops or he killed someone and he's hiding. Or maybe he's got into a fight with I don't know what gang and they're looking for him, they want him dead.

Shut up Ave, this is what happens when you watch too many movies. Take a deep breath and calm down.

I'm sure it's not even that bad.

I'm probably just overthinking this whole thing, yeah, I have a tendancy to do that. Overthink. It sucks.

A finger snaps in front of my eyes, breaking my thoughts. I blink a few times at Nick who's now standing in front of me.

Wait what in the flash just happened? I swear he was just sitting on the receptionist desk a few seconds ago.

He narrows his eyes at me, his lips forming a thin line as he speaks, "I don't know if you realise it but you've been staring at me for the past five minutes."

"But I haven't actually been staring at you you, you know? Like I wasn't focusing on you, I was thinking about something but it wasn't you— I mean, I wasn't thinking about you. But I was—  you know like when you're looking at someone but you're not actually looking at them?" Holy fucking shit. Since when did I become Marinette fucking Dupain Cheng?

"Okay..." He drawls out with an unsure look, "I kinda figured that out. You tend to do that a lot. I was just messing with you."

Since when does he mess with me? Since when does he mess with anyone really? He's always so serious and uptight. You'd think dude doesn't know what a joke is or how laughing feels like.

"I just didn't want you getting the wrong idea," I clear my throat, my eyes falling on Nat who's staring at me with her brows raised questioningly. I brush her off, she's probably thinking the same thing as me.

Why's he talking to me?

Wait. Maybe I can use this opportunity and ask him what I've been meaning to. He doesn't look pissed or annoyed so this is a the perfect moment.

Gonna take a deep breath and do it. Yeah, it can't be that hard. I mean, he might get annoyed and walk away without answering but that's nothing new.

I take a step closer and he narrows his eyes at me, confused by my move yet he says nothing and stands still as he waits for me to speak. I just don't want Nat or anyone to hear what I'm about to ask him.