𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐡 | 𝟏𝟖+

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

I knock on Nick's door as aggressively as possible fully knowing he's asleep. It's nine in the morning on a Sunday and he came back drunk last night so I know he's passed out. Despite the circumstances, stupid shit like this works only on my schedule, not his. If he wants to talk, then talk now. I don't want to hear his bullshit excuse later when he has hours or days to think of one.

I hear him shout "What?" angrily after knocking for a full fifteen seconds. The doors are quite thin so when I press my ear against it, I hear the crinkle and shuffling of sheets. He lets out a groan and I hear a few bones cracking along the way to the door. The door handle turns and I quickly stand back, away from the door.

When Nick opens it, I see him in a loose white tee and shorts. His hair is completely disheveled with the darker brown roots of his hair showing. He's still rubbing his eyes, but once his hands leave his face, he takes a step back.

"Cami?" Nick says.

"No, it's Caleb," I say with blunt sarcasm.

He rolls his eyes. "What— I mean why— I thought you didn't want to talk to me."

"I don't, but you clearly did last night."

"What do you mean?" I'm not surprised he doesn't remember, yet I'm still annoyed. I grab my phone out of my back pocket and unlock it to show him the drunkenly sent text from last night. His eyes shoot up in horror as he reads each line while I just stand back and watch. "I really didn't mean to send that," he says after a minute.

"Clearly."

"Here, come in. I don't want to do this in the hall." He clears the doorway, allowing me to enter. I close the door and cross my arms waiting for whatever he adds to his excuse.

He starts scratching the back of his neck as if he's trying to formulate the best words to say. "Look Cami, I'm sorry for sending it like that. Reading it back, I did mean every word. I am really sorry and I should've listened to you when you needed help."

"Did you have to apologize over text though? Were you too immature to come up to me in person and just talk it out?" I question, trying to maintain my stance.

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me so I gave you your space." There's a pause. "But, after that, I guess you're right, I'm just immature. I was scared to talk to you because of how you might react."

"Oh, so you're a little bitch?" I smile, but my mind races with regret for saying that out loud.

"If that's what you want to call me, fine. I'm a little bitch," Nick says with a hint of humor in his voice.

"Yeah, you are."

"But seriously, Cami, I've missed you these past couple of weeks. It was hard going without talking to you. I understand why you were mad before and you had every right to be. I was being an absolute ass to you and you didn't deserve that, so I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven, but if you mess up again that's it."

"I thought it was three strikes and you're out," he jokes.

"Nick, just shut up and be grateful I forgave you. If it wasn't for your stupid smile and sculpted abs, it would've taken a lot more."

"You're objectifying me now?" Nick puts his hand up to his heart pretending to be hurt.

"Why can't I if you were allowed to in that text you sent last night."

"Touché," he remarks. Nick sits back down on his bed, making room for me to sit next to him. I sit down and I see him playing with his hands, interlocking his fingers and rubbing his palms together. "Cami, this is gonna sound really out of the blue and now thinking about it the timing is really inappropriate, but I already started talking so I can't stop."