young lies

chapter thirteen - fun saturdays

nick and bex walk side by side down the sidewalk in silence. bex is still slightly upset by this morning, but she tries to forget about it as nick, who's next to her, is trying to figure out how to talk to her friend she is concerned about.

finally, nick takes a deep breath and begins to speak.

"are you okay?" she asks, staring to her friend, awaiting her reply.

bex looks up and towards nick and gives her a neutral smile. "yeah, it's whatever. i don't know why i let jeremy thompson get under my skin." she says with a slight scoff, turning to face her front again, to see we're she's going.

nick frowns and shakes her head, stopping. "that's not what i meant." bex twists to face her and stops as well. nick steps closer to her and sighs. "bex, i'm really worried about you."

with a deflecting smile and a small eye roll, bex shakes her head. "no, no i'm fine. trust me."

"no, your not. i know you bex, i-i'm really worried." nick rushes out, slightly distressed. before bexley could say anything, nick continues. "i can see you're not okay. it's getting bad again and i know it and i'm sorry." her words get a little more shaky and she sucks in another sharp breath. "you haven't been eating a lot and then today you were scratching again and- and i don't know what to do." nick strains out with an solemn frown. she stares at her friend with so much concern bexley feels water coming to her own eyes.

"last time i had my dad but i don't know what to do." nick says with dejection. "i'm scared, bex. please talk to me."

bex opens her mouth to speak, but can't, and she continues to stutters over air.

staring at nick, her best friend since they were young, she can't find the words to tell her she's fine when she's so evidently not.

"i-" bex starts, tears glazing over her eyes as her shoulder tightened. "i don't know," she mumbles her words dull and unsure.

nicks eyes grow watery too as she steps closer to bexley. she urges her with her gaze to get her thoughts out but bex just can't do it.

bexley's never been good at opening up to people, feeling like she was a constant burden when she did, most likely due to her farther's treatment when she was a child. it took months and months to get her to even begin to tell nick and tony what was happening, and when she did it was so vague it left them feeling more worry for the girl.

she knew it was a problem, and how badly she wanted to fix it couldn't even be put into words. however, as she looked into nicks anxious gaze, her anxiety only grew worse.

the tightness in her shoulders grew stronger and she raised her back taller and with an incredibly sharp ache in her throat she opened her mouth to speak.

nick knew what was coming, she knew what bex would say before she even said it, she knew bexley, and that was the problem. bex could probably open up to any random person on the street but she could never speak her feelings to anyone close to her. the guilt of her existence prys in her gut when she tells the people that care about her her thoughts. it's a sensation that bex could never describe nor get anyone to understand, but it's one that eats her alive.

as bex wipes her fallen tears, she puts back her feigned smile. "nick, please don't worry. i promise it's nothing," she takes in a large breath of air and exhales it slowly before adding. "i guess, the stress of this whole situation just gets to me sometimes."

even though nick knew this would happen, her heart still hurts at the feeling of her friend not trusting her. she knows that's not her intent or the fact of the situation, but it's something that's always saddened her.