𝐖𝐂𝐊𝐃 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 ᵗᵐʳ ⁻ ˢᵃᶠᵉ ʰᵃᵛᵉⁿ (Novella)

Chapter 6: Crows

Nicholas

The sun was setting as Max and I walked down towards the beach. I'm scared as hell, because, well, I can't take off my shirt because of the bruises. I also can't swim. My fingers were intertwined with each other and my gaze was fixated on the ground.

"Don't be so nervous, Nick," Max said. "You'll be fine." If only she knew... I haven't had the guts to tell anyone yet, mostly because I thought they wouldn't care. I know Max is different but she finally seems happy and I don't want her worried about me. Max was here a couple of months before I was and let's just say she didn't have the best time. She wasn't like me where no one liked her but her only friends were bitches.

One of her friends, whose name she never told me, dated her but turns out it was a prank. He never really loved her. What a bitch. Max didn't deserve that. She told me that she didn't want to date anyone anymore because she wanted to be loved and wanted, not almost loved and almost wanted. I love her though. As a friend of course. Max is like the closest family I have ever had and I've only known her four months.

She still refuses to tell me the boy's name whenever I ask.

"I guess," I said. I'll be fine as long as I don't step foot in the deeper parts of the water or take off my shirt.

"Max! Nicholas! Over here!" We heard someone yell. We saw Thomas running towards us.

"You guys are here!" He said, breathing heavily from running.

"You okay?" Max asked as she saw that he was puffed. His face was tinted with light pink. It was dark but I could see the color on his face turn more red.

"I- Uh- Mhm, Yeah- Yeah I'm fine," He stuttered out. I looked over at Max to see if she noticed but she was looking at him like normal. Does she seriously not see it? OH MY GOD.

An awkward silence followed. It was broken by Newt clearing his throat behind Thomas, and Thomas jumped slightly, startled by Newt's sudden appearance.

"Hey, guys..." He seemed to notice the awkwardness. "You good?"

"Yeah, we're all good, heh," Thomas said quickly. "We should probably get back to the others now."

"...Yeah..." Newt narrowed his eyes and looked over at me. I just shrugged my shoulders, almost as confused as Newt is. Max is clearly too oblivious to see and probably too blind as well. But I could clearly see Thomas's face turn a pinker shade. "Anyways..." Newt broke the awkward silence again. "Like Thomas said, let's go back to the others."

Max, Thomas, and I walked behind Newt. Things were really quiet between the four of us and I tried hard not to laugh. But I didn't need to try not to laugh when I remembered the reason why we're here.

After like 20 more seconds of walking, we reached where the other were. Minho and Noelle were sitting in dead silence.

What is with the awkwardness?

"Hey, they're here," Newt announced to them

"Hey guys, we thought you'd never show," Minho said walking over to us. Max walked over to Noelle and they started talking.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I replied.

❤︎︎

What if I just stand in the water? I don't have to swim, right?

I mean, I would swim if I could. So now, while most of them are in the water, I'm sitting on the sand with Thomas...

We've been sitting in an awkward silence for 10 minutes now.

"So..." He started. "How long have you been here at the Haven?" He asked.

"Just around four months now, you?"

"Just under a week," He sighed. "WICKED really hit us hard. Literally."

I helped them hurt you

I guess sometimes people don't understand the guilt that I feel. I wouldn't blame them. They hate WICKED, I worked for WICKED. It's this whole thing of not trust6 me.

"Nicky, come join us!" Max yelled from the water. I just groaned. I was kinda used to the nickname.

"Nicky?" Thomas asked.

"I don't even know. She just calls me that. You coming?" I asked. I wasn't gonna swim but I don't know.

"Can't. Bullet wound, you know?" He said.

A bullet wound.

Fuck.

Even though I didn't do that, I still feel guilt. I mean, I was with WICKED. They probably shot him.

"WICKED?"

"Sadly."

❤︎

I'm standing ankle high in the water. I don't want to go further, but I also on't want to tell them I can't swim. Not even Max knows and we're like family.

I'm looking at a crow — which is already hard to see as it is night, circling a tree before landing on a branch. I've always had a fascination with birds, especially crows. It looks like it's looking directly at me. It could just be looking at the water.

"Hey, Nicky. You okay? You've been standing in the same spot for a while," Max said, nudging me with her shoulder. I jumped slightly and withdrew my gaze from the bird and to her face. There was slight worry in there but not enough for many to notice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking," I said.

"About?" She asked.

How everything's my fault.

"Nothing important," I mutter in response. "Just small things."

"You sure? You seem off. You have for the last few weeks," She said.

"I'm fine, I swear."

"Alright, but I'm here if you wanna talk," She placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I put my hand above hers.

"I know, and I'll always be here for you too." I want to tell her what Alex does, I really do, I'm just afraid. Maybe she won't care. Maybe she'll say that I meed to stick up for myself. Maybe she'll help me but I don't want her involved. I saw what Alex did to Newt when he tried standing up for me — I didn't really see Alex doing it I just saw the after effects.