Twisted Chances

7. Niko (edited)

"Want an ice cream?" I asked softly.

It sounded ridiculous, almost childish, after what I'd just confessed. But the silence between us was unbearable, and I didn't know what else to say.

I had just laid my heart bare to Nia- years of feelings I had hidden, every quiet moment of love I never dared to show. And she still hadn't answered me.

I hoped she liked me. Even a little. If she gave me even the smallest piece of her heart, I could nurture it, protect it, make it grow.

She had to like me, at least a little... right? Otherwise, why would she offer me that softness, those moments that made me feel like I belonged to her?

I clung to that fragile hope as we sat in silence, parked in my car, ice creams melting slowly in our hands. The air was heavy with tension, the kind that makes you want to disappear into the seat.

Finally, she broke it.

"Niko... about what you said earlier."

My chest tightened. This was it.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice gentle but unyielding. "I don't see you the way you do. I don't... like you romantically, Niko."

The words hit harder than I'd prepared for.

"You're like a brother to me," she continued. "I've never thought of you like that."

Brother. The word split through me like glass.

I should have expected this. I had braced myself for it, told myself it was possible. But nothing could dull the ache that ripped through me at hearing it from her lips.

I swallowed hard. I couldn't cry. Not now. I couldn't let her see the way her words gutted me.

"I just hope we can still be friends," she said, her brown eyes soft, almost pleading. "I don't want to lose such a kind, loving, responsible friend like you."

Her words stabbed deeper than any blade. Friend. Brother. Every word a reminder of the distance between what I wanted and what she was willing to give.

How could I stay friends with her? How could I smile beside her, knowing every glance, every laugh, every touch would never be mine the way I wanted it to be?

If only I hadn't confessed. I should've buried it, swallowed it down like I always did.

I was a fool.

But I forced a smile, kept my face steady, hid the storm tearing me apart. "Yeah, sure," I said. The only words I could manage without breaking.

Later, at the Valhalla Club, the sting of rejection still throbbed in me like an open wound. I drowned it with glass after glass, though the bitterness of the alcohol couldn't touch the bitterness inside me.

"I expected that," Sofie said, watching me as I tipped another drink back.

Adam smirked, unsympathetic as always. "I told you years ago, man. You should've let go before it came to this."

"Yeah, you did." I sighed, staring at the bottle. "But how could I? I loved her too much. She made me believe in soulmates. She made me feel like I was hers."

Adam shook his head. "You're done for, my dude."

"You know," Sofie snapped at him, "if you can't be helpful, you can leave. No one asked you to join us."

Adam grinned, leaning back smugly. "You know I like you when you get all fiery like this, hothead."

I glared at him instantly. "Watch it, Adam. That's my sister."

He frowned, muttering something under his breath. Nobody was going near my little sister- least of all one of my friends. That was a line no one crossed.

Not that I was any better, falling for someone who only saw me as family. Hypocrite.

"Did someone say heartbreak?"

That voice- sharp, smug, irritating. I'd know it anywhere.

Josephine Russo. Jas. Spoiled, bratty, but impossible to ignore.

"Who called her?" I groaned.

"Me," Sofie said.

"Wow, Niko. I ditched my wardrobe planning to come comfort you, and this is the welcome I get?" Jas winked, sliding into the booth beside me.

"As if. You're here for free drinks," Adam muttered.

"Missed you too." She rolled her eyes, then turned to me. "So, broken heart, huh? You know what you need? A rebound. Date other people. I've got numbers."

I shook my head, draining my third bottle. "I can't. Not like this. Not right away."

"Suit yourself. But the best way to get over someone is to find someone new. Clearly, Nia wasn't your soulmate. You've gotta go search for the real one now."

She wasn't wrong. But her words slid off me like water. How could I even think of someone else when Nia's shadow filled every corner of me?

"I just... need more time," I muttered, halfway through my fourth drink.

By the time we left, I was too drunk to stand straight. Adam hauled me into the car like dead weight, Sofie and Jas whispering in the backseat.

"Don't you think you're pressuring him too much?" Sofie asked quietly.

"I know," Jas admitted. "But it's for his own good. If he can't win her heart, then maybe we need to make her jealous."

Sofie gasped. "You're a mastermind!"

I barely registered their words. My head spun, my chest ached, and the only name echoing in my mind was Nia's.

At home, Adam half-carried me to my room. I threw up in the washbasin, changed, and collapsed into bed.

But before sleep claimed me, I reached beneath my pillow and pulled out the photo I kept hidden there- Nia's smile frozen in time.

I hugged it to my chest, tears slipping silently as I drifted into a restless sleep.

I dreamt of her rejection. Over and over. Her voice telling me I was just a brother.

And even in dreams, it shattered me.