What's happened to us... | A The Music Freaks Backstory AU

Crumbling...

I had to try talking to Nicholas.

So, I ran.

I ran as fast as I could to where he was.

Running was one of the things that helped all the feelings go away. If my mum wanted to talk over dinner, I would go out for a run and come back home to sleep. If I felt like I wanted to cry but didn't want anyone to hear me, I went out for a run and forgot why I was upset in the first place. If I didn't have any thing to do, if I was left alone with my thoughts for too long, a run would always to the trick.

It was enough to clear my head from any negative thoughts.

I ran towards Nicholas, struggling to breathe, but still trying to catch his attention.

"NICK! PLEASE! WAIT!"

That's when he finally looked back. He didnt look angry, a fact that by itself gave me hope that I wasnt gonna loose him. Instead, he looked shocked.

As I ran towards him, he gradually slowed down until we were both standing next to each other in the sidewalk. Out of breath, and with the anguish burning in my throat, I finally talked to him:

"Nick? Whe-where are you going? I thought... We were going to the park, as always."

"Zander" He said, with a slightly restrained voice "Uh... Its the last week of school, and... we already finished the group project."

"But... what does that have to do with us hanging out at the park?"

He stayed quiet, he seemed nervous and upset, I needed to help him. But right as I caught my breath to speak again:

"Everything. It has everything to do with us working on the group project." He stared at me in the eyes. Somehow, no matter how close we had gotten over time, the look on his eyes still intimidated me. I felt like I was making him mad just by standing there. 

"Nicholas..." I started talking and took a step towards him. He took a small step away from me, but didnt say anthing else. So, I continued:

 "Do you want to talk about it?" 

"About what!?" he yelled back. Now I  took a step back.

"I dont know! I'm sorry! Just... tell me what's wrong! Why are you angry at me?"  I tried hard to look back at him without feeling fear.

"I... Zander... I just dont wanna hang out with you anymore..." 

I felt tense. He didnt deny that he was mad at me.

"But why not?" I felt my breath shaking, but put all my strenght into staying calm. "I thought we- I thought we understood each other... I...I'm sorry."

"WE ARE NOT ALIKE, WE'RE NOT!" He snapped, screaming in my face. I took a step back almost by reflex.

"Do you think I would ever deliberately hang out with soemone who's gay!? Someone who's this... weak!?" He grabbed my arm and shook it, just to prove his point. Now I had definitley made him angry. I felt weak just by hearing him say all of those things.

"I..." my head hurt, my voice got softer and softer as I spoke. "I thought we were friends... I... I'm sorry-" 

"WE'RE NOT  FRIENDS.  YOU'RE A FREAK, ZANDER, SO STAY THAT, AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" He screamed at me and, slapping my hand out of the way, he walked away, fast and decisive.