Before You Go | A Prequel

3.6 | The Accident (NEW)

"YES! EXACTLY. JUST LIKE THAT! She was just like... why wouldn't you go back? And I was like... I don't know—,"

-"You see!?"

Nico failed to fight back his grin as Charlie's triumphant laugh blared in one ear. He kept the phone pressed to the side of his head, meanwhile the other ear kept a listen out for any ruckus form his siblings.

-"See, I told you!"

"Yes," Nico sighed, his chest rising and falling as he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Yes, you did tell me. I'm sorry," he paused for a beat, "...again."

There was a long groan on the opposite line. "What is it going to take for me to get you to stop apologizing?"

Nico frowned. He hated himself for how he'd snapped earlier. And the guilt, residual as it was, it ate at him.

"I don't know," he confessed.

"Mmhm," the warm voice hummed at his head, "Well... I think I might have some ideas."

Nico's brows perked up. "Oh, really now?" the smile returned to tingle at the corners of his mouth. "Would you... care to share?"

-"Hmm... I don't know. I think, to be honest with you, I'd much prefer to just give a  demonstration."

Nico felt his stomach knot with familiar butterflies. He sat up on his bed, getting up and peeking into the hallway before pulling the door up some more.

"Do you mean, as in a demonstration... like the one earlier?"

Charlie laughed in his ear. "Something like that. Sure. I mean, if– if it was... if it was okay with you."

Nico's nervous tongue traveled his mouth. He shrugged, "I didn't mind." That was putting it lightly. So very lightly. If he could relive the moment over and over, he would do so. He would do so in a heartbeat. But, since that wasn't possible, he'd settled for just replaying it in his head.

Over, and over, and over.

"Good," Charlie said. "That's good. I'm glad."

Nico's face grew hot, that stubborn smile etching its way back again. "Yeah," he said. "Me too."

For a moment, their conversation drifted into that comfortable quiet again. Not requiring any words, nothing but mutual bliss between the two of them. Nico wouldn't trade it for a thing.

"-Hey do you wanna get an apartment together?"

The seemingly sudden proposition almost threw Nico for a small loop.

"Oh... I—," he let out an anxious laugh. "I mean..." Yes. "I mean, that's kind of a big step, don't you think?" he laughed again as he tried to play cool.

-"Not really, I mean, like, off-campus? We could get a place that's close to school. Most people do it? It's really only the freshman that live on-campus. And it's cheaper too! I was... looking at a few places already. But, I mean— if you... don't want to then—,"

"I do," he corrected quickly. "No, no. I do. I would love— I think, yeah. Yeah, no. That sounds good. Really good."

Charlie laughed again. The warm, melodic chuckle which Nico didn't think he could ever get tired of.

-"Good. Good, yeah. I could send you some stuff, some more information. We could carpool some days. And we wouldn't have to get anything like a meal plan either, we could just uh... we could cook, most nights? Like, together. We'd be... saving a lot of money. It's the best option really."