Romantic Homicide| Nick Clark X Reader

21: i walk this earth all by myself

"Augh!"

My eyes snapped open in an instant. A frantic woman was swinging around a bat. Nick tried to dodge the woman's attacks but she caught up to him, hiding him hard in the shoulder. I shot to my feet once my brain caught up with my eyes. She noticed my movement and swung her bat. Just barely missing me, leaving a hole in the wall behind me. She was yelling incoherent words, most likely in Spanish.

"Okay. Okay, okay." Nick held his hands up in surrender. The woman only continued to yell. Her screams mixed with the sobs of a small child, who was hysterical in the corner of the room. "We thought it was empty."

She drew back the bat, about to swing. I lounged at her. We both hit the ground with a loud thud. I wasn't trying to harm the woman, especially not in front of her own child. But I couldn't let Nick take anymore of the beating.

"Get the stuff! GO!" I screamed at Nick.

I struggled to hold the woman down. My hands held her wrists to the ground. Yet she was kicking and thrashing her body underneath my own. "It's okay! Just calm down!" I tried to reassure the woman. The language barrier wasn't helping.

Once Nick collected our belongings, I released my grip on the woman. I ran toward Nick before she had the chance to fight back. "Go go go." I shouted.

We found our way back to the highway. The woman was far behind us, yet we kept running. The rush of adrenaline overrode any ounce of fear I had felt. It felt like a high. I looked at Nick, a smile was plastered across his face. He shared the same strange euphoria that I had.

A laugh escaped my mouth. I stifled the laugh, until I heard Nick begin to cackle. Our run turned into a jog, then to a skip.

"Just like old times huh?" He laughed.

"I thought I was past the whole starting shit and escaping thing." I stopped running. Nick mimicked my movements. "I miss it. Not all of it, but the good times you know? It's like my mind romanticized it."

"Me too." He responded. I wrapped my arms around his neck. His hands found their way onto my waist, pulling me closer.

Our lips met. With a sweet, almost metallic taste as my tongue entered his mouth. The hellish world around us suddenly didn't feel so horrible. Right now we were just two people kissing in the middle of an empty highway.

"I love you, [Y/N]." In the pitch black, the moonlight reflected just right off his dark brown eyes.

I leaned in to kiss him. This time it was much softer. Less adrenaline and lust; just pure love. "I love you too."

We began walking down the highway. Unsure if we were going to find another place to spend the night or just continue walking. The cool air made traveling significantly easier; a good opportunity to get some distance without the risk of heat stroke.

"I genuinely don't know who I'd be if you weren't in my life. I probably would've died in that church." His voice wavered. He grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly.

He wasn't scared to be vulnerable around me, still, the confession surprised me. It made me ecstatic knowing he felt safe enough to say exactly what was on his mind.

"Me too. You know, I got clean because of you. Because you gave me something to live for. I just wished you had gotten clean sooner." I spoke. He kept his eyes glued on the road ahead.

I knew a part of him had felt ashamed for all the broken promises. The constant 'I'll get better' or 'It'll be different this time.'

"I know. Me too." He responded. "Shit!" He raised his voice. The sudden increase in volume made me jump.