Me - 1975
Nicole had stumbled into the house with heavy limbs. Immediately after hearing the familiar jingle of her keys, Nathan rose and headed for the doorway, keen to warn her that her family had arrived early. Though it seemed that the last thing on Nicole's mind was her brothers; Nathan was just about to open his mouth when she leaned into him, her arms flat to his chest, her face crooked into his neck. She simply breathed in his scent, her shoulders relaxing, her mind registering that she had arrived home. She sighed deeply. Nathan knew straight away that the day had been particularly taxing for her, but Nicole knew it was about to get worse.
Marcus leapt from his position on the sofa to engulf his sister as soon as he caught a glimpse from her emerging from the corridor. He let out a gleeful outburst of laughter as he pulled the smiling Nicole into him, swinging her side to side as they embraced.
'You're rehearsing again! You didn't tell me you were gonna go on tour again!' he exclaimed in excitement as he stood back to take in Nicole's appearance, his hands flat against his cheeks.
'Yeah, I'm leaving Tuesday.' Nicole's smile had widened considerably; she was grinning by the time Lexi had shoved Marcus out of her way. Lexi let out a huff, smiling as she hugged Nicole.
'Tenías razón, él tenía nosotros aquí dos horas temprano.'
'Él será nunca cambiará, ¿qué tan malo fue?'
'Tu novio se mantuvo fuerte!'
'Bueno, probablemente debería enfrentar la música'.
With that, the girls turned to face Anthony; a small smile made its way past the stern face he had worn for the past few hours. He couldn't help but be a little soft for his little sister. Nicole was shaking her head as she walked toward him, her arms slipping around his torso.
'It's good to see you, Nic.' he murmured into her ear.
Nicole wondered why he hadn't bothered to come down to London earlier if he felt that way.
~
Lexi was deeply impressed by Nathan's enchiladas; she placed a forkful into her mouth as she watched her fiancé twist a piece of chicken on his fork. She could tell he was also impressed, but he didn't want to admit it. Anthony had been completely wrong about Nathan, he had assumed Nicole had attracted another lowlife into her life. He hadn't just underestimated Nathan, he had also underestimated his sister.
The mood had lifted incredibly over dinner. Marcus had become the one asking questions; he was curious to how Nicole's life had flipped so incredibly since Manchester. The version of Nicole Marcus knew from little over a year ago had a very different aura compared to the Nicole sat in front of him now.
'How did you two meet?' Marcus caught Nicole and Nathan exchanging smiles; he couldn't help but find it adorable. Nicole couldn't believe she was doing the boyfriend talk with her brothers. It felt unreal, almost like a fantasy.
'Adrien got me to put the downstairs bedroom on this roommate site. Eva saw the ad and came over to see the room with Nathan.' Nathan hadn't realised that Adrien had been the real reason why Nicole had come into his life. He chuckled to himself, finding it hilarious that he was even remotely disheartened by Adrien and Nicole's relationship at any point.
'You put the room for rent?' Anthony interrupted. He was taken aback by the statement; he couldn't believe Nicole would rent out a room in that house to a complete stranger. It didn't seem like something the new Nicole would do, in fact, it was exactly something the old Nicole would do.
