Arranged / Nick Mara

Chapter Twenty Two / Pictures

"Where the hell are you?!?" Hayley screamed at me through the phone.

"Home." I said plainly.

"No you're not! I'm at your house-"

"No. I'm home. As in Redding." I said bluntly.

"What?!?" Hayley said and I sighed. "Kiley! You cannot just leave like that!"

"Well I did. I don't know when I'll be back but not anytime soon." I said and hung up the phone. I huffed and threw my phone on the couch as my sister helped Nick try to make some cookies.

He added some sugar before Kayla looked at him.

"That was way too much." She laughed and he looked up at me, not knowing what to do. I simply laughed at him causing him to crack a smile.

"Well shit." He said, making Kayla laugh even more. They tried to scoop it out but failed.

"Oh well." Kayla said and went back to her phone to look at the recipe.

"So Kayla, how are things?" I asked and she shrugged.

"Pretty chill. Just getting ready for Thanksgiving Break ya know." She said and I nodded.

"Any boys?" I asked and she immediately blushed. "Um I'll take that as a yes."

"Oooh tell us!" Nick joined in, making me smile.

"Uh- well... his name is Tyler. He's a senior. He asked me out about 3 weeks ago." She said.

"And you didn't tell me?" I asked.

"Well I just didn't know how? I don't know I think I was scared to tell you." She said and I laughed. "To be fair you didn't even tell us about Nick!"

"Oh shush we aren't talking about me." I waved my hand and Nick looked up at me with a weird look that I couldn't read.

"Anywho. He's super cute and really sweet and I really like him." Kayla said with a smile while adding the chocolate chips to the cookie dough.

"Aww little Kayla in looovveee." Nick teased her and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not in love. I just really like him." She said and Nick nodded.

"Okay. That's what I thought at first too. Just you wait." He said and I smiled at him, him sending a wink my way.

"Aw." I said and Kayla fake gagged.

"Shit!" Nick said as he spilled the chocolate chips absolutely everywhere.

"Wow." I said and started cracking up. He pouted and threw a chocolate chip at me off the counter. "Don't start."

Just then the door opened to reveal my mom who had gone out to pick up dinner.

"I leave for 20 minutes and the house is ruined." She joked but finished with a grin.

"I'm sorry!" Nick apologized and she waved him off.

"Kiley will clean it." She said and I rolled my eyes.

"I brought pizza." She said as she set the boxes on the counter, dodging the chocolate chips. "You guys clean this up before we eat."

We got to work straight away because we were all starving. I swept and Kayla vacuumed the hard to get ones while Nick gathered the ones on the counter. After successfully cleaning the kitchen up, we all grabbed some pizza and Nick and I headed to my room.

It was painted pink and grey and my old vanity was still in there. All the furniture was white and perfectly cleaned. I had a queen sized bed since I slept absolutely crazy.

"Cute room." Nick teased and I rolled my eyes as I hopped onto my bed with my pizza.

"Don't come for me. I love my room." I said and took a bite of my pizza. He joined me on my bed and looked around at the pictures in my room. His eyes stopped wandering when they reached a picture of my dad framed on my nightstand.

"Is that your dad?" He asked and I nodded and grabbed the frame.

"Sure is." I said and admired the picture. He looked so healthy and happy in this picture.

"You look just like him." Nick said and I smiled.

"I miss him." I said and looked up at Nick with hurt in my eyes.

"Kiley." Nick said and set his pizza on the ground along with mine. He crawled up to me and pulled me into his arms. My face smushed up against his chest.

"I really miss him." I said and felt my eyes start to well up.

"I know." Nick said and just held me as I silently cried.

You would think it would get easier over time, but in reality it got harder and harder as time went by.

We sat there for a good 20 minutes, tears rolling down my cheeks and my heartbeat syncing up with Nicks.