Miles Away | Nick Mara

Fifty One

We sat on the edge of my bed. I waited for him to speak. He stared at the ground, trying to figure out what he wanted to say. A muffled sound of laughter came from behind the door, Brandon occasionally yelling at the TV.

"I was wrong." Nick said slowly.

I blinked.

"I shouldn't have said what I said to Z. But I had good reason to."

I sighed. "You can't tell people who they can and can't love."

Nick laughed. "Even if that person's my girlfriend?"

"That's the whole point." I said. "I'm your girlfriend. Not his. So you should have every bit of confidence that no matter how much Zion "likes" me nothing's gonna happen."

"You think Zion couldn't just sweep you off your feet and take you away if he really wanted to?" Nick stood up. "Look at the guy."

I paused. "Your insecurity doesn't justify what you said to him and how much you hurt him."

"Insecurity?" He laughed and walked towards the door.

"I didn't mean it like that."

He nodded. "Yeah. You seem to be siding with him anyway. Bye, Aubri."

He left.

It didn't hit me at first. But after a while, when thinking things over, it seemed like he'd broken up with me. I sank into the mattress, leaning back into a pillow. Is that what he meant? I panicked a little, my breath becoming a little shorter, my palms starting to sweat. I walked out to the living room. Everyone was sitting on the sofa, eyes glued to the TV. Everyone except for Nick.

"Did he say where he was going?" I asked.

They all shook their heads and went back to watching the show. But when they saw the panicked and hopeless look my face, they paused whatever they were watching and stood up.

"What happened?" Brandon slowly walked towards me.

"I think he broke up with me."

Edwin's eyes opened wide. "What the. There's no way. You're the one couple that's not allowed to break up."

I laughed a little. "I think we just did."

Zion lifted his arms to support his head. "Oh Jesus."

"It's not your fault." I said quickly.

He shook his head, repeating multiple times that he was sorry. Sinking down onto the sofa, he closed his eyes. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to go after Nick, find him and explain, but I also knew he'd want to be alone. At least for now. Edwin agreed and promised to talk to him later.

"I'll let you know what he says."

I nodded with a reluctant smile. They left a few minutes later, grabbing all their things and heading back down to the car. Nick had left on foot, which meant he couldn't be too far, but I still couldn't go after him.

I spent the rest of the day waiting for Edwin's call or text. But there was nothing. I went out with friends, did some chores, studied for a few hours, but at the end of the day, he hadn't said anything. By 11:00 PM I'd given up. I climbed into bed and turned off the light, trying to get some sleep.

But as I dozed off, I got a text. Edwin. I sat up quickly, a little scared to see what he'd said.

I can't tell you anything. I'm sorry. But it's all for him to explain. He said he'll talk to you when he's figured it out for himself.

My heart dropped.