Miles Away | Nick Mara

Fifty Four

Thirty minutes felt like three hours. Everything went by slowly. It felt like I'd been sitting on the sofa for forever. I watched as people flirted, a couple of guys threw up on the floor, a girl snapped the heel of her shoes and fell backwards. Occasionally, someone would pull me up to dance, but a few minutes later, I'd be back on the couch, talking to some guy I'd never met before.

I saw Nick on the other side of the room. He was talking to the same girl, her hands lingering around his waistline. She'd touch his hips, just under the band of his sweatpants every now and again, but nothing else seemed to happen. A few moments earlier, she'd taken his hand and tried to lead him upstairs, but he pulled her back down and headed to the kitchen for another drink. A part of me was relieved, but another was scared. What if he wanted to talk to officially break up? And it was because of her?

I sat there for another hour, thinking of all the possible ways that the conversation could go. I thought about leaving and just calling him later so it wouldn't be as awkward, but when I stood up to leave, I couldn't seem to actually walk away. So I sat back down.

"Hey, I'm Caleb." A guy sat down next to me.

He didn't seem drunk, so I gave it a chance and made small talk.

"Aubri." I said with a smile.

"So who you here with?"

I pointed to the guys. "We're all friends. You?"

He nodded. "Through mutual friends."

"Nice."

He paused, looking at me for a moment. "Aren't you Nick's girl?"

I laughed. "I was. I don't know if I am anymore." I pointed to the kitchen where Nick and the girl were still talking.

"Oh." He frowned a little. "Guys do stupid things."

I laughed. "No kidding."

"Maybe he's tryna get you jealous?"

I shrugged.

"We can do the same." He inched closer towards me.

I moved away. "Uh, no. I'm good."

"No, come on." He smiled, forcing his body on top of mine.

I tried to push him away, using all my strength to slip away, but he was too strong for me to resist. I squirmed, hoping to catch somebody's eye to ask for help, but everyone was too busy drinking or dancing in the dim-lit room.

Just as I decided to start screaming, someone ripped his body off of mine and threw him to the floor. Nick. He punched Caleb's jaw and watched as he crashed onto the ground. Everyone fell quiet, backing away into a circle, Caleb lying on the floor with Nick standing over him. I stood up, fixing the bottom of my dress and catching my breath. He slowly reached behind him for my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine as a sign of reassurance. Nobody noticed. All their attention was fixed on Caleb as gripped his jaw, wincing in pain.

A few moments later, he stood up, still in pain, and walked out the door. Everyone else resumed their activities, picking up their drinks again and turning up the volume of the music.

"Can we talk? Now?" I asked.

He nodded, and we walked upstairs.