Wild Side || N.S.

★ forty ★

We had walked maybe four blocks before I finally decided to face my fears and speak up. "H-hey Nikki? Where are we going?" I cringed as soon as I heard myself stutter.

"I saw a park just down this street." he said, his eyes not meeting mine.

"Okay?"

"And well. All right this is gonna sound incredibly strange but I thought about that last show we had in.. what was it? Scottsdale? I don't know, somewhere in Arizona I guess. All I remember was the look on your face when you saw a swing set."

I felt myself smiling like an idiot and sure enough, I was. Nikki looked over at me through his fringe and he smiled back. And I swear on my life I saw him blush as well. As soon as it registered in his mind that I had seen what I had seen, he looked away, hiding behind his hair.

Once we had made it to the park, I could feel my eyes light up at the sight of the swings. My grip tightened a little on Nikki's hand and when I looked at him, he looked like he was holding back his laughter. "Go on" he motioned to the swings and I did not have to be told twice. I took off in nearly a full-blown sprint towards them.

Once I sat down on a swing, I began to push myself forward and swing myself. As my height and speed increased, my hair began to blow in the breeze, forcing me to brush it out of my face with my fingers. I felt myself smiling and it was incredibly genuine. Swings were my happy place, I guess.

Nikki had made his way over to me and sat in the swing next to mine. He kicked his legs forward and began to swing as well. "So what is it about swings that you love so much?" he asked.

"They remind me of a simpler time" I responded playfully, making him roll his eyes. I wasn't lying though. I missed my childhood. Granted it wasn't perfect and had a few traumatic experiences along the way. Still. What I would give to just be a kid again.

"I take it you enjoyed your childhood?" Nikki asked, looking over at me. We had slowed down on the swings and were just carelessly swaying at this point.

"Parts of it" I admitted.

"Yeah me too," he nodded. "what were your parents like?" he asked.

I looked over at him curiously but he didn't look away. He seemed legitimately interested. How strange.

"They could've been better, I guess. I think they had me at too young of an age. Maybe if they had me five years later or something, they would have been ready," I shrugged. "what were your parents like?"

"My mom was a fucking psycho bitch," Nikki spat, making my eyes widen. "and as for my dad? I never knew him. He took off when I was a baby. I guess my mom tried to fill the void with her lousy boyfriends. Way too many of them."

I felt my heart break at the thought. I couldn't even imagine the shit he probably had to endure. I also took a minute to realize that we were having a legitimate conversation. Was he finally letting me in?

"I'm really sorry you got put through that. You know you didn't do anything to deserve it, right?" I asked, looking over at him sympathetically.

Nikki didn't respond. He just looked down at his lap as his swing moved slowly and lazily. I got off of my swing and walked over so that I was standing in front of him. Once he saw my legs come into view, he looked up and met my eyes. I couldn't help but move some of his hair out of his face on instinct. "Nikki, you are so much more than what you've endured. You're music has changed people's lives, including mine. And even though you're an asshole most of the time, you look out for your friends and your family more than anything." Nikki cracked a slight smile at my words but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "And I.... I love you." I blurted out.

That's when Nikki's looked up again, well his head snapped up this time. "What?" he asked carefully.

I stared at him and felt like all the air in my lungs had suddenly left. Shit, did I really say that out loud? Well, no going back now.

"Say it again, please" he begged softly.

"I uhm," I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I love you, Nikki." I admitted, smiling sheepishly.

There was a brief moment of silence between us and I mean, brief. Nikki had gotten off of his swing and lunged forward at me, planting his lips on mine. I was caught off guard and almost stumbled backwards but Nikki caught me and held me in place, his left arm wrapped securely around my waist and his right hand pressed to the back of my neck. I had grabbed onto his forearm for what felt like dear life and let him deepen the kiss. I really missed this feeling and practically felt myself melting at his touch.

Despite all the shit I've done so far this year, I can't help but always find my way back to Nikki. It felt right to admit that I loved him. I didn't think I knew what love was. I'd never seen a real proper and stable relationship (here's looking at you parents!). But the way I feel when I'm with Nikki as well as the way I feel when I'm without him has got to be it.

We both pulled away after a while and Nikki rested his forehead on mine, leaning a bit so he could place a kiss on my nose.

"Does this mean that you're finally mine?" he asked, a subtle smirk on his face.

"As long as you'll have me. And only me." I challenged with a smile.

He grinned widely at my words. "I've been waiting on those words for a while now babe." And with that, he planted his lips right back on mine.

. . .

A/N: AWEEEEEEEEE THEY'RE BACK BABY AND THEY'RE OFFICIAL AF.

I won't lie, I totally wrote this chapter only to cheer myself up. The people I work with have been absolutely nasty to me and the girls I work with on my shift. They used to treat me like we were friends but I found out it was pretty much all a lie this whole time. Oh, and I almost lost my job so that was fun. I don't know, it really messed me up and I kinda just took sad naps all weekend. But fuck it, now I'm back and better. Writing definitely helps!

Thank you guys so much for reading and the feedback is greatly appreciated. Can't believe we made it to 40 chapters already, I'm so happy!

I hope you all have a great day/night/week/month/life! ~