The Argument

Revelations

Pairing: Nico/Zoey

Setting/Time: Outside the mail station, in the days following the prologue.

I recommend listening to 'Please Don't Say You Love Me' by Gabrielle Aplin while reading this one-shot :).

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Nico B. Forrest

'I lied!' She screamed, 'Of course I fucking I love you, you idiot.'

I stared at her, awestruck. The adrenaline that pulsed through my veins froze, cooling the fire that burned inside me every time we fought. Her words coiled around my heart and stole my breath away. Her walnut eyes, which sparkled in the early sunlight, began to dull as apprehension pooled in them. She shook her head slightly, as if she were physically shaking the emotion out of her head; resigned determination took its place.

'I tried so hard to hate you...'

As the admission was forced from her shaking lips, wistfulness softened the bitterness that had come across her face as a mask; hid the pain which bubbled just below the surface. Her voice broke on the last word, fractured red lines chased each other across the milky white of her eyes as they began to glisten. My heart constricted once more. The words both frightened and comforted me. My emotions swirled together until they became one unidentifiable sensation that tightened my gut and made my palms sweat. I wanted to say the words that haunted my thoughts: return the confession...

But I couldn't.

I couldn't risk losing her friendship if this didn't work out.

… But I was coming dangerously close to losing her altogether.

I selfishly wished that she had kept her feelings hidden from me. It would've made this so much easier. But I dismissed the thought. I knew her revelation was, in part, my fault. I had been the one trying to get her to admit her feelings for me, albeit playfully. I just never expected her to say those words. I was being childish in my jesting: she was serious.

I remember the first time I met her all those months ago. I never could have imagined we would have made it to this point. Standing here; in this moment; in this place: I knew I felt the same. A vision came into my mind's eye of a future where we were happy and ... together. It was my birthday; we were laughing. Her eyes lit up with mirth as she smirked at me deviously before shoving cake in my face. I felt a small smile tug at the corners of my mouth.

'Don't you dare start laughing at me Forrest.'

Her words broke me out of my reverie. I saw her slowly shut down, moments from crumbling. Her hunched posture was the physical representation of her supposed defeat; her wrongful assumption that my silence equalled rejection. I opened my mouth to clarify the miscommunication only to close it again when a harrowing thought pushed itself to the forefront of my mind.

What if history repeated itself?

Could I deal with that betrayal again? It was stupid to think like that because I knew her; she was different than Beth, yet I still couldn't shake the feeling. I had been the fool before. I didn't want to rush this only for it to ruin.

She turned away. I noticed the faint trail of tears on her cheek as she moved.

If I didn't do something now I knew I would lose her for good. 

I reached forward to grab her arm.

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I just want to say a massive thanks to Yas for holding the oneshot competition which gave me the push I needed to finally post something of mine online <3. (Also I hope you don't mind me spamming your notifications with my votes ahaha. I'm making up for not having account to vote with :p)

Thanks for reading! :)