Comeback

6. Reunion Number 2

Both Y/N and Nick spend Christmas with their family, but New Years is celebrated with friends. For Nick the plan is simple; head over to Joe's apartment in New York around dinner and stay there. For Y/N the evening is comes with a bit more back and forth; she will join Cole and some of their mutual friends for dinner and a drink after and then she will head over to Joe's for the rest of the night.

Y/N doesn't want to lose the friends she made in college, so she wanted to spend at least some of the night with them. After wishing all of them an early happy new year Y/N makes her way to Joe's and when Sophie opens the door to let her in, she knows something is up. "What is it?" She asks Sophie, who looks like she has some news.

"Okay, I'm not sure how you're going to respond to this, but Nick is here." Sophie says as Y/N hangs up her coat. Sophie can immediately read the expression on Y/N's face, and answers her question before she can even ask it. "I didn't know he was going to be here. Joe just dropped it on me when we were preparing dinner."

"Great." Y/N sighs. It's not that she doesn't want to see Nick again, she just wasn't prepared for this. "Well it was going to happen eventually, might as well get it over with." She gives Sophie a small smile. "I just wish I had known, so I could have mentally prepared myself."

"I'm sure it will be fine. There's loads of people around, so it's not like you two will have enough privacy for a deep conversation." Sophie assures her. "Now let's get you a drink." She adds as she wraps her arm around Y/N's shoulders and leads her to the kitchen. They pass quite a few people on the way, some of which Y/N remembers from back in the day.

Joe is standing with Nick and a few other people and notices Y/N and Sophie make their way to the kitchen. "Excuse us for a moment." He smiles at the others in the group and grabs Nick's arm to lead him to a quieter corner.

"What are you doing?" Nick frowns as Joe leads him away from the girl he was flirting with. "We were having a conversation." He adds as he gives the girl one more look; she wouldn't have been a bad New Years kiss.

"You weren't having a conversation, you're just feeling lonely and are trying to fill the void with some girl at a party." Joe puts him in his place. "And someone just came in that we should say hi to."

"Who?" Nick looks around in confusion; he was pretty sure he has already greeted everyone he knows at the party, so he has no idea what Joe is talking about.

"Well I may not have told you she was coming." Joe smiles innocently. "And I may not have told her you were coming." He adds as he glances at the kitchen door to see if Y/N and Sophie are still inside. "Y/N is here." He finally lets Nick know.

Nick's eyebrows raise in surprise. He didn't expect to see her tonight and he's suddenly glad Joe pulled him away from that girl. He wouldn't have wanted Y/N to see him like that, though he's not sure why it matters. They're not together, so he shouldn't feel bad about flirting with other girls, but it suddenly feels wrong. "Oh." Is all he says to Joe.

"Oh?" It's Joe's turn to raise his eyebrows. "That's all you're going to say?" He asks. "I invite your ex to a party without telling you and all you have to say is oh?" He's a little surprised, though he's not sure why. After all Nick told him he was fine with Joe and Y/N hanging out.

"Yeah." Nick shrugs. "She's your friend, it makes sense that you invited her. And I already told you I'm fine with you two being friends." He goes on. "Besides, we were going to run into each other at some point anyway, you just sped up the process."

"Well if you put it like that." Joe shrugs as well. "There she is, come on." He gestures behind Nick where Y/N and Sophie are just leaving the kitchen with drinks in their hand. "Y/N!" Joe smiles widely as he goes in for a hug, which Y/N accepts with a smile. Nick watches them from a small distance but he steps closer when they pull away from their hug. "Glad you could make it."

"I didn't want to miss it." Y/N smiles. "If your parties are still as legendary as they used to be that is." She grins as she recalls some of the parties from when they were younger. The grin is mirrored on both Joe's and Nick's faces as the same memories appear in their minds. "I do hope you can hold your liquor a bit better now." She says to Nick.

Nick's eyebrows raise in surprise at her teasing tone, but he quickly recovers. "I'm pretty sure you were the one that couldn't handle your alcohol." He fires back with a teasing smile. "And I don't plan to carry you home this time." He goes on as his eyes take her in; she's still beautiful and has developed more curves than the last time he saw her in person.

"That happened once!" Y/N defends herself, which earns her laughs from the other three. "And college has made me a pro, so it won't happen again." She adds as she allows her eyes to fully take him in; he's still handsome and has become broader then when she last saw him in person.

They're both silent for a moment as they just look at each other while Joe and Sophie share a look. "It's good to see you again, Y/N." Nick finally says as his eyes lock on hers.

Y/N smiles at the familiar sound of her name coming from his lips reaches her. "You too, Nick." She nods slightly.