"Okay," I nod slowly, sitting down on his bed. Recently, the four quads had gotten rooms of their own. Nicky took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry I've been such a jerk to you." He apologizes. "The thing is..."
"Continue...."
"I like you, and I've liked you since...since we were like 10, and I didn't know how to talk to you so I resorted to making fun of you, and ignoring you." He smiles.
"Oh."
"And I don't know if you feel the same way but I had to tell yo-," I cut him off, leaning forward to kiss him. He responds slowly, resting his hands on my waist. I move my hand towards his hair, putting one on his shoulder.
"I'm glad we talked," I say.
"Me too," Nicky smiles.
"So, what now?"
"Do you want to go out with me?" Nicky asks, smirking.
"Hmm, let me think about that.." I laugh as he pulls me in for another kiss.
"Wait, what are we going to tell your siblings?" I break the kiss.
"I don't know." He shrugs.
"Do you want to tell them?" I ask.
"Do you?"
"No. Dawn would be so mad at me." I look away.
"Hey," Nicky puts a hand to my face. "It's okay, we don't have to tell them." He smiles reassuringly.
"Thanks," I sink into his arms and lean back.
"You wanna stay here tonight?" He asks. "I mean, to sleep."
"I would love to Nicky, but Dawn would be so suspicious." I say.
"Maybe another night." He suggests.
"Sure." I nod.
...
"Y/N? WHERE ARE YOU?" Dawn yells from her room. I break away from him, looking towards the door.
"You should go." Nicky says.
"Are you sure?" I ask, not wanting to leave again.
"I'll talk you you later, L/n."
"Bye Harper."
......
"So what was that all about?" Dawn questions, as I return to her room.
"Uh, Nicky just wanted to ask me about a homework question," I lie.
"Really? I didn't know you two talked?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess we do. A bit," I wring my hands together.
"What was the question?" Dawn asks.
"It was about. About. About science." I nod.
"Oh? I didn't know you took science together?" Dawn looks suspicious.
"Yeah, we don't but he had a question about on the of the quizzes.." I trail off.
"Right." Dawn doesn't look convinced. "Why did it take so long?"
"Jeez, where are all these questions coming from?" I ask, looking away.
"I just would like to know that there's nothing going on with my brother and my best friend."
"Why would you think something's going on?" I say.
"Well maybe just about the fact that he was literally on top of you!" Dawn rolls her eyes.
"Huh?" I ask.
"On the couch?"
"That's nothing." I look away.
"We're coming back to this topic later." She crosses her arms.
...
"Dawn, what's bothering you?" I ask as we try to go to sleep.
"Nothing." She says, rolling away from me.
"Dawn." I poke her.
"It's about Nicky." she whispers.
"What about him?" I question.
"There's something going on..." Dawn sits up.
"No there isn't," I start.
"You've been acting weird around him since 9th grade!!"
"No I haven't." I argue.
"And what about what happened on the couch?" She rolls her eyes, her face stating the obvious.
"I was trying to get a bowl from him and almost cracked my head open on the coffee table," I shrug.
"That doesn't really explain why I found you with my brother, staring into his eyes." She purses her lips.
"Well, he caught me and...yeah," I blush, looking away from her.
"Sure." She says. "So you can look me in the eye and tell me with a straight face that you don't like Nicky?"
"Uh. Yeah," I bob my head.
"So do it!" She throws her hands in the air.
"Um."
"Y/n, I'm not stupid, I see the way you look at him. Even when he's being a complete jerk head you still love him."
"I don't, I don't, you," I stammer.
"Come on Y/n, we've been friends forever, I know you." Dawn shakes her head at me.
"I don't like him that way." I say smiling.
"That's not a straight face," Dawn rolls her eyes.
"Well, your question is so ridiculous I couldn't keep from smiling," I say, laughing to myself.
"Right." She says. "NICKY?" She yells.
"WHAT?" He calls from the other room.
"COME IN HERE! RIGHT NOW!" She shouts, leaning back and smirking.
"What are you trying to do here?" I ask, as Nicky walks into the room.
"So what's up?" He asks, sitting beside me on the bed.
"Do you like y/n?" Dawn asks.
"No," he says, without a glance at me. I hold back a snort. What a good actor.
"Hmmm. So if I left you two in here by yourselves, you wouldn't try anything funny?"
"Sure!" I shrug.
"Okay then," she leaves the room.
"Wait, what?" I call after her.
"I'm going to leave you here," she says. "Don't mess up my bed."
"What's this supposed to prove?" Nicky yells.
"Whether or not you like each other." Dawn explains.
"And how is that going to work? We could easily just sit here, even if we did like each other." I argue.
"I don't know about that...Nicky has trouble keeping his hands of someone he likes, right Nicky?"
Nicky rolls his eyes, but didn't deny it.
"But what if we're completely silent?
"Trust me. If you're doing anything, I'll know."