Julie and the Phantoms imagines and prefrences

helping hand pt. 2 [Nick X Reader]

I walk into the familiar home.
"Its been a while." I laugh quietly.
"It really has." Nick says behind me.
I look at him. "God. This place hasn't changed a bit."
Nick laughs and looks at me sheepishly.
"You sure have though." I say.
"Whaddya mean?" He asks.
"Well, first of all you used to gag when anyone brought up the idea of you and carrie. Now you're dating her on and off again."
"Its complicated." He says, scratching the back of his neck.
"Its less complicated than you make it." I say quietly, looking at the floor.
"You've changed too y'know." He says quietly walking up to me slowly. Getting closer by the second.
"I know."
"Why?" He takes my hand on his and looks down at me.
"It was just easier." I whisper.
He takes my other hand and looks me in the eyes.
"You could've talked to me y'know. After it happened."
"I didnt want to." I say looking down quickly.
He let's go if my hand and makes me look at him.
"Come on. We were best friends. You know I would've been there."
I'm about to say something when the door slams. We jump apart and look up to see Carrie at the door.
"What is happening here?" She says loudly.
I look at the floor, refusing to meet her eyes.
"Nothing. I was just helping out a friend." He says.
I nod, still not meeting her eyes.
"Didnt seem like that's what you were doing." She accuses.
She continues talking to him like he's her property.
I can feel him shrinking back.
"The only reason he keeps coming back to you is because you're scaring him into liking you." I say loudly.
She looks at me, her fake sweetness melting away.
"And what? Do you really think he would go for someone you." She sniffs at me like I'm a landfill, "face it honey, you're nothing. You have nothing, and I have everything." The fake sweetness in her voice makes my teeth hurt.
I'm about to say something when Nick speaks up behind me.
"Leave." He says harshly.
"I beg your pardon?" She says moving closer to him and placing a hand on his chest.
He pushes her away and repeats himself.
"I said leave."
"But I'm your girlfriend." She fake pouts.
"Not anymore. You cant just walk into my house like you own the place and then insult my friends. We're done."
She looks at him as if he were something that she found dead on the side of the road.
"Fine. But you'll be back." She sing songs.
"Dont count on it." He says coldly.
She sniffs and walks out the door, slamming it behind her.
I let out a breath I didnt realize I was holding in. I look at Nick and hes smiling at me.
"What?" He chuckles lightly and gives me a look that makes my stomach flip.
"Nothing it's just that for a moment there it felt like you were back." I look at him, a question in my eyes, "when you spoke up, it was like you were my best friend again." He says quietly, his hands in his pockets.
I walk up to him and put my hand to his cheek, making him look me in the eyes.
"I'll always be your best friend." I say quietly.
He tackles me in a hug, burying his head in the crook of my neck. I'm suprised at first. I'm not used to human contact anymore.
I hug him back and he doesnt let go for a bit.
"I missed you." He whispers.
"I missed you too." I whisper back.
After a minute we pull away from each other.
We sit there for a second, just looking at eachother
I clear my throat. "Umm. What do you wanna do?"
"Umm... wanna go play video games?" I nod.
He smiles and turns on the game console.
"I'm gonna wipe the floor with you." I say cockily.
We turn on a racing game.
After 2 hours I beat him 6 times. Hes only beat me 4.
"Haha. I win again." He rolls his eyes and shoves me lightly.
I laugh.
"Okay fine fine. You win." He says, "can we watch a movie now?"
"Tired of losing?" I tease.
"Whatever." He says smiling playfully.
We sit down on the couch and bring up Netflix.
"You pick out what to watch." He says, handing the remote to me.
I'm about to object when he gives me a look.
I huff and sift through the shows before picking one.
"Boss baby?" He asks raising an eyebrow.
"What? It's funny." I say laughing.
He hold his hands up in surrender. "I'm not judging. I just didnt page you as a cartoon kind if girl."
"Everyone likes cartoons." I argue back. He just chuckles and shakes his head. I press play and we watch boss baby for a while.
We laugh at all the dumb jokes and comment on the things that make no sense.
Before we know it its midnight. I yawn and he looks at me smiling.
"Tired?"
"A little bit."
"Well you know where the guest room is, I'll go get you something to wear."
He gets up, before he goes up stairs he gives me a small peck on the forehead.
I get up and go to the guest room. The house looks the same. The only thing that has changed is the pictures lining the walls.
His mom put up some new ones.
There are some with me in them. Some with Nick and Carrie. Julie's in a few too.
"There are alot more if you wanna see them." I jump and nick chuckles slightly.
"You are really jumpy." He says.
"Always have been." I say smiling at him.
He walks up and hands me some clothes.
I take the shirt and shorts from him. I hold up the shirt to him and raise an eyebrow.
"Hey, I mean you were it so much it was basically yours." He jokes.
"Okay I wore it like five times. That's it. And how do you still have these?" I say holding up my shorts.
"Sure we'll go with that, and they were in a drawer in the guest room." He says giving me a wink. The butterflies in my stomach go crazy.
"I did not steal it."
"I didnt say you did."
"It was implied."
We bicker for a minute before busting out laughing.
"It feels like nothing has changed." I say.
"Yeah, except for the fact that everything has changed." He says.
"This last year really kicked our butts huh?"
"Yeah."
And with that I go change. I come back down the stairs and hear someone laughing.
I walk down the stairs and see nick, a photo album in his hands.
"What're you laughing at?" I ask. He looks up at me, and the smile leaves his face.
"Is something wrong?" I ask looking down at the borrowed clothes.
He shakes his head slighly.
"Umm... no nothing, I was just looking at some old photos."
I walk over to the couch. His eyes follow me all the way there, making me blush.
I sit down next to him and look down at the old photos.
On the page is a picture of us in the second grade. It was the moment we met. His mom has always documented every moment of his life. Even this long forgotten one.
"Why am I looking at you like that?" I laugh looking up at him.
He had been looking at me. He looks back down at the page, his face turning bright red.
"Umm I had asked you what your name was and when you told me I tried to say it but I had a little trouble pronouncing my vowels so I said it kinda funny."
"God you hated that. It annoyed you like crazy."
"It really did. But you helped me pronounce things and soon enough I could pronounce things properly."
"Its not that you didnt pronounce them properly."
"Huh."
"That's not why I helped you."
"Well then why did you help me?"
"Because you used to get so upset about it. I remember one time you got so angry that you couldn't pronounce synonyms that you started crying. After that I decided to help you because I didnt like seeing you feel bad."
He looked at me and fir a second I didnt know what was going on, but then he kissed me.
A warm feeling takes over me as I sink into the kiss.
I my hands go to his hair, and his to my waist.
After a minute we pull away.
My hand falls to his shoulder and I put my forehead to his chest.
"What was that?" I say shyly.
"That was... wow." I giggle at his loss for words.
We go back to looking at photos, his arm around me and my head resting on his shoulders. After a while we fall asleep.
"I really missed you."
"I really missed you too."