No Good Nick (Part 3)

Part 9

"W-what are you doing... doing over here?" Nick stuttered, staring up at the one guy that she never thought she'd see again.

Will gave an awkward smile. "Hi, Nick. I was visiting my mom... in the women division of the prison." he frowned looking at her. "I'm going to take a guess that you were visiting your dad? I thought you cut all ties with him."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, I did, but I guess that's over now. Honestly, I don't even know what I was expecting. He's the same as always. You'd think a month of me missing would make him worried about me, but all he did was keep ranting on and on about... well you know the Thompsons," Nick sighed and massaged her temples.

Will sighed. "I'm sorry Nick. I can probably guess how bad that hurts..." his voice trailed off then he smiled. "I might not be able to fix anything, but I can offer an ice cream cone a nice catch-up?" he extended his hand towards her.

Nick rolled her eyes but smiled. "Alright, as long as I can put gummy bears on my ice cream."

***

"Gummy bears? That's so random," Will muttered, watching Nick eat chocolate ice cream with a scoop of frozen gummy bears on top. She stuck out her tongue at him. "Says the guy that put cherries on his ice cream. Of all the things... a scoop of cherries. You could have put chocolate or sprinkles!! That should be illegal."

Will shrugged. "I've always liked it."

"Yes, you like the taste of tears and anguish."

Will stuck his tongue out back at her.

Nick laughed and popped a couple of gummy bears into her mouth. "So... last time we talked you were at the bus station trying to convince me not to run away... what's happened since then?" she then paused and a thought struck her. "How the heck did you even get there? That's a two-hour drive!"

Will shrugged. "I took a cab. The guy was nice, and he charged me half his normal rate because I told him my friend was trying to run away and he was worried. He took me home after that and I paid him... nice guy. Anyway," he paused to take a breath, "We all got moved to different homes after... you know the whole fiasco of our former foster parents."

Nick shivered. "I prefer the term legal guardian over foster parents. They were in no way parents to us..." 

Will nodded, knowing where Nick was coming from. Adults who were in every way emotionally and verbally abusive to children were no fit match for the term parents.

"Right. Legal guardians. Anyway, all of us have been moved. Tyler... you remember him? Short kid with the glasses?" Nick nodded. "Yeah, so he and I got moved into a group home down South Street. I go to Whitmore."

The town they lived in had 3 high schools. Westguard High School was the one that Nick went to. Their main rivals were Whitmore High School. The other high school was a private catholic school.... St. Lucy's Academy. 

"So you're just right in the zone to be a rival at our football games," Nick smiled. 

"Oh, yeah cus' the only reason I would go to a football game is to make sure I can see your disappointed face when Whitmore crushes Westguard."

Nick laughed. "So... you and Tyler are in the group home, how's that?"

Will smiled. "Honestly... a lot better. It's honestly pretty similar to the Harbaughs.... in size I mean. There are 7 other kids, counting Tyler, so size is what I'm used to. The foster parents are really nice. Most of the kids are younger, they have one that's older than me. She's a junior this year."

Nick nodded as Will talked. "I mean of course I miss my mom, but the home is good since I know my mom isn't getting out any time soon." 

Nick sighed. "Yeah, that's how I felt these past few months, falling in love with the Thompsons but missing my dad. It's hard but, it's okay to feel happy there ya' know?"

Will gave her a smile and nodded. "Yeah... yeah, I get it."

"And all the other kids?" she asked

"Oh, they're fine. We all text and whatnot. The state has been making sure we all adjust well after everything our former.... legal guardians did."

Nick nodded. "Good. I'm just glad we can put all that behind us now."

Will agreed.

"Well, what about you? How are you adjusting?" Will asked, turning to Nick. He scraped the last of his cherries out of his cup.

"Good. I mean, it was really hard at first. Gaining trust, and feeling like... you know everything I did was terrible- cus' it was. But- but the Thompsons have been loving all the way. I feel..." she bit her lip. "I feel safe at their house, which is something I haven't felt in, well, forever. It's good. I'm glad you showed up at that bus station."

She smiled and he smiled back. "Of course. I'm glad I did too."

***

They were walking home. They lived around 20 minutes apart, Will on the opposite side of town, so they decided they'd part ways at the communities park in the middle.

"I'm glad we met up again. It was nice to see you... see how everything going. I'm glad we're moving on okay." Nick said, smiling up at Will.

He smiled back. "Me too. I'm glad you have the Thompsons. They really are great."

They walked a little further until they came to their split paths. 

"So I guess this is it for now," Nick said, looking at the fork in the path.

Will turned bright red. "N-nick... you know that day in the park?"

It was Nick's turn to blush. "How could I forget?" she muttered.

"Maybe we... should I don't know... make it official this time? Since last time we-uh- kissed... you kinda walked off after?" 

Nick looked up at him. Oh gosh, he's blushing *so* hard right now.

Nick smiled and leaned forward.

Will leaned forward too and they found themselves enjoying a sweet kiss together... finally.

Nick was the first to pull away looking into Will's eyes. They both laughed awkwardly for a moment. "That was great," Nick said between laughs.

"We should uh... meet up more often. If... if you want?" Will asked sheepishly.

Nick smiled. "I'd like that."

***

Hey, y'all! Happy weekend :)

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I thought it was cute to write and honestly, I smiled at some of their banter as I wrote it. 

To those who put cherries on their ice cream please don't get offended lol. My dad always put cherries on his ice cream and I thought it was nasty but hey if you like it you do you.

He also used to put peaches on cottage cheese. Kinda weird but it's actually not that bad..... Maybe I'm hungry talking about all this food lol.

Take care of yourselves/others :))