Handful of troubles

{Chapter 5} .breaking apart.

When Nick dreams, he dreams of a sunny day. A beautiful sunny day, with no clouds blocking the sun. He dreams of his ex fiance, Jenny, laying beside him in the grass. He almost wishes to reach over and touch her, to feel her soft skin and beautiful body. He almost wishes. Almost. 

When Nick wakes up, it takes him a moment to get up. He stares at his wall for minutes at a time. Then he gets up and goes to his closet to grab clothes and a towel, and head into the bathroom, starting a shower. As he undresses, he think back to Hancock. 

Nicky, alot of people are addicted to alot of things.

 "Everything in the world can be addictive..." Nick mutters to himself as he slips off his shirt. 

But.. I am an addict for things beside weed if that's what you're asking.

Nick sighed. He slipped his pants off and his underwear, and hopped into the shower. He let the warm water relaxed his tense posture. He made a mental note to look into cocaine facts and to really research it. He also made a promise to himself that he'd give Hancock some space for now, since he'd probably not want to see Nick after the incident. 

--

Nicks day at the mall was slow. He didn't need to stop any trouble, John states in his work space, RJ and Deacon didn't cause trouble either. Everything was.. Slow, really. 

So, Nick decided to go to the Starbucks. He ordered his drink and took a seat in the far left corner. When he was seated he grabbed his phone and started his personal research. First thing he looked into was why someone would use substances like that.

The level of substance use, particularly cocaine, strongly correlated with levels of childhood physical, sexual, and emotional abuse as well as current PTSD symptoms. 

That would make sense.. Did John have any PTSD symptoms?' Nick thought to himself. He looked into what symptoms that would cause because he wanted to know and research this further. 

On some levels, being zoned out , constant fidgeting. On other levels may include complete social isolation.

Nick thought for a moment. As he recalled.. There were times where Hancock was completely zoned out. 

Nick walked outside for a smoke, and saw Hancock sitting on the couch. Not moving, not talking, just staring at the floor, with no one else around. "Hancock?" Nick asked. When Hancock didn't move, he stepped closer. 

"Hancock?" He asked ahain, but again, no answer. It wasn't until he finally sat down by him and whispered "John" quietly, did hancock finally blink a little and look up at Nick. 

"Oh hey Nicky! Sorry, I think Deacon gave me the strong Weed, hehe, anyways, see ya 'round!" He said with a smile as he stood up and went inside. Nick watched him, confused, but he shrugged it off as a typical thing. 

"Maybe that wasn't it.." Nick muttered to himself as he recalled back to that moment. He sighed. And of course, there were moments when Hancock was constantly Fidgeting, so many you really couldn't count. "Damnit.." Nick said as he sat his phone down and took a sip of his drink. 

Thats when Maxson, one of the Starbucks workers, called him over. "C'mere and look at this mayoral speech that's playing" he said, and together they walked into the lounge, where everyone was gathered. Including Hancock. They looked at the screen and listened. 

The mayor in question was Mayor McDonough. A legend really. His dad was a major as well, the classic "following in his steps" kind of deal. Although, Nick didnt care much for the mayor. But still, he listened.