.Gone but never forgotten.

-Chap. 2-

November 30, 2281. 6:37pm

 Nick sat down on a bench and read over the newspaper called "public occurrences" written by piper. It was a bunch of lousy stuff, but it was fun to read. 

"Hey Nicky!" A familiar voice called, making Nick look up. John was walking over with a grin, but damn he looked fucked.

John had a busted lip, his nose looked bruised and red, and his eye looked.. Bad. The whites of his eyes were red, as if he'd been choked. He took a seat by Nick, sighing softly when he did.

 "What happened to you, buster?" Nick asked, setting down the newspaper. 

"Oh long story, funny story actually, aight so. This guy, much older than me, probably like, I'unno 27? Was messing with a ghoul friend and I was around to hear it. He was new in town ya see, didn't know much. 

" So, I told him to stop and apologize like a good Gentleman would. Fucker pushed me back, made me hit my back against that post over there. The residents stopped, no guards were around, and the people here know me. Know I don't stand for that kind of shit. 

"When I walked back closer to him I just smiled. He eyed me, and when he took a swing at me, I dodged it and kicked his stomach so he'd go back, make some distance between us. Unfortunately, my ma was in town and called my name, got me distracted. So this asshole the drop on me, tackled me. He punched my eye and started to choke me. He didn't know that I had a knife though, that's where he made the mistake. One of my hands tried to claw at his hands, and the other went to my pocket to grab the knife. I carefully and slowly opened it, and stabbed him in the side." John stopped for a moment to shift and lean his head back to look at the sky. "Ya with me?"

"Sure am kid, keep goin though. " Nick said as he looked over John. 

"Well," John started, and closed his eyes. "After I stabbed him, ma came back with guards. The guard pulled the guy off of me, but they also dragged me away into the security area. While Doctor sun was there to help the knife wound, I had to sit there and hold my throat. See  ya can't do much for that, not even med-x will work. It hurt like hell honestly. 

"But when I got my knife back, I looked at it and back at the guy and I said, quoted perfectly, 'if I see you here in town again. I'll kill you. If I hear you harass another ghoul, I'll kill you. Not a threat, just a fucking promise.' And I got up, and left. 

"Ma was upset but proud that I stood up for someone. Dad and brother just shrugged it off. Like I said when we met, I like to harm people who deserve it, and he definitely deserved that." 

Nick was quiet after John stopped talking. He could picture that smile full of teeth when he made a threat. He could picture John helping someone. Yea, sounds like something John would do. "Jesus John.. Are you insane? What if you couldn't reach your knife?" 

John just shrugged but he smiled. He remained quiet for a while so Nick went back to reading.

November 30, 2281. 7:05

John had suggested that they go into Nicks place, so that's what they did. John went inside and almost instantly collapsed to the floor. Nick caught him before he did, and quickly laid him down on the bed. Johns hand went to his throat and held it for a moment. But he didn't seem hurt besides that. 

Nick stayed quiet for a moment, staying by Johns side. Then, John say up. "'m fine.. Just got winded.. Happens a lot with my throat being fucked." 

 Nick sighed and sat by him. "Listen kid, don't pick fights with people stronger than you, especially since you're short and scrawny"

 John shrugged and sighed.

November 30, 2281. 7:35

John was now sitting on the desk Nick was supposed to be working at. But instead, he was telling Nick another story of how he got hurt alot. For a troublemaker, he sure did own up to that title. 

He often got into fights around town, he went to security alot, did alot of bribing and threats. Yea, he wasn't a good kid, definitely a troublemaker. 

Nick smiled lightly as he listened, and he was definitely glad this kid broke into his place, cause now he had a friend, or so that's what it felt like. 

(786words💕💕)