GREEN. GREY. ZAYDE.✔

Chapter 3

Standing there in all his gorgeous glory was Nick Everdeene, Captain of the soccer team and King of popular, if not for the fact that he hated Anna's guts, they would look great together.

"What do you want?" I asked, the shyness taking over me again.

"A burger would be nice."

"No, no, what do you want with me?" I questioned.

"I thought I'd hang around the girl Arch seems so interested in." He smirked.

"You don't call him by his name either?" I asked.

"No, I do, just when we're alone." He replied, tilting his head and scanning me. I felt tiny under his scrutinising gaze.

"You work here?" He asked his eyes fixed on the logo on my shirt.

"My family owns this place." I stated with a shrug.

"Ah, I knew the name was familiar, I come here a lot."

"Really, I never see you." I frowned.

"I guess I come after your shift, but not anymore." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "If you don't want anything else, I'll be leaving now." I huffed, blushing slightly. He seemed amused.

"I do want something, I wanna hang with you."

"Why?"

"To know you better." He shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Honestly." He admitted.

Just at that moment, little hands grabbed my skirt, tugging it slightly. I looked up to see Tristan smiling up at me.

"You ready?" I asked. He nodded energetically.

"Hey kid." Nick said squatting to meet him. Tristan studied him at first before shaking his hand.

"Trist, Nick wants to tag along, is that okay?" I asked, hoping he'd say no.

"Ermmmmmmmm, okay! But I'm not sharing my Ice-Cream." He said seriously.

Nick laughed. "No problem."

After changing into my regular clothes which consisted of a baggy T-shirt, sweatpants and tying my hair into a ponytail, I put on my flip flops and strolled out of the restaurant with Nick by my side and Tristan bouncing about in front of us.

Nick chuckled. "Lively kid, is he your brother?"

"No, I have a brother but he's older and doesn't live here in Epston. Tristan's the son of one of the staff." I replied.

I was still skeptical about his sudden fascination with me so I decided to keep my mouth shut. Nick seemed to notice my reservation and silence so he spoke up.

"Hey, I understand if you feel that this is strange, I would too. I'm just genuinely curious about you, I want to you better, really." We both stopped walking as we reached the Ice-Cream shop, Tristan skipped right in, but I paused, thinking over what Nick said.

"No ulterior motives?"

"None."

"I have trust issues Nick, promise you won't hurt me?" I whisper, my voice getting weak.

"I promise." He too whispers back, seemingly unraveling as he saw the plain undisguised hurt in my eyes. He put on a determined look, breathing out before he spoke again.

"Whoever hurt you Skye, I don't know, but I can promise you that I will do all I can to protect you from getting hurt again." He almost growled out.

"Why?" I gasped out.

"I know how it feels." He simply said. At that moment, I felt a sense of connection to Nick, seeing in his eyes that he too understood pain.

In the shop, Tristan ordered one of everything, while Nick and I ordered chocolate, it was both our favourites. I also learned that Nick's parents are partners with Anastasia's parents company, and he's been best friends with Z since diapers, his favourite colour is yellow, he's not really a fan of the luxurious life style but he deals with it anyway, he has a pet bunny that keeps on chewing and eating things, he hates pineapple pizza, loves watching Avengers on the weekends and actually likes cooking and there was actually a time that Z was smiley and full of life.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Arch smiled, laughed, and acted like a normal lively teen." He smiled to himself as if remembering a distant memory.

"What changed?" I questioned. He sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder and looked to be in some kind of internal battle with himself before speaking to me.

"That's really not my story to tell Skye, wish I could, but I can't." I nodded seeing where he was coming from. There are some experiences that completely change you, wiping away any trace of happiness, turning you into a different person altogether, now you cover up, take a new identity, a disguise, to hide the pain, to mask the hurt. I understand personally.

Nick and I talked a bit more, and the conversation shifted to Paw Patrol when Tristan joined in the talk. We were so into our discussion that when Nick's phone rang, it startled all of us.

Nick answered with a "Hey man." I thought the person on the other side was silent because I couldn't hear a thing but Nick could, I could see the emotions change from surprise, to worry, to slight panic. He finally said: "Okay, I'll be right there." And with that he hung up.

"I'm so sorry, I have to go, it's Arch and he-"

"It's okay, go, it must be important."

He smiled his thanks and rushed off, waving to me and Tristan, promising to do this again. Tristan stared after him, smiling. "I like him." He concluded.

I chuckled. "Me too kid, me too."