𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐄 | 𝟏𝟖+

LXIV

N I C H O L A S

"I'ma love you even though I'm scared, learnin' to be grateful for myself. You love my lips 'cause they say the things we've always been afraid of."

. . .

It's silent between us for a few, heavy seconds.

"Ashley doesn't explain why you lied to me, nor your past with her," Fallon frowns.

I've only explained the situation with Ashley in the shop, so Fallon won't go around and lose her mind or keep on wondering what happened.

We're sitting on the couch. She has her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.

"I know," I reply, but she doesn't stop. "She was touching you."

"I was about to step away from her."

"But you didn't."

"She caught me off guard!" I defend myself. She huffs and shakes her head.

I like this possessive side of her, even though I might sound crazy admitting it.

Makes me realize that I'm not the only one crazy about her. My angel is just as crazy and possessive of me as I am of her.

"Why did you lie?" she asks in a whisper. The vulnerability in her eyes is killing me.

"I..." I begin and lean my forearms on my knees. "I was doing something I know you won't like."

She tenses up beside me and worries her bottom lip with her teeth. I know for a fact that the worst scenarios are racing through her mind.

"What?" she asks in such a soft voice.

I contemplate how to tell her. But I should just be straightforward with her. There's no use in delaying it.

"I paid Tyler a visit."

More silence.

Finally, I look up and meet her eyes to see exactly what I expected to see; panic, fear, and horror. But also, relief. Only a hint of it.

"T-Tyler?" she brings out in a whisper. Her frown deepens. "W-what did you do to him?" she asks.

"Do you want to know?"

She shakes her head and stands up. "No, Nicholas. No. Why the fuck did you do that to him?"

"You don't even know what I did!"

"I know it wasn't a friendly visit," she fires back with narrowed eyes. My silence confirms it, and she groans.

"Is he alive?"

Barely.

"Yes," is my short answer.

I see her defenses going up, and I stand up with her as well. "What did you want me to do? I couldn't let that son of a bitch just walk around being an asshole without doing something about it."

"I was just fine living without him. I got my closure and..."

"I didn't!" I fire back, "I love you, Fallon. So fucking much that seeing that bastard made my blood boil. I wanted to kill him, but I didn't. So, for me to live a bit in peace, I had to beat the living shit out of him to let him pay for his past mistakes."

Her lower lip is trembling and her eyes are shining with tears.

I take a step towards her and pull her closer to me, so our bodies mold together. She lets me and leans into my touch without a doubt.