Across the Pond

Chapter 8

I could eat at Melly's for the rest of my life and never get sick of it. I think it has to do with the fact that this is my spot with Nico. Therefore, it holds meaning to me. We've been coming here since I was 7 and Nico was 9. Mom used to pick us up from camp and bring us here for an afternoon snack. Mom was always picking us up. From everything. Because Gillian was barely around; always running some sort of errand.

And then when we were teenagers, Nico and I would ride our bikes to Melly's every Sunday. We even have our own booth. Well, technically it's not ours, but Nico refuses to sit anywhere else when it's taken. We literally had to walk out of the restaurant one time when someone else was sitting there. The hostess had offered us another booth, but Nico was insistent on the one in the back. Our booth.

Now that we're in a lit-up room, I can see Nico perfectly. His short brown hair is combed through, and even though he looks the same, there's something different about him.

"You've been lifting, haven't you?" I ask him. His body is athletically lean, but I can see the muscles through his sleeves every time he reaches for something on the table.

"You telling me I look fit, BC?" he asks as he leans his body forward.

"You always look fit, but I don't know," I squint my eyes at him, "something's different about you."

"You think?"

"Yeah. Whatever it is, you look great. And I really am happy to see you." I reach for his hand and he covers it with his.

All of a sudden, Nico bursts out laughing.

"What?" I ask him, but he continues to laugh. "What is it?" I can't help but laugh in response to him laughing.

"Remember the time we came here and you spit your entire chocolate milkshake onto Benny?"

My laughing turns into cackling when I think of the memory. I had ordered a milkshake with my grilled cheese sandwich because I needed something sweet. As I was taking a large sip of the milkshake and our waiter Benny was filling our glasses with water, Nico decided to crack a joke. Long story, short, I ended up spitting a mouthful of the chocolatey, icy liquid onto Benny's apron.

"It wasn't the entire milkshake. More like a quarter," I continue to laugh.

"Oh my God, I'm crying," Nico says, wiping at his eyes. He's laughing so hard that there are actual tears falling. "Damn, BC, we've had some good times together, haven't we?"

"The best," I answer.

We stop laughing, and funny enough, Benny approaches us.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Good thing I have a backup apron in my locker," Benny teases.

"Hey, Benny," Nico greets him with a wave.

"Nico, Bella," he tips his head at the both of us. "How are my favorite customers doing tonight?"

"Shhh, Benny," Nico sarcastically says, covering his lips with his index finger. "The others can hear."

"You think I give a crap about them?" Benny asks, swinging his hand down. "Please." Nico and I smile at each other and then look up at Benny. "We've missed you, Bella. It's not the same when you're not around." Benny then bobs his head at Nico. "He's not the same when you're not around."

"C'mon now, Benny. Don't ruin my reputation," Nico jokes, lifting up his collar.

"I'm sorry, Nico, but the girl deserves to know."

You hear that, Nico? I deserve to know. No, I need to know.

"Don't listen to him, BC," Nico tells me otherwise, shaking his head.

"No, this is great." I clasp my hands together and rest my chin on top of them. "Tell me more, Benny."

"Look, I don't care what anyone says," Benny continues, "blondie doesn't hold a candle to you."

Blondie?!

For a second there, I thought I heard wrong. But then I look at Nico and he's practically at a loss for words. I shift my attention back to Benny, but he looks just as speechless.

"Blondie?" I voice the thought in my head out loud. I might sound jealous, but I don't care.

"Benny!" the hostess at the front calls out, and Benny looks relieved.

"Be right back," he looks at us and says, but we both know that he's not coming back.

I give Benny a half-smile as my thoughts continue to spiral. I look at Nico, who's running his fingers through his hair. He does that when he's nervous. Which means that he's nervous right now.

"What was that about?" I ask him with a chuckle. I'm trying to keep my tone casual, but I'm freaking out inside. And the expression on Nico's face right now isn't helping.

I lift my head up from the table and notice Benny standing behind the register, looking at us. I can tell that he feels bad for saying something that he probably shouldn't have, but he clearly did because he assumed that it was something Nico must've already told me. Which makes me even more upset. Why would Nico wait to tell me something that everyone else supposedly already knows?

"Nico?" I press when he takes long to answer me.

He lets out a deep breath as he head remains dipped down. He finally picks it up and makes eye contact with me. His usual cool and collected demeanor is now anxious, and it's making me anxious.

"Remember the text that I sent you? The one that said I had something that I wanted to tell you."

"Yeah?"

I wanted to lie. In that moment, I wanted to pretend that I had no idea which text he was talking about...because I knew. I knew that whatever he was about to say next was going to wreck me inside.

"Well...," he begins.

And guess what? I was right.

It wrecked me.