𝑻𝐇𝐄 𝑵𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒━━ 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘯𝘢𝘱

24

there are few things i'm terrified of in life. my biggest fear is being an old lady who does nothing but sit in a rocking chair and regret all the opportunities i missed. my second biggest fear- even though it's just a little baby fear- is falling from a great height.

so why on earth i ended up strapped to a parachute about to jump out of an airplane is beyond me. all i know is that i cannot refuse a dare, and nick totally took advantage of that.

"this is terrifying!" i yelled over the roaring wind. since it was my first time jumping, i was strapped in with one of the instructors. he didn't speak to me at all which certainly didn't help my nerves.

nick just smiled and turned around to talk to the guy he was jumping with. they had been making fun of me the entire time so far, but i had more things to worry about- like the fact that i was about to fall to my potential death.

"fifty bucks says she won't jump," nick's instructor bet. he eyed me up and down, and i resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him.

"nah," nick said. "she's the single most stubborn person i know. she'll jump no matter what."

i grinned to myself, pride filling me. i was stubborn and this stupid jump wasn't going to get the best of me. i spent the rest of the time on the plane trying not to think about what i was about to do.

when it came time to jump, i had almost convinced myself there was nothing to be afraid of.

"twenty bucks says you won't jump first," nick yelled over the wind.

"i'll take that bet!" i yelled back. just like we had practiced, me and my jump partner got into place. i forced myself not to look down as the cold wind snapped at me, surrounding me in a blanket of roaring deafness.

i braced myself to jump and squeezed my eyes shut as we left the plane. my shriek was lost in the air as we plummeted downward, my stomach turning inside out. it wasn't until the parachute opened and we slowly began to glide down that i opened my eyes.

i stumbled a little when we reached the ground because my whole body was shaking from the adrenaline. my partner unbuckled me out of the gear, gave me a small smile, and disappeared into the building. i watched as nick and his partner landed much more gracefully than i had, yelling and high fiving.

once nick was out of his gear, he jogged over to me and wrapped me in a big hug. "you actually did it!" he yelled into my ear.

i laughed, even though his tight grip
was making me a little queasy. "pay up," i told him once he had let go of me.

nick just shook his head and pulled a twenty dollar bill out of his wallet. i gladly took it and tucked it into my pocket.

"pleasure doing business with you," i teased.

nick sighed and threw him arm across my shoulder and started walking toward the car. "let's go celebrate. i'm starving."

"no freaking way." i immediately said. "i don't think i can keep anything down."

"dude, you don't even have to eat. you can just sit there," he argued.

i rolled my eyes. "you're so rude."

"fine fine. we can just go home," he finally said.

"yeah but i don't really want to go home." i wanted to stay out and have more fun, not just sit in the house and think about everything that had happened at work.

we got into the car and sat there in silence for a minute.

"do you have to be at work tomorrow?" nick asked suddenly. there was that familiar gleam in his eye that told me he either had a really great idea or a really stupid one.

"i don't have to go in any more this week. we're halfway shut down because of everything that happened," i explained, vaguely.

nick just smiled and started to drive. while he was focused on getting out of the crowded parking lot, i connected my phone and sorted through my playlists until i found one that i wanted to listen to.

"hey can you call dream and let him know we won't be home until tomorrow?" nick asked me. "and ask him to take care of percy for thalia."

"wait, where are we going?"

"we're gonna get away for the night. just you and me," was all he said in reply.

i just smiled and turned the music up. nick rolled the windows down and we screamed along to the music, letting all our frustrations out. well, i got all my frustrations out- nick was just straight vibing.

the hours passed as we sang along to the music, occasionally letting our voices rest by playing car related games with each other. the sun was setting by the time we stopped to get something to eat and stretch our legs.

"how on earth did you last this long without food if you were starving 6 hours ago?" i asked nick as we walked into some barbecue restaurant that had a ton of good reviews.

"i'm a man of many talents," was all he said.

once we were seated, we looked over the menu in silence. it wasn't until we had both ordered that we started talking again. i don't know how it came up, but nick was soon telling me a story about the first time he had met karl and the shenanigans the two of them got into.

at one point, we were both laughing so hard we had tears running down our faces. my chest swelled with happiness and i gave nick a tight squeeze on his hand. when i was finally able to talk, i said, "nick, i couldn't live without you. you're hands down my favorite person ever."

"ditto, thalia. i love you more than life."

word count: 1004

kyn speaks!

imagine me not updating in like two months because i lost my motivation due to school🫡