CANDY HEARTS | 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐒

𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡

nick held kate's wrist with his arm, looking intensely at one of the bracelets she had on when millie walked by– a box full of fresh donuts in her arms. daniel couldn't help himself from reaching over and grabbing one. "hey! those are for my french class!" she huffed in annoyance. "yeah but i love sprinkles" daniel pouted.

"fine. just eat it" she spoke through gritted teeth. "hey i'm really hungry too" nick held his drumsticks in front of his chest. millie looking unimpressed sighed, "just take the plain, okay?" happiness flooded over the boy as he grabbed one, taking a soft bite.

kate laughed at their foolishness, watching the scene unfold as karen scarfolli backed into millie, her donuts toppling to the floor. "people are walking here, okay? god!" karen muttered angrily. "now they're dirty! ugh– just eat them!" millie stormed off.

nick and daniel picked up the remaining donuts as kim and kate watched in amusement. nick handed kate one with icing and sprinkles before blowing off the 'germs' first. "five second rule" he smiled at her, cheeks puffed out as he chewed on his donut.

he handed one to kim before offering karen one, she looked at it with disgust. "what? what's the problem?" he asked clueless. "my problem is your face! dirtbag" she spat, eyes trailing over to land on kate. "who's this? some richie trying to get back at her parents?" karen pouted.

"she's our friend, karen. leave her alone" nick stepped in front of kate a bit, the gesture went a long way. "you having fun hanging with the cool kids?" karen smirked, looking right past nick's tall figure into kate's eyes.

   "absolutely! guess that's why i've never seen you around, huh?" kate sent the girl a sympathetic smile. the statement absolutely flipped the girl's lid. "what'd you just say to me?" she lunged for kate, immediately being stopped by nick and daniel. "cool off" daniel ordered her unamused, almost like she did this too often. "fuckin' bitch" the girl muttered, storming off down the hall. kim followed behind her, kate was surprised the blonde hadn't chimed in with her friend.

"you okay?" nick spun around, eyeing her carefully. "yeah" she smiled bashfully. "my knight in shining armor" she clasped her hands together sweetly, a wide smile appeared on nick's face. "let's go, lovebirds" daniel rolled his eyes, heading down the hall.

later in the day, lindsay and kate walked down the hall together when a certain blonde stepped in their path. "hey! how's it going?" kim smiled at the two. they sent one another a look of uncertainty. "hi?" kate was the first to break the silence. "what are you guys doing later?" she asked sweetly.

"practice" kate stated plainly. "do you ever not have practice?" kim sighed in annoyance. kate furrowed her eyebrows, "why would you care? don't you like hate me?"

"no! of course not.. you guys are cool" she nodded. "what about you, lindsay– what are you doing later?" she asked, slight desperation in her eyes. "i don't know" the brunette shrugged. "meet me after school, we can hang!" kim put on a smile. the entire interaction seemed totally off.

"what the hell was that all about?" kate snickered once the blonde was out of their sight. "beats me" lindsay laughed.

that night

kate hung on to lindsay's every word as she told the story of what happened after school. "and she stole the car?" kate laughed in disbelief, clutching the plastic phone in her hand. "yeah! her parents are totally nuts!" lindsay exclaimed.

the situation saddened kate in all honesty, it gave her a glimpse as to maybe why kim acted the way she did. "i hope you're not mad for what i'm about tell you" lindsay spoke hesistantly. "oh god" kate breathed out, awaiting what she had to say.

"well. things were sort of awkward after that. i didn't give her detail, but i told her you have psycho parents too. that maybe she should talk to you about it" lindsay was biting her nail on the other side of the phone, hoping her best friend wouldn't be upset with her.

a sigh left kate's lips before a simple "okay" emitted from her. "really?" lindsay asked, hopefulness in her tone. "well yeah, having a bad home life absolutely sucks. i guess it'd be cool to talk about it with someone dealing with the same thing" kate had been practically whispering towards the end of the sentence.

and so when the blonde approached kate the next day at school, she knew exactly what the conversation was bound to be about. "hi" kim awkwardly greeted kate as she sat on the bleachers with nick and daniel. "come here babe" daniel purred with open arms.

"uh– kate, i wanted to talk to you about something" she softly kicked a rock, staring at the ground. kate looked at the boys before getting up, "sure" she walked with kim over toward the football field.

"listen. i know lindsay probably told you.." kim hung her arms over the fence, avoiding eye contact. "told me what..?" kate figured there was no harm in playing dumb.

"oh.. well" kim ran a hand through her hair, unsure of how to express what she wanted to say. "lindsay came over for dinner at my house yesterday. she saw how insane my parents are. she said it'd be good for me to talk to you" she admitted bashfully.

"yeah my parents are no walk in the park" kate scoffed, she depressed herself even thinking of them. "i didn't really believe lindsay at first when she told me you had asshole parents.." kim looked at the girl with a plain expression.

"why's that?" kate asked, looking over her shoulder at nick and daniel. the two had been watching the girls like a hawk, most likely coming up with conspiracies as to what they were talking about. "cause you're– you're some golden girl with preppy clothes, who wins medals for skating on ice. not to mention your mansion" kim scoffed.

kate sucked her teeth. this definitely wasn't the first time someone made this assumption about her. "yeah well. my parents treat me like a show dog. it's like i'm not even their kid" she sighed, fiddling with her hands.

"it's like nothing's ever enough for them, no matter what i do. and, it's like i'm under a microscope twenty four hours a day" she rambled. "it's gotten to the point where i actually like being at school" kate laughed, kim did the same.

"i know that feeling. i'm almost never home, i avoid it at all costs" kim agreed. kate wondered why the two hadn't become friends sooner if they were so similar, then she remembered they were completely different in all other aspects of life.

"hey girls! what's with the social hour? we're going to get food, come on!" daniel called from the top of the metal bleachers. a groan left kim's lips. daniel was always known to be impatient. "could i call you later? i understand if not, i've been a total bitch to you" she spoke softly, her usual rude demeanor was completely gone.

"of course, kim" kate slipped off her backpack, grabbing a piece of paper from a notebook to scribble her number on. "thanks" kim smiled, it was genuine too. "let's go" she nodded, heading over to nick and daniel.

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🍂🕰️🧸 authors note: this chapter probably seems a little weird and out of place but i wanted to establish a sort of relationship between kim and kate since lindsay and kim had that in the show. tysm for reading!!! <333