Feeling This

Nobody Likes You When You're (Chapter) Twenty-three

A/N: I literally stretched this story out just so I could have a chapter 23 and do that again. 

Nicolette shuffled through the pictures from tour while she sat on the couch. Rick had given her all the shots that she was in as a sort of goodbye present, even sneaking in a few of blink-182 playing on stage. Although she loved the picture of Mark's signature jump, her three favorites were the one of Tom handing her the box of cereal with Nicolette glaring at him, the one from the night they went stargazing, showing Nicolette lying between Tom and Mark, and a final group photo of the band and crew before Nicolette had left.

She missed them. It had been two months since she'd seen anyone other than Uncle Travis, and she'd only been able to see him once around Thanksgiving. Though not seeing the others really shouldn't sadden Nicolette. She had no reason to see them now; she only knew them because they worked with her uncle.

That didn't stop her from thinking about them though, Tom and Mark especially. Nicolette missed Mark's guidance and his help, particularly when exams had rolled around this past week. And as much as she didn't want to, she missed Tom too. She missed his smirk and his smile and his laugh and his giggle. She missed his flirtatious banter and his sense of humor. She missed hearing him sing and the sound of his voice.

And that was about all it took for her to know that she still wasn't over Tom DeLonge.

Nicolette sighed and turned the photos face down against the pillow in her lap. She listened to the dialogue of Friends which played on the TV, but her eyes glazed over, not really paying attention to the show.

A doorbell rang and Nicolette shook her head slightly as if to clear it, figuring the sound had come from the TV. But then it rang again and Nicolette realized it was the bell to her own house. Nicolette groaned and sat up on the couch, leaning forward to set the pictures on the coffee table. Normally she would choose to just ignore it since she was home alone, but the windows by the front door gave a view of the living room, informing whoever was at the door that the TV was on.

Nicolette took the blanket from the couch and wrapped it around herself, hiding the fact that she wasn't wearing pants or a bra. She had no idea who would be at the door, her friends would've texted her before randomly dropping by, but it wasn't worth it to run to her room to get properly dressed before sending whoever it was away after a few seconds.

Nicolette grudgingly made her way to the door and opened it. Her eyes widened with surprise when she saw who was standing on her doorstep.

"Tom? What are you doing here?" she asked, subconsciously tightening the blanket around her.

Tom opened his mouth to reply, but then furrowed his eyebrows as he took in her appearance. "Are you okay?" he questioned, eyeing her blanket. "Are you sick?"

"No, I'm not sick. I'm just..." Nicolette paused, figuring it was probably for the best if she didn't tell Tom she was only wearing two articles of clothing, "cold."

"You're not dressed, are you?" Tom guessed, a smirk playing on his lips.

Nicolette rolled her eyes. "It's the first Saturday of winter break; of course I'm not dressed."

"It's two o'clock, Nicky."

"I wasn't exactly expecting company," she retorted, ignoring the way her stomach flipped from the nickname. "What are you doing here anyways? How did you find out where I live?"