Not The Same | Nick Clark | FTWD

Part 6

With my curiosity getting the best of me, and my mind obviously lost in confusion and fear, I headed out of the kitchen, peaking down the hall before Chris came storming through the house, blood covering his face.
As soon as the bathroom door slammed behind him, the front door swung open, catching me off guard as an unfamiliar woman appeared on the other side, desperately struggling to help an older, injured woman into the house.

"Please-- I just need somewhere for her to lie down." The woman pleaded as I stood in shock, quickly nodding before helping the two into the living room.

As we sat her down on the couch, Travis came into the room from the backyard, "Have you seen Chris?" He asked, breathlessly.

I nodded, pointing through the house, "Bathroom."

I pushed the loose hair out of my face, my hands shaky as Madison, Alicia, Nick, Liza, and the unknown man walked back into the house-- a bit unnerved.

"Hannah, I'm sorry, I should have told you--" Madison began as she made her way to me, Nick rushing behind her as he pulled me close again.

"What's happening?" I whispered, emotion threatening my voice as nothing was seeming to add up, "Who are these people?"

***

"I saw the videos for a second online, but I just scrolled past them," I shrugged as more information was relayed to me, "I thought they were fake."

"So did I." Alicia mumbled as she walked by, taking a seat, the first words she had spoken to me since the phone call.

"I think we all did, at least that's what we were hoping for." Madison nodded.

"I killed Calvin-" Nick said from beside me, leaning against the wall as he crossed his arms, his stare focused on the ground.

"Nick-" Madison interrupted.

"What? I did-- Mom it's not like we have to keep it hidden." Nick added, his confession causing my heart to stop for a moment with shock and confusion.

"You should listen to your mother," the man, who I now learned was named Daniel, spoke, "It is not right to speak ill of the dead."

"How she doing?" Travis asked as he and Chris appeared from the hall.

"You got anything that I could give her for the pain?" Liza asked as she cared for Griselda; Daniels wife and Ofelia's mother.

"Nothing stronger than aspirin." Travis replied before Liza shot a look at Nick, glancing at me before back to what she was doing.

I didn't know Liza well, only seeing her now and then when she would drop Chris off here, but I knew she didn't care for me for the sole reason that I had dated Nick; an addict who had made everyone's life a living hell at one point or another.

"Uh, the phones in the kitchen if you need to make that call." Travis continued.

"I did." Daniel said, he tone very steady, "My cousin is coming to pick us up in the morning."

Travis nodded, turning his attention to Ofelia and Griselda, "Then we'll uh- we'll set up your mom in one of the bedrooms."

"Thank you." Ofelia nodded back.

"Aren't we leaving?" Madison asked at Travis.

I furrowed my eyebrows, turning to Nick, "Leaving? Leaving where?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"Desert or something," he shrugged before noticing the worry on my face, "You're coming too, Han-- we're not leaving you."

"Yeah, yeah, we will," Travis said, kind of brushing it off, "In the morning."

"No Travis, we have to go-- we're packed, we're ready, we were just waiting for you and Hannah-"

"Can we talk about this in the kitchen?" Travis asked, cutting her off.

"No," Madison stood up, "This things getting worse, not better-- it's not safe."

"Madison," Ofelia began, "I think Travis is right-"

"No, it's not your place-" she stopped her before Alicia stood up.

"I don't want to stay-- I don't- I wanna go."

"Look-" Travis began, trying to reason with her.

"No, I want to go-- I don't want to stay here!" Alicia continued.

"Hold on, hold on," Travis hushed, "It is dark-- we don't even know if the freeways passable."

"C'mon." Nicks voice said in my ear before he grabbed my hand, walking me out of the room and upstairs; the quiet bringing me a bit of peace in all of this madness.

"I didn't know that you were planning on going to the desert." I said as we went into his room, it looking nearly the same way it was left months ago.

"Well, I didn't know that you were coming here tonight." He said as he stretched out on the bed, "My mom told me we could go by your place on our way out and get you."

"Oh really?" I joked, sitting beside him.

He nodded, a boyish smile playing on his face before he intertwined our fingers, "I couldn't leave you." He murmured before looking back up at me.

I bit at my bottom lip, trying to keep the smile off my face that the butterflies in my stomach were creating, "Well, thank you."

Our heads turned as we heard a knock on the door, "Yeah?" Nick asked.

"You both ok?" Madison asked as she peaked her head in before opening the door fully and leaning on it's frame.

"Mhm." Nick answered.

"Well, it seems like we're going to be leaving in the morning now," Madison explained, "Travis thinks it'll be safer that way."

"Yeah, whatever works." Nick shrugged, obviously not interested in the conversation.

"Yeah," Madison sighed before looking over to me, "Glad you're back with us, Hannah."

I nodded, "Me too."

_____
What do you think about the relationship between Hannah and Nick?