Enigma

F-Word

Julian took the cigarette from Nico's fingers and finished it off as she slept. He stayed as still as he could so he wouldn't wake her, because he didn't really know what else to do.

The door swung open and Tracie stepped in, sighing relievedly when she caught sight of Nico. She then turned to Julian and gave him a knowing look. "You should get her home." she whispered. "She'll wanna go to school tomorrow."

He pointed to himself. "Me?"

Tracie rolled her eyes. "I don't see anyone else in the room!" She then noticed her rudeness and frowned at herself. He didn't deserve that. "Look, she likes you, okay? And that must mean she trusts you, so I trust you...kinda." she shrugged. "Just get her home safely."

"Oh...okay." Julian nodded.

When Tracie left the room, he thought about what she said and he couldn't help but smile. He tapped Nico gently on the shoulder, consistently enough to wake her up.

Nico looked around confusedly and noticed she was probably a minute away from drooling on Julian's shoulder. She jerked away from him as her cheeks burned red. "Sorry." she squeaked as he helped her to her feet.

"Don't be." Julian said. "I'm gonna take you home. Is that okay?"

"That'd be nice, thank you. But only if you really wanna leave!"

"Trust me...I do."

"I should've expected a party on a Monday night wouldn't have ended too well." Nico mumbled into Julian's shoulder. She gripped tightly onto his arm, as she felt very nauseous and was focusing very hard on walking to forget the fact that she could throw up at any minute.

Julian stopped walking and his eyebrows knitted together as her face paled. "You don't look too good, Nico."

"It's funny you should say that, Julian, because I don't feel too good either." she giggled and let go of his arm so she could face him. "I think I need to barf, so I'd appreciate it if you turned around and covered your ears."

Julian was quite concerned and wanted to offer to hold back her hair, but he could tell she wanted to be left alone and was quite embarrassed. He covered his ears and turned around. He could hear her cough, so he began singing to assure her he definitely couldn't hear her.

Nico crouched down on the side of the road in the alley they were in and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the curb. She felt like crying because she was so ashamed of herself, but Julian's singing distracted her. He was signing a Doors song, and he was nailing it. His voice was raspy, but also quite smooth at the same time. It was almost hypnotising. Nico thought he pursue a career in singing. She smiled softly as she listened for another minute.

Julian jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Nico smiling at him. She was all sweaty and had dark circles under her eyes, but it was oddly attractive.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he found himself staring into her tired eyes.

"Yeah, thanks. Sorry you had to witness all this." She said with a nervous smile. "You have a fantastic voice, y'know?"

Julian widened his eyes. "You think?"

She grabbed his arm and leant into him once again. "If I let you stay at mine, will you sing some more for me?"

"I, uhh...I dunno..." Julian scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm really no good."

"Oh, pleeeeeaaaase?!"

"Nico, I really think you just go to sleep as soon as you get home. Your friend told me you'll wanna go to school, so I just think that'd be for the best, don't 'ya think?"

Nico sighed. "Okay...but are you still gonna stay over?"

"If you want me to." Julian said coolly with a shrug.

After walking as far as Nico's wobbly legs would take her, the two eventually hailed a cab, which Nico wasn't entirely happy about.

"I'll pay you back right after my next shift, I swear!" she said to Julian for what seemed like the twentieth time as they walked inside her house. "I'm so sorry, Julian. I didn't bring my wallet and-"

"Don't sweat it, dude!" he chuckled, ushering her inside. "Let's just get some sleep, okay?"

"You're such a sweetheart, Julian. Why don't you have a girlfriend?"

"I dunno...I just moved here, I guess. And I'm not really anything special." He shrugged as he helped her up the stairs.

"Bullshit!" she yelped. "I'm gonna be totally honest here. You're hot, you're really nice, you're interesting and mysterious and that makes you even hotter, and you're really awkward sometimes which I think is so cute...and you're funny!" she blurted out, instantly slightly regretting it. "But yeah...all those things make you such a good friend."

Friend. There was that dreaded word. How could someone say all those nice things about someone, and then say the F-word. Julian cringed, but shook it off as he opened Nico's bedroom door.

"Thanks, Nico. That was really cool of you to say." he said, sitting her down on the bed.

Julian hadn't really had the time to think about whether he'd consider Nico anything more than a friend, but just hearing her say the word after she'd called him hot and stuff really made him feel strange. He felt a tinge of disappointment, almost. He kinda felt the same after hearing about her kissing Nikolai. But it's all whatever, he thought to himself.

Nico cuddled into her blankets, making sure to move over so Julian had enough room. "Goodnight, Jules."

"Sweet dreams."