One of us - Nichorello

41. Truce

<Lorna's POV>

"Are you sure?" I asked Piper who looked even more nervous than me.

"Yeah, I should talk to her."

I pushed the doorbell and inhaled deeply, hoping it would calm my nerves a bit. My pulse was beating against my chest, my palms were dripping with sweat and my brain was full of thoughts.

"Hey, hottie!" Boo exclaimed as she opened the door. She smirked at me before motioning us in.

The inevitable strong scent of alcohol and smoke was more than dominantly present in Nicky's living room. Sometimes I wondered if her parents didn't notice the smell when they came home.

"Stop hesitating and follow me," Boo said, dragging the both of us into the living room. The curtains were closed, only dimmed light making it possible to see. Loud music was blasting from the stereo and empty bottles were covering the wooden floor.

My eyes needed a few seconds adjusting to the darkness before I could properly see. Caleb was talking to Kubra, Logan was smoking weed, Alex had already approached Piper, now talking to her. Big Boo had found her way back to a group of unknown people. But where was Nicky?

I scanned everyone in this entire room until my eyes laid sight on a couple. A dark-haired woman was sitting on top of someone, more than intimately making out. I gasped as I saw the orange mop of hair shimmering beneath the raven-haired woman.

Suddenly, all of the emotions I hadn't experienced while Nicky was absent came flooding over me. All of the sadness, the anger and the pain, rushed through my veins, pulsing through my body, making it impossible to think clearly. Although I didn't make any noise or sound, Nicky pushed the woman lightly away while raising her gaze. As soon as she caught a glimpse of me, the anger became visible. She clenched her fists, and tightened her jaw while leaning forward in a threatening manner.

"What the fuck is SHE doing here?" she yelled angrily, causing everyone to stare at me. Normally, I would have felt embarrassed or ashamed, but all I could think of was Nicky with that Asian on her lap. Brook.

"Calm down, Nicky. I invited her," Alex stated. At least there was somebody on my side.

"Now, why would you do that?" she asked her eyes still staring into mine as if she was trying to mentally strangle me.

Slowly, the rest of the group started to continue their conversation, shifting the focus of attention away from us.

"She is my friend and most importantly, you two should talk."

"The only talking I'm going to do is to God. Praying that I have to never see Morello ever again," Nicky stated coldly. Her eyes held no emotion as she placed a kiss on Brooks' cheek and smirked at me.

What truly hurt wasn't her statement, but the way she called me Morello instead of Lorna. Besides everything she showed me, I always knew I held a special place in her heart because I was the only one she called by the first name. But now - I guess I wasn't special anymore.

"Nicky. That's enough." Vause stated angrily. I could tell that she was taking the blame for Nicky's behaviour, although it was not her fault.

"You don't get a say in this Vause. You betrayed me, you betrayed our friendship, you betrayed everything I had ever worshiped about you."

Wow. How could Nicky possibly act this cold? None of this was Alex's fault, she did what she had to do to protect herself. And if I could forgive her, so should Nicky.

"This is between you and me," I pointed at Nicky. "Keep Alex out of this."

"You still don't get it, do you?" Nicky scoffed at me. She shook her head as if she were disappointed in me, before passionately kissing Brook. I clenched my fists as she smirked at me and stood up following Brook who was leading her by the hand, and whispered: "Kiddo, there is absolutely nothing between you and me."

The tears filled my eyes as I watched Nicky following Brook up the stairs, smirking at her dirtily.

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"You need to tell me what is going on here," Piper demanded sternly. For weeks I had been shutting her and everyone else out of my life. The moment Nicky had chosen Brook, I didn't have anyone to talk to and nothing to talk about. Everything that was worth telling was about her, every memory, every laugh and every tear. It was all about her.

"I'm sorry Piper, I can't deal with you right now," I said, burying my head further into my pillow, cursing my mother for letting Piper enter this house. How could she betray me like this?

"You seem to be unable to deal with anyone right now. And as your best friend, it is my duty to get to the bottom of your behaviour and bring the old optimistic and cheerful Lorna back. Do you remember her? She was really fun to talk to. She was ... kindhearted, and... cute, and... she always laughed. There wasn't one single day you wouldn't see a smile on her face."

I attempted to talk again, but she shushed me and continued rambling: "And don't you dare tell me that there's nothing going on with you. I was there when you performed your poem in school, it was more than obvious that it wasn't about Christopher. And I also witnessed your encounter with Nicky on Friday."

"Just leave," I mumbled. After a few seconds I heard the wooden floor creaking beneath her feet and soon the door slammed shut. "Finally," I whispered, relieved that she finally let loose.

"I heard that," Piper's voice caused me to fall from the bed. I groaned at the pain rushing through my arm as I met the cold, hard floor. "Fuck!" I yelled. I tried to stand back up, but Piper straddled me, keeping me down on the floor.

"No, Piper. Please, let go. I think I broke my arm."  Soon her facial expression showed worry and she hastily stood up. I grinned for a short second, before screaming "You'll never catch me." and stormed out of my room. I ran down the stairs, almost tripping on my way down. I circled the living room a few times until Piper almost caught up. Her hand caught my jacket, but luckily I could throw it off and continue to run.

Meanwhile, we had been chasing in the front yard of our house, both almost out of breath as I heard her slow her steps.

"Truce?" she panted.

"Truce."

A moment later she suddenly sprinted towards me, tackling me onto the ground. Piper tried to secure my arms behind my back, but I tried to push her off of me. We were rolling on the green grass, which was probably leaving marks on my white dress, as I caught a glimpse of a familiar person observing us. We both immediately froze, slowly turning around, only to face Nicky.

"Oh, ladies. Don't let yourself get distracted by me," she smirked devilishly. Although her eyes weren't filled with the usual light brown, loving colour, I assumed that she had forgiven me.

"Nicky," I whispered. Wait. That wasn't my voice. Both Piper and I turned around simultaneously, staring at the Asian woman in disbelief. What the fuck was Brook doing in my front yard?!