#18 in TeenFic
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❝Don't,❞ he pleaded softly, offering her a tiny smile, ❝please don't make me a promise you will never be able to keep.❞ He released a quiet but deep breath, leaning forward even more, tilting his body towards her, until thei...
Officer Westlake, the one overseeing Nick's probation, was a tall man in his fifties with a face that was clean shaven and free of stubble, except for the neatly styled chevron moustache.
He looked the same as when Nick had met him for the very first time upon arriving in Mauldin -- which also happened to be the last time he'd interacted with the officer in person.
Nick glanced down at his hands, where he was subconsciously rubbing his wrist, having expected to be lead out the diner in cuffs. It was what had happened in Finn's case, after all. And when the sirens had blared around The Quake around two hours ago, Nick was reliving that night all over again.
But he hadn't been taken in cuffs this time around, much to his immense relief. The cops had, however, asked him to accompany them to the precinct in one of their cars. Nick had, after all, stabbed someone's hand with a fork. And statements needed to be taken.
But two hours into recounting the incident and giving a whole and unfiltered statement, officer Westlake had arrived and in a few minutes, Nick's interrogation was wrapped up and he was free to go.
"What's..." Nick swallowed, looking out the window of his probation officer's car that he was currently seated inside. "What's going to happen to me?"
Westlake raised a finger into the air, non-verbally asking Nick to hang on for a second while he typed out something in a phone that looked like it belonged to another decade.
The officer snapped the phone shut and tossed it onto the dashboard before turning to Nick. "What do you mean?" He asked in a calm tone, the lack of confusion on his face telling Nick the man knew exactly what he meant.
"My probation..." He raised an eyebrow, "I just violated one of the biggest conditions, right?"
Westlake appeared to contemplate his response instead of responding immediately. "You were defending someone else," he eventually said. "It's understandable."
Nick shot him the most incredulous look possible, forgetting in that moment the man happened to be an officer of the law. "Understandable?" He asked with heavy disbelief. "That's not what happened last time," Nick said in a harder tone, "and last time, with Nancy, it was on a more serious note. It was paedophilia. Sexual violence against a kid. But the cops didn't find my anger understandable."
