𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 - 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊

SIXTEEN

━ BE ALRIGHT
( sixteen. )

━ ❁ ━

ANGELINA RICHARDS MET NICK Santos in Kindergarten. The blonde, as bubbly as ever, skipped out of the classroom after school in the direction of the colorful park. Since her parents usually worked 'till late, this route was a routine for the girl. She knew that in the next ten minutes, her nanny, Margie, would be by to pick her up.

As she skipped her way and sipped on her apple juice box, the young girl failed to notice the young boy playing with a line of Hotwheels on the grass. As a result, she tripped over his extended legs, fell on her face, and more importantly, spilled her juice everywhere.

With wobblings legs and tear-filled eyes, Angelina got up from the floor to meet the scared eyes of a young boy, staring at her unblinkingly.

"U-Um," the boy muttered, tripping over his words. "I-I," he gulped down his shyness, trying to appear confident in front of the pretty girl. But, according to his older brother, 'confident' in front of a girl, was 'mean'. "You should watch where you're going," the boy sneered.

Angelina seemed unfazed by the boy's words. She spent a lot of time at the Cameron household and Rafe and Topper were the same way. "Jeez, calm down, shorty," the girl giggled, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

The boy's eyes widened considerably, not expecting the girl to respond this way.

"U-Um," he mumbled, stuttering over his words again. He cleared his throat, his face quickly growing hot. This time, he chose to follow his older sister's advice. "I'm sorry for making you trip," he whispered, looking up shyly at the girl.

She grinned down at him and crouched down beside him, careful not to dirty her new pink dress with the mud or grass. "It's okay," she reassured. "My name is Angelina, but my boyfriend Topper said that's too long, so he likes to call me 'Ange' and my friend Rafe likes to call me 'Angie'," she said to him sweetly. "What's your name?"

"I-I'm Nick," he introduced, feeling a little bit better. "Do you only have boy friends?" he asked her curiously.

Angelina choked on her breath and said with a squeaky voice, "No!"

Nick chuckled.

"I only go to Rafe's house to see his sister Sarah," the blonde informed matter-of-factly. "It's not my fault Rafe and Topper are everywhere I go."

Nick nodded along, only pretending to understand what she was saying. "Can I be your boyfriend?" he asked seriously.

Angelina choked again. "Um, no," she deadpanned. Nick frowned. "Only because I already have one!" she quickly added, noticing how the boy was about to burst into tears.

"Who is he?" Nick demanded.

"My boyfriend?" Angelina asked quizzically. Nick nodded. "Oh, my boyfriend is Topper," she giggled. "I thought I already said that," she whispered quietly to herself.

"If he's your boyfriend, then why isn't he here?" Nick asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Angelina giggled again. "He had to go home early because some girl named Serena West tripped him during recess and his knee was bleeding," she informed, a sad look in her eyes.

"Angelina!" a voice from somewhere behind the two called. The two five-year-olds turned to see a middle-aged woman walking toward them. The blonde stood up swiftly and started to walk in her direction.

When she was at Margie's side, Angelina turned around again to look at Nick. "You can be my best friend, though!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Nick nodded eagerly.

"Great!" Angelina smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, bestie!"

And she walked off again, following Margie to her car, not noticing the large, cheeky grin on Nick's face.

━ ❁ ━

Angie doesn't remember making it home.

She doesn't know how the cops made it to the scene of the 'crime' and she doesn't know how JJ got her limp form on the large couch in her living room.

Her parents sat across from the two blonds, a look of shock and anger plastered on both their tired faces. Angie almost forgot it was a little after three in the morning.

From what she gathered, their anger wasn't directed at the Pogue holding their daughter close to his chest, but more at the story that he told them.

But Steve and Teresa were in no place to deny JJ's claims. They believed every word that came out of his mouth, no matter how shocking they were.

Throughout it all, Angie sat as close to the boy as possible. Her tears had run dry but that doesn't mean she was anywhere near alright.

But Angelina was in a daze. She stared unblinkingly at her parents in front of her, noticing how their lips moved but not hearing what they said. Eventually, she felt her body being picked up. Angie let her head rest on the person's chest, only then realizing who it was by the mixed scent of water, sweat and cologne.

JJ carried her up the stairs and through the familiar hallway to her room. His anger toward Nick had yet to fade, but he was keeping his cool for Angie's sake. She hadn't spoken a word – hell she hadn't made a sound since her tears ran short close to an hour ago.

He gently placed the girl onto her bed, tucking her safely underneath her blankets. Steve and Teresa were kind enough to let JJ stay the night, for it was too late for him to return home (he chose to not mention the fact that he'd already spent the past few nights in their house and accepted their offer graciously). The blond boy sent one last look of concern in his Angel's direction and turned on his heel to make his way to the large white couch.

A soft hand on his wrist made him stop in his tracks.

"Stay with me," Angie whispered, looking into JJ's blue eyes sincerely. She scooted over in her bed, making enough room for him to sleep.

With a small grin, JJ kicked off his shoes and got under the covers, instinctively pulling Angelina closer to his chest.

"Thank you," she whispered, facing the boy.

He smiled down at her and placed a gently kiss on her forehead. "Anything for you," he replied.

And then they slept.

━ ❁ ━

(note!)

short short short short short
so yeah that's how nick and angie met

hope this gave you a little bit of insight about her childhood!!

until next time <3