Living with the Player

Chapter 21

TW: mentions of abuse

That night, Nico and I lay in the darkness, silent. I can hear him breathing as he lays on the floor. Even though I'm on the bed, I've learned to know when he's awake by the tempo of his breathing. My eyes flicker to where his black duffel bag is sitting next to my purple alpaca.

"Do you remember Mrs. Bernstein?" I ask quietly.

He's quiet, thinking it over. "Little bit," he answers finally. "Why?"

"I saw her today. She's in assisted living now."

"What did you guys talk about?" he asks.

"Just... the past." I contemplate asking what I want to know in my head. I toy with my fingers under the covers before asking, "Did you really not remember my name?"

I hear him take a deep breath. "It's nothing personal. I've tried to forget my whole childhood basically."

"You were my only friend back then. And then one day I went to your house and you just weren't there. And you made new friends and didn't even say hi to me. I get it. People grow apart and we were young. But I didn't think our friendship meant that little to you." Thank goodness it's dark and he can't see my face.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I honestly pushed that part of my life out of my head."

"Why?" I ask.

It's dead silent. "My dad used to hit me," he says finally. "Not often. Just enough to discipline me, make sure I was obedient. He stopped when I got older." He clears his throat. "He kicked me out because I fought with him when I found out he cheated on my mom. I just... didn't know it was with that guy from his work." His blankets rustle as he moves around. "Doesn't matter. I would've left anyway."

I hold on tighter to my alpaca. "I'm sorry, Nico," I say.

"Don't be," he says quickly. "I've been happier here than I've been my whole life."

"Well, I'm glad you're here," I say. "I care about you, Nico. I really care about you and you can stay here as long as you need." I turn on my side and he does too so that we're facing each other.

"It's weird but I'm actually grateful my dad kicked me out. That I got to know you again," he says. "You're a really special person, Jennie. I don't need fights or new hair to see that." He looks up at me and his face is so peaceful, it's like a little kid's, but his eyes are scorching.

I smile. "You're a really special person too, Nico."

I don't know what we talk about the rest of the night- I think aliens or something- but when I wake up in the morning, everything feels normal.

A/N: that's it for the weekend! it went by so fast TT. see u all next week!