Chapter One – You Can Count On Me

Nicko stared at Snorri, who was sitting next to him.

"Thank you," he said.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Of course it's not, you just saved my sister's life," he stated. "I could never thank you enough."

"As a matter of fact, it has just occurred to me."

"What?"

"A way for you to thank me enough," she said with a little smile.

Nicko's eyes widened a bit. He didn't actually think that she would take it that seriously. But, how bad could it be? It was Snorri, after all. He liked her. If Septimus or Jenna were the ones to say that sort of thing, then he would be worried – they could've asked him to do something stupid, some kind of dare.

But, since it was Snorri...

"Really? How?"

"You could tell me exactly how you got lost. It seems to me – and I do not doubt your word, at all – but it is too much of a coincidence, the two of us getting lost."

Now she got me, he thought. She knew. Well, maybe she didn't, but she was getting suspicious, that he had stayed behind because of her.

"Well, you know... Just went for a quick walk while Sep and Jenna were with Marcellus Pye, and when I came back the Doors of Time were already closed," he said, matter-of-factly. "There's no big deal," he added.

"Of course not," she agreed, unable to hide her disappointment for a second.

How could I even think he did this for me? We barely know each other, she thought. Still, she felt something when she was around him. She liked him, and felt strange admitting it to herself – almost like there were butterflies flying around her, tickling -, something good and unexpected at the same time.

Nicko saw she got sad for a moment. He felt guilty for lying, but what if he told her the truth? He could not guess how she would react. Why he was so worried about what she thought of him, he didn't know. But he wanted to make it up for her.

"Well," he said, breaking the silence, "let's look for a good place to sleep."

She nodded and stood up with him.

"Tomorrow, we can look for Marcellus Pye," she said.

"Yeah," answered Nicko, but he wasn't sure if Marcellus would or could help them.

"So, where will we sleep?" she asked, looking around. "We certainly cannot sleep here."

Nicko smiled at her accent. It was just as adorable as Snorri herself.

"Well, we certainly cannot," he grinned, imitating her. She looked up at him.

"Oh, does my accent bother you?" she frowned, looking upset.

"What? No! I was... joking. I'm sorry, I think your accent is adorable." Then he blushed. What a time to let that out.

"Oh," she said, then smiled, looking a little embarrassed, "thank you."

"I was just..." telling the truth? No, he thought, if I said so she'd think I like her in that way.

"Er... you know, making a compliment." Then he suddenly added, "since we'll be staying with each other for a while, I just thought we'd have a nice relationship."

Snorri's face was surprised, when he realized what he had said was ambiguous.

"I meant, a nice friendship... you know."

"Okay," she said rather slowly, recovering from the shock, "let's just walk and find somewhere to spend the night."

"Right," he agreed, deciding not to run his big mouth again or he'd scare the girl away.

They found an abandoned place, which could be called a house if it was in better conditions. Since it was not, it was a floor with a roof.

"Welcome home…" he almost added sweety, but he thought of how ashamed he felt earlier, then said, "…Snorri." Her name was fine, too.

"Just hope I never call a place like this 'home'," she muttered thoughtfully. "Mine is already bad as it is."

Nicko, who found a couple of old mattresses, stopped.

"What did you say?"

"Oh," she replied, a little surprised he was even listening, "just that my home is bad enough already, without being this one." She glanced onto the so-called 'house'.

"What's so awful about your home?" asked Nicko, who always had thought 'home' was the best place in the world to return to.

"Well, it's hard to explain," she said, suddenly feeling ashamed. I had happy times there, she thought. I just do not have them anymore. "My Mom is hard to explain," she concluded.

Nicko thought how hard it would be to have only his mom. And to fight with her all the time, like Snorri apparently did.

He couldn't imagine. He had Mom, Dad, Sam, Edd, Erik, Jo-Jo, Jenna, and recently Septimus to lean on. What would it be like, not being able to count on anyone?

"You can count on me," he verbalized.

"What?"

"I was wondering, it must be hard for you to not be able to rely on anyone, since you and your mom apparently have been fighting." She nodded and he continued, "So I'm just saying you can count on me, if you want to."

"Nicko, that is… so sweet," she said, very much surprised that he had read her thoughts.

"Yeah," he grinned, "I have my moments."

He then sat on both mattresses, just to find out the left one was the most comfortable.

"Snorri, take the left one," he said simply.

"Okay." She had a hint that he was being generous, so she laid down and fell asleep almost immediately after saying:

"Good night, Nicko."

"Good night, Snorri."

...

A/N: My version of what happened after Physik. I have read Queste, but when I wrote this I hadn't. This was my first fanfiction, so I decided to upload it again - this time, properly edited. I still don't think it's any good, but Nicko and Snorri fluff is always cute.