She'd always been a bit of a klutz so maybe that's why she shouldn't have had her head down as she looked at her phone. Nudge suddenly slipped on something wet, certain that she was about to land flat on her back, thus embarrassing herself in front of everyone in the mall when a hand around her waist stopped her descent toward the ground.
"Careful there, miss," a deep voice chuckled.
Nudge blinked. N-Nick!? He wasn't wearing any shades like before but a hat covered his head. His gaze was piercing, yet gentle. Oh god, she was gonna faint…
Nick lifted the girl back up, his hand remaining on her waist as he stared at her. He grinned. "Ah, it's you! The cute girl from this morning."
C-Cute? Her!? Today couldn't be happening! She had to be dreaming! There's no way Nick would find her cute if he knew it was her, Monique, he was talking to and not some stranger. God, and he still had his hand around her waist. Monique chewed on her bottom lip, eyes on the ground.
Nick couldn't help but study her lips. They were so plump and looked so unbelievably soft. Wait… Nick narrowed his eyes, mind flashing back to an old friend of his. Monique… Monique with her lovely, curly hair and soft brown eyes and pretty smile. Monique, who he still considered to be his best friend. And this girl…
"No fuckin' way!" Nick gasped.
Monique jerked, looking up in surprise at Nick. He was gaping at her now, his eyes stretched wide in shock. W-Was there something on her face?
"Monique, is that you!?"
Monique lowered her eyes. Ah, so he had finally figured it out. He must be so disappointed. "Y-Yes." She gasped, stock still as she stood stiffly in Nick's warm arms. When would someone pinch her and wake her up from this dream? Because Nick couldn't possibly be hugging her right now! Because if he was, then that meant he wasn't disappointed about who she actually was. It meant that he was…happy to see her.
"It's so good to see you again, Monique!"
She could feel him smiling in her hair. Her vision suddenly blurred with happy tears, Monique returning his hug. "It's good to see you again, too, Nick."