Pretty Little Lives: Chapter 4
NICHOLE's POV:
We got back at around 1 and I decided to invite the girls over on their lunch breaks, Spencer was coming later so she declined as she was working her lunch to leave early, Aria was on maternal leave so she came straight away, Hanna was her own boss so she came too and Emily was out of town. When the girls arrived Mike had already left to meet up with Noel and Shaun, so I made some drinks and we sat on the porch while Penny was asleep in the crib upstairs, Hanna was begging for a tour to see what everything now looked like so Aria took her round whilst I cleaned up our glasses and got some appetisers for us. The girls and I spoke about life and all things sweet, Aria told us about Penny and Hanna was telling us about the wedding and how we, all 4 of us, are her maids of honour, and since I'm the only one who isn't working, bearing a child or has a child, that I will be her maid of pleasure, it was something that she came up with in 10th grade that we all said we would have whoever was free but everyone has to have a different person, Emily has already gotten married and we were all away at college so it made sense not to. I was pleased that I was Janna's maid of pleasure since she was the best with fashion and things like that, doing us both a favour, she also isn't afraid to speak her mind. After the girls left I started to prepare dinner and as soon as I shut the pantry door, Mike came waltzing in, smelling a little like booze although he wasn't overly drunk, if he was drunk he would not be standing as he doesn't have a big alcohol tolerance. He came through and took a shower as I asked him to before he sat down, he came out in a dress shirt and jeans and took over so I could get changed, our parents and siblings were arriving at 5 so we didn't have long. I decided to wear a daisy patterned dress that I had bought at 'Urban Outfitters' earlier that month. I heard Penny crying and Mike asked what the noise was 'Oh, I offered to look after Penny so Aria could have some time alone with Ezra before arriving.
We set everything out with favourite wines, starters and the cutlery on the table, and I had just sat down and the door went, I got up and put on a pair of shoes and answered the door, and of course it was Spencer, Toby and my parents arrived on the door step, Toby was holding a bouquet of flowers with a note from them all 'GOOD LUCK NIC & MIKE!' in Spencer's handwriting. They all sat down and shortly after my dad and Mike began a conversation on what Mike planned to do, become a lacrosse teacher for middle schoolers, Mike's family arrived and he excused himself to answer the door as I was indulged in a conversation with Spencer about the up and coming election for president.
I excused myself from the conversation to welcome the Montgomery/Fitzgerald clan. Aria smiled, gave me a hug and passed me a box in a baby blue wrapping paper and white bow, I placed it on the counter next to the vase full to the brim of flowers. I heard a timer go off on my phone and went straight to the oven to get the food out and grabbed 10 plates to put he food on. We all chatted and laughed during dinner, and Mike got up at the end to help me collect the plates and to grab dessert. After we all sat in the family room and chatted some more until the news came on TV. It was a breaking news story too. Oh. My. God!
Spencer's, Aria's and my own jaw all dropped simultaneously, THEY WERE RELEASING CHARLOTTE! Everyone looked genuinely shocked. I ran out of the room into the bathroom and threw up. I rang Hanna and Aria got a hold of Emily to tell them both. Everyone said that they were going to leave, except for Aria, Spencer, Toby and Ezra. Hanna and Caleb arrived within 6 minutes and Emily was driving back from Philly. We all waited and Mike made the girls and I some herbal tea. Emily arrived shortly after and opened the door without knocking, ran inside and shut the door then slowly made her way over to us. "What the fuck are we going to do now? We've been A free for years, 5 god damn years and now it's all down the fucking drain! What the hell are we doing just sitting here?" I pushed Emily to sit down and gave her a cup of green tea. She apologised to us all for shouting. Spencer was the first to speak up "We stick together. We know what Charlotte can do. We know every move that she is going to make. And she's only on probation, she tries anything back in a cell under lock and key. It's simple we stick together and don't leave the house alone.' I smiled, Spence always had a way to make us feel better. Aria replied with a nod but then opened her mouth to say "I have a child, I cannot put Penny in danger." Ezra immediately nodded his head in agreement. We called Alison to come over. She arrived 10 minutes later and to our surprise, was worried too. "Hey guys, what are we doing just sitting here. I get it she's my sister originally brother and all but you goths understand she will not be doing anything. I spoke to her probation officer and she will be back in Radley for a LONG time." That put us all at ease. The girls all helped me wash up and took a look round, before leaving. Mike and I settled down and went upstairs to watch a film but fell asleep at the start, I was actually shocked that Mike had never watched 'The Breakfast Club'.
**THE NEXT DAY:SATURDAY**
MIKE's POV:
I woke up at 8, fairly early for a Saturday, and was shocked at my surroundings. I forgot where I was but then I turned onto my side and saw Nichole lying there in one of my old college tops, I placed butterfly kisses on her neck and started to bite on her ear curl, she woke up and playfully punched me, she then realised what happened last night and her face sunk. I pulled her closer and hugged her tight. She looked up and placed a small kiss on the tip of my nose, "Nichole, I should be comforting you, now stay here while I got get breakfast," she looked at me with her big puppy dog eyes. "Please, don't leave me alone," I told her to get up and take a shower then get dressed, I'll make her a coffee and drove us both to "iHops'. Nichole ordered her usual as did I and we saw Paige and Emily at the counter with Penny, they must be babysitting in case Aria had a panic attack, Nichole shouted them to come over and they sat on the next table, then Emily whispered something into Nichole's ear and then they both sniggered. I looked around to see Charlotte DiLaurentis and her probation officer again. Fuck! She's back to her old tricks. I raised my eyebrows at Paige and then pointed towards the counter, she gave me a worried look and tapped Emily on the shoulder. Emily turned and saw her. Nichole slowly turned and he jaw dropped running into the disability toilets. I immediately ran and Emily looked after our stuff. I knocked on the door to find it open, and walked in to see Nichole sitting on the floor rocking back and forth. Shit. She was having another panic attack, in the last few years, since A was revealed as CeCe, someone she had yet again befriended, she started to have really bad panic attacks and became very anxious of everything. He family, close friends and I were the only people she could trust. I put a hand on her shoulder slowly and did the same on the other shoulder, she jumped out of her skin when she felt my warm hands on her freezing cold shoulders. I gently placed her head in the bend of my neck and tried to calm her, she just started to cry and cry. I decided it was best to take her home. I great bed our belongings and took her to the car, she buckled herself in and was silent for the whole ride home. When we eventually got to the house, she walked up the stairs and went into the bedroom. About 2 months after Charlotte was arrested, Nichole and Emily went brought very severe depression, and I don't know if she could handle it again. I phoned Toby and told him what happened and he suggested a distraction. A puppy! It would be a perfect distraction for Nichole, she always wanted one, so why not now?
I walked upstairs to find her lying on the bed with bright red, bloodshot eyes, tears running down her cheeks and her lowerlip and chin quivering, she just stared off into space. I walked up to her and cradled her in my arms, she rested her head on my shoulder and spoke up 'I'm sorry Mike,' I gave her s vey confused look and she continued 'For all the drama that you've had for 7 years, if you hadn't of gotten into a relationship with me we wouldn't be here right now, you could be all happy with an a - free life.' I told her how I Solent trade the past 7 years of my life for all the money in the world. I kissed her forehead Andy tabbed her laptop from the end of bed. She had been looking at an article about Charlotte, I instantly closed it and googled 'Puppies for sale' and she looked up at me and smiled. I said 'Toby suggested that since we aren't ready for a child just yet, a puppy would be perfect, plus it may help us both.' We found a Pomeranian for sale and messaged to seller for the asking price and when it would be ready.
A/N: Hello everybody! So I am extremely sorry for not updating much recently, however I did just start school again on Monday so I'm going to se the bar for one during a working week and one per weekend, on average about 8 per month. But to make up for it, I have a ONESHOT based on the Pretty Little Liars books coming, which I am also using for my English essay. But I just want to let you know that for me the busiest months are November, January, May, June & July. May is when I am choosing my GCSE options, which is a really important test which will indicate what college and university I go to, LEEDS! But I will always try to update and I am also broadening my vocabulary, last year I read the dictionary this year, I plan to read a thesaurus. No joke. But this is one of my priorities, to keep you guys entertained, but the delicious I make over the next few months will contribute for the next say 10+ years of my life. No biggy. Okay guys so I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter, and have a lovely day/evening wherever you are in the world! Goodbye guys!