Nick woke up to sunlight streaming in through the small cracks between the blackout curtains in one of many guestrooms Kyrian had. He felt a giant warmth pressed against him and his eyebrows furrowed, the grogginess making him forget that it was, in fact, Acheron who was producing the extra heat. Nick smiled for a brief second before he realized that today was Monday and he was probably late for school.
Nick jumped up from the bed, alarming Ash when Nick tossed the blankets at him. Acheron grumbled and rubbed his eyes before looking at Nick scramble about, looking for his left shoe. "What are you doing?"
Nick seemed frantic, checking under the bed and even crawling under it. "Caleb, Kody, and I have school! It's Monday! We're late!"
"Nick," Ash said calmly, smirking to himself as he picked his sunglasses, from where they rested on the nightstand while he slept, and put them on.
"Ash! I don't have time! I need to get to school!" Nick practically yelled, jumping onto the bed to pull his shoe on, after finding it under Acheron's side of the bed.
"Nick, it's summer vacation," Acheron chuckled, laying back onto the bed comfortably.
Nick deflated, feeling absolutely ridiculous that he ran around looking for his left shoe for no reason. Nick threw himself back onto the bed, laying on his side so he could look at Ash properly. "I feel stupid."
"You looked stupid too," Ash smirked, turning to Nick and seeing him pout. "In a cute way."
"Obviously, I'm cute," Nick rolled his eyes.
"No you aren't!" Nick jumped, hearing Caleb's voice shout from outside the door.
"God damn it, Caleb! Why are you lurking outside my door?" Nick said, stomping over to the door and seeing a smirking Caleb leaning against the door frame.
"Rosa came early and made everyone breakfast. You kids seem to be the last ones in bed, even Adarian is here with that tutor guy, Ambrose," Caleb explained, seeming a tad bit bored.
"We'll be down in a sec," Nick said, trying to slam the door in Caleb's face, but of course, his reflexes were too quick.
"Just so you know, your mom said if you aren't down in the next 10 minutes she would come up here and drag you down herself because she didn't want any funny business going on," Caleb said pointing at Acheron, who only scoffed.
"Bye, Caleb!" Nick said, happily slamming the door in Caleb's face. Nick then returned to the bed, throwing himself face down on the pillows. "I don't wanna see people today."
"Isn't life just hard?" Acheron said sarcastically, heaving himself up from the bed. "Get up before your mom bursts through the door."
Nick groaned, but peeled his face off of the pillow and followed Ash out the door and down the steps.
As Caleb had said everyone seemed to be crowded in the kitchen, eating a simple breakfast of eggs and bacon. Adarian simply sulked in the corner, pretending he didn't favor this breakfast more than what they served at the prison. Kody moved her eggs back and forth on her plate, exhausted because she had walked around town the whole night. Mennie and Cherise were exchanging pleasantries with Rosa, complimenting her and her ability to make anything taste wonderful. Kyrian sat with a cup of coffee and the morning's newspaper, deciding which new incident seemed supernaturally related. Caleb was having a nice conversation with Ambrose. No wonder Nick seemed to like him so much, Ambrose was basically another Nick. Ambrose remembered how much he missed Caleb, even if he was moody half of the time. Bubba and Mark, of course, stuck to themselves and discussed theories on the story.
Nick and Ash served themselves and sat near Caleb and Ambrose. Caleb smiled when he saw the couple sit down. "Well, well, the lovebirds have decided to grace us with their presences."
"It's only nine in the morning dude," Nick scowled, taking a sip of his orange juice.
"Hi, boo!" Nick's mom said, coming over to ruffle Nick's hair and plant a kiss on his cheek.
"Aw, ma! This is why they think I'm not a man," Nick frowned, rubbing his cheek rigorously.
"Oh hush up, boy," Cherise smiled. She greeted Acheron before she returned to her conversation with Rosa and Mennie.
The kitchen buzzed with pleasant conversations before Ambrose interrupted everyone. "I think we should continue where we left off, right?"
Everyone agreed before heading the the living room and settling him their spots. Nick hung back to grab himself a cup of coffee and was surprised to see Kody still sitting in the kitchen. "What are you doing?"
Kody sighed and stared at her hands. "I wanted to talk to you."
Nick scowled. "Why? I think I've learned enough." Nick attempted to walk to the living room, but she blocked his path.
"Listen to me please," she pleaded.
"I've already heard you. You're going to kill me! That's your job, that's your purpose in my life! So please just stay out of my way before I get very angry. And you wouldn't like me when I'm angry," Nick stalked off, ignoring the Hulk quote he pulled on Kody.
When Nick sat next to Ash with a scowl on his face Ash had to ask, "What happened?"
"She wanted me to listen to what she had to say when I've learned enough. I don't need that anymore. Not when I have-" Nick cut himself off suddenly, staring intently at his coffee.
Acheron smirked. "Now that you have me?"
"Whatever floats your boat," Nick blushed, patting Acheron's thigh.
In the kitchen, Kody was on her knees and crying into her hands. What had she done? Why couldn't her life go right? She loved Nick. Just like you loved Adarian. A voice in the back of her head said.
"I think I will read," Ambrose volunteered, turning to the right page. "Chapter 7..."