Nico
I leave. Is still early and my parent are confused, but I need to think.
Start over? Where is this all coming from? He's acting so differently. And worst of all is the longer we spend together, the stronger my attraction for him becomes.
This is messing with my head.
Why the sudden change?
I truly believe people are capable of change, but no one changes that quickly, right?
I enter my hotel room, going through my night routine on autopilot before lying in bed and waiting for sleep, but it doesn't come.
"Gods! I can't get him out of my head," I say, annoyed.
He took the blame for us not being closer;
He admitted to being a jerk.
He asked if we can start over.
What does he want with all this? Why now?
The more I think about it, the more irritable I get for not reaching any conclusion.
My mood gets worse as the minutes go by, sleep eluding me.
Then I hear a knock on the door.
Will
Nico left.
Should I go check on him? Just to make sure he's well since he retired so early.
I think back to our exchange. Did I say something wrong?
I cave after twenty minutes. I tell everyone I'm going to sleep bidding everyone good night, but instead of going to my room, I go to Nico's.
I reach Nico's room, hesitating before knocking on the door, but ultimately deciding to go ahead, ignoring the fact that I'm behaving like a stalker.
It doesn't take long for him to open the door. Once again, he seems surprised to see that I'm the one behind it, but as soon as the surprise passes, a frown takes over his face.
"What?" he asks, curt and to the point, all sense of a good mood lost.
This might have been a mistake, but I can't go back now.
"Did I wake you?"
"No. What do you want?"
"Uhn... you left so suddenly that I wanted to make sure everything was fine," I say.
Nico makes a sound of disgust, turns his back on me going inside the room, leaving the door open. I take this as my invitation to enter.
I close the door before turning back to Nico, who's standing next to his bed with his back to me.
He changed clothes, I notice, he is now wearing black sweatshirts and sweatpants, both pieces of clothing are of a thin fabric that sticks to Nico's body leaving little imagination, making my mind wonder what it would feel like to explore every inch of his body with my hands, my mouth, my tongue... I shake my head to get rid of these thoughts. Now is not the time.
"Nico..." I start.
He turns to me and I can see in his black eyes and expression the feelings that are dominating him at the moment - irritation and confusion.
"I don't get it," Nico says, his tone calmer than he seems to be.
"What?" I ask in a soft tone, not wanting to inadvertently irritate him even more.
"You, Will! I don't get you. I keep thinking and thinking and trying to understand why and I cannot come to any conclusions." His voice grows louder with every word.
Before I can ask what exactly Nico is referring to, he continues. "So... Since I can't think of a single reason you'd like to know me better and get closer to me, my only option is to ask you," he says, pointing his hand towards me.
He walks towards me until we're separated only by a mere inch, taking me by surprise. I want to reach out and touch, hold his hand, and comfort him. I want to take him in my arms, entwine my fingers in his hair, and kiss him in order to soothe all his worries.
Not yet.
"So ask."
"What changed? Why are you suddenly interested in getting closer to me?"
I move away, with Nico so close it's hard for me to think of a coherent and satisfying answer. I sit on his bed, facing Nico. He's still in the same place, but he's facing me, watching me intently.
"It was not exactly sudden. I've been thinking about this for some time before we met here in Hawaii."
"And what exactly made you think about that?" Nico asks, taking a step closer.
"It was after the Sprinklers prank, Jason lectured me, and usually I don't listen to him, but this time was different, he got my attention and what he said made me think of how much of a jerk I've been and how I was getting worse."
"I could have told you that," Nico mutters, making me smile.
"Then you got sick, I felt guilty, and when I went to ask Hazel if you were all right ..."
"You talked to my sister?" Nico asks, sitting next to me on the bed.
I turn on the bed to face Nico.
"Yes. And she gave me another sermon that made me question my actions even more."
"And what was your conclusion?" Nico asks. He seems calmer, less confused.
"First that I'm a jerk."
Nico smiles, and it takes all my willpower not to lean over and kiss him.
"We already know that. What else?" He asks.
"I never hated you. I think what I was trying to do in an extremely childlike manner was to get your attention. Sorry it took me so long to realize that."
Nico just stares at me, looking me in the eye as if trying to gauge my sincerity.
"Let me make it up to you. Give me a second chance to do it right this time."
We are so close now. Our foreheads are almost touching. Nico doesn't take his eyes off mine.
"Okay," he finally says. "But that's the only one you'll get, so don't waste it." hearing this makes me euphoric. I can't contain a huge grin.
"I won't. I promise."
"That doesn't mean I trust you."
"That's totally fine. That's something I have to earn it, anyway."
Seeing my happiness, Nico looks at me like I'm a puzzle he can't solve.
"And to start, how about we go to the movies tomorrow night?" I ask.
"The movies?" Nico asks, pulling back a little to sit cross-legged on the bed.
"Yes. We can wander around town, watch a movie, walk along the beach. What do you say?"
Nico shrugs, "I don't hate movies."
I smile, "I'll take that as a yes. Can you give me your phone number?"
I take my cell phone out of my pocket, unlock it and hand it to Nico. He hesitates, thinking for a moment, but ends up getting my cell phone, registering his number and handing it back to me. I send a message to his cell phone so that he has my number:
"It's late. I'll let you sleep now," I say. "We meet in the lobby tomorrow at 4.30 p.m. to go to the movies, but I'm sure our family will have breakfast together, so... see you tomorrow. Bye."
"Bye."