Chapter 44 Post Apocalypse
Post Apocalypse
Nico
Even though I’ve dreamed of coming back here and sweeping Harper off her feet, somehow, I never actually planned a fucking date. And I know it has to be epic because it’s her first date, and I’ve fucked up.
I can’t bring her to my house because I don’t want to introduce her to my dad and deal with that shit. Luke and I talked some more about our fathers during school, but none of it makes sense.
All we know is Harper’s dad worked for Luke’s father when he had business dealings with my and Caden’s fathers. Harper’s dad disappeared with something that is important to all of them, which puts Harper in danger if they even think she knows something.
We need to focus on the game this week and make sure no one else attacks Harper. We can figure out the deal with our dads this weekend when we can get together somewhere we can’t be overheard.
“You got a plan?” Jack asks when I open my locker to get my clothes out after practice.
“Vaguely.”
Caden laughs and shakes his head. “Great, our girl’s first date and he vaguely has a plan.”
“You’ve gone on dates before?” Luke runs a hand through his wet blond hair. His side is still mottled in greens and yellows, but he’s moving better.
I nod. “But Harper isn’t like those girls. We got dinner and then went to the movies.”
“I think you’re missing the point.” Eli closes his locker and looks at me like I’m an idiot. “Harper is a girl.”
“Um, thanks?” I arch an eyebrow at him.
Eli smirks. “She wants to do what a normal girl does on a date. She’s been denied it all for years. Anything is going to be special to her because she’s getting to go out on a date.”
“But that means I could fuck this up too.” I pull on my t-shirt and sit on the bench to put on my socks and shoes. “I keep fucking up with her.”
“So stick with what you know.” Jack sits next to me and bumps his shoulder against mine. “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel for her. She wants to talk. She doesn’t need to be wowed. Fuck, man, you have all this history with her, and you can’t think of one thing she likes to do?”
I sigh. “I don’t think a game of hide and seek is going to cut it.”
Luke chuckles. “She seemed pretty interested in a game of hide and seek at Caden’s.”
Caden arches an eyebrow and grins. “We can make that happen.”
“I don’t think that helps me with tonight.” I rub the back of my neck. Though I’d be on board with that another time.
“You guys had common interests. Do something with that.” Eli lifts his bag. “Give her a date to remember, but realize she’s not expecting the moon and the stars.”
Harper
I’ve pulled out five different outfits and discarded all of them. This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t be nervous to go out on a date with Nico.
This is Nico.
The things I’ve done with him should make me blush, not worry about whether to wear a skirt or jeans or a dress. He’d approve if I showed up naked.
“Donating clothes?” Mom stops and leans in my doorframe. Her gaze lingers on the pile of clothes on my bed.
I blow out a breath. “Trying to figure out what to wear on my date with Nico.”
“A date?” Her eyebrows rise. “Like a date-date?”
“Yes, Mom, a date-date.” I shake my head, but smile.
She grins. “What’s the plan?”
I shrug. “He didn’t say anything, but maybe dinner? A movie? I don’t know.”
“I see your dilemma.” She rubs her chin as she looks over my selections. “Honestly? Dress comfortably. I don’t think you have to do much to impress any of these guys. So just wear what makes you comfortable and see where the night takes you.”
I nod and pluck at the black skater skirt on the bed. That’s helpful and not at the same time. “Thanks.”
She smiles and points to the skirt. “I liked your first day of school outfit. It very much screamed Harper.”
I pick up the skirt and nod. “Yeah, it’s appropriate.”
“Have fun.” She gives me a small wave before heading down the hallway to her room. I showed her the security system when she woke up. It’s fancier than what she would have picked, but I reminded her that the guys were concerned with my safety.
She didn’t miss the hickey on my neck. But she didn’t say anything about it.
I decide on the outfit I wore my first day of school. When I got spanked in front of the cafeteria. At least today nothing happened. The Cheermonsters and their basketball players stuck to their table. Besides the looks from Ashley.
Maybe they’re lulling us into dropping our guard. Pretty sure I’ll get spanked if I try to go off on my own anywhere again.
I still want to know about Rebecca, but when I texted Kenz, she didn’t know the whole story. Those girls in the bathroom did, so someone knows. Probably a lot of people I don’t know know.
But how do I bring it up to Penny and her group? There’s no guarantee they’ll know anything.
And if they ask for a favor to spill the beans, then Eli will punish me. A little shiver flows through me as I finish my makeup. I’m not sure his kind of punishments will keep me from misbehaving.
The doorbell rings, and I give myself a quick onceover. I don’t look like the same girl as my first day of school. My makeup is a little bolder, even the way I hold myself is a little braver. I release a breath.
This is who I am now.
As soon as I get downstairs, I see Mom answering the door. Nico stands there with his dark hair hanging almost over his eyes. He wears a buttoned shirt with dark jeans and a pair of Converse. When he sees me, he smiles, and a giddy rush of awareness flows through me.
“I brought you flowers.” He holds out a bouquet of wildflowers.
My eyes widen, and my heart stalls before beating a little harder. No one’s ever brought me flowers. My lips curve into a smile I couldn’t hold back if I tried.
Mom steps back into the kitchen. She grins at me. “You look good, Harper. You two have fun. Be safe.”
“Have a good night at work.” I step past her and take the flowers. I bring them to my nose and breathe in the fresh scent. “Thank you.”
He smiles. “No one mows that field we used to watch clouds in. It’s filled with flowers.”
Okay, that makes my heart skip a little as I reach for a glass and fill it with water to put the flowers in. He stopped to pick me flowers.
“Are you ready to go?” He holds his hand out to me.
“Am I dressed appropriately?” I glance down at my Nirvana t-shirt, thinking maybe I should change.
He closes the distance between us and tips my chin up. Our eyes meet, and for a second my heart stops before accelerating.
“You look perfect, sunshine.” His dark eyes draw me in.
I swallow around the sudden lump in my throat. He takes my hand, and I grab my wallet before we go out the door.
“I know I don’t have you all night, but I hope I can bring you home a little late.” Nico opens the door to his car for me and I get in.
“All my homework is done.” I shrug as he joins me.
“Good.” He starts the car and Missio “Easy” plays on the radio.
I grin. “I love this song.”
“Me too.”
I settle into the seat as he drives us out of my neighborhood and to a burger restaurant, where he pulls into a parking spot.
“Burgers, good?” He searches my eyes like I might not be honest.
“Yes, burgers would be good.” I soften at his apparent nervousness.
His smile looks relieved, and we get out of the car. He comes around the hood and takes my hand. “The guys said this place is the best. I told them I wanted some place with burgers, fries, and shakes.”
He pulls open the door for me to walk into the restaurant.
“You asked the guys?” That surprises me a little.
“They’re my friends.” He shrugs and follows me in.
“How many?” The girl at the hostess stand is a junior. Her gaze trails past me like she’s expecting the rest of the guys to show up.
“Just two.” Nico draws me in close to him.
She grabs a couple menus and leads us into the restaurant. It’s Tuesday night, so it’s not busy. When she leads us to a booth in the back, I notice a few other tables of high schoolers, but they don’t pay us much attention.
“The benefit of being a new horseman.” Nico picks up the menu and turns to face the tables. “They still don’t know who I am.”
“You haven’t really made a huge splash the way they do.” I set my menu to the side.
“Have you been here before?”
“A time or two.” I shrug. “But never on a date.”
He smiles. “There was a lot of pressure for me to get this right.”
“The date?” I tilt my head. “Why?”
He sets his menu down. “It’s your first date. The others reminded me you have nothing to compare it to, so I shouldn’t stress. But I want it to be perfect for you.”
I laugh. “Since we need to discuss our issues, I don’t think this is going to be a normal date.”
“Probably not.” Nico takes my hand in his. “But how about this half, we just be two teenagers on a date and save the heavy stuff for the second half?”
I blow out a breath and look around. It’s not really a private place to have a conversation anyway. “Fine.”
“Good, and we can do that whole get to know each other thing.”
I shake my head and smirk. “You mean like things we should have known about each other before having sex?”
He chuckles. “Probably.”
The server stops, and we focus on getting our orders in. When she walks away, Nico looks down at my hand. His fingers stroke over the ring the guys gave me.
“When did you get this?” His eyes lift to mine.
I blush. “It was a birthday present from the others.”
“Yeah?” He studies it again. “That was nice of them.”
I shrug. “I figured it was another way to mark me as theirs. Make everyone else back off. Not that anyone else wanted me back then. Now...”
“Now?” He sounds genuinely interested.
I blow out a breath. “Something about the way guys watch me now just gives me the creeps. It’s like they know me because I’m with the horsemen. Like they already know who I am without actually getting to know me.”
He nods. “Kind of like how I just showed up?”
I shake my head and smile softly. “No, you assumed we still knew each other because we used to be friends. But I did the same thing.”
“Not gonna lie. The benefits of being a horseman really have improved since I was a kid.” His smile makes my insides warm. “So besides hiding, what else have you done with your life? I’ve seen some of your artwork in class, but there’s got to be more than that.”
The server stops and puts a couple of waters down in front of us. “Your shakes will be ready in a few minutes.”
When she walks off, Nico looks at me expectantly.
“I did dance competitively outside of school. Volunteered at the hospital. Hung out with Kenz. Watched zombie and horror movies with my mom.” I shrug. “There wasn’t much to my life before you came back. How about you?”
He leans his elbows on the table and meets my eyes. “New York was interesting. Tons to do, but it was still easy to get bored. There was no one I really connected with there, even when I tried.”
At least I had Kenz. “No one? Not even the girls you dated?”
He shakes his head. “I saw the guys at football camp, but it was different. They were growing closer together while I had this whole life they weren’t part of. It’s hard to come back here and try to fit back in. I feel like a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit right anymore.”
“I figured you and the guys were still tight since they pretty much welcomed you with open arms.” I smirk. “As much as those guys are huggers.”
Nico smiles a little. “We’re still friends, but I put a distance there. I wasn’t even aware I was doing it, but I pulled away as they got closer to each other. I never figured this would ever happen.”
“This?” I ask as the server puts our shakes on the table and walks away.
“Being back here. Having the opportunity to hang out with them. Be with you again.” He pulls his strawberry shake over to him. “I had to mentally let you all go, or I never would have made it being that far away from you and the guys.”
I sip on my chocolate peanut butter shake. If I’d been the one to leave, would I have clung to Nico back here. It’s not like I sent him long letters or even tried to keep up with him either. That part of our history I need to let go of. He didn’t keep in touch, but neither did I.
“Keeping in touch was on both of us.” I reach out and take his hand. His eyes meet mine. “I didn’t try to keep in touch either. I don’t know if it would have made a difference. Everything that’s happened probably still would have happened.”
“Probably.” Nico squeezes my hand. He pushes his glass toward me. He smirks. “Want a taste?”
I grin. “We’re not ten anymore, sharing shakes.”
Nico shrugs. He pushes it closer. “Why not? You know you want a taste.”
My cheeks heat at his words, but I take his glass and take a sip of his shake while pushing mine his way. The strawberry is sweet and light compared to mine.
“Mmm, I like mine better.” I push his back to him and grab for mine but he pulls it closer.
“I get a taste, sunshine.” He takes a drink of mine and then pushes it back to me.
“What do you think?” I raise an eyebrow and take a sip.
“That I’m going to enjoy kissing you later.” He winks before drawing on the straw in his strawberry shake.
I return his smile and feel warmth bloom in my chest. The server comes back with our burgers and fries.
“Okay, now for the difficult questions.” Nico looks at me seriously.
I blow out a breath and mentally prepare myself. “Okay?”
“Are you still a Ravenclaw?” He doesn’t break and laugh, but I do.
“Seriously?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve gone Hufflepuff? I don’t think I could take that.” Nico breaks a little, and I see the twinkle in his eyes.
“I’m pretty sure Luke is Slytherin.” I pop a fry into my mouth.
He nods solemnly. “I could see that. Caden is Gryffindor. So is Jack.”
“Eli is Ravenclaw.” I point at him with my fry.
“Nah, he’s Slytherin.” Nico grins. “That way you and I are the only Ravenclaws in the bunch.”
“Do you think any of them have actually taken the test?” I arch an eyebrow as I take a bite of my burger.
“Of course, they have. I bet that’s their pick-up line with girls.”
I laugh, imagining Luke picking up girls with the fact he’s Slytherin.
Nico’s eyes sparkle. “There she is.”
I give him a questioning look.
“There’s my sunshine.”