Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two froze, and Zane looking at Nico's scared face before increasing the distance between them to get a better look at the front door where the bangs came from. Zane looked back at Nico, and the scared look on her face turn into curiosity. Zane pushed himself off of her getting off the couch, as Nico did the same. The banging happened again, and Nico stretched for a bit and walked past Zane to get to the front door. Nico walked out of the living room, walking up to the door but stopped when she felt Zane pulling at her wrist. She looked back at Zane, tugging out of Zane's grip, but he wouldn't budge, making Nico rolled her eyes.
"Is there a reason why you don't want me it open the door?" Nico asked, and Zane pulled her closer.
"Nico, it's almost ten o'clock? Who would be knocking at your door?" Zane said.
"I would know if I open the door," Nico said, pulling herself from Zane's grasp walking over to the door.
"Nico," Zane called out. Nico ignored Zane's pleas and unlocked the door, opening it just enough for Nico to poke her head outside to get a good look at who was at the door.
"What are you guys doing here?" Nico to her two friends standing outside holding bags in their hands shivering in from the cold.
"How about we answer when we are inside?" Nate said, holding himself. Nico didn't move, giving them a doubtful look making Emily groan in frustration.
"Ay, Dios Mio chica! Let us in. I am freezing my ass off," Emily stated. Nico rolled her eyes, opening the door a little wider, stepping to the side, letting her friends inside. Emily walked in with much haste, and Nate took two steps closer to Nico, looking back before looking back a Nico.
"Are you okay with Evan coming inside?" Nate asked.
"It's fine as long as you two don't disappear to make out in my bedroom," Nico said. Nate pursed his lips, a pink tint dusting his cheeks. He turned around, waving at Evan that was sitting inside in the car, to come in. Evan turned his car off, climbing out, and started running up to Nico and Nate standing in the doorway, watching him.
"Um Nico," Nico heard Emily called out. Nico patted Nate on his shoulder and turn to Emily, who was staring at Zane. Nico cursed under her breathe and forgot to tell Zane to hide. Nico walked up to the two standing between the two, who were having a very intense staring contest. Emily was standing a few feet from the doorway, not breaking eye contact with Zane, who was leaning on the back of the couch.
"Um, Nic doing wanna tell me who is this," Emily said, pointing at Zane. Nico looked over at Zane, and he was staring at her Nico felt the heat rush to her cheek after looking into Zane's eyes. Nico shook her head and looked at Emily, who was waiting for an answer that never came. Evan and Nate walked inside, and the couple was staring at the three, feeling that the tension was so thick you can cut it with a knife. Evan turns to Zane locking eyes with him noticing that he was annoyed.
"What are you doing here?" Evan asked, stepping up to Zane.
"My power is out," Zane replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Why didn't you just come over," Evan asked.
"And watch you and your boyfriend be all over each other, no thanks," Zane said, crossing his arms.
"Hey, I take offense to that," Nate called out.
"Oh please, you guys are attached to the hip," Zane said.
"No, that is not true," Nate said, walking up to Zane pouting.
"Bullshit. I bet you were thinking about sneaking off somewhere to make out," Zane said, and Nate fell silent, knowing that he was right.
"Hold up. Who ARE you?" Emily said, looking at Zane.
"Zane Peters," Nate said flatly.
"Wait, that Zane Peters?" Emily asked, pointing at Zane, looking at Nico.
"Yeah," Nate said, nodding his head. Emily turned to him and walked over to Zane, pushing Nate to the side, grabbing ahold of Zane's shirt pulling him closer to where they were almost touching noses.
"You have a lot of nerve coming here," Emily said, gripping on Zane's shirt tighter.
"Em cut it out," Nate said.
"No, I want to know why he is here," Emily said.
"I lost power. I mentioned this two seconds ago," Zane said, pulling himself from Emily's grasp.
"Obviously. I wanna know why you would come to Nico's house knowing that she doesn't want anything to do with you," Emily said, crossing her arms. Nico sighed and grabbed Emily's shoulder, pulling her away from him, lengthening the distance between the two.
"We made up," Nico said.
"Since when?" Emily asked.
"They made up tonight," Nate said.
"Wait, how do you know?" Emily asked, walking up to Nate.
"She texted me when Zane was changing," Nate said.
"He was changing into what?" Nico went to open her mouth, but Emily held her hand up. "You know what, I don't care. The only thing that bothers me is that you told Nate about this but not me," Emily angrily said.
"Okay, how about not we talk about this in front of mixed company," Nico said, gesturing to Evan and Zane, looking at them confused.
"No, I want to know what the hell is going on because you can obviously talk to everyone else, so why can't we talking about this here?" Emily shouted.
"Nothing is going on, Em," Nico said.
"Bullshit! Obviously, something is going on. He is wearing your dad's sweatpants! You didn't think I would overlook that, Nico," Emily said.
"He was wet from the rain! What did you want me to do?" Nico asked.
"Sent his ass back home!' Emily shouted.
"I am not going to do that, Emily," Nico said, and Emily threw her hand up in frustration.
"Okay, how about we calm down," Nate said.
"No, I am not going to calm down. How are you calm about this? This guy hurt our best friend, and now he is standing here acting like he doesn't respect Nico's feelings," Emily said.
"Hold up. I do care about Nico's feeling I wouldn't be here if I didn't," Zane said, stepping closer to Nico.
"Bullshit! I know your type. You only came here to get laid!" Emily said, walking up to Zane.
"You don't know a damn thing about me!" Zane shouted.
"But I do. You jocks are all the same. You just want another notch on your belt," Emily jammed a finger into Zane's chest. "I am here to tell you that Nico is not going to be another notch," Emily said. Zane slapped Emily's hand and opened his mouth but stopped when Nico place a hand on his shoulder, walking in front of Zane.
"Emily, that's enough. You are going too far. Zane is not that kind of person. He was helping me," Nico said.
"With what?" Emily said, crossing her arms.
"Can we talk about this in the kitchen," Nico said.
"Fine, Nate, you are coming with us. We need a buffer," Emily said. Nate nodded his head and followed closely behind Emily as they walked into the kitchen. Nico sighed, beginning to walk away but was stopped by Zane grabbing hold of Nico's wrist. Nico turned to Zane, looking at his face with a mixture of emotions that Nico couldn't make out.
"Thank you for sticking up for me," Zane said, and Nico felt her heart flutter.
"No problem, I got your back," Nico said.
"Do you think we can talk about what happened earlier?" Zane whispers, pulling Nico close again. Nico opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, she was being called.
"Nico! Let's go," Emily called out from the kitchen. Nico sighed and stepped away from Zane, who still had a hold on her.
"Later," Nico said. Zane released his grip, letting her go. Nico looked at him, giving him a small smile before walking into the kitchen.
Nico walked into the kitchen, looking at her two friends sitting at the table with the single candle sitting at the center of the table, barely lighting the room. Nico could still see the anger painted across Emily's face even though the lighting in the room was minimal. Nico sat in the chair staring at the candle, trying to find the right words that won't set her best friend off even more. The three sat there in silence until Emily decided that it was time to talk.
"Okay, I gave you time to get your thought together but times it up. Now tell me, what the hell is going on?" Emily looked at Nico, and she remained silent. "Okay, how about this nobody is leaving this kitchen until I get some answers. I have all night," Emily sat there looking at the two who sat there in silence.
"I don't know how to explain it," Nico said, glancing up at Emily before looking back at her lap."Okay, how about Emily ask you questions, and you answer? Nate said, and Nico nodded. "Fine, how about you tell me how many times has that boy been in your house?" Emily bluntly asked.
"Just two or three times," Nico said, pressing her fingers together, and Emily scoffs.
"You know, the last time we talked, you said that you were not talking to him anymore, so what happen that made you have a sudden change in attitude?" Nate said.
"Well, we talked it out," Nico said. Nico looked down at the table, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks, with the images of what happened earlier before they were interrupted.
"So, what is going on between you two? Are you dating?" Emily asked.
"Nothing, we are just friends," Nico responded.
"Okay, so when did you guys end up so close to where he comes over whenever?" Emily asked.
"Oh, you know the usual. Boy meets girl, girl enlists the boy for help to uncover the town's secrets, and girl bonds closer to the boy after finding a dead body in the woods. You know how it is?" Nate interrupted, and Emily looked at him, horrified, before looking over at Nico, sinking in her chair.
"You were the one who found Emma Silvers?" Emily said.
"Yeah," Nico weakly said.
"What did Nate mean about uncovering the town's secrets?" Emily asked.
"Well, Zane and I were finding out what happened to Emma," Nico said, sinking into her chair more.
"Unbelievable," Emily said, running a hair through her damp hair falling silent.
"Um, Emily, are you alright?" Nico asked, and Emily shot up from her chair, pushing it to the ground, looking at Nico angrily.
"No, I am not alright! Nico, recently you have been acting strange, and I just thought it was because of the stress from school, but it turns out that you were putting yourself in danger for trying to do something the police can do," Emily shouted.
"I'm sorry," Nico said, looking down.
"You're sorry! That is all you have to say? You know what hurts the most is that I am the last to know. You trusted someone who you barely know instead of your own BEST FRIEND! Who does that?" Emily screamed, hugging herself.
Nico felt a pang of guilt after hearing her best friend say that. Emily was right Nico never once considered telling Emily all of this, and Nico began to feel even worse because she told Nate and Evan about everything without even thinking of Emily. Nico pushed her chair back and walked over to Emily, looking at her dimly lit face before putting a hand on her shoulder. Nico felt Emily stiffen under Nico's touch, and Nico pulled her hand back, standing awkwardly next to Emily.
"I am so sorry. I never met to keep this from you," Nico said.
"So why did you?" Emily asked, taking a step away from Nico.
"I guess I didn't want you to worry about me because I was putting myself in danger," Nico said.
"And yet you told Nate, his boyfriend, and complete stranger," Emily said.
"Zane is not really a stranger," Nate added, and Emily glared at him, shutting Nate up.
"I am really sorry. I just didn't want to bring more people into this. Hell, I didn't want to even bring Nate into this because if you guy got hurt, I would never forgive myself," Nico said, turning away from Emily.
"Nico, I am your best friend. No matter what, I will stick by your side no matter how deep trouble you are in. Understand?" Emily said, resting her hand on her shoulder.
"I understand," Nico said, looking back at Emily blinking back the tears. Emily gave Nico a small smile and pulled her into a hug. Emily pulled away from Nico and now had a determined look on her face.
"Okay, now that the emotions are now in check, tell me everything so we can figure out what to do next," Emily said, pulling the chair up sitting in it. Nico smiled slightly, sitting back in her chair, pulling it closer, looking at her two best friends.
"Okay, well, it started when I found this book," Nico started.