"yeah, so am i. oh i forgot to congratulate you further on that job! maybe we could all get together while ronan's still in town and have some sort of celebration for ya?"
simon nodded warily, knowing that this might mean some sort of alcohol.
Tessa snorted and swirled her drink, ducking her head some. "It's not that big of a deal. It's not like it's all that special–I'm just a teacher."
Ronan gave her an appalled look. "You never told me you're teaching! I thought you were just helping out part-time again. How dare you hold out on me!"
"yeah, so am i, but it's still one of the best-paying i've ever had. not that i've had many, but you know. sometimes i was well endorsed for my troubles." he sent a wink at tessa, she knew what he meant. "anyway, i am happy for you! you aren't working in a fast food place, that's for one."
simon shuddered. "never work in fast food. but yeah, any sort of instructor requires a level of expertise not many people have."
"I have, unfortunately, worked in fast food. Do not recommend. But, it was a McDonald's, so that was a slight plus." She shrugged and smiled at Nik's wink. "I guess, if you really want to be super happy for me, then you can throw some sort of celebration. You, are throwing it though. I'm not going to have any hand in the planning. Being the guest of honor is hard enough work."
Ronan snorted. "Oh, please. You love being the center of attention at any event, even if you're crashing the party."
nik snorted, bringing his bag around to the front and yanking a notepad and pen from the depths.
"here, i'm not inviting anyone else as i don't know anyone, and tess already knows my address and can just bring ronan along, here's a copy of the time." he scribbled 3pm, wednesday on the bottom of a sheet of paper, quickly ripping a strip off and handing the note to tessa.
"that work for everyone?"
Ronan leaned over to look at the paper as Tessa took it. They both nodded. "Yeah, that works for me," she said, "And Ronan is free for the entirety of his vacation here." He stuck his tongue out at the way she said vacation. She batted him away with a halfhearted scowl.
simon snorted into his drink. "you guys really do remind me of us. same dynamic. seems like we hate each other to most." he finished the sip, looking up and briefly studying them.
"you're a cute couple, how do you make the long distance work?"
nik choked on his own drink, and simon almost batted his eyelashes in an 'innocent' fashion.
Ronan blinked, his lips twitching up slightly as he lifted his drink nonchalantly to his lips. "What?" he asked, more amused than anything.
Tessa actually snorted and played with the knife the restaurant had set out. She picked it up and pointed it at Simon. "We're not a couple," she said with a small laugh.
nik furiously cleaned up the alcohol he had spilled, determined to pretend like nothing had happened before anyone noticed his lapse in drinking ability.
simon tilted his head. "huh. good to know. also, watch the knife. i don't have my full fucking set of metal armor on today, miss."
it was almost a surprise to hear him swear like that.
She grinned innocently and twirled it between her fingers. "Ronan's my brother. Half, to be precise," she informed them. Ronan just laughed silently as he drank his own alcoholic beverage. His eyes flicked over to Nik and he arched a knowing brow.
(what)
(They're half-siblings on their mother's side. I said he could be mistaken as one, since they don't look like siblings)
(OH IT FUCKED UP AND SHOWED ME ONE OF YOUR PREVIOUS REPLIES oh mygod,,,,,, thats why i said what im so sorry lmao)
(Ooooo, mine was doing the same thing)
(yeah i hope they fix it?)
"oh, fun. if the parentage isn't a sensitive subject, on which side?" simon chirped, conveniently keeping tessa occupied so she didn't notice nik.
meanwhile, the other glared halfheartedly back at ronan. he had finished cleaning up, but he was sure tessa's brother had caught on.
"Mother's. She actually got to keep this big oaf." She hooked a thumb towards Ronan, who stuck his tongue out at her, then offered a private, innocent smile to Nik. He had an idea of the relationship between his little sister and Nik, judging by their conversation and his reaction to the earlier question.
nik only sighed deeply, acknowledging his smile with a nod.
"oh, fun." was simon's only response.
Ronan nodded. "Our family's a mess. Our other two half-siblings are still in New York."
Tessa snorted. "And only one actually likes me because she's too young to realize what I am."
"what you-" simon started, before a quiet hiss from nik silenced him.
he turned a bit, studying nik's somber expression before changing the subject.
"so what's new york like?"
"A-so-lute shit," Tessa said, twirling the knife around her fingers. Ronan muttered something in Hawaiian and snatched the knife from her. She whined and pouted. "Needless to say," she continued, "Not a fan and wish to be as far away from it as possible. At least New York City. There are a select few places that are nice enough, I suppose."
(i have an idea for a really dramatic scene between simon and nik so just so you know,,,,, its comin,,,,)
"which places might those be?" simon continued, seemingly genuinely curious about her. nik's expression darkened ever so slightly. he knew that face. what a fake bastard.
it was impossible to see, really, but as someone who saw him every week and also had a similar set of body languages for interviews, it was a proud red flag. he knows damn well that tess and i, we cut it off. can't fucking believe him. of course, trying to hook us up again.
fuck this.
he glared rather obviously at simon.
"drop the act, psycho."
"what ever do you mean, hun?"
"you know good and well what i mean. i know that face." he turned quickly to ronan and tessa, apologizing swiftly. "sorry, i- we have to go. we'll pick up your check as well on the way out. i'll explain later, tess."
and with that, he jacked simon straight out of his seat and frog marched him to the door, stopping to pay and apologize again to the person at the front.
The siblings blinked in twin confusion, looking at each other when Nik and Simon had left. Tessa's face said, What the hell was that all about? Ronan's said, Are all of your friends this weird? She scoffed and smacked his arm, causing him to pout and whine about abuse.
Tessa didn't pay him any mind, however, as she looked in the direction that Nik had gone with Simon in tow. Something odd was going on between those two, but she couldn't put her finger on what, exactly, that something was. "I sure hope you explain," she muttered to herself.
as soon as the door closed behind them in the building they used as an office, nik took a deep breath.
"i'll give you three chances to explain why the fuck you're trying to get us together again."
"nikolas."
"simon."
simon tossed his head, putting a hand on his hip. "you're lonely. i see it every day. you live alone, i'm your only friend, and your parents aren't to be spoken of, apparently, even though you said they live in town. then someone you know comes along. obviously you're still in love with her, or at least like her. i sensed jealousy when we were holding hands. she feels at least similarly, so why not?"
nik looked tiredly at the other.
"i've been lonely for the last 7 years. it's my default setting. i've moved on, dear. i never did tell you?"
"tell me what?"
"the neon district. god, it's terrible. worse than anything you've ever imagined. you can't have friends. they'll be killed or they'll kill you. trying to… trying to love someone is dangerous. i still can't shake the feeling that if…" he paused, staring intently at the ground.
"simon, please. just leave it alone. we're both wanted criminals. banding together makes it so, so much worse."
simon studied the other.
Tessa and Ronan headed back to his place. Tessa was quiet the entire time, jaw working and lips pinched. Her arms were wrapped around herself as she walked with her head bowed, staring blankly at the sidewalk. Ronan didn't try to get her to talk. They were like the same person, so he knew how much she hated to have her thoughts invaded by nosey people.
Was their entire relationship a mistake? Maybe they should've just…stayed away after that first meeting. She should've just left after getting her back fixed. No offer to find her or anything. That just provided too many opportunities to get to know each other, and then the disaster that was…whatever they had been before they'd been caught.
Ronan stayed quiet for a few more minutes, spotting his house coming up. Only then did he speak his mind. "He still cares about you, Tess." She opened her mouth, but he swiftly shut her up with a look. "And I don't want to hear about how hard it is to be with someone when you're a criminal. That you're better off alone just because of what happened with Tori. I don't want to hear that bullshit you spout about you being unworthy of anything even related to affection." He pulled her to a stop and pinned her with a piercing gaze. "You're my little sister, and I want you to be happy. You've made a new life for yourself. You're clearly enjoying yourself now. But I can see that something's missing, and I have a strong feeling that it's Nik."
"Ronan–"
"Shut up and let me talk." She clamped her mouth shut and glared at him. He continued. "Don't even start with me. You are good enough. You are badass and one hell of a woman. If anyone's unworthy, it's all those idiots falling at your feet. You deserve some love after all that shit you went through. Maybe Tori wasn't meant to be. Maybe it was. But that's in the past, and Nik is right here, right now. You both are trying, and that's one hell of an amazing feat. Don't push it away and regret everything just because of some iki thing that doesn't even matter even more."
simon sighed after studying nik slouched form for some minutes, and moved over to him and gathered the much shorter "criminal" into his arms. nik took a while to hug back, but he rested his head on simon's shoulder.
"let yourself be happy, nikolas. it's over. you won. you live in the district of light, aka the friendliest place besides canada. unwind, hun. you've already started. i'm your friend, your only friend, and that makes me your best friend. so in my position of best friend, i want nothing more for you than for you to be happy. and you can start by at least letting her back into your life."
there was a sniff, and nik leaned back with watery eyes and a slight smile.
"thanks, si. i'll try."
"that's what i like to hear. go, explain what happened now. call me when you get home."