7

Valeria has two mugs of steaming tea in her hands. She holds steadfastly to the hot ceramic as she wades through the trees, partly so as to make sure the liquid doesn't spill over, and partly in greed for the warmth the mugs provide to her otherwise freezing hands.

She catches sight of a lone figure sitting in the distance, and lets out a content sigh at finding him exactly where she'd thought he'd be — Nicholas. With his back to her and his head tilted up, he sits with his arms folded round his knees, gazing at the brilliantly starry sky.

Val smiles, finding herself marvelling at Nick's ability to find a place of isolation near every campsite they choose. Not so much as actual isolation anymore though, considering that she has been joining him on his nightly sneak-outs every day now for the past four days. So much so that, despite the crunching sound of twigs snapping beneath her feet as she makes her way over to him, Nicholas doesn't even flinch at the sudden intrusion to the silence of the night — it's almost as if he's begun to expect her eventual presence.

"Tea?" Valeria asks, coming to a gradual stop beside him. Wordlessly, Nick takes the mug from her before she, too, settles down on the ground, tucking her legs beneath herself to keep her feet warm.

A moment later Nicholas says, "Thanks," shooting Val a quick smile, one which she returns to him ever so brightly.

"So," Valeria lets the word hang in the air as an impending question for a few seconds, gathering her thoughts in the meanwhile. "What's your story?"

Nick frowns, turning his head to finally look at her. "My story...?"

"Uh yeah-you know. Your story." When her answer is met with a confused uplift of his brows, Valeria picks through her words and tries to explain. "You're such good friends with Stella and Richard," she says. "And I've noticed that you don't let people in that easily."

Nicholas snorts. "Brilliant spotting there," he says with a smirk.

Val flushes, pushing her hair behind her pinkened ears. "Yeah well, I just wanted to ask how you became friends with them."

"Oh," Nick says, turning his head forward again, staring out into the distance.

A couple of seconds pass by; Valeria begins to think that she has pushed too far too soon, and that now Nicholas will most definitely shut her out again and she'll never be able to build a friendship with him and she's so daft and so stupid and—

Nicholas sighs, dragging in a deep breath. "We were flatmates in university." He looks at her from the corners of his eyes, effectively putting a stop to her raging thoughts. "University of Lincoln that is. Rich was studying architecture, Stella was in Women's Studies, and I," he says, talking a little slowly, "was in Law."

Val then finds herself thinking of her own degree, her time spent in the prestigious London Business School. She bites down on the urge to frown.

"One day Richard had come blasting into the flat, exclaiming how he was absolutely done with studying."

Valeria raises her brows in inquisition. Nick explains, "He had some dry courses, can't really blame him."

He sighs again, though this time there's a hint of a smile on his face, nostalgia in his voice. "Anyways, he was rather glum about the whole ordeal, going on about how there was this museum under renovation he'd really wanted to try getting into, but couldn't because of his class schedules."

Val muffles a laugh with the back of her hand to her lips, thinking about how adorable a fuming and mad Richard would look.

"So, Stella had stood up then, taking charge because she'd had enough of the despondent mood. She announced that we, all three of us, would be sneaking into the museum. And well, you know, when Ella tells you to do something, you can't really say no." Nick turns to look at Valeria, the both of them breaking out into a laughing spree.

"Yeah well, we did just that then," Nick says, sobering up after a while. "We all went to the museum, bunking a couple of our classes — Rich was absolutely horrified at ditching the class, I tell you. Stella flirted with the guard to her utmost best, and we two lads sneaked in from the back gate.

"God, Richard couldn't wipe the grin from his face! He looked like a kid opening his Christmas presents when he was inside those empty halls. He couldn't shut up about how marvellous the building and the structures were.

"And then we heard guards coming for a round and we freaked out. Stella screamed for us to run. She held our hands, getting us into motion, and together the three of us ran down the halls, laughing our arses off."

Nicholas smiles to himself, at peace and yet filling the air around the duo with excited electricity. "It was one of the best days of my life," he says in quiet voice. "I made two of the best friends I've ever had."

Valeria runs her hands down her arms, trying to calm the goose bumps there. Though she's not sure whether her skin is so electrified and cold because of Nick's story or because of the hundred and ten emotions running through her. "I..." she begins and falters for a beat. "I find myself wishing for there to be a Stella and a Richard in my life," she says, slowly. Surprising herself, Valeria feels lonely all of a sudden.

"But," Nick says with his features screwed up in innocent confusion, pulling Val out of her deafening thoughts. "You do have a Stella and a Richard in your life, Val. Fast asleep in the tents, right where we left them."

Valeria looks at him as he smiles at her, and finds herself slowly smiling back. "...And a Nick too," she says.

For a beat his lips fall, before they quirk back up again, the brilliant moonlight getting caught in the green of his eyes. "And a Nick," he concedes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Aaaand we're done with the 8k words milestone guys. Let's take a moment to clap for ourselves here. :)

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Okay. Done xD
So, now all we have to do is wait and see if this story makes it into the final round. *fingers crossed y'all*

The song attached in the media to this chapter is the unplugged version of Aitebar by a band named Vital Signs. A friend had introduced me to it a while back and for a couple of days, this song has been my go-to tune for the story. Really, the ambiance of the song, the beat, the lyrics, all of it fits the current mood of the story so so well. It's brilliant, is what it is.
Even if you can't understand it, I'd still like to urge you all to listen to it once during or after this chapter. Treat yourselves to this beauty, please.

P.S. please pray for this story to pass this round.

P.P.S. you're welcome for this Logan lerman gif xD

P.P.P.S. I love you all. Have a wonderful day and a wonderful life, guys. Each and every one of you deserves it. ❤

- zainab