He was still my best friend in the entire world.
My chest clenched again. The burning questions broke free of the dam. I couldn't hold them back any longer.
"Jian," I blurted out. "Where the hell did you go?"
4
Jian
Runninginto my old friend was the last thing I expected tonight. It shouldn't have been possible. I'd put the possibility of ever seeing him again in a locked box in the corner of my mind and thrown away the key, because clinging to that hope was just too painful.
But now Nikolas was here in front of me. Real, breathing, full of life. He still had those chubby cheeks and that messy brown hair with the slight wave to it that never remained in place no matter what he did. He'd matured, but he was the same friend from my youth—just grown up.
And handsomer than ever.
His question brought me back to the present.
"Ah," I said, staring down into my tea. I watched the steam curl up into the air, letting it momentarily distract me from this long-dreaded question. But I couldn't put it off forever. Nikolas had a right to know.
...Eventually.
I couldn't tell him the truth yet. There was so much he didn't know, and unravelling this twisted ball of thread was too complicated. Besides, Nikolas had just been through a terrifying experience. He needed to decompress and relax before I unloaded information on him that would turn his entire world upside-down. Now was not the time.
"It's a long story," I said. "Right now I want to focus on you. Is that all right?"
Nikolas raised a brow, then let out a chuckle. "Typical Jian. You never wanna make things about yourself, do you?"
"You're the one who nearly got hit by a car," I teased. "Is it wrong of me to want to make sure you're comfortable?"
"N-no."
Nikolas ran a hand through his hair as if trying to hide his cheeks. It didn't accomplish anything. I saw the light dusting of pink across his face regardless. Then he steeled himself and faced me again.
"We don't have to get into the whole thing, but seriously, you just... vanished. I was beyond worried. I spent—" He stopped suddenly, as if choked up. He swallowed hard. "Anyway, you were safe, right? It wasn't because something bad happened?"
Sympathy washed over me. Had Nikolas been that concerned for my sake? I felt a stab of guilt for inducing that heartache.
"I was safe," I assured him. "Nothing bad happened to me or my family. I promise."
Nikolas let out a relieved sigh. "That's good."
Nikolas had always been the anxious one, growing up as the single omega child to hover-parents. That was something we had in common, except I was an alpha. It was how we'd met in the first place.
I grinned. "Remember the first time we met?"
"Oh my god." Nikolas groaned, but he was laughing. "Yes. On the school playground, in—hell, it's been forever, what grade was it?"
"First."
It warmed my heart to watch Nikolas's expression change. The concern melted away. He was back in a simpler time, lost in the nostalgia of our shared memory.
"Right," Nikolas said. "And it was orientation, I think."
I still remembered it like it was yesterday. "You wandered off on your own while the teacher was addressing the parents."
"Yeah, I did, because we'd been standing there for what felt like hours and it wasboring! It was so mind-numbing I don't even remember what it was about."
I chuckled. "I don't either. But I do remember seeing a little boy crawling out from the crowd, away from his parents, and sneaking around the back of the building."
