Chapter Fourty

The bus rumbled through the morning mist, each groan of its engine echoing my internal turmoil. My mind, still reeling from the whirlwind of emotions I and Nico had shared. His words were laced with a bitterness that surprised me.

Nico's hatred for his father was a topic he'd broached with a fierceness that made me somehow uncomfortable. The anger in his voice was so raw and unfiltered, it contrasted so much with his carefree, sarcastic, and ultimately gentle side he had only been bold to reveal to her. Speaking about his dad was a glimpse into a darkness he usually kept well-concealed, and it shook me.

The memory of my stupid question to Nico flashed through my head, causing a hard groan from my throat that made me groan, a sound swallowed by the bus's roar. After the heat of our shared vulnerability, I blurted out;

"So... does this mean we're, like, a thing now?" The question, dripping with teenage insecurity, had hung in the air, heavy and awkward. Nico's silence was followed by a