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Neon lights flickered intermittently in the enormous party room. The music blared loudly, mixing with the sounds of laughter, shouts, and clinking glasses. Nick sat in a distant chair, a glass in his hand, his golden eyes shining with a mixture of resignation and sadness.
Veronica was gone. Again.
He'd watched her disappear into the crowd, ignoring him as if he didn't exist. As always, at least that's how it had been for the past couple of months, even though they were dating or something.
Like every party they'd attended as a couple so far, where he was just a shadow beside her. He'd arrived with her, but he wasn't sure they'd leave together.
And then there was Uzi.
Leaning against a table with a glass in her hand, watching him from a distance with an expression that oscillated between anger and tenderness.
She didn’t understand how he could keep waiting for someone who never put him first. She didn’t understand how he could still love someone who left him behind so easily.
Uzi didn’t get it… but she felt it.
She felt the sting in her chest every time she saw him like this. She felt the knot in her throat when Nick smiled sadly and pretended it didn’t hurt. She felt the fire in her veins when she saw how V treated him.
And she felt the alcohol burning her throat as she took the last sip and crossed the room.
—Doing it again, huh?— Uzi muttered, setting her glass down on the table and standing right in front of him. Nick looked up, startled by her closeness, it wasn’t normal for Uzi, his friend, to get this near.
—Doing… what?— His voice came out deeper than usual, maybe from the alcohol, maybe from exhaustion.
—Waiting for her. Pretending it doesn’t bother you.—
N let out a low, bitter laugh.
—I’m not waiting for her… I’m just… resting.—
—Right. Resting while staring at the door.—
Nick then sighed, sinking a little deeper into the chair. His golden eyes were lost for a moment in the void, as if he were searching for something that no longer existed. Uzi watched him, his fingers playing with the rim of the empty glass he'd left on the table. The alcohol burned in his veins, blurring the limits of his patience.
—I don’t know why you’re doing this to yourself, N— Uzi said, her voice low but laden with an intensity that made Nick look up at her. Her violet eyes shone with a mix of frustration and something else, something Nick didn’t want to name.
Because he knew that if he gave it a name, he wouldn't be able to contain himself like he had been, and everything in their relationship would change. He'd be the bad guy. He'd never been bad until now, always doing what was right for himself and others.
But Nick was tired.
—Doing… what?— he asked instead, his voice rough, as if the words cost him more than he was willing to admit.
—This—Uzi repeated, gesturing vaguely at him. —Waiting for someone who leaves you behind. For someone who doesn’t even turn around to see if you’re still there.—
Nick looked away, but Uzi didn’t let him escape. She leaned in a little closer, closing the distance between them.
—You keep clinging to something that doesn’t exist anymore, Nick— she whispered, her voice trembling slightly with the weight of her words. —And the worst part is, you know it.—
N clenched his jaw.
—It’s not that simple— he muttered, his voice tight.
—No, it’s not— Uzi admitted. _But that doesn’t make it any less true.—
Nick closed his eyes for a moment, as if the weight of those words crushed him. And he knew Uzi could see it. She saw it in his exhausted posture, in the way his chest rose and fell with a shaky breath. In his dull golden eyes, full of something broken.
Then he felt it.
She leaned in even closer, cupping his face in her hands, soft but firm.
Nick froze, startled by the unexpected touch, but he didn’t pull away.
—You say you’re fine— Uzi murmured, —but I see you, N. I really see you.—
Her thumb brushed gently under his eyes, tracing the dark shadows that had settled there.
—You look angry. And tired. Like you haven’t slept in days.—
Nick’s throat tightened. Because Uzi wasn’t just looking at him. She was stripping him bare.
—But that’s not it, is it?— she continued, fierce tenderness in her voice. —It’s not the lack of sleep. It’s not the exhaustion. It’s her.—
Nick swallowed hard.
—Uzi-—
But she didn’t back away.
—It’s the emptiness she leaves behind every time she lets go of you— she whispered. —And you keep waiting. Like a lost puppy. As if, at some point, she'd really come back.—
The words hit something in his chest. Something deep, yet another thing he'd tried to ignore.
Nick felt the burning in his eyes before he could stop it. And Uzi noticed. Of course she did,she noticed everything about him lately.
She tightened her grip on his face, forcing him to look at her, forcing him to stay in the present.
The silence between them was thick. The party’s music grew louder.
They stared at each other, unflinching. The atmosphere shifted.
Uzi leaned in just a little closer.
—You know you can do better than this...— she whispered.
He was already broken, so what did it matter? To finally follow something he longed for, to leave the loneliness he was in and take what should be his.
—Then what do you suggest?—he asked, his voice low.
Uzi didn’t answer. Instead, she took his wrist. She led him down the hallway, away from the noise of the party, pushing open the door to a dimly lit room.
Nick followed, letting himself be pulled along.
The door closed behind them.
The silence was heavy, broken only by the muffled music on the other side. The only light came from the neon glow of the party filtering through the window.
Uzi looked at him, hesitating for just a second, but then Nick raised a hand, brushing his knuckles against her cheek with a tenderness that shattered her.
She didn’t give him time to think.
Their lips met in a desperate, burning clash.
It wasn’t a gentle kiss.
It was a kiss that had been held back for too long, one that burned in their guts, that spoke of every time they’d both wanted something and never taken it.
It was desperation.
N gripped her waist and pulled her closer, devouring her lips like he’d been starving. Uzi gasped against his mouth, her fingers tangling in his hair, sinking into the mess of unruly curls.
Another kiss.
And another.
And another.
Nick gently pushed her against the wall, trapping her between his body and the cold wood. His lips moved down to her jaw, to her neck, and Uzi tilted his head, unable to avoid it, unwilling to avoid it.
In the other room, the party continued.
In here, there were only the two of them.
And neither of them wanted it to end.
≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪
Dawn light filtered through the window, painting the room in shades of orange and gold. The air was thick with the scent of spilled alcohol, perfume, and something more intimate, something that still lingered on Uzi's skin as she sat on the edge of the bed.
Her breathing was unsteady.
The warmth beside her, the clothes scattered on the floor, the lingering sensation on her skin… all of it screamed that what had happened wasn’t a dream.
But she wished it were.
She dragged a hand down her face, trying to sort through her thoughts, but all she managed was to relive the night before: her lips crashing into N’s, his hands mapping her body with urgency, the way he’d whispered her name like she was the only thing in his world—
But she wasn’t.
N wasn’t with her. Not really.
Uzi loved him. She always had. And for a moment, between those kisses and touches, she could pretend he was hers. But reality had been waiting, patient and cruel, for the sun to rise.
Because Nick hadn’t stopped loving Verónica.
Because if V called him right now, he’d run after her without a second thought.
Because Uzi refused to be just an escape.
Her chest ached as she turned to look at him.
N was sleeping soundly, his expression calm, his hair ruffled on the pillow. He looked so... happy. As if in his dreams, everything was okay.
Uzi bit her lip, feeling the sting of tears.
If she stayed any longer, she wouldn’t leave. If she waited for him to wake up, if she saw his sleepy smile and heard his rough voice murmur “good morning”, it would shatter her completely.
So she didn’t.
She rose carefully, gathering her clothes from the floor, dressing in silence while her heart hammered violently.
One last look.
One last second in which she allowed herself to look at him, in which she imagined what it would be like to wake up with him every morning, what it would be like if he chose her...
But it wasn't.
And it probably never would be. It would have been better if all this with him had remained a fantasy.
So, quietly, she opened the door.
The party had ended hours ago, the house in silent chaos. Empty glasses on the tables, bottles rolling on the floor, remnants of a night that felt endless.
Uzi left without looking back.
She didn't see Nick stir in the bed, his hand instinctively searching for something—someone—beside him.
She didn't see his brow furrowed when he couldn't find what he was looking for.
She didn't see him open his eyes slowly, his mind clouded by sleep… and the absence of Uzi by his side.