Chapter Text
N sat on his bed the next morning with his eyes shut peacefully, the shirt he planned to wear that day wrapped around his arms as he stretched out his wings. Having to keep them dormant and hidden for long sucked and he was still getting used to it– he took every chance he could get to let them out.
“Giggles. Pets. Big brother’s wings are so big and soft,” Cyn giggled, petting the feathers on one of N’s wings. The sensation was a bit ticklish to him and his wings fluttered slightly to reflect that.
“I miss flying with them,” N admitted to his sister, looking back at his wings, “Can’t exactly do that down here, else we risk getting caught.”
“Thinking,” Cyn hummed, putting a finger to her chin as she tried to think of a way to help her big brother. Eventually, she smiled, “Brain blast! Maybe big sister Tessa can find a field for you to fly in!”
N hummed back with a smile, “That’s actually a pretty good idea. Might have to ask her about that soon.”
Depending on the size of the fragment they grew from, all angels varied in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. The fragment N came from had been rather big – not the biggest, but still decently sized – which resulted in him not only being tall but also having a rather large set of wings. Again, not the biggest, but they were still bigger than most.
Seeing as Cyn came from a very small piece that had broken off N’s, it explained by she was so small. Her wings were small as well– weak too. She couldn’t do more than hover with them as they weren’t strong enough to carry her for a full-fledged flight.
They had a lot of differences, honestly, but Cyn looked like the spitting image of N when she first gained consciousness– having the same tanned skin, creamy-blonde, curly/fluffy hair, and golden eyes. Since then, she’d grown her hair out and didn’t look so much like N anymore, but one could still tell they were ‘related.’
A loud knock pounded on their bedroom door and V’s voice came from booming from the other side.
“Hurry up, Nate! We’re gonna miss the bus!!”
“Coming!” N responded, pulling in his wings and putting his shirt on.
“Climbs down. Runs. Grabs. Here, big brother!” Cyn smiled, handing N his back. She was struggling to hold it given its weight and N took it from her quickly before she hurt herself.
“Thanks,” He smiled back, petting her head.
“Waves! Have a good day, big brother!” Cyn called, waving to N as he grabbed his jacket and walked out.
“You too!” He called out, walking up to V who was already ready to go.
“What took you so long?” He demanded impatiently.
“Sorry,” N apologized, “I was stretching out my wings a bit.”
V – surprisingly – nodded in understanding, “Ah, I see.”
“How’d you get used to having to hide them all the time?” N asked as they walked down the stairs together.
V shrugged, “It wasn’t that hard for me but still sucked. I bet it’s worst for you those since yours are so big.”
“You think so?” N hummed, rubbing his shoulder a bit.
“It’d make sense to me.”
“Have fun at school ya two!” Tessa shouted as they passed her.
V gave her a halfhearted wave while N shouted a reply to her.
“How’s work with your human coming alone, by the way?” V asked dully as they walked to the bus stop.
N smiled, “It’s going pretty well I’d say! We talked quite a bit yesterday and she even said I could be her friend! Although, she did promise to kick my butt if I messed up– and the one reason we started talking in the first place is that she tried to kill herself and I had to save her…” He said, his voice trailing off into a mumble.
V hummed, “I see. I guess things must be getting pretty tough for her if she finally attempted suicide.”
N frowned, “Van, that sounds really insensitive.”
“It’s the truth,” V countered, her voice still flat, “Here’s the reality, Nate. That girl has been horrendously bullied all her life but never once has she attempted suicide. I’m not being insensitive, I’m telling you the hard-cold truth. If she’s starting to attempt it now, things are getting bad,” She said before turning to N, “So it’s a good thing you’re finally starting to make some progress with her.”
“I just wish I could take all her pain away now, ” N murmured, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring down at the ground.
V went to put her hand on N’s shoulder – trying to be at least somewhat comforting – but backed out and withdrew her hand.
“All guardian angels feel like that at first, but down here you have to play by the rules and take things slow,” She said instead, “Besides, if it helps any, you making way faster progress than I did my first time.”
N looked at V in disbelief, “Really?”
V nodded, “Really.”
He smiled, “Thanks, Van!”
“Stop saying ‘thanks’ to me. You’re starting to sound like a broken record,” V groaned.
“Okay, theeeennnnn… how about I’m grateful for you?”
“Too cheesy.”
“I appreciate you and all your help?”
“No, makes me sound too nice.”
“This?” N said as he stepped in front of V and tipped an invisible hat to her. She shoved him out of the way and continued walking.
“Too old-fashioned. Just stop saying anything!” She hissed.
“But that’s rude!” N cried, running after her.
“Good! You’re too much of goodie-two-shoes anyway!”
———
The moment N walked into first period, he noticed immediately that something was amiss.
All the other students were snickering quietly to themselves, hanging around the edges of the classroom in different little groups– meanwhile, Uzi was smack-dab in the middle, using her light-colored shirt to wipe off black expo marker on her desk.
N couldn’t see what the writing was normally from where he stood, but with a dim glow of his eyes, he could see them clearly– he was disgusted with what he saw.
There was a low-effort and ugly drawing of Uzi being hit by a truck with all sorts of mean and horrible insults surrounding it– things N didn’t even want to repeat to himself.
With the help of his slightly enhanced vision, N could see the other students were hiding tissue boxes and wipes, forcing Uzi to use her shirt to clean her desk.
Humans can be so cruel. He thought to himself as he covered his mouth and pretended to sneeze.
“Bless you!” One girl immediately chirped,
“Oh, thank you!” N said, his hand covering his nose, “Although… I think I need a tissue… Is there any around?” He asked innocently.
“I have some!!” The same girl announced, pulling a box of tissues out from behind her back.
N smiled, reaching into the box and grabbing a few tissues, “Thank you so much, miss.”
The girl instantly swooned and N pursed his lips. He liked it better when Uzi or V yelled at him or something– this just made him uncomfortable.
N brought one of the tissues up to his nose and pretended to have just noticed Uzi.
“Oh! Mind if I borrow these?” He asked the girl before he straight up just took the box, leaving her stunned as he walked over to Uzi.
He grabbed her wrist gently, stopping her from continuing to wipe with her shirt. She whipped her head around and looked like she was about to backhand him, but stopped when she saw who he was.
“Here,” He said, handing her the box of tissues.
She looked at it silently for a moment before she muttered a soft ‘thanks’ and grabbed a few. N set the box down after that and started to help her wipe off all the horrible markings.
N could hear unhappy murmurs going around the room but chose to ignore them. When he noticed Uzi had a troubled expression – most likely caused by the murmurs – he grabbed a clean tissue and poked her shoulder.
“Hey, you wanna know how to make a tissue dance?” He asked, a goofy grin on his face.
Uzi looked unimpressed, “I think I already know.”
“Nuh-uh. It’s top secret– no one knows!”
“Nathan, it is literally one of the most common puns I’ve ever heard.”
“Just trust me?”
Uzi groaned, “ Fine. How do you make a tissue dance?”
N plopped the tissue on top of his head and started doing some sort of stupid dance–
“You put a lil Nate in it,” He said with an equally stupid smug expression.
Uzi pursed her lips tightly, “That was so f*cking stupid.”
“You’re trying not to laugh,” N pointed out, still doing that dumb dance.
“ Would you stop it!? ” Uzi hissed in a whisper, snatching the tissue off N’s head. Her façade cracked, though, and N saw her lips curl up slightly in a smile. He grabbed another tissue and threw it on his head.
“You put a lil Nate in it~” He repeated in a dumb voice, continuing his dance.
“ Nathan!! ” Uzi hissed again, snatching that tissue as well.
She crumpled all their used tissues together and threw them across the classroom into the trash. When she turned around, however, she nearly doubled over.
“Man, it’s a big party night,” N said — somehow calmly — as he danced with the entire tissue box balancing on top of his head.
Uzi bit her lip to stop herself from laughing and grabbed the tissue box, repeatedly whacking N with it.
“Ow, ow, ow!!” N cried albeit he was laughing as well.
“I’m going to kill you one day,” Uzi threatened, her voice barely above a whisper— but while she had contained her laughter, she couldn’t hide her smile.
N looked at her with a serious expression, “I’d be able to escape while you’re grabbing a stool to reach the knives.”
She whacked him extra hard in the head for that one.
The teacher walked into the classroom not long after that and everyone had to take their seats. N could feel the atmosphere of annoyance hanging around the classroom from other students but he couldn’t care less. Instead, he folded his arms and laid his head down, listening to the teacher talk.
He wasn’t saying much— mostly going over yesterday’s test. N could already tell he barely passed but hey, cut him some slack. He just got here!
Suddenly, N felt that familiar pain in his ear but it was dulled and not as sharp. It confused N, honestly, but he figured that wasn’t important. What was important was that it was alerting him something was about to happen to Uzi.
Peeking an eye open, N watched Uzi with his head still down. She seemed fine— drawing her little heart out.
N directed his attention to the other students around the classroom, trying to find the ‘danger’ his earring alerted him of— that’s when he saw it.
There was a pair of boys snickering softly to themselves, writing or drawing something down on a piece of paper and crumbling it up. N already knew what they were doing before they even set eyes on Uzi.
Nope. Not happening. N thought to himself as the balled-up paper took flight— right toward the back of Uzi’s head.
Right before it hit, however, N’s eyes flashed yellow briefly before the paper changed trajectory and landed in the trash can— far, far away from Uzi.
Uzi perked up just as it hit the trash can and looked over her shoulder to see an embarrassed-looking bully.
“Nice shot,” N teased in a mutter only Uzi could hear, his head still down.
Uzi whipped her head around toward N but had to look away again, a hand covering her mouth to stop herself from snickering. The motion made N smile with pride— had his wings been out, they’d be fluttering with happiness.
Guess that alert is for lesser dangers when I’m near her. N concluded, closing his eyes again. He wished it gave him the same alert when she was bullied yesterday, but guessed it was because he wasn’t actively with her– which is bullcrap, in his opinion. Maybe he can, like… change the settings or something… can he do that? He’ll ask V.
———
Uzi might’ve made a mistake by saying N could be her friend because now he followed her around everywhere.
She stared at him in amusem*nt when he sat by her during third period– their art class. He looked back at her with an innocent smile.
“Hi!” He greeted.
“Hello,” She replied, much less enthusiastically, “Do you have to sit by me every class?”
“Of course I do! We’re friends, after all! Also, it’s not every period. I couldn’t last period,” N pointed out.
“No wonder I got so much work done…” Uzi mumbled as she pulled out her art supplies.
Everyone in the class sat on a stool in front of a canvas, the desks and chairs all pushed to the outer edges of the room. The teacher had placed a group of random objects together in the middle of the room and instructed everyone to ‘use what they’d learned so far to paint them.’
N was only able to find a cheap, kid’s watercolor palette in his backpack and some colored pencils. He looked over at Uzi’s setup and saw she had actual, high-quality paint, art pencils, and varying brushes.
He blinked, looked back down at his stuff, and shrugged. It’d work.
About ten minutes in, Uzi had sketched out all the objects in pencil and was fixing to mix paint for their base colors when she looked at N’s canvas and physically recoiled.
“Oh– my God, ” She exasperated, her brown eyes blown wide.
N looked at her in confusion, “What?”
“Oh my God,” Uzi repeated, “You weren’t joking about your art style.”
N huffed a saddened pout and tried to cover his canvas, “Don’t look if you’re gonna make fun of it…”
Uzi shook her head, “N–no, no! I didn’t mean it like that–!”
“Then what did you mean?”
“I just meant that it’s– unique…!” She assured through gritted teeth.
N’s ‘painting’ in question were poorly sketched out shapes in pencil – Uzi assumed they were supposed to be the objects – that N had colored in with the watercolor, the paint so light you could barely see some of the colors and the pencil’s outlines shown right through. Uzi was honestly a little worried about the grade N was about to get.
“Just– here,” Uzi said, snatching the watercolors from N’s hands and setting them down. She grabbed another wooden palette and poured some of her own paints onto it, passing it off to N along with a couple of paintbrushes, “Use these instead.”
N beamed, taking the supplies with a bright smile, “Thanks, Uz!”
“Nope. No nicknames. Stop that.”
“Awh,” N deflated a bit but got over it quickly, happily using the paints Uzi had given him. The girl hummed in satisfaction when his painting was already starting to look much better thanks to the which in paint.
She had just turned her attention back to her own painting when something soft hit the back of her head.
N watched this with a mental curse– having gotten the alert that something was coming but wasn’t able to take his eyes away from his painting fast enough.
Uzi sighed softly and bent down, picking up the crumpled-up piece of paper she’d been hit with and slowly starting to unfold it. N grabbed her wrist gently before she got too far.
“You don’t have to look at it,” He told her, “You can just throw it away.”
“You’ll just keep throwing them till I look,” Uzi said, shaking off N’s hand and continuing to unfold the paper. N glared at the people who had thrown it.
The paper’s contents included a poor, messy painting of Uzi with blazing red dots all over her face, the words ‘UNCLEAN FREAK’ written in bold letters at the top. Said girl stared at it blankly, running her fingers across her cheek subconsciously.
N stared at it with furrowed eyebrows.
“I don’t get it,” He admitted, because he really didn’t– Uzi’s face wasn’t ‘unclean’ or ‘dirty’ at all.
“It’s about my freckles,” Uzi sighed, “They like to poke fun at them.”
“Why?” N questioned, “They’re just freckles.”
Uzi shrugged, crumbling up the paper again, “Who knows? I stopped trying to understand them a long time ago.”
N huffed, “Well, I think freckles are cute! Especially yours– though, I bet if you spent some time in the sun, they’d show more.”
“Perhaps that’s why I avoid doing that,” Uzi mumbled, turning away to hide how flustered his comment made her. ‘Especially yours’– who says that!?
N frowned, watching the girl turn away from what he thought was due to being upset by all the mean comments.
He looked down at the palette Uzi had given him and glanced between a dark brown splotch of paint and a fine-tipped paintbrush…
Hmm… He thought to himself, taking the tip of said brush and lightly dabbing it in the brown. Maybe…
When N didn’t say anything for a while, Uzi looked back at him in question– and freaked almost immediately.
“Stop, stop, stop!! What are you doing!?” She hissed, yanking the paint palette and brush out of N’s hands.
The angel in disguise frowned, “I thought maybe you’d feel better if someone else had freckles too–”
“Dude, at least get yourself a mirror next time!!” Uzi cried, hurriedly grabbing a washcloth and then grabbing N’s face, making the boy whine from the harshness, “Jesus, Nathan–”
“Is it that bad?” N asked, his pronunciation weird sounding from Uzi slightly squishing his mouth.
“I’m not answering that…” Uzi replied, wiping off the large, ugly dots off N’s face. They looked nothing remotely close to freckles and Uzi honestly hoped for N’s safety that no one but her saw.
N frowned, “Sorry…” He mumbled, “I just wanted to help.”
“No, no, don’t say sorry–” Uzi stressed, “I’m not mad, just…” She trailed off, really getting a good look at N’s face…
His skin was a nice, dark tan, and looked nice with his light-colored hair and golden eyes… that earring of his complemented them too…
N stared at Uzi in confusion as the girl unintentionally got closer and closer to his face, sometimes turning it to the side with her eyes narrowed in concentration.
“Um… Uzi?” He tried.
“Hold still,” Uzi told him, finally releasing N’s face. The angel obeyed but rubbed the aching parts of his face from where Uzi roughly held him as she dug through her paint collection.
“What are you doing?” He couldn’t help but ask.
Uzi grabbed some shiny, golden paint, “Giving you freckles.”
N tilted his head but didn’t question the girl further, instead just trusting her to whatever it was she was doing.
Using an even finer-tipped paintbrush, Uzi scooted her stool closer to N.
“Slouch a bit so I can actually reach your face,” She instructed him and N complied easily, “Good teenage boy,” she mused.
N snorted, “What?”
“Don’t move!” Uzi scolded, dotting the golden paint across N’s cheeks and nose. The sensation had him struggling to keep his nose from twitching– it tickled!!
Thoughtfully, Uzi painted shiny, golden freckles all over N’s face, making some big, some small, some light, and some dark– adding variety to make them look like legitimate freckles.
She wasn’t even finished and she was already humming in satisfaction. She was right, the gold looked really pretty on N.
After a while, N closed his eyes and willed himself to relax as Uzi worked. He was excited to see what the ending results would be!! He trusted Uzi’s judgment and ability enough to know it’d look amazing.
His nose twitched and Uzi cursed at him softly when he felt that same, dull sting from earlier.
Uzi was in the middle of wiping the smushed paint off N’s nose when the boy brought up his arm and blocked a paintbrush that had been flying toward Uzi’s head.
“Woah,” She blinked, watching the paintbrush fall and clatter on the ground. She turned back to N, whose eyes were open now, “How’d you even see that??”
N sweatdropped and smiled sheepishly, “A… hunch?”
“Only spent two days around me and you already have senses built around my bullying,” Uzi muttered, going back to painting N’s freckles, “Wonder what that says about me…”
“Nothing,” N assured without hesitation, “It says a lot about them, ” He corrected, glancing at the seething bullies across the room.
One of the guys sneered when he saw N looking at him.
“Of course, you’d hang around her. Only gay guys wear makeup,” He hissed.
“Well, first off it’s paint, not makeup, although there’s nothing wrong with that,” N started to list, “Second, there’s nothing wrong with being gay either, and third,” He continued before smiling, “You’re just mad that I’m pretty~”
While the guy grew red in the face, Uzi snorted and laughed, not even trying to cover up her laughter this time– in fact, she hoped it pissed off the bullies.
N smiled brightly at Uzi’s laughter, feeling rather accomplished with himself– he could feel his body trying to flutter the muscles of his wings that weren’t there.
As Uzi laughed, however, her stool started to tip back a bit, and she nearly fell before N grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her back up.
Uzi grabbed onto his wrist, her eyes wide from the sudden scare. She ignored the snickers from the bullies around her.
“Jesus– I think my life just flashed before my eyes,” She breathed out and N chuckled.
“Let’s not have another life-threatening experience, okay??” He stressed– jokingly to Uzi but seriously in reality.
“No promises,” Uzi sighed, letting go of N’s wrist as he let go of her shirt.
“Are you finished with the freckles, by the way?” N asked and Uzi hummed, looking over his face.
“Yeah,” She decided, “I think I’m done.”
N smiled, “Can I see?” He asked and Uzi imagined a dog tail behind him, wagging rapidly.
“Yeah, hold up,” Uzi said, pulling out her phone from her pocket and opening the camera app, “Smile and sit up straight.”
Since he’d already been smiling, N’s smile only widened as he sat up straight. As Uzi angled her phone to get a good photo, she thought back to what N had said earlier–
“You’re just mad that I’m pretty~”
She was nearly positive N just said that to get under the guy’s skin but…
No, N was really pretty…
She shook her head and snapped the photo, pushing that thought to the furthest corners of her mind as she passed off the phone, “Here.”
N took the deceive with care and squinted at the screen for a moment before his bright smile returned.
“I love them!!” He exclaimed, looking up at Uzi, “You really are a great artist!!”
Uzi flushed a bit, “Dude, they’re just dots… ” She grumbled, looking off to the side.
“Yeah, but they look so real!!” N countered, holding up Uzi’s phone to get a better look at himself, “So pretty!”
“Well, that has nothing to do with my skill,” Uzi mumbled, “I had a pretty canvas.”
“You think I’m pretty?” N asked immediately.
“Oop, would you look at that! There’s the bell!” Uzi called, hopping up from her chair.
N blinked, “But the bell hasn’t rung yet—”
“ BEEEEEEEEPPPP! Yes, it did! Okay, see you next period!!” Uzi said before bolting out of the classroom, the teacher yelling at her angrily for ditching before the bell rang.
N stared at the door, completely dumbfounded. He still had her phone and Uzi hadn’t even bothered to put her paints and canvas up.
———
When N got to fourth period and sat beside Uzi, he returned her phone, paints, and brushes (which he had cleaned and put up for her). She mumbled a ‘thanks’ and ‘sorry’ to him and N decided it’d be best not to mention what had happened– though he was still lingering on the fact that Uzi called him pretty.
It’s not like he hadn’t been called that before by other humans– he figured it was because he was an angel or something along those lines. Humans always fonded over angels, it bothered N, honestly. But something about Uzi saying it… It just felt different. It felt honest.
N fidgeted with his hands, staring blankly at his desk… It felt nice…
He got a few weird glances from students the rest of the day, most likely due to his golden freckles, but he didn’t care. He liked them so he was going to keep them. Besides, he wanted to show Cyn after school!
———
N blinked, staring down at the foreign contents in his locker with confusion.
Upon further inspection, there seemed to be two rectangular pieces of paper with something about ice cream on them then a notecard with a random string of numbers and the words ‘call me! :)’ written beneath it.
The three pieces of paper confused N so – naturally – he went and found his dear friend Uzi by her locker to ask her about it.
“Hey, Uzi?” He called and the girl peeked out from her locker.
“Oh, hey,” She said, closing her locker, “Wassup?”
“Do you know what these are supposed to be?” He asked, handing the slips to her, “I found them in my locker.”
Uzi got a grumpy look on her face, “These are coupons to an ice cream shop downtown,” She said, holding up the color coupons, “And this is a personal note with a girl’s phone number.”
N titled his head, “Phone number?”
“Yeah, to, like, call her?” Uzi said, making a face.
“But I don’t have a phone.”
“ What!? ” Uzi exasperated, “Dude, you’re like, what, eighteen like me?”
“Yep,” N lied with a sweat.
“How are you alive? What teenager doesn’t have a phone??”
“Um… me?” N said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “I guess my, uh, parents just never got me one and I never wanted one.”
Uzi sighed, running a hand down her face, “Right, so this girl’s number is useless. Though, I doubt you would’ve wanted it to begin with…” She mumbled, crumpling up the postcard and throwing it away in a nearby trashcan.
“What do I do with these then?” N asked, taking the coupons back.
Uzi shrugged, “I don’t know, dude. Go get some free ice cream, I guess.”
“Will you come with me?” N asked immediately and Uzi blinked in surprise.
“Seriosuly? You wanna waste that on me??”
N frowned, “It’s not being wasted on you… I think it’d be fun!”
“Still… are you sure you wanna go with me? ” Uzi said, emphasizing the ‘me’ part like N was making some huge mistake.
“Yes, I do,” N replied with a soft smile, “I really liked hanging you with you today! I wanna do it more. If you don’t wanna go though, that’s okay. I’ll take my little sister.”
“No, no, I… I wanna go,” Uzi mumbled, her voice growing quieter and quieter the more she spoke. N didn’t take note of her freckles as he cheered.
“Yay! Let’s go then!!” N exclaimed, grabbing Uzi’s wrist and dragging her out of the school.
“Jesus– Nathan, slow down!! ” Uzi cried, struggling to keep up with her short legs.
N stopped suddenly once they reached the school gates and looked around dumbly.
“Um…” He turned back to Uzi sheepishly, “How do we get there exactly…?”
Uzi groaned, “Of course,” She said then, with a sigh, pulled her wrist from N’s hold and instead grabbed his, yanking him in the direction of the ice cream shop, “Come on, dumbass.”
N smiled happily and let the human pull him towards the store.
He thought they were making pretty good progress!! He was able to prevent most of the bullying attempts made towards Uzi and even got her to laugh!
Of course, he knew things weren’t that simple– that even if Uzi was smiling and laughing now, she was still hurting underneath. Grieving her mother and dealing with years of trauma… N was only scratching the surface.
Call it some sort of guardian angel hunch or something, but N could practically feel Uzi’s internal pain and it made him sick to his stomach. He only hoped she’d open up to him soon so he could help…
Eventually, the two of them reached the ice cream shop and walked inside.
“What do you want?” Uzi asked him.
N blinked, “What do you suggest?”
“Well, what do you like?”
“I’ve never had ice cream before.”
“Dude, do you live under a rock!? ” Uzi cried.
Above one, actually. N thought but he kept that to himself and merely shrugged.
Uzi sighed, “Okay, okay, uhhhh…” She looked at the menu, “I’ll just get you the same thing I get.”
“Okay!” N smiled.
“Gimme the coupons,” Uzi said, holding out her hand. N happily handed them over.
Uzi walked up to the cashier.
“Good afternoon!” The girl greeted, “What can I get for you today?”
“Can we have two Oreo sundaes with no peanut butter?” Uzi asked, holding out the coupons, “Also we have these.”
The worker took them before typing in their order on her little machine. She turned back to Uzi with a smile, “Alright, looks like these coupons about cover it! Your order number is five-ninety-six.”
“Thanks,” Uzi nodded, taking the receipt the girl handed her and walking over to N, “Ordered. Now we wait.”
N nodded, “What’d you order us?”
“An Oreo sundae,” She said, “It’s, like, basic vanilla ice cream with crushed-up Oreos and some peanut butter. I told her to forgo the peanut butter, though.”
“Mmm, sounds good!” N smiled. He’d never had any of that but he trusted Uzi’s judgment! Well, he’d had peanut butter before from when Tessa made Cyn a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Cyn insisted N have a bite. But seeing as Uzi ordered to not have that, it didn’t exactly matter.
Uzi nodded, “It is, was mine and my…” She paused, seeming to hesitate, “It was mine and my mom’s favorite…” She said in a murmur, “I haven’t had it since she passed… I guess I forgot.”
N gave her an understanding and gentle smile, “Well, let’s enjoy it together in her memory, yeah? I know I’m not her but… I’m sure she’d be happy to know you’re still sharing it with a friend.”
Uzi stared at N silently for a moment before she looked down with a small smile, “Yeah… a friend.”
“Five-ninety-six!” Another worker called out.
“Woah, that was fast,” Uzi mused, walking up to the counter and grabbing their sundaes.
“Ooo, they look so yummy!” N smiled, looking at the clear, plastic cups in Uzi’s hand.
Uzi snorted, “Dude, you sound like a kid,” She said, handing him his sundae and walking outside to one of the outside tables.
“I feel like one!!” N said, admiring his sundae as he followed Uzi.
“Here,” Uzi gave him a plastic spoon once he sat down.
“Thank you!” He replied, taking the spoon. Just as he scooped up a bite, however, he flinched.
Uzi, who had just taken a bite herself and even still had her spoon in her mouth, asked, “You good?”
“Y–yeah,” N stuttered, looking around in confusion.
His earring alerted him again, but this time the pain was sharp and alarming– like Uzi was in extreme danger… but he didn’t see anything that could be a threat anywhere, even with his enhanced vision.
What…? He questioned to himself helplessly, looking back at Uzi. Said girl was making a weird face.
She took her spoon out of her mouth and smacked her lips questioningly, “Why is this spicy?? ”
“Spicy…?” N repeated in confusion.
Shouldn’t it just be sweet?
N put his spoonful of ice cream in his mouth and made a face as well– although, it was for a different reason compared to Uzi.
It was sweet. Cold too. Just like N expected it to be. It wasn’t spicy at all– but N did taste some peanut butter. Did Uzi think peanut butter was spicy?
“It’s not spic–” N started to say but paused when he saw Uzi.
She didn’t look good at all. She was pale and had a hand around her throat– like she was struggling to breathe.
“Uzi?” N asked worriedly, standing up and rushing to her side, “Are you choking??”
Uzi shook her head and N’s concern increased when he got a better look at her face– she looked scared, terrified even.
“Uzi, what’s wrong??” He panicked, putting his hands on her shoulder.
Uzi tried to talk but she couldn’t, all she could get out were high-pitched wheezes as her face slowly turned red.
“Uzi!!” N cried but noticed the girl weakly pointing at her cup.
“Cup…? Your sundae…?” N muttered, trying to rack his brain for what she could be trying to tell him.
Come on! He cursed himself, hitting the side of his head to try and clear his thoughts. If it was severe enough, he had the ability to heal her, but he needed to know what to heal her from.
Come on, N, think!!
Uzi grabbed onto N’s wrist, her grip tight as she continued struggling to breathe. This only made N more frantic.
Sundae. Sundae. She said it was spicy. N quickly grabbed Uzi’s spoon and took a brief, speedy bite of her sundae. It tasted the same as his. It wasn’t spicy at all.
“It’s, like, basic vanilla ice cream with crushed-up Oreos and some peanut butter. I told her to forgo the peanut butter, though.”
Did that mean something?
“Peanut butter…?” N mumbled and Uzi hit his chest, hard. That helped it click for N– Uzi was having an allergic reaction.
Without a second’s hesitation, N cupped Uzi’s face and put his forehead to hers, his eyes glowing a bright yellow that Uzi couldn’t see because hers were squeezed shut.
Please, please, please. Please tell me I wasn’t too late. Please. N pleaded internally, rushing to try and heal Uzi. For a moment, he was scared that it was too late– that the damage was too severe.
Fortunately, Uzi slowly started to calm down and N could hear her breathing clear up and the color return to her face. He nearly passed out from relief.
It took a few more seconds, but eventually, N was able to completely reverse the allergic reaction and the glow in his eyes faded before Uzi opened hers. He let go of her face.
“Oh… my f*cking… God, ” She rasped, immediately grabbing the cup with her sundae and tossing it in the trash.
“Are you okay??” N asked for the umpteenth time, “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
Uzi coughed and sniffed, rubbing her throat. She took a few, deep breaths before shaking her head, “No… I don’t think so. But…” She looked confused, “I don’t get how the reaction just… stopped. ”
“I wouldn’t question it,” N said quickly, “I’m just grateful you’re okay.”
“Yeah… I guess,” Uzi mumbled.
“But,” N suddenly became stern, grabbing Uzi’s hand and squeezing it, “Why didn’t you tell me you had allergies? Especially one so severe?”
“I didn’t think it mattered,” Uzi countered, getting annoyed, “I asked for no peanut butter. It shouldn’t have been a problem. It’s never been a problem.”
“Still! You should’ve told me just in case!” N cried, “And you should’ve had an Eppi pen with you! Why don't you??”
“I didn’t think I’d need it!”
“You never know when you might need it! That’s why it’s important you always have it, Uzi!!”
“Would you quit f*cking yelling at me!?”
“ No!! ” N hissed before he stopped and took a deep breath, sitting down in the chair beside Uzi and rubbing his face. He never let go of her hand, “I’m sorry, just… you can’t be so careless with something like this, Uz. You could’ve died just now.”
Uzi bit her lip and turned away from N. She didn’t say anything in response because she didn’t have any excuse.
N sighed again, before randomly grabbing his sundae and tossing it in the trash too.
“Tasted nasty, anyway,” He grumbled and Uzi snorted.
“Okay, I know that was a lie. You’re just being petty.”
“It almost killed my friend! I’m allowed to be petty!” He turned to Uzi, “Do you have any other allergies?” Uzi shook her head, “Okay, how about any type of medical condition?”
“ No, Nathan, I’m fine,” Uzi insisted.
“So are you done with you’re near-death experiences?”
“Are you done saving me from them?”
“Are you mad at me for saving you still?”
“No–” Uzi sighed, “Sorry, I’m just… I don’t know.”
“I don’t know either. This conversation is weird. And isn’t going anywhere!” N said before standing up, letting go of Uzi’s hand.
“I just wanna go home,” Uzi admitted.
“Yeah, I figured. Let me take you?” N offered with a caring smile.
“Yes, please…” Uzi mumbled because, for once since her mother’s passing, she didn’t want to be alone.
———
The walk to Uzi’s house was quiet but that didn’t bother her. She was just grateful that Nathan was there beside her.
She felt bad. She probably scared him really badly– she had been scared too, truthfully. She regretted not telling him and she regretted not being more prepared– but she supposes it doesn’t matter now. At least she’s learned her lesson and lived to tell the tale.
It’s still just… so odd to her how the reaction just stopped. That’s never happened before. That doesn’t just happen. But she had no explanation.
I mean… She glanced at her friend walking beside her, hands in his pocket as he lightly kicked at a pebble on the ground. Nathan did, like… grab my face or something… but it’s not like he could’ve done something– he’s just human after all.
Nathan turned to Uzi and smiled. The freckles she’d painted on his face were still there– glimmering under the street lights. His earring sparkled too. Uzi found herself subconsciously reaching up to touch it.
“Uzi?” Nate called and she jumped, retracting her hand immediately.
“Sorry,” She mumbled, embarrassed, “Your earring is just… interesting, I guess. Why only one ear? Is your other ear pierced too? What made you pierce them?” She couldn’t help but ask.
Nathan hummed, seeming to think for a moment, “Erm… I’m… sharing the other one with my little sister,” He settled on, “She has the same earring as me and no, the other one isn’t pierced. I also didn’t exactly decide on that– my parents did when I was young and I just, kept it, I guess.”
“You’ve mentioned your litter sister a lot,” Uzi pointed out, “What’s she like?”
“Oh, she’s great!” Nathan smiled, “Super silly, love her so much.”
“Does she go to school?”
“Ah– no, she doesn’t. She has some disabilities that make it easier for her to just stay home.”
Uzi hummed in understanding, stealing the pebble from Nathan like some sort of soccer match and kicking it herself. She noticed how he didn’t seem to care, “I’m an only kid, and contrary to what I hear everyone else say, I’m glad. I don’t think I could handle a sibling.”
“I get that,” Nathan mused, “There’s a lot of hardships that come with having a sibling, I’ll admit, but I’m glad I have Cyn…thia,” He stumbled.
Uzi raised an eyebrow, “Cyn – insert long pause – thia? That her name?”
“Okay, you actually sounded a lot like her there, and no– I’m just– used to calling her by her nickname, I guess–” He chuckled sheepishly.
“Weirdo…” Uzi mumbled, eyeing him suspiciously before continuing to kick the pebble, “Also, what did you mean by I sounded like her??”
Nathan smiled at her, “You’ll see what I mean one day.”
“You plan on us meeting?”
“Well, of course!! My little sister and best friend– two of my favorite people!! You guys have to meet, it’s law!” Nathan declared.
Uzi snorted, “What law?”
“Nate’s law!”
“That’s not a thing.”
“Is too. I’ll even bring you the handbook tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll be prepared to handle the DIY scrapbook you throw together tonight tomorrow morning.”
Nathan huffed and bumped into Uzi’s shoulder lightly, “Meanie.”
Uzi bumped back, “Big baby.”
Before the two realized it, they had reached Uzi’s house.
Uzi paused at the end of the path leading up to the steps of her house and contemplated something.
“Uzi?” Nathan questioned just as Uzi made her decision.
“Hold this,” Uzi ordered, taking off her backpack and shoving it in Nathan’s hands. The boy was startled but did as told, holding her bag as she rummaged through it.
She ended up pulling out a notepad and pen and quickly wrote something down before handing it to Nathan.
“What’s this?” Nathan asked as Uzi zipped up her bag and threw it back over her shoulder.
“My email. I know you should’ve been given a school laptop so we can talk through email since you don’t have a phone,” She explained.
Nathan smiled brightly– so bright, Uzi thought it must’ve been daytime.
“Great!! I’ll email you later tonight!!” He exclaimed and Uzi imagined that wagging tail again.
“Don’t get too excited,” Uzi huffed, “It’s just an email.”
“But it’s your email.”
Uzi flushed and she turned away from Nathan quickly.
“Whatever…” She grumbled, “I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”
“Of course! See you!!” Nathan grinned, waving to Uzi as he started walking down the sidewalk. For a moment, Uzi wondered where he lived…
Choosing to forget about it for now, Uzi shook her head and entered her house.
“Uzi! Where were you!?” Khan demanded immediately once she got inside, “I nearly called the police!”
Uzi blinked, not expecting her dad to be home let alone acknowledge her– he looked stressed too…
“Sorry…” Uzi breathed out, “I was out with a friend. I guess I forgot to text you…” She said as she glanced at her phone– yep, she had tons of missed notifications from her dad… oops.
Khan sighed, rubbing a tired hand down his face, “Right, just… text me next time. I thought– I thought something had happened to you,” He mumbled, his voice quiet– fragile. Uzi suddenly felt like a huge asshole.
Something did almost happen. She realized. Because I was too careless… It was always Dad getting onto me for being careful too.
I almost left him alone.
Before Uzi could understand what she was doing, she ran to her dad and hugged him tightly– damn near knocking the wind out of him.
“Zi…?” Her father questioned, quiet and unsure. Uzi didn’t say anything in response, only clung to him tighter.
After a moment, he hugged her back, just as tightly as she hugged him.
That was probably the best hug she’d had in a while.
