Chapter 18: Push, Nolan!

The anonymous texts lingered in our minds. Nolan and I were on our way to my house. I observed my partner who held the steering wheel tightly and chewed on his fingernails. He kept glancing at his phone which he connected to the car charger before we left school.

"Nolan, can you quit fretting?"

"The doctors said I still had at least two decades to live! Not anymore! Someone's gonna murder me tomorrow!"

"It's probably a prank," I assured. Nolan shook his head and gave me a glance that told me he was hiding something. "Did something happen?"

Nolan didn't reply rather pulled the car in the farthest lane and put the blinkers on. Genuine concern came over me as I observed Nolan's distraught expression. Of course, he had no one else to tell everything except his parents and . . . me.

"Someone broke into my house yesterday night--"

"What?!" I said in disbelief.

He ran a hand through his hair and turned his body my way in his seat before communicating. "It was about two in the morning. As usual, I was fast asleep and dreaming. My mind was already tense because of the messages. Somehow, I felt something fishy--you know that weird gut feeling?--and decided to open my eyes. And boom! Right in front of me is someone holding a knife, ready to pounce on me. I had to put a fight for my life. My parents' weren't home."

I stared wide-eyes at Nolan. I would've had a heart attack if I ended in that situation.

"Did the person hurt you?" I asked. Nolan started opening the buttons of his shirt and before I could question him, my eyes met a nasty gash on Nolan's torso. My heart almost flipped at how much danger Nolan was in. True, he hadn't done the right thing blackmailing me and forcing me into break ups, but he didn't deserve to get injured. The guy already had a heart problem. No need for additional trauma. On its own accord, my hand slowly reached out towards his chest, but I quickly pulled back, making it awkward for both parties. What was I doing?! "Did you notify the cops?" I asked, trying to cover my embarrassment.

"Yeah. But before they could reach us, the guy escaped."

"How do you know it was a guy?"

"His voice. Very deep and . . . he sounded like he had a cold. But who could it be?"

I couldn't pinpoint who the person could be. If it was a guy, then the list narrowed to the males in the break ups so far. Who could it be? Nate? No. He wasn't that type of guy. Eric? No. He was happy to get rid of his "pieface" girlfriend. Vince? Possible. Connor? Possible, if a fortune teller told him he had to murder Nolan. No, he wasn't that bad. The next candidate had a high probability though.

Chase.

Ninety-nine percent, yes.

But he was in New York.

Vince and Chase were my only guesses so far, but innocent till proven guilty. I was about to tell Nolan when we heard tapping on the driver's seat window. Nolan turned, revealing an officer in uniform outside.

I grimaced when stupid Nolan hurried to close his shirt buttons.

Way to go, son of an idiot.

"You kids can't even leave roads alone, nowadays?" the cop asked, disgusted once Nolan pulled the window down.

"We weren't--" I started to explain.

"Move it before I hand you a ticket," he said, turning away.

I was about to elaborate on the situation when Nolan apologized and drove the car back to the regular lane. We were headed to my house, even though I still had two hours before my parents expected me home.

I knew Nolan wasn't in the best of the situations, so I took a drastic step (drastic enough for me, anyways).

"Do you want to go out for ice cream?" Why did I pick ice cream when the weather was two degrees Fahrenheit?

"No."

That went well.

"C'mon. I want to spend more time with you before you die."

Nolan's answer was a straight up no. Again and again. At the end, I accepted defeat. Nolan wanted to be left alone before Valentine's Day. He dropped me at my house.

"Take care," I told him. "If I can help, just give me a call."

I only said that for formality's sake. The only help I could give was calling the cops. Nolan just nodded and I stepped out of the car.

I hoped nothing happened to him.

True, I hated him. However, I never wished death upon my worst enemy and Nolan was still a friend.

¤》¤《¤

I called Paris a long time after dinner and homework. My doors and windows were locked, for the sake of safety.

"What's up?" Paris answered after the fourth calling beeps. I quickly greeted him and explained the reason behind my calling. "He was attacked? Threat messages? What the hell, Helen? Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" I could hear his concern.

"You can't do anything more than what the cops can."

"True, but still, I don't want either one of you in danger."

Sometimes he really confused me. "For someone whose sister's ex-boyfriend was Nolan, you sure care about him a lot. You sure you don't have like a secret crush on Nolan?" I slightly chuckled at the thought of Paris dating Nolan.

"Hardee har har. You're hilarious," he replied dryly. "I have a girlfriend, if you forgot." Need he remind me of that again. He ended things before they even started with that statement.

"What's her name?" I casually asked.

"Helen, duh."

"Excuse me?"

"Have you not read Greek mythology? Paris dated Helen and took her to Troy." I frowned, not comprehending. So, did he have a girlfriend or not? Was he referring to Helen in the story or did he know another Helen in real life (except me). My silence got to him. "Yes, I'm dating a fictional chic, if you're wondering." I let out a small laugh. For some reason, that statement cheered me up. Just a little bit. "Helen?" He sounded serious.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful," he said in a gentle tone. It was nice to see someone caring, though he lived in the state next to mine. "Nolan's already in trouble, and you're his partner. Don't do anything stupid. Please."

"Too late for that. I'm already trying to become Nolan's girlfriend--"

"That's not the point," he intervened. "Just be careful and don't go asking for trouble."

"As you wish, mom," I said in a sweet tone.

"Thanks, sweetheart," he said.

Sweetheart? My mom never called me "sweetheart." Maybe "honey." Before I could add more thought to the "sweetheart" comment, there was a beep and I dragged the phone away from my ear, finding Nolan calling.

I big Paris goodbye and attended to Nolan. Was he in trouble? It was eleven pm. Did someone attack him already?

It wasn't even Valentine's day, yet!

"Nolan?" I said and sat up in bed.

"Hey, Helen, I kind of needed a favor . . . a huge one."

The favor was nothing I ever expected.

¤》¤《¤

"Push, Nolan!"

"Pull, dumbass!"

"Physics! If you push yourself up more--"

"Equal and opposite force. Gravity will push me down, Helen."

He was right.

He climbed over the edge of my window, into my room. He was taller than me and still struggle to climb into the first story room. Okay, maybe muddy ground can pose as an obstacle. It started raining an hour after Nolan dropped me home.

I groaned, seeing the mud in my room. Seeing my upset composure, Nolan took off his shoes and set them on the window sill.

When he had asked for a huge favor, I never guessed for it to be spending the night at my place! The cops feared something wrong would happen tonight and suggested Nolan to stay over at friend's house. Unfortunately, his current friend was Helen Postulet.

"Thanks for letting me stay," he said, running a hand through his damp hair, some strands clinging to his forehead.

"No problem," I said. I was a great friend, wasn't I?

The only reason I agreed was because in case something happened to him, I'd have it on my conscience that I didn't let him stay over. I still carried the guilt of Hanna and her unborn child with me.

I awkwardly sat down on my bed and Nolan sat down on my beanbag.

I completely forgot about arrangements for him. I grabbed my extra blanket from my closet and handed it to him. He might as well fall asleep if he liked. I already made it clear that my parents would be against letting him stay over even if he said he was in danger. They didn't have high trusts on us since New York.

Plus, they might think it's on purpose for Valentine's day.

The sounds for the first fifteen minutes only came from the roaring thunderclouds. What beautiful weather! My least favorite! It wasn't that I was afraid of thunder or the dark. My fear lied with the ominous lightening which I always thought would strike me. I felt safe inside the house, but lightening could strike outside. I left the windows open though, for Nolan to climb out in the morning.

I checked the weather reports and a big storm was projected tonight. Great for Valentine's day or no?

"Can I ask you something?" Nolan randomly asked. We were both wide awake.

"Shoot."

"Be honest, why were you trying to serenade me?" He still hadn't let that go? Now, I had to keep hinting (remember subtly) that I liked him.

"Take a guess."

"Do you know how weird you are, Hel-en?" He sat up a bit straighter, now looking at me. "One minute you're dying to get out of the blackmail and the next, you walk into the hospital and decide to be my best friend. One time you're trying to help plan out the break up and the next you're throwing a tantrum calling my name in order to stop the break up. One moment you're kissing my cheek and the next you're serenading me. Can you straight up tell me your motive?"

I didn't expect such a list of guesses and inquiries.

"I want to help you, but I don't want to hurt someone innocent," I responded, playing with the phone in my hand. "You're my first friend, Nolan, in a long time. And a guy at that." I bit my tongue. He expression didn't drop. "Don't get me wrong, but I really wish we could forget the revenge scheme and just . . .  you know . . . hangout."

Hangout like never.

"Do you like me, Hel-en?" He narrowed his eyes at me.

I held back my laugh. At least, my subtle hints were working. "Goodnight, Nolan," I smiled and lay down, pulling my covers up all the way. Laughter came even harder when you were trying to hide it.

Now, the big confession was tomorrow if we made it that far.

I pulled my covers down slightly, to gain oxygen for breathing.

I tried to fall asleep and failed miserably. Having another person in my space wasn't reassuring, even if I knew Nolan for the past month and a half.

After a bit, Nolan called my name. I didn't respond, pretending to be fast asleep. Some moments later, I felt a weight drop on my bed. What was Nolan planning? I kept my eyes shut tightly. Nolan slightly lifted my warm hand with his ice cold one and put some index card-type paper in it. What was it?

"Happy Valentine's Day," Nolan whispered. He even went to the extent to pushing my hair behind my ears. "You're free for good."

He soon left. I made sure the coast was clear before checking what he had handed me.

When I saw the items, I nearly passed out.

Nolan returned the photos he had blackmailed me for.

¤》¤《¤

A/N

Merry christmas and a happy new year in advance. How are the holidays going?

Thoughts on the chapter? Think Nolan's softening up? Does Helen even like him?

Thank you a lot for the support so far <3 love ya peeps! Btw, i keep forgetting to mention but this story's a mixture of "The Infamous Freak" and "Cupid's dreadful mistake." These were 2 stories in my drafts. I had only published TIF but then unpublished it due to a lack of a good plot. Just wanted to let the readers who read that know :) thanks a lot for sticking with me!

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