Chapter Text
His friends were acting weird.
In hindsight, it’d started the day before yesterday but he’d been too off himself to really notice. The week had been hard. The internet critiques were getting worse, he was bordering on exhausted, bouncing from one place to another constantly, and he missed the family and friends that weren’t traveling with him. He also, perhaps most importantly, really fucking missed Olandria. So much so that it was starting to make him tweak a little bit.
Which was slightly ridiculous because it hadn’t been that long since the last time he’d seen her (even if it was way too brief for his liking) and he spoke to her everyday. He was also a day or two away from seeing her again, seeing her in his home state at that, surrounded by the other people he loved. With all things considered, regarding O, he should be fine. Logically. Theoretically.
Alas, he was, indeed, not fine. He was a little cranky, a little more prone to snap, both online and offline, and his energy was sinking to a level that felt too far down to bring back up.
So yeah, he’d been a little too slow on the uptake to notice how odd his friends were being. It’d finally started to click last night though, once he noticed how much Quan and Max kept looking at him like they were anticipating something. Or planning something. They’d stare at him every few minutes, get a funny look in their eye, then go back to looking at their phones, thumbs moving fast like they were trying to break a record in speed typing.
And when Nic thinks about it Quan had also been taking more phone calls than usual the past few days, leaving a room if Nic was in it to go speak elsewhere. Which, like, fucking rude but whatever. Xavier and Alex were more giggly than usual, even with his snark, and suddenly very concerned with making sure their cameras were in perfect condition for the upcoming DMV show. They claimed it was for all the “Nicolandria Avengers”.
Still, that all could have maybe been explained away in some form or another. Had it not been for what occurred five seconds ago that is.
The Ethans had come into the kitchen where the rest of the crew was slowly waking up, everyone having just rolled out of bed with the sunrise. They’d asked what the plan for the day was. Nic looked at Quan— he knew what the day would be but he trusted Quan to relay it better than himself. Nic was still blinking crust out of his eyes, most of his attention focused on willing his phone to ping with Olandria’s daily good morning text.
Quan was trying to figure out how to turn the coffee maker on when he answered with, “We’ll head to the hotel in a couple hours. Drop everything off, get settled, get ready, then pick up a bite to eat before heading to the venue around 6 probably. Nic’s got the meet & greets at 7, his appearance for the set isn’t until about an hour or so after that finishes up, depending on how long it takes.”
Ethan nodded along happily. “Yeah, but when is Olandria-”
Nic doesn’t think he’s ever seen Quan move that fast and he quite literally just raced him in the street the other day. The man completely abandons his war with the coffee maker, spinning around and yeeting himself across the kitchen to Ethan, slapping his hands over the boy’s mouth so hard there’s a muffled yelp from the victim through Quan’s cupped palms. And as if that isn’t already bizarre as shit, Max isn’t far behind, jumping onto Ethan’s back like a damn spider monkey and joining Quan in covering Ethan’s mouth. Xavier and Alex both freeze, looking wide eyed and panicked, like they’re scared to breathe too hard and cause the room to blow.
What the hell is going on?
“Yeah, okay, what the fuck is happening right now?” There’s pure confusion in Nic’s voice, his brows scrunching up.
The boys are all still as stone, Ethan now looking deeply alarmed as he and Quan have some type of silent communication via intense eye contact. Max is still hanging from Ethan’s frame like an oversized backpack, legs dangling around his waist. It’s such a wild scene to look at that it takes Nic a minute to comprehend what came out of Ethan’s mouth before all hell broke loose.
“Did you say Olandria? What about her?”
“He did not say Olandria.” Quan says. Deathly calm.
“Uh, yes he did.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Yes, he did.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Quan, yes, he did.”
“Nah, I don’t think so.”
“Dude, yes he did!”
Max releases his hands, one moving to simply hang around Ethan’s neck, the other he uses to scratch his chin, like he’s really trying to solve a mystery. “Maybe you misheard him?”
“When have I ever misheard someone saying Olandria’s name?” Do they think he’s some type of ammature? That name might as well be a fucking bat signal for him, he’s tunned in immediately the second he hears it.
“Maybe you just wanted him to say it? So you think you heard it?”
“Max, what the hell?”
“I mean, it kinda makes sense. You miss her, right? So, like, maybe you miss her so much you’re starting to, like, lose your mind and you’re hearing things, you know? It’s possible, I saw this movie one time and the guy was definitely losing it, and the first sign was him hearing things. Granted, he was being haunted by a poltergeist or some shit, so maybe not exactly like that, but-”
“Did you just compare my girlfriend to a poltergeist?”
Max actually gasps and clutches his chest like he’s gripping pearls. “I would never!”
“Then what, the actual fuck, are you talking about?”
“I don’t know!” Max whines, pouting and affronted. Still on top of Ethan.
Maybe Nic needs new friends. Or to have not made friends with his temporary employers. Because this cannot be normal.
Quan finally moves away from the piggy backed duo. He turns to Nic. Nic raises his eyebrow. Quan opens his mouth, pauses, then “Nope.”
And he walks back to the coffee machine as if a caffeine drip is the answer to everything.
“Quan.”
“Nope.”
“Quan.”
“Nuh-uh, nope, not before coffee.”
“Quan! I swear to -,”
“He was asking about Olandria!” Alex suddenly screeches.
Every head turns to him. Quan looks ready to chuck the machine at him, Etha-Max almost look ready to charge him, other Ethan just stands with an agape mouth, and Xavier is slowly trying to back away from Alex like he’s a ticking time bomb. Nic just stares.
“Yeah, I gathered that. Asking what about Olandria?”
“Uh,” Alex stumbles. “He was… He was asking about… He was…” Alex continues to blubber before swinging his eyes back to Quan, pleading.
Quan sighs and throws his head back, the perfect image of an exasperated mother of five children. Finally, “He was trying to ask if you’d heard from her today.”
“Yeah!” “Yeah, that!” “Exactly!” Immediately every boy agrees with Quan’s statement, their voices crashing over each other in their exclamations.
“You… were trying to ask if I’d heard from her?”
In theory, it’s a fairly normal question. Olandria and him talk everyday, and if possible they facetime in the morning so they can see each other before their days officially start. His friends really like her, even though they’ve only met through the phone, so it’s not unusual for them to check in and make sure he’s good concerning O, specifically his phone time with her (partly because he turns moody if he doesn’t have it, but that’s nobody’s business thank you very much). They even like to get in their own time to talk to her on the calls. So, it’s not a completely odd inquiry. But the entire spectacle that just took place is. Odd, that is. Along with them attempting to avoid his questioning before seemingly giving in. Which is why he continues to stare at them with that raised eyebrow and squinted eyes.
“Yes.” They all chorus, a couple throwing in eager head nods.
“You did all of that,” He gestures wildly with both hands. “Just because you were trying to ask if I’d heard from O?”
They each make eye contact with each other. Max turns to him. “We didn’t want to bring up a sensitive subject?”
“What are you even talking about-”
“Well, you have been cranky! We didn’t wanna set you off, we were being careful!”
“So you jump onto Ethan!? When has talking about O ever made me upset!?”
“He does have a point there-”
“Alex, not helping!”
They’re all yelling now, so loud they almost don’t hear Nic’s phone go off on the counter. It’s the ringtone he has for Olandria, which means Nic drops the argument immediately and leaps to the counter to pick it up. The boys have been saved by the bell, and Nic still thinks they’re being fucking weird, but he couldn’t care less now. He slides his thumb across the screen to accept the Facetime call and brings the glass up to his face.
Olandria’s face fills the screen, pretty and perfect, smiling at him. “Hi, Nicky.”
“Hi, O.” He coos, the exasperation from before nowhere to be found in his voice. He forgets the boys are even there for a second until they all suddenly chime in from behind him.
“Hi, Olandriaaaa!”
Nic rolls his eyes but grins when she giggles. “Hi, yall!”
He pans the camera over to them so they can all wave, and he’s about to excuse himself to go upstairs to talk to her, when Quan apparently decides he’s lost his fucking mind, snatching the phone from his fingers. All at once, fast and overwhelming, Nic is considering the moral wrongness of possibly murdering one of your best friends and employer.
“Hey! Give that back, Quan!”
The man just speed walks away from him, Nic hot on his heels, chasing him around the air BNB.
“Ola, me and the boys were just asking Nic if he’d heard from you today. You know. The importance of communication in relationships and all that. Especially today. Today specifically is uh… good for talking. About things. Important things. New things. Have you mentioned any new things, O?”
“Don’t call her O!”
He thinks he can hear Olandria laughing but he can’t be sure, because Quan is still running away from him with Nic’s damn phone and girl in hand.
“New things could definitely be mentioned if I could talk to Nic.”
Nic almost runs straight into Quan the way he stops so abruptly. “Awesome. Okay, have fun you two.” And then he tosses the device at Nic, whistling his way back to the coffee machine like he didn’t almost become Nic’s first felony.
“One second, darling.” He walks over and smacks each boy on the top of the head as payback for whatever the hell this morning was. Max gets two for grinning too hard at him. Quan gets two just for calling Olandria O.
By the time he makes it upstairs and shuts the door to his temporary room, Olandria is laughing again. He beams at her. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Nicky-Pooh.”
“I miss you.”
“I miss you more.”
“Actually not possible.”
“So possible.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Yuh-huh.”
“I will let you win every argument but this. I can’t be beat when it comes to yearning. Look at the material, O. I founded a nation from it.”
She full out cackles at this and his heart fucking flutters. He turns into absolute ooey-gooey mush when it comes to her. He hates it. He loves it.
They talk for a bit, catching up and flirting in equal measure. He’s so focused on their time together that he almost forgets about the weird interaction with the guys. Quan specifically. “What was Quan saying to you? Other than my nickname.”
“Oh, yours, huh?” She smirks. That mischievous head tilt he’s obsessed with begins to show and he has to count to ten to keep from embarrassing himself.
“Do not distract me!”
She laughs before her smile dims a little, getting more serious. “It’s actually about Florida. About me coming.”
“I’m so excited, you have no idea. It’s gonna be great. You’ll get to meet everyone, and the fans at the shows too, and we can be together for days.”
“Yeah, but about that-”
“It’s gonna be really fucking hard to share you, but I promise I’ll do my best. I’m going to need cuddles every night though. Like, a lot. Actually, if we could just never leave the bed anytime we’re at the hotel that’d be amazing. Fuck, that sounds so good.”
“Nicky-”
“And I’ll get to show you around Florida! It’s technically kinda southern, so I think you’ll like it. I’ll make sure to take you to the best places. Maybe, if we have time, you can even come… come look at, like… apartments with me? Or houses, I think I want a house, honestly. But I wouldn’t want to get something you didn’t like. Uh, you know, just cause, like… I value your opinion and stuff. Not anything else. Unless you want it to be something else. You know, in the future, then absolutely, but no pressure or anything, I-”
“Nic!”
He finally takes a breath. Yeah, okay he went on a tangent there. He’s just so excited to see her, hold her, have her in his stomping ground. He’s also been playing around with the idea of a home base in Florida. And anywhere he is, he wants Olandria to be. Or for her to at least like it enough to want to visit him. Often. Some of his most frequent daydreams are them being together in one permanent place. No more separation. Just them and their future. Everything together.
Control it, Nic.
He blinks. “Sorry, sorry. I’m sorry. Got overexcited. And nervous. Didn’t mean to cut you off. What’s up, Ola?”
She bites her lip. It’s one of her tails. He realizes the tension in her then. Whatever it is she’s trying to say, she’s struggling to get it out. He feels himself go on alert.
“O?”
“Maybe I don’t get there during Florida?” She says it like it’s a question.
His heart drops to his ass. “What?”
“Well, um.”
He tries to hear what she’s saying but it feels like he just got body slammed into a brick wall with a harsh awakening, like he’s become both the punch line and the punching bag to a very cruel joke. Okay, that’s dramatic.
No, it’s not.
He was looking forward to this so fucking much. It’s been hard lately and, as great as things are going in his life, it only keeps getting harder. This new reality they’re in is a lot. He loves the opportunities, the fans, the good they can do, the dreams they can achieve. He even loves the hell pit of a drama show they came from because it put Olandria in his path and he wouldn’t trade meeting her for anything. But every blessing has come with its own curse and the weight isn’t always easy to bear. Olandria has been the one thing that makes it all stop. She’s his water. His backbone, his anchor, his methodical, logical, perfect girl. His peace. He needs that right now. He needs her right now.
And beyond the need for sanity, he just really, really misses her. Her laugh, her smile, her touch, her jokes. Her accent, her kisses, the way she melts into him. Technically, he’s only just gotten her and half the time their lives require them to be physically apart. He thinks it’s understandable for him to want as much time with her as he can get. After all, for a while, she was only a crush, a goddess of a person he thought he could never have, not in all the ways he wanted her. But, now, he does and most moments together it’s hard to not attach himself to her hip and refuse to move. This was supposed to be a weekend he got to be surrounded in all things Olandria, to soak up time with her and his loved ones.
And now that’s gone.
He’s not mad at her. Nic’s not sure he’s capable of that emotion towards her. Knows she probably has a good reason, even if it just boils down to exhaustion. But he’s still sad. Devastated, actually. He’s got to get a grip.
Underneath the despair, a wicked thought sneaks in— What if she doesn’t want to come?
What if she doesn’t want to spend time with him? Doesn’t want to see him, be with him? Had she changed her mind? Did she not want what he does anymore? What if the thought of meeting his friends and family in person made her realize she doesn’t want to be serious with him? What if she doesn’t see a future with him and is trying to get out before it goes farther?
So his heart actually can fall further into his ass, while somehow still clogging up his throat at the same time. Wonderful.
He attempts to shake the thoughts away. Olandria is direct and communicative. She doesn’t hide her thoughts and feelings from him, not anymore, not since they stopped fighting their connection and desire for each other. It’s probably just a scheduling conflict or a tiredness she can’t shake. He understands. He just wishes it wasn’t happening.
“Nic? Baby, you listenin’?”
He snaps his attention to her. “I am, sorry. You, um, you- you’re not coming? To Florida?” He tries to hide how his voice wants to break. Get it together.
She tilts her head. “Not exactly.”
He nods. “I, uh- I get it. It’s a lot to get over here. A lot of flying, especially with your schedule. Did something come up? Or a mis-schedule?” He pauses. “Or if you’re just tired obviously that’s completely valid too. You’re everywhere, I know how much you need rest.”
Be supportive. Be supportive. Do not make her feel bad for this. You’ll be fine.
You’ll be fine.
If he repeats it enough maybe he’ll believe it.
Suddenly, she’s smiling. Positively beaming. He tries to smile back. He thinks he fails, which is saying something, because he almost always smiles when she does, an ingrained response at this point. Her being happy makes him happy.
“Oh, you weren’t listening huh, Nicky-Baby?”
He shivers at the name. He likes that. It’s new. He hopes she says it again. It’s helping soften the blow.
“Nickyyyy.” She sings.
“Yeah?”
“What I’m saying is, I won’t meet you in Florida. I was thinking sooner. Tonight. I can come to the DMV show.”
He blinks. Blinks again. Feels his pulse start to pick up. Her grin is wider now. “You- I- What?”
She giggles. It rings through the speaker, beautiful and melodic. “I’m kinda in a car outside the airport right now. Your boys and I figured out flights, I should be at the hotel maybe an hour after you get there. And then I can travel with you too. I’ll be with you ‘till you leave Florida.”
“I think I’m going to faint.”
She cackles again. “Nic, what?”
“I’m so serious, oh my god.” He yanks the phone up from where it’s been propped and starts sending smooches to the camera, wonders if she’d find it gross or charming if he straight out planted one on the screen. He just needs his affection, his gratitude, his joy to reach her. God, if she were here right now they’d have to surgically remove him from her mouth. Maybe use the jaws of life. “I’m obsessed with you. You’re amazing, beyond perfection. It defies reality how fucking unreal you are, oh my god, O.”
Her smile gets softer. So soft, so sweet it makes his teeth ache. “We did good? You’re happy?”
“You did so good, baby. Beyond good. I’m fucking ecstatic. When does your flight board? When do you land? I’ll get you from the airport.” He’s about to shove everyone in the car and drive them all to the Maryland airport so he can park his happy ass there and wait for her.
“Flight boards in an hour, I should land around 3. But nuh-uh, I’m under strict instruction, you are not to go to the airport. Quan’s taking care of it, he’s got a car ready to get me and take me to the hotel.”
“Okay, well, fuck Quan, actually.”
She’s laughing again, loudly and without restraint. It’s making him wish he could launch through the phone right to her. “Nic! Don’t say that! He help set this whole thing up!”
“Okay, but does what he said really matter? I, personally, think not. Fuck a car, I can get you, let me get you.” He might self combust if he doesn’t see her the second she lands in the same state as him.
“Nope, I’m not gonna fuck up Q’s plan after how solid he’s been in pulling this off and keeping it a secret.”
Oh, so maybe that’s what was up with the boys being fucking weirdoes earlier. He feels bad for being so annoyed with them now. He owes them his first born or something after this. If O is cool with that.
Wait.
“Q? Q? You have a nickname for him!? Oh my god, is that why he called you O? Q and O! No! I do not like this! Why was I not a part of these nicknames!?”
“Did you miss the part where we were planning a secret surprise for you?”
“You saying that makes it really hard to be upset.”
“Good, I like you happy.”
“You make me happy.” He’s flirting but it’s no less true.
“Just wait until I’m there in person.”
“Counting down the minutes, believe me. I’m setting an alarm when we hang up to go off every hour.”
They talk a little about the details, how this came about, how her and the boys planned it. They knew he’d been down. She knew. They wanted to help. Give him something to show they loved him, appreciated him, wanted to see him shine and be his usual effervescent self. Fuck, he loved his people.
“You’ll come straight to the hotel when you land?” He asks for the third time.
“Boy, where else would I go?”
“Don’t tease me, I’m barely holding off from becoming an uber driver to break Quan’s rule.”
“I’d give you five stars.”
“You’d be my favorite customer.”
“Only customer.”
“Damn right.” He grins.
They don’t hang up until she has to go into the airport. And, despite the fact he’s going to see her in a few hours, his goodbye still takes five minutes because, as previously stated, he’s obsessed with her and talking to her is his favorite thing in the world.
When the call finally ends he takes some time to process. His girl is coming. Today, tonight. He gets her for almost an entire week. She’s gonna be with his people. She went the extra mile to be there for him when he needed her. Olandria fucking Carthen cares about him so much she’s changing her entire plan around him, around them. He doesn’t know if he’s ever been this buzzed before.
He stands up, stomps to the door, rips it open, and yells to the boys. “Everybody line up! You are all getting fat mouth kisses for what you’ve done. Quan, you first! You’re getting an extra wet one, you magnificent man!”
He’s already running down the stairs when he hears Quan scream. “Nicolas, I swear to God, you keep your skinny ass lips away from me!”
Yeah. He loves his people. And he was wrong. He has no need for replacement friends. He’s got the best out there.