Control (Dark Romance)

Chapter 9

WE'RE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING, ESPECIALLY SINCE I PUT THE BOOK ON HOLD AFTER I STARTED IT, BUT WE ARE BACK, PEOPLE!!!!!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO WAS PATIENT AND UNDERSTOOD WHY I PUT CONTROL ON HOLD. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT AND LOVE, I LITERALLY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THIS AND FEEL SO GOOD ABOUT IT WITHOUT YOU ALL.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!🥲🎉💞🥰😍🎊🎉

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A/N — You don't have the listen to the music, but I wrote everything following a certain scene to the instrumental of her's - where once was, which is on a constant loop on YouTube for anyone who may want. Please don't play until told.

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Nikola's P.O.V

"Do you think he's sick?"

"Don't be mean."

"I'm not being mean. I'm asking a question."

"Well, it's a mean question. He's just happy."

"Happy Nikola... huh, how odd. I feel weird just witnessing it."

"Again, stop being mean."

"I'm only teasing– he knows that. Don't you, Nik?"

Lifting my gaze from the phone that lay propped between my fingers and thumbs, I look between my two friends and nod.

"Told you," Willow boasts before she plucks a greasy fry from her container and tosses it into her mouth.

Alongside her, sitting on the other side of the picnic table, Jacob sticks out his tongue at Willow before he catches my gaze and grins brightly, "Teasing or not, it's nice to see you so happy, Nikki."

"Am I not usually?" I counter, and they both share a look before shrugging.

"You can be, but you're not usually this... outwardly happy," Jacob replies, trying his hardest to word it in a way that wouldn't upset me. "You're like, really happy today. Either way, it's nice to see."

I nod and look back at my phone where I'd been crafting the perfect message over the last two days.

Hello Hagen, this is Nikola. I know you have classes, and I do not want to impose by showing up uninvited, but I would like to see you. So, whenever you are ready, please let me know. Nikola.

To me, it seemed like the right thing to say – even if it was a little formal – but I was yet to find the valour to tap the little blue icon that rested mockingly at the bottom corner of my phone, prodding me to send it. I reworded it time and time again, searching for faults, but in truth, it was faultless; it was nerves holding me back.

These horrible anxious feelings had been tormenting me since Hagen and I's date, and sadly they were yet to go away. It was a simple message that gave Hagen some control over our next steps, but I still worried that it might be too much.

When we'd parted, it had been on great— no, perfect terms. That was all it could be called because it truly was perfect.

My plan to show Hagen what I was feeling could've gone one of two ways, and luckily, it had descended down the most favourable path where we'd been only a few inches apart; so close, I felt the warmth of every breath he took. I'd held his face in my hands, and not just that– Hagen had leaned into my touch, seeking me the way I had always craved him.

Goddess, just thinking about it had my fingertips numbing.

"Ah, he's smiling now," Willow announces, drawing my gaze back up. Despite her worried tone, her expression was the same bland thing it always was. "I didn't know you could do that."