Zayns POV
I looked down at Nick, unsure of what to say and do. Nick’s my mate, my lad, my buddy, my best friend. He can’t move. It’s hard enough that I’m gonna have to leave and go back to England. No, he can’t leave. I saw Anjelica stand up in the corner of my eye.

“Nick, come with me” she said, grabbing her keys from her bag. She tossed her bag on the ground, discarding the envelopes that spilled out of it. She looked to determined to care about anything else.

“Why?” he asked, breaking our eyes contact. I frowned, but turned my attention back to Anjelica.

“I’m going to have a little talk with your parents” she said and Nick shot up.

“Oh please don’t cuss them out” he pleaded and she chuckled a little.

“I’m not” she said, looking him dead in the eye.

“I wanna come” I said, standing up besides Nick.

“It’s up to him” Anjelica said, nodding to Simon before walking past him. Nick looked desperately at me before following behind Anjelica.

“Simon..” I started to plead.
“Go get your best friend” he said, patting my shoulder. I gave him a small smile and rushed out to Anjelicas car. The car ride to Nicks was silent and tense. What going to happen? Is Nick going to really have to move away? I caught Nick sneaking glances at me through the rearview mirror, each time I smiled at him, hoping to cheer things up. Anjelica pulled up next to Nicks house, quickly turning off the car and getting out.

“It’s best if you let me do the talking” Anjelica said and I nodded as Nick and I got out, not arguing with her. I notice Nick shaking as we walked up to the door, his emotions getting the better of him. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and crushed him against my side. I felt his shaking notch down a bit, but it didn’t stop completely. It was sad, seeing him so torn and the possibility of not seeing him again. Anjelica knocked on the door, standing tall like a brick wall. Seconds later, a tall, blonde man opened the door and smiled pleasantly at Anjelica.

Well hello Anjelica” he said, then looked over at Nick. His smile faltered and I guessed that this was nicks step dad he tells me about.

“Hello Brian, may we come in?” she asked and Brain moved aside.

“Of course” he said, watching her stomp past him. He gave me a curious glance as I walked Nick in his own house. I looked ahead and saw a dining table a few feet away. There was some food on the table, but it looked as if no one has touched it in a while and the two people at it were kind of just sitting there. A little, blonde girl that was sitting at the table jumped up and latched herself onto Anjelicas leg, a bright smile on her face.

“Anjelica!” she squealed.

“Hi Maddie” Anjelica said, not paying much notice to her.

“What a pleasant surprise” a woman who I’ve seen in many pictures smiled at Anjelica. Nicks mother was prettier in person, but I didn’t let that distract me from the task at hand.

“Don’t just stand there, come on in” Brian said, encouraging me to proceed to the table. I noticed nick unable to meet anyones eyes, causing me to tighten my arm around him and cautiously step up to the dining table. Nicks mother looked over to me, scrunching up her nose a little.

“And you might be?” she asked, standing up from her seat.

“Zayn, one of Nicks best friends” I said, holding out my hand. She took her hand in mine and shook it with a pinched smile.

“I’ve heard quite a bit about you. Oh Nick, stop hanging off him” she said, looking down at Nick. I felt Nick stiffen before reluctantly pulling out from under my arm.

“Where’s Grandma?” Nick asked, looking at the dining table to avoid looking at his mother.

“She left early” she said before turning over to Anjelica “Where’s Nikki” she asked.

“With some friends” Anjelica said, rather unhappy. Nicks mother nodded and took a step back to bring us all together in one big line of sight.

“So, what are all of you doing here?” she asked, but didn’t look at us as she spoke. She was too busy throwing arrows at Nick with her eyes.

“We’re here to talk to you, Mrs. Knotts” Annjelica said.

“About?” she said rather casually.

“Nick moving” Anjelica said and Maddie removed herself from Anjelicas leg. Nicks mother opened her, but Anjelica spoke before she could utter even the slightest noise. “Nick can’t leave. He’s like family to me and Nikki” she said.

“Mom, I can’t leave” Nick croaked. Nicks mother sighed and scratched her scalp.

“Well...I mean, you could live with your birth dad. He doesn’t live far from here” she said, but Nick quickly protested.

“I will do anything other than that. I refuse to go there. How could I live with a man who doesn’t accept his son being gay?” Nick said, and I could tell he was getting angry. “Can’t I stay with Grandma?” he asked.

“Absolutely not. She shouldn’t have to take care of you” she said, frowning at Nick.

“He could live with Nikki and I” Anjelica piped in, breaking up the fight that was about to start between Nick and his mom. Nicks eyes slightly widened and he completely lit up with hope.

“Oh, I couldn’t burden you with that” Nicks mother said, waving her hand.

“It’s no problem” she said, and I chimed in with an idea of my own.

“He could also spend some nights at my place” I said. I knew that Simon wouldn’t mind. He likes Nick just as much as the rest of us, and I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem. He could live with Anjelica and Nikki, but could also stay at our place some nights at a time.

“I don’t know...” she said, sighing again and raking her fingers through her hair. Maddie looked back and forth between all of us, not sure what to do.

“Just think about it” Anjelica said and Nicks mother nodded, then disappeared upstairs with Brian. Maddie scurried up the steps after them. Nick and Anjelica turned to me, hope and wonder coating their eyes. “Do you even know it it’s okay with Simon?” Anjelica asked and I nodded.

“Positive?” Nick asked, and I became unsure. Simons a sweetheart with a giant house, I’m sure he would let Nick stay a few times.

“I’ll call him” I said, whipping out my phone and calling him on speed dial. After two rings his voice greeted me through the phone. “Hey Simon” I said.

“Hows everything with Nick?” he asked.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. Anjelica just offered to have Nick stay at her place..and I also said that he could stay at yours a few times” I said, my voice trailing off at the end.

“I’m okay with that. He’s a good kid, and you and the boys good friend” Simon said and I smiled.

“Thank you Simon” I said and Nicks mom and Brian came down the stairs.

“I guess there’s not much we could do. if it’s okay with you, than alright” she said. Nick squealed and literally jumped on his mom. Anjelica smiled huge with relief and happiness.

“Thank you!!!” he gushed and she smiled a little sadly. Suddenly there was a lot of noise on the other end of the line.

“Hello? Simon?” I asked as I heard movement. I heard murmuring in the background, then the line went dead. Anjelica looked over curiously at me and I shrugged. I was too happy to let it bother me. Nick was staying, I didn’t have to leave my best friend just yet.

“Is it okay if you stay here until we leave?” Nicks mom asked Nick and he nodded.

“When do you guys move?” Anjelica asked.

“Next week” Brian answered her. Anjelica and I’s mouth hung open, shocked that Nick would have move so soon.

“So soon” she said and Brian nodded.

“I got a job offer down in Texas” Brian explained.

“Congratulations” I said to him. He smiled and nod his head as if to thank me. My phone rang in my hand and I apologized as I answered. “Hello?”

“Zayn, you guys might wanna come back. I don’t know what happened but Nikki started panicking about something then just completely fainted. She’s out, cold” Liam worriedly spoke through the phone.

“Alright, we’re on our way” I said then hung up. “It’s Nikki” I said, looking up at Anjelica and watching her stiffen. “Liam didn’t tell me much, but Nikki fainted” I explained. When I said this, Anjelica loosened up a bit. I mean, fainting isn’t that bad. She could have just not eaten much or something, but nonetheless, we better get back. The thing that was bothering me was why was Nikki panicking? I could tell that Anjelica was worried, but not too worried.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Knotts, but we’ve got to go” Anjelica said, now tugging me away.

“Can I go with them?” Nick asked and Nicks mother replied with an “of course.” The three of us jumped in the car and Anjelica drove off.

“I’m sure she’s fine” Anjelica assured herself. “I mean, fainting could happen by anything.”

“Yeah” Nick said, but I had a bad feeling. Anjelica pulled up to Simons house and jumped out the car. We walked through the house and saw Nikki out cold on the couch. She lay there, stiff as stone. Liam sat by her side, but the other boys sat on the completely other side of the room, including Simon. Harry was jutting out his jaw in frustration, intensely looking at Liam and Nikki.

“What happened?” Anjelica asked, looking at the boys. Niall fearfully looked at Anjelica from his seat before standing up and reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out some papers and walked over to Anjelica.

“She saw these..” he said and Anjelica took the paper from his hands. She took one look at it and started to panick.

“Shit, where did she get these?!” She frantically spoke.

“It was in an envelope that fell out of your bag” he explained and Anjelica slapped her forehead hard.

“Stupid stupid stupid” she said over and over.

“Hey, Hey, stop that” Niall said, grabbing her wrists.

“Someone please tell me what’s wrong?! First it was Nick, now it’s Nikki?” Louis complained.

“She wasn’t supposed to know yet..at least not this way..” Anjelica quietly spoke and Niall nodded his head in understanding.

“Niall, do you know about this?” Liam asked, looking at him. Niall nodded and looked at Anjelica in confirmation. Anjelica shakily nodded, looking down at the papers in grief.

“Guys” Niall started. “Nikki’s adopted” he said and my mouth hung open. Everyone was in even more shock than they were when we found out that Nick was moving, except for Nick and Niall, I’m guessing that they already knew. I had no idea. Anjelica and Nicole look quite alike and have an amazing connection. I would have never known.

“She wasn’t supposed to read these papers yet” Anjelica whispered. Nicole stirred on the couch, making us all jump up and surround her. But she didn’t wake up, she became still as stone again. Well, isn’t this a great Thanksgiving.

Notes

Oh gosh, what is going on!??!! So much madness! ahhh!!!
So, my cute ducklings, how are you feeling? What do you think is going to happen next? Do you feel bad for Nikki? Do you want a hug? Do you want to eat some ice cream? Do you like apples? Because I do xD
Thanks for reading and I apologize fuor aniy spellen erorrs xD see what I did there?
Anyways, VOTE IF YOU HAVEN'T YOU NON VOTERS!! THAT'S RIGHT, I CALLED YOU NON VOTERS!! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!!
Keep reading for even more!!! The next chapter is going to be an extra chapter about Nick and Zayn :) Love you!
Anjelicas dress:

Nikkis dress:


Pretty :)