Stuck: with You

"How long have you known David?" Lexi asked, trying to get to know her new friend a little better.

"All my life, same as you and Adam, we grew up together as friends and one thing lead to another."

"What happened between you two, if you don't mind me asking? Arthur's never really said why you and David broke up."

"That's not surprising; he must've been 8, maybe even 9 when we divorced, too young to understand what was going on. Honestly the biggest reason we divorced was because we were friends, as long as I could remember we would hang out together as best friends and all we'd hear was our families telling us we'd make a cute couple and why weren't we a couple yet. Well we get to our teenage years and we thought we'd give the couple thing a shot; it was admittedly awkward at first, but nice. Of course that was followed with everyone asking when were we going to get married, we held off on that for a long time, claiming studies and work but in hindsight I don't think either of us wanted to get married, we were together for so long that eventually it just felt like the next logical step and sure enough, we got married. You can imagine what came next."

"First comes love, then comes marriage..."

"Then comes everyone asking why we hadn't had kids yet. I don't want to sound like I regret having Arthur, I love him more than life itself, but David and I had a rough marriage, we were both young and we did love each other, we just weren't IN love with each other and couldn't figure out a way to tell each other. When someone tells you that a baby solves all your problems and all you can see is problems, you start listening to them, Arthur's a blessing but our problems were still there, and since nobody had any other suggestions we realised that WE were the problem. Once we started talking we agreed to divorce amicable, David got full custody of Arthur because he could afford it and I didn't want to subject him to a split life. Now five years later, here we are."

"I can't imagine how hard that must've been."

"Actually it was one of the easiest choices I've made, had me and David stayed together then it would've led to a lot of animosity between us. I don't think we ever would've fought but we'd be missing that vital piece that makes a family. Kids pick up on that sort of thing, I didn't want to put him through that sort of life, God knows I miss being a full-time mother but we made the best of a bad situation."

"How did you know that was the problem, you and David?"

"It just never clicked with us the way we wanted to, when it comes to love you just know. Better to admit to yourself sooner than waste time."

"She's right Nikki." Lexi spoke up.

Nicola turned to her mother, she knew of the hardships her parents had before getting together but it wasn't something they talked about openly.

"Don't fuck around, not when you know how you feel."

Truly scared for the first time in her young life, Nikki thought about all the ways this could backfire. But as she looked up and saw Art walking towards her she figured it would be worth it and got up to meet him.

Though neither knew what the other had talked about, they both unknowingly had the same thoughts running through their heads, both making them slightly awkward around each other, a favoured pastime of Arthur but for Nikki it was new territory.

"Hey." Nikki spoke quickly, trying to keep her heartbeat under control.

"Hey, sorry they didn't have your skunk on the grill."

"What? Oh, right."

"You ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just... can I talk to you for a second, somewhere a little more private?"

"Sure, of course."

Nicola led Arthur inside the house, ignoring the gazes of Lexi and Penny, and up to her room away from the noise of the crowd.

"You sure you're ok Nikki?"

"Yeah, I was just... I was talking with mum and Penny and it got me thinking about us and how we've become such good friends and how maybe there's a reason for that and if there is a reason maybe there's something there that we should acknowledge because if it is there then I don't want to miss the chance to..."

Arthur quickly grabbed Nicola's shoulders, a little frightened at seeing her in such a state. "It's ok Nikki, just breath. Just think about what you're trying to say."

Nicola gazed into Adam's eyes, a small tear forming in hers, and smiled. "Remember when you couldn't even speak to me, now here you are keeping me calm."

"I realised it talking to your dad, you still scare me but something about being around you just calms me down, I can forget about everything else."

"That's what I'm talking about Art, being around you just feels different, I can't explain it but... Art this is difficult for me to admit, I've gotten so use to being independent, I pride myself on it, and yet whenever I'm with you I can't imagine it any other way, I'm actually scared of thinking of life without you. Mum told me not to fuck around and I don't want to, not anymore, when you know you know and I know, Art I've known since our first kiss and I'm willing to know more so long as it's with you."

The conversation with Adam still running through his mind, Arthur could read between the lines of what Nicola was saying, part of him wanting to jump in celebration, another part wanted to run and hide in fear, that part must've been obvious because Nicola's hand reached up to touch his chest, to feel his heart, and once again Arthur found himself calmed by her presence.

"Nikki I've known since the day I first saw you. I didn't think you'd ever... that we'd ever... even now I'd feel silly to say The Word because we're not even together. But I know I do.

Nicola didn't even realise the weight on her shoulders until it dropped, even though she knew Arthur cared for her that doubt in her mind still ate away, to have it all be nothing but her own fears meant more to her than Art would ever know. Her arms reached up and wrapped round his neck as his naturally found their way to her waist, the two of them getting closer than they'd ever been before.

"Does this mean we're official?" She asked with just the slightest hesitation.

"Yeah, I think it does."

Nikki beamed and leaped into a kiss, where their first one was an accident they fell into, this one was deliberate and they put their everything into it, soft but powerful, confirming what they had both been aware of for months now.

They both just knew.

*

It was a few days later when Brendan asked Arthur to chum him down to the local sports centre, he had a friendly football match on but wanted the company for the walk down. Although as Arthur soon found out his friend had other motives for the journey.

"So I hear you and Nicola are a thing now?"

"Work spread that fast? We're not even at school right now."

Brendan laughed, taking a drag of his cigarette, "It's 2015, the grapevine's gone digital Arthur. But fair warning everyone's gonna be on you when we go back after the holidays."

"Don't scare me like that."

"Just warning you man. Fucking weird you getting a girlfriend, always thoughts you were... what's the ones that ain't interested in anything?"

"Asexual?"

"That's it. Knew you weren't gay but couldn't think of anything else."

"Coming from you Brendan; that can only be a compliment."

"You're fucking welcome."

Brendan flicked his cigarette away as they turned up the hill towards the centre, across the car park he could see his teammates waiting by the front-door, as well as another uninvited guest.

"Shit, it's Martin."

"Is it?" Arthur tried to adjust his glasses for a better view. "I can't tell from here."

"It's him. Fuck, I told him I was playing but it was just the team practising, I never thought he was actually listening."

As Arthur and Brendan approached the door, his teammate James Simmons ran over to meet them, a face of fury carved onto him.

"Richards, what the fuck is this uppity cunt doing here?"

"Leave it Simmons, I told him we were playing."

"The fuck did you do that for?"

"I'll handle it."

Brendan pushed his way to where Martin was trying - and clearly failing - to impress the other footballers, not with any skill but tales of the rich and famous professionals his father had met.

"So dad's in the lift and who should walk in but fucking Messi. Dad notices but plays it cool, like 'Yeah it's Messi, no big deal' and gets him interested."

"What's the point of this story?" Another player, Leon Fitz spoke up with an exasperated voice.

"I'm getting there, fucking calm down."

"Nobody wants you to get there, we just want you to get the fuck out of here."

Brendan made his way through, getting in the middle before Martin kicked off.

"Easy, easy. Martin what the fuck are you doing here?"

"Well you said you were having a game on so I knew I'd find you here, I was hoping you'd take me to see... this motherfucker right here."

Martin's eyes locked onto Arthur, a cruel smile adorn his face as he walked over to him.

"I've heard about you Ross, you and that piece of ass neighbour girl. Tell me, how in the fuck did you convince her to suck your dick?"

"What?"

"Christ Martin just let him be." Fitz tried to keep peacemaker but Martin ignored him.

"No, no I want to know what he's got on her, cause it's gotta be blackmail. Or are you paying her, I bet she's a cheap fuck, or maybe I'll just take a piece for free and show her..."

Martin was immediately cut off by Simmons punching him in the face, and given the size of Simmons it was a hell of a punch, Martin fell right to the ground, spitting blood the moment he slammed down.

"James, what the fuck?" Brendan's loyalties directed to the wrong person.

"He's rapist scum, just like his cunt brother, I want him gone."

"That's no reason to fucking hit him."

"That's every fucking reason to hit him. He's scum Richards, get off his dick and fucking realise that."

Leon put his arm around James and led him off, trying to calm his friend down, Martin wiped his blood from his mouth and looked around, noting that none of the faces looking at him felt sympathy.

"You cocksuckers will be sorry for that, you fucking watch."

Martin stood up and stormed off, Brendan tried to follow him but was held back by his teammates, once Martin was far enough away they all went inside, leaving Brendan and Arthur outside. Brendan turned to his friend.

"I suppose you're gonna say he deserved that."

"Brendan I... yeah, yeah he did."

"You fucking people never give him a chance, he's not like..."

"Just stop Brendan." Arthur shocked both Brendan and himself with the interruption. "Please. He IS like that, he's just like his brother, probably just like his father, we don't give him a chance because he doesn't deserve one. James is right, you need to realise that."

Brendan stood in anger and in awe, for the first time in their lives the friends were having an argument. Part of Brendan knew it would get real ugly and he wasn't ready to lose Arthur as a friend, but he wasn't ready to back down either.

"Well fuck you too."

And with that he left, leaving the car park, leaving the team and leaving Arthur.

*

The falling out between Arthur and Brendan held strong over the next couple of weeks, even Megan struggled to get through to him. Unfamiliar with conflict, Arthur decided to give Brendan some space, thinking it unwise to push for reconciliation just yet, thankfully he had Nicola to keep his mind off things, though now they were back in school, their relationship was putting him more into the spotlight than he wanted.

"So it's true, you two are a think now?" One of Nicola's classmates, Emily Fitz, asked as they left school for the day.

"Yeah, we are." Nicola beamed at Arthur, slowly rubbing his arm to remind him that she was there if things got too uncomfortable.

"But... how?"

"Well we started as friends then realised that we both kinda liked each other and..."

"That's not what I meant, I meant... well HOW?"

"Is this really important?" Arthur tried to gain some relief from this conversation.

"Of course it is, do you not know high school gossip Arthur?"

"I've tried to avoid it."

"Look." Nicola stepped in to save her boyfriend. "What matters is that Art was a perfect gentleman, he showed me that I could be safe and happy and fulfilled without resorting to half-brained asshole or dull as dishwater dorks. He's smart without being pretentious, kind without being a show-off. And between us girls he's hung like..."

"NIKKI!"

"What? I've got nothing but compliments for you."

"But you've never seen my..."

"Hun, I'm a girl. I don't need to see it to be impressed."

Arthur was just able to catch a strange look in Emily's eyes before a car horn sounded behind them.

"That's Leon, Nikki you mind what I said about volleyball tryouts, we're holding auditions start of next week, you make sure to come along."

"Will do, thanks Em."

"Alright, I'll catch you both later."

As Emily ran off to get a lift him from her brother, Arthur turned to his girlfriend, a twisted smile on her face.

"What was all that about?"

"Well I told Emily that I played some volleyball with Kevin whenever we went over to see him..."

"I meant about..."

"Girls talk Art, by this time tomorrow every girl in this school will have heard the rumours. Call it an insurance policy, if things don't work out between us then you have options."

Arthur stopped walking and moved to stand in front of Nikki, looking her in the eye. "What if I don't want anybody else? What if I don't want insurance because I don't ever want to..."

He stopped, they'd known each other a little over a year, been a couple barely three weeks, he couldn't start talking about a future they may not even had together, but he'd be lying to himself if he didn't want to marry Nicola there and then.

Nikki cupped Arthur's chin and lifted his head so she could kiss him, she could almost picture what was in his mind at that very moment, and part of her wanted to same thing.

"I'm not going anywhere Art. Trust me."

She looked up to the sky, Summer wasn't technically over yet so there was still a good sun in the sky, she breathed in the fresh air and smiled.

"Fancy walking home, we can make it our first unofficial date?"

"I'd like that."

Nicola took Arthur's hand in hers and the two of them took a slow walk home, just enjoying each other's company, talking about nothing. Mostly it was Nicola doing the talking, Arthur still had to mentally step back and wonder how this happened, it wasn't that he suffered from that all too common affliction called 'Fear Of Girls', rather Arthur was scared of people in general. But somehow she had him, he was stuck with her and he loved it.

"What's on your mind?"

Nikki's voice brought him back to reality. "Huh, sorry?"

She giggled. "You looked lost in thought, figured I'd bring you back down to earth."

"Just thinking, about us."

"All good things I hope."

"Never anything else with you."

Nikki beamed and kissed Arthur on the cheek, revealing in the full-body-blush he gave her in return.

Sadly the moment was broken by Nicola's phone buzzing, reluctantly she opened it and read the text she'd received.

"Shit, we might need to hurry this up, Megan's asking if she can come round to mine to unwind, apparently Brendan's being a Grade A Dickbag."

"Has she talked to you about him?"

A little, most of what she says is just the little things he does to piss her off now. Far as I know it's still Martin Allen that's the problem."

"Yeah, I don't know what it is but Brendan is just a different person around him, and it's not just me that's noticed it, all the guys on the team wanted to kill Martin that time at the club but Brendan still defended him."

"I can't say what's going on with him. Though considering how much you've changed since you met me, maybe Brendan's in love."

Arthur had to laugh at the idea of Brendan being in love with Martin, the images in his head were too funny to ignore.

"No, no I'm pretty sure Brendan's straight, at the very least he talks a big game."

"Well no matter what happens, I hope the two of you stay friends."

Nikki's phone buzzed again, taking them both out of the moment.

"You little bitch, I'm coming, Christ."

Arthur laughed at Nicola's frustration but stayed silent as they quickened the pace home, he wasn't about to push his luck just yet.

*

Summer turned to autumn turned to winter, Arthur and Nicola grew closer every day, it became almost a certainty that one of them would follow the other home, have dinner and not return to their own home until it was time for bed. They both would've preferred to have stay the night over - not for anything sexual though judging by the little private fashion show Nicola gave Arthur for his birthday it was clearly something on both their minds - but they didn't want to worry their parents, as welcoming as they all were on the relationship it was still technically early days.

By contrast Brendan's relationship with the group soured even further when he didn't show up for Arthur's birthday, the first no-show in over 10 years. Arthur was able to pass it off to his parents as a minor falling out, suggesting it was best they kept their distance till everything cooled over, but Megan was furious and threatening grievous bodily harm when she saw him next.

Inwardly it did hurt Arthur that his best friend had seemingly abandoned him, if it had been for anything else he might have understood, football, family, even a girlfriend, but for Martin Allen just hurt. Although part of him did admire Brendan's tenacity, Martin has started calling him by his proper name and even let him join his little posse of fellow douchebags.

Before anyone knew it, Christmas was on them again, though this one was a little more painful for Arthur than usual, his first Christmas with his girlfriend and she was in Hawaii visiting Kevin. Part of her would've rather stayed as well but Kevin was her family and she loved her brother, she wasn't about to ditch him for anyone, even Arthur.

With his girlfriend away and his best friend not speaking to him Arthur spent the Christmas week off with Megan, but her cousin's attitude was still eating away at her.

"I mean you're fucking birthday? Not even a card, not even a fucking text, that Judas cunt."

It was Christmas Eve and the two friends were walking back from the shops having gathered some last supplies for a party the next day, Arthur had stayed mostly quiet through Megan's tirade but was starting to pick up on a few things from what she was saying.

"That's a bit harsh Meg, he didn't betray us, he just found someone he'd rather spend his time with, it happens."

"Not to us it doesn't, we've been friends since Nursery, all three of us, and he throws that away for some smarmy prick with a fancy car. He doesn't even fucking drive, what's so fucking impressive about that? And after what his brother did to Amanda, a girl we've known longer than you, I don't fucking see how he could be so fucking selfish."

Arthur stopped in his tracks, something was forming in his brain but he wasn't sure of it yet.

"How is Brendan being selfish? An asshole I can understand but I don't see selfishness."

"Oh come on Arthur, spending all of his time with fucking Martin Allen? How much more selfish can you get?"

"That's not selfish, and even if it was I've been spending a lot more time with Nikki since she arrived, how is that any different?"

"Well Nikki's not keeping you from seeing me, we still talk, we still hang out. But my fucking cousin I haven't seen in 3 fucking months, do you have any idea what that's like? It's bad enough that he's ignoring you but I'm his fucking family and that selfish fucking cunt won't even talk to me anymore, 3 months and not one fucking word, whenever he fucking sees me he refuses to even look me in the eye because he knows if he does I'm gonna... I'm gonna..."