"Do you feel it yet?" Nicky asked as she looked over at Delilah, who took a swig from the red solo cup she was holding. She felt the vodka form a thick layer on her throat as she gulped it down.

She glanced up at Nicky, who was wearing a wide grin, her thick brown hair falling out of the bun that sat atop her head. She then looked back to her shorts, unawarely picking a loose thread off of them. Her hands were trembling, and she was repeatedly tapping her foot on the ground. Her heart was beating at a surprisingly rapid rate, which she did not notice until that minute.

She looked back up to study her surroundings, which were suddenly moving too slow for her content. She wanted to run, to dance, to socialize, to do anything but sit on her ass against a dingy wall with peeling wallpaper.

"Oh yeah." She replied, a mischievous grin sitting upon her face.

She could feel her blood coursing through her veins, and she could her heart pump each drop of blood to the rest of her body. She could also hear Nicky's heart beating, or at least she thought she did.

How, she wasn't sure.

But she was sure of the fact that she wasn't going to sit on that wall for another moment.

She leaped up, grabbing Nicky's hand in the process. Nicky jumped up with her, dusting off her skirt. Delilah readjusted her beanie on her head, and pushed her sleeves up her arms.

"C'mon," Nicky murmured, grabbing her by the hand, and dragging her across the room. She took her to a worn out couch that had a conspicuous scent of sex mixed with multitude of fragrances, and cracked, aged leather.

They both plopped down on it, Delilah trying her best to ignore the stench it held, as Nicky repeatedly tapped her fingers in a rhythmic pattern on the arm of the chair.

“How do you feel?” Nicky asked Delilah with a smirk, before slightly nibbling on her bottom lip. Delilah turned to face her, wearing a perplexed expression.

“Huh?” She spoke up, looking past Nicky at a girl who was repeatedly tapping on a window. She didn’t know why, but she was very intrigued by it. She tried to match her heart beat to the girl’s rhythm, but Nicky snapped her out of it before she could.

“Dee!” Nicky snapped, which caused Delilah to whip her head in Nicky’s direction. She opened her eyes wide, and stared at Nicky without a word.

“I asked you how you felt,” Nicky said softer. Delilah started to nod, blinking repetitively.

“I feel, good. I think. Maybe.” She replied quickly, breaking eye contact with Nicky once more. She wasn’t interested in Nicky. Nicky was boring her. She didn’t want to sit on the couch anymore, either. She wanted to get up.

Nicky let out a suppressed snicker to herself, finding a weird amusement in Delilah’s behavior. Nicky wasn’t exactly new to this scene, so she knew how to handle herself. Delilah, however, didn’t know anything except for the fact that this was a feeling she had never experienced, but took an odd liking to.

“So, little miss squirrely,” Nicky giggled again, “How do you like speed?”

Delilah knitted her eyebrows together, and tilted her head to the side.

“Speed? Huh?”

Nicky shook her head, letting out a sigh. “The shit that you’re on, Dee.”

“OH.” Delilah replied loudly with a laugh. “Speed. The drug, you mean.”

Nicky nodded, still tapping her fingers.

“It’s nice. Everything is moving slow. Too slow. But also fast. I feel like I’m moving fast. I like that, you know? Nice contrast.”

“Sure.” Nicky replied, looking in the couch cushions for something.

“I never liked shots. I’m not fond of needles, really. But that felt good. I’d do that all the time, if I could.” Delilah stated, as she began to peel off some leather from the couch.

“I get that, but don’t. That’s not a good idea.” She said.

“I know, Nicky,” Delilah sighed, “But it feels good in my veins. I feel alive today, the first time in a long time. It’s nice to have something warm in my veins, rather than…” She stared, without finishing. She was talking about Alex.

“Rather than what?” Nicky asked, interested in where she was going with that statement.

“Nothing.” She answered, looking down. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Okay.”

---

“Hey, did I say you can call me Dee? Or did you just call me Dee because you can?” She spat out rather quickly, fidgeting her hands as she made eye contact with Nicky again. She then began to bite her fingernails, something that is not common to her, while glaring at Nicky.

Nicky smirked at her once more. She pulled a cigarette out her shirt, lit it with a lighter that she found in the couch, and threw the lighter across the room.

“I called you Dee because I can. And I will continue to call you Dee,” She took a long drag from her cigarette before finishing, “Because I can.”

Delilah stared at Nicky intentively, twirling a piece of her hair around her finger. She narrowed her eyes, before blinking once more.

“You don’t care, do you?” Delilah questioned. Nicky took another drag before answering.

“Not really, no.”

Delilah continued to stare at Nicky, who was showing a strong sense of apathy. She took another long drag of her cigarette, and blew the smoke in Delilah’s direction. Delilah smiled, pushing her hair behind her ear.

“I like that. I like you.” She said. “And I like Dee, too. You can call me that.” She finished with a grin.

Nicky smiled at her, knowing that the two of them would make great friends.

“Okay.” She replied.

“But don’t call me Lilah.” Delilah added sharply, her eyes like daggers in Nicky’s.

“Why?” Nicky asked curiously. She wondered what made her speak with such conviction.

A million memories of Alex flooded her mind, from the first time he called her Lilah to the last. He was the only one that ever did that. Not her parents, not Jack, Rian, Zack, Cass, or Kylie. They all knew that Lilah was Alex’s thing, the same way Lex was hers. It was sort of an unspoken rule in their world.

Delilah felt a pang hit her heart, and she felt her stomach shift. She began to feel nauseated.

She closed her eyes, and shook her head.

“Just don’t. Don’t fucking do it. Please.” She answered quietly, to which Nicky nodded.

“Okay. I won’t.” Nicky replied, before looking away. “I didn’t want to, anyway.” She added under her breath, before taking yet another drag.

Notes

boom boom.
it's 2 am and i need to be up at 5 lol.
i couldn't sleep so i decided to post another chapter.
but i had to edit it and clean it up, because it wasn't so nice before.
so yeah.
but yesterday, i had a bad anxiety attack, and cried so hard that i threw up twice. so im not at my best.
but don't worry about me okay, i will be fine :)
nicky is delilah's new friend. i picture her as this girl (kaya scodelario) because honestly she reminds me of effy from skins. that's the picture i feel captures nicky's essence, but you can look up another to get a good look at her face, if you want.
but yeah that's it i think??
let me know what you think so far :)