Into The Echo

Saturday Nights Chapter 3

Richie and Nikki reunion Jon finds them having sex

Nikki stared out of the window as the plane started its descent from the still-dark skies. He was running the past 24 hours though his head and recalling how he'd probably just destroyed the best thing that had ever happened to him.

It was almost certainly the stupidest thing he'd ever done, but he was scared. No, not scared...fucking terrified was probably more apt.

So he was running. Running to put as much distance as possible between himself and the thing that terrified him. Unfortunately, that meant putting that distance between himself and Tommy, too.

It was Tommy that was the instigator of this escape...but he wasn't mad at Tommy. How could he ever be mad at the one person that meant so much to him? He was mad at...and scared of...the situation, not the man.

Nikki groaned and shifted in the cramped seat as his brain refused to stop poking and prodding at the events of the previous night. He closed his eyes to the slowly appearing New Jersey lights, hoping to make the hurt a little less as he analysed his thoughts and feelings.

It had started off as one of their normal evenings. Tommy was a little more skittish as they ate at one of their favourite restaurants, but not enough to throw Nikki any warning signs of what was going to go down later. They'd enjoyed a late meal before doing the usual rounds of the clubs that the Bass Family Trust owned. Again, nothing out of the norm for their nights.

Then Tommy had dropped his bombshell. He was ready for and wanted more commitment. Something that Nikki just didn't have in him to give. Call him gun-shy or a fucking chicken...whatever, it had made Nikki's blood run cold and his flight instinct had kicked in.

Which brought Nikki to his current predicament...with nothing but his scuffed carry-all and the couple of hundred bucks he'd had in his pocket, Nikki left Newark airport in search of the life he'd left behind.

~~**~~

A few days later, Nikki wandered into the familiar diner, looking for an even more familiar face among the early lunchtime crowd.

Over the last couple of days, he had found somewhere to live. It was tiny and dirty but wouldn't burn his limited resources too rapidly. He was pretty sure it had been a drug den or someone had died there before Nikki took over the short-term lease. He didn't care, it had everything he needed as it came semi-furnished, whether by choice or chance he wasn't sure, and it was close to all the amenities he needed; the diner he used to hang out at and a liquor store. The only concession Nikki made to the cleanliness of the apartment was to buy fresh bedding.

With accommodation sorted, and a few feelers spread out amongst his old contacts within the drug scene, Nikki pushed open the door to the diner and waited at the front counter to be seated.

"Can I help y-...Nikki?!" Rosie exclaimed happily, after seeing who her next customer was. "Well, I never! Come here, child, and let me see you!"

"Hey, Rosie," Nikki smiled warmly and submitted to the older woman's scrutiny before he was enveloped in one of her hugs.

"Oh, you look well, child," Rosie said as she hooked her arm through Nikki's and led him to a booth in her section, "but I detect a little something underneath that tan. Sit!" She pushed Nikki into the seat and continued, "I'll take your order then I'll take a break and we can talk."

He placed his order, the cheapest meal on the menu to save his money, and Rosie walked off with a cluck of her tongue. Nikki looked around the diner as he waited. Nothing had changed, he decided. He wondered if the clientele were still the same too.