Annalise was sitting there having dinner with Benjamin.

‘What is going on?’ Nicholas thought as Tom waved at Benjamin. They soon joined them for dinner as he realised, Ann wants to help Benjamin. Even without Tom asking him to cover up Benjamin’s outburst, his broken hearted state was a well-known secret. Nicholas was happy when he got a chance to comfort Ann because of Benjamin. This gave him a chance to get closer to her and anyone could have seen his actions were making her fall for him even more.

It wasn’t long after he found out that Oscar was in charge of Scarlet’s case. Another good turn of events, Ann’s overprotective brother was gladly spilling some facts about the case to keep her away from Benjamin. But something strange was happening, Nicholas actually began to enjoy his time with Ann. He often found it annoying how easily he could manipulate such women, but with Ann, every moment with her was oddly refreshing. He also didn’t want to admit to himself that he didn’t like Ann trying to help Benjamin. But all these feelings he supressed, it was not his concern, all he wanted was to make sure he gets away with this and Ann was the way to do it.

“I can’t look the other way,” Ann says as Nicholas comforts her. He doesn’t get in her way because he thinks it’s not his problem, nothing was. Even when he helped Ann follow Benjamin, he did so only as a cover. This would definitely put Nicholas in Oscar’s good books, which he needed. This trip proved beneficial in one other way, he found out Gregory was awake from his coma.

‘How is this idiot awake?’ Nicholas though. He expected him to wake up for months later but now Nicholas was at the perfect place. He not only got such valuable information but also knew, Gregory can speak. It wasn’t that he saw Nicholas’s face but one phone call caused him to make up his mind, Gregory had to die.

‘Of course no one would suspect me,’ Nicholas thought to himself arrogantly. ‘Benjamin is acting too suspicious. Even that silly game is suspicious. I won’t be surprised if Oscar hasn’t let go of that yet.’ And he was right, Oscar hadn’t.

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‘This is such an interesting development,’ Nicholas didn’t let his face express what he felt. He wanted to laugh so much when he saw Oscar was dating Benjamin’s sister. With what was happening, Nicholas sat and watched as Ann tried to defend Oscar.

“Hey!” Nicholas shouts at Benjamin’s words and immediately rushes to Ann’s side. This was not what he would have said but his anger was great. He bit his tongue as the rest of the conversation continued. He took Ann home but couldn’t say a word, she was upset and all he did was hold her hand. He could not ignore it anymore, Nicholas is attracted to Ann and what bothers her, bothers him.

That was the only reason he confronted Benjamin at the gym. He would have never done that if it was just another girl, but Ann began to make him feel a lot of things. Nicholas is now protective of Ann and wants her to be happy. He now cares for her and not just what she can do for him.

‘This cannot last,’ Nicholas knew. ‘I can’t stay nor will she ever be with me if I told her the truth.’ Nicholas no longer wanted Ann to just be some girl he manipulated but a part of him wanted to be with her. The guilt he carries stood in the way and he knew he could never be happy. Though she gave him joy, he knew it wouldn’t last.

‘She deserved better.’ Nicholas thought. He knows she would always be thinking of him and would compare her future relationships with him. But not the real him, he knew he would have to tell her the truth for her to move on. ‘All her past relationships did not end well and neither will this. But at least she would hate him and be thankful she didn’t end up with a murderer,’ he thought.

‘Slap’

“You did this to me!” Ann cried as Nicholas watches. For the first time he truly came face to face with what he’s been doing. This was how he affected her, everything he did, every moment of manipulation hoping to one day be used to defend him was now on display. He never thought of how his actions would affect others, the woman who he hoped would hate him after he confesses is now unable to. Ann is emotionally confused and this is because of what he did. This tore him apart; the one woman he grew to like after all these years is now suffering because of him. He thought she would be hurt, then with enough of reason hate him and move on. But things weren’t so simple now.

“I promise I’ll see you someday,” Nicholas said without thinking.

‘No…’ Nicholas now thinks regretfully as he tries to control his emotions. ‘Why did I say that?’

“DAMN IT!” Nicholas shouts as he trashes the room angrily.

‘WHY CAN’T SHE HATE ME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!’ Nicholas thinks as he falls to the floor, now crying.