Nicolette practically flew away from Remington. Well, her lips did but her body didn't, considering the grip the two of them had on each other. Her heart was beating way too fast due to a combination of adrenaline, Remington, and the knock on the door.

Remington wordlessly let her go, and she stood up shakily, walking to the door. She glance through the peephole and saw a familiar face. "Shit!" She hissed. Remington flinched and his head snapped towards Nicolette. "What is it?" He whispered, concerned. Nicolette gestured violently to the open closet, "Get. In. The. Closet." She mouthed, making Remington scramble to his knees and slip into the dark abyss of the dusty enclave. He closed the door quickly, but quietly just as Nicolette opened the door.

"Hey, didn't expect to see you back so soon." She greeted Emerson, a warm and slightly startled smile painted on her face. "Hello, sorry to bother you again. I just... thought I should check in again." Emerson glanced suspiciously over her shoulders, looking around the few open spaces in the apartment he could see. His eyes slid right over the closed closet door, then refocused on Nicolettes pale face. She was gnawing on the inside of her cheek anxiously. "You still haven't seen anyone? Tall, pale, kinda asshole-ish?" Emerson gestured slightly above his head and smirked. Nicolette chuckled lightly, but shook her head all the same.

In the closet, Remington was trying very, very hard to breathe as quietly as possible. This was proving harder than he anticipated, due to his nerves and reeling mind. God, that kiss. Stupid hormones, get a hold of yourself, man! But. That kiss... no. Stop it. Focus on... this trophy! Yeah, this dance trophy! Wait. Remington reached over to the slight golden glimmer he could make out due to the crack of light from the gap in the doorframe. The object was heavier than he expected. The date had been scratched off, with what looked like a set of car keys. The competition name was smudged wit fingerprints, making it obvious that Nicolette didn't care about the award, but the pirouetting ballerina figure the topped the cheap trophy was incredibly shiny.

Is Nicky a ballerina? Remington couldn't deny that he was impressed. His mind flashed to the distinct clumsiness that the woman had been exhibiting, and frowned. That didn't track, it didn't seem to fit the mould of a graceful dancer. Then again, he wasn't one for stereotyping. Remington set the trophy back, noticing the thick layer of dust surrounding where it was before he picked it up. He tried as much as he could to not disturb the dust formation, but he was shaky from lack of nutrition and nerves and only marginally failed. He turned around and looked at the back of the closet, his eyes settling on a large picture frame.

A collection of photos that were set up like a collage was halfway covered by a bunch of hanging recital  costumes, resting on the wall. Remington separated the glittery tutus and bodices in half, pushing the hangers noisily to the side so he could look at the pictures in the dim light. He winced and stopped moving briefly at the noise, still hearing muffled chatter outside the closet door. Remington recognized the light soprano buzz of Nicolettes laugh, and the quiet tenor rumble of Emerson's speech. He also heard a new voice, the louder and more confident voice of his older brother, Sebastian. Remington cursed to himself, I should've known they both would've come looking for me. Suddenly, Remington resented all the bonding afternoons binging true crime and detective shows together.

The trio always did try think of themselves as observational and sleuth like. When Remington didn't hear a different tone in voice from the people outside the door, he took that as a sign to keep snooping in Nicolettes stuff. The collage was at least five feet tall, and covered practically entirely in pictures. It was set up kind of like a timeline, with baby photos at the top and the most recent teenage photos at the bottom. The first photo was of a woman cradling a red baby to her chest, the last was of a fresh faced Nicolette standing outside the dance studio down the block, a bright smile on her face. The whole effect radiated happiness, and made Remington smile nostalgically for memories he could sense through the photos.

Remington took a tiara that was hanging diagonally off the corner of the frame and set it haphazardly on his head when he couldn't find a place to put it, and sat down to just look at the pictures. The deeper he observed the faces and scenery in the photos, the more he realized that Nicolette was never truly happy outside her dance recitals or ballet studios. She was truly happy when she was with her (he assumed) mother and ginger haired friend. He also noticed that every photo with her mother only showed the two from the chest up, like a selfie. Remington appreciates the snapshots of Nicolettes life laid out in front of him, it helped him understand her better.

He especially stopped and appreciated a semi-recent photo of Nicolette on the bottom of the frame. The only light was from the laptop in her lap, which reflected off her low sitting glasses. Her hair was pulled up in a bun, but enough pieces were falling out to make it look more like a ponytail. She had big, bulky headphones on her head, and a goofy smile on her face as she acknowledged the camera. Nicolette looked truly happy, and just radiant in her element.

The door was ripped open, making Remington shout and fall backwards in shock. The tiara fell off his head, and the trophy he had been admiring before fell off the shelf and landed on his stomach. The air was temporarily knocked out of his lungs as he huffed out in pain. He vaguely heard Nicolette gasp and giggle briefly. "What were you doing?" She asked with amusement. "And where'd you get that crown?"

"I magicked it into existence, and the trophy didn't appreciate it." Remington gasped out sarcastically, making Nicolette laugh a little more. From his vantage point on the ground, Remington couldn't think of a time he had seen anything more beautiful than the raven haired girl with a purple jeweled tiara on her head.