Mckeelsy on tumblr was my 60th follower, and requested that I write a NodxMK oneshot. So, here it is.

I do not own Epic, Nod, or MK. I feel like it's been ages since I wrote a disclaimer...

Unexpected

"You okay?"

MK's head jerked up from where her chin had been resting on her palm. Her eyes darted around the school lawn until she looked to her left and saw the young man a few feet away. He was fiddling with his motorcycle helmet in one hand. But he seemed to be watching her with genuine concern.

"Yeah," she said, a little confused by that concern.

She was just sitting on a picnic table in the middle of the school lawn... nearly two hours after school had let out. Looking around again, she saw that all the other stragglers were gone, only three or four cars left in the parking lot, as well as the motorcycle that she guessed was his.

Maybe he had reason to be concerned... though she certainly wasn't used to concern from total strangers.

She wasn't used to concern period.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said.

"You're the new girl – MK, right?"

Only in a town as small as Moonhaven would the entire student body know her name by the end of her first day. At her school in the city, she was pretty sure have the student body didn't even know her name after three years.

"That's me," she sighed.

"I'd say 'welcome to Moonhaven,'" he said. "But you don't look like you'd appreciate it much."

MK didn't bother to take offense to that. Judging by his awkward (but decidedly cute) lopsided grin, he hadn't intented it as a jibe.

"Not really," she confirmed.

She braced her elbows on her knees, chin on her palms, as she returned to staring out at the empty parking lot without seeing it.

Beyond the chain link fence on the far side of the asphalt grew the lush green forest that was everywhere around Moonhaven. And though her dad's house was filled with what seemed like every horticulture book in existence, leaf specimens on every wall, she didn't have a clue what any of the trees were.

It was springtime, so the branches were full of bright green leaves. The smell of flowers was everywhere.

It was all so beautiful – and she couldn't stand it.

She couldn't handle springtime right now. And of course she had ended up in a place where the season of rebirth was inescapably obvious.

Everyone seemed to be so happy. And it just made her feel worse.

"Look..."

She glanced over, surprised to see her companion was still there.

He was rubbing the back of his neck, clearly trying to decide if he should say whatever was on the tip of his tongue.

MK watched, waiting for him to either say it or walk away. She didn't really care, either way. She just wished he would make up his mind.

He sighed.

"I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, or pry into your life, and I know it doesn't mean much. But I... I'm sorry for your loss."

MK stiffened and looked over at the stranger who was avoiding her eyes. He ran a hand through his messy brown hair, and she noticed he was wearing fingerless green gloves.

When she still didn't say anything, and he still didn't look up, he adjusted the collar of his jacket, which matched his gloves.

MK looked back to the trees on the other side of the fence.

"What do you care?"

Her conscience told her in no uncertain terms that she had been raised with better manners than that. But she had heard that so many times, from people with no idea what she was going through. They said it for no reason other than to make themselves feel better – to feel as though they had done their part. And she wished they would just leave her alone.

She wished everyone would leave her alone.

She wished she was curled up in her bed, with her blankets pulled over her head to block out the world. But she still didn't have the energy to walk home. She wanted to stay on the picnic table and never move. Maybe if she stayed still long enough, she would fade into nothing.

Her companion was free to leave at any time.

She wished he would move on.

"I lost both my parents."

Her head jerked up again (and she couldn't ignore the nagging thought that this was part of why she was supposed to be polite to everyone), and she looked at him. He was no longer shifting nervously, but his eyes were fixed on the green helmet he now held in both hands.

"So I know how much it sucks," he said. "Having to move and be the new kid on top of that... all I'm... I don't even know what I'm trying to say." He sighed again.

"What happened?" MK asked, after another moment of awkward silence. "If you don't mind my asking."

He came over to sit on the bench with his back against the table edge.

"My dad was in the military – he died overseas," he said simply. "My mom got sick and didn't get better. My dad's friend Ronin took me in, now I live with him and his wife Tara."

"Oh." MK looked at her hands. "I'm sorry."

He nodded, looking out at the trees with the same absence her own gaze had held a few minutes earlier.

"You never really get over it," he said, his tone awkwardly gentle. "You just wake up one day and realize you can walk again. Like training, or something. You get used to the weight."

"I was wondering," she admitted, not really thinking before she spoke. She scuffed at the bench with the toe of her unlaced combat boot. "I mean, I've been going through a book on the five stages of grief. And it's helped, but I couldn't imagine... 'getting over it' isn't right. Moving on, I guess?"

He nodded again. "It's one of those things you don't realize is happening until it's over. So it feels like it happened overnight, but you look back and realize it was really a long road."

He looked over and held out his right hand. "I'm Nod, by the way."

"MK." She shook his hand. "I mean, you already knew that..."

She looked away embarrassed, pulling her hands into the sleeve of her pink hoodie.

"It's getting kind of late," he said. "Do you want a ride home?"

"Oh. Um..." she glanced warily at the helmet on his lap.

He noticed the glance and grinned. "I swear, I'm a safe driver. No tickets, or accidents. Well, off the track, at least."

"Track?" MK cocked her head to the side.

"I'm a racer," he said. "Ronin's condition for allowing it was that I finished high school. Which is why I'm here so late – my history teacher agreed to stay late so I could take a test I missed a couple days ago.

"But seriously. Let me give you a ride?"

MK looked at him, considering. Then nodded slowly. "Okay."

Getting off the table, she followed him over to the motorcycle. It sat still and patient, waiting for its master. The sleek body was mostly green, with white and red accents. She was hardly an expert on vehicles of any kind – and especially not motorcycles – but she could tell it was nice by any standard. The lines were smooth, designed for speed even to an eye trained only by high school physics.

Nod lifted the seat and withdrew a spare helmet from the hidden compartment.

"I've never actually been on a motorcycle," she admitted, taking the helmet (which was also green. She would say she was picking up a theme, but the whole town was like that, so it might not be Nod's fault.)

Nod chuckled. "You don't know what you're missing."

He mounted easily with a practiced grace, clearly at ease as he adjusted his position.

"Get on."

She wasn't so graceful, or at ease, as she got on, copying him as he pulled on his helmet.

"Put your arms around me," he said.

"But I hardly know you," she said, tensing at the thought. She didn't like hugging her friends and family, now she was supposed to embrace a boy she'd known all of ten minutes.

He laughed. "Suit yourself."

The engine revved, and it felt as though the motorcycle took off on its own, only accepting Nod's orders of which way to go.

As she felt the engine hum, and as they picked up speed, she clasped her arms tight around his waist for dear life, convinced she wasn't going to survive the ride.