So just trust him and just oh, step aside

Nick fumed in embarrassment at Nola’s question, but ultimately he knew that the little gremlin wasn’t responsible. These questions were Dakota, through and through.

And he had a pretty good thought for his answer, too, and wrote it down on his whiteboard as Marley did the same with hers.

“Well, Nick?” Nola asked excitedly. “What do you think? Park or movie theater?”

Nick held up his whiteboard.

PARK

“Marley likes the outdoors, and doesn’t like being around people much,” Nick said, shrugging. “So I figured this would be more likely option for her.”

“Oh, I see, that makes sense!” Nola nodded in agreement. “I love a good walk in the park myself! Seeing the birdies, hearing the dogs bark, looking for that pot of my gold Dakota snatched… ‘end of the rainbow’ my ass, everybody knows rainbows don’t have ends! That’s just a clever lie we make up to fool the tax investigators! …Where was I going with this again?”

She blushed, after having gone off-topic, and cleared her throat. “…Well then! Enough about all this zany stuff about pots of gold and rainbows, let’s get back on track! Marley, Nick said you would prefer a date in the park, what do you think?”

Marley glanced at Nick and smiled shyly. She raised her whiteboard and the letters appeared across it.

PARK

“Nice!” Nick punched the air.

“I knew you’d get that one,” Marley giggled. “You’re right, nothing beats the ambience of a nice park! Even if outdoor sex isn’t really my thing, you know?”

Marley was very reserved when it came to sexual matters, unlike her sister. But even she could see the merits of certain choices over others. And less people? That was obviously the deciding factor for her in this case.

“Since you both got the same answer, that means you got it right, Nick!” Nola cheered. “Which means you get a point as well! Now, you’re both tied at one point apiece!”

“Tied? Why are you making this sound like a competition?” Marley asked, frowning.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s really how you should be doing this,” Nick agreed, shaking his head.

Nola giggled scratched her head. “Whoopsies! Got a little carried away, I can’t help but think of this like a challenge, you know? But you’re right, it isn’t one! No, it’s time we move on and jump to our next question! This one’s for Marley!”

“Great, can’t wait,” Marley said sarcastically. She remembered how big of a mess the last question she’d gotten was. Nick had been lobbed a softball, while it felt like she was swinging at pitches that came at speeds above 200 MPH.

“This question’s a pretty open-ended one, I’ve gotta say,” Nola said, scrunching up her face. “Marley! Who would you say is your biggest rival for Nick’s affections? Which girl in his harem is your strongest competitor? Keep in mind, these are all women who are officially in Nick’s harem, and you’re just sitting on the sidelines!”

Marley’s jaw dropped.

“What… what kind of fucking question is that!?” She exclaimed, scrambling to her feet. “You can’t ask me something like that!”

“Yeah, that’s not a fair question!” Nick protested. “You’re putting me on the spot and making me choose who I love most?!”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, it’s not like the rest of your harem will be watching the results!” Nola quickly assured him. Her eyes were wide and gleamed with honesty. “If you’re afraid of Mary finding out that you really like me best of all, don’t be! She’ll never know!”

Nola winked at Nick and he rolled his eyes in irritation.

She didn’t let that faze her. With a cheerful smile, she turned to Marley, who was stewing in her juices.

“Well? Come come now!” Nola goaded her. “You’ve gotta pick somebody! You know the girls well enough! Who do you think is your biggest romantic rival?”

“That’s a dumb question!” Marley protested. “I mean, romantic rival?! Why do you have to frame it like that? Can’t you just ask me who I think Nick loves the most in his harem? Calling it a romantic rivalry makes it sound like I want to be in a relationship with him or something!”

Nola just stared at Marley.

“Ouch, that kind of stings to hear when I’m sitting right next to you,” Nick winced.

Marley blanched.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that!” She stammered, frantically waving her hands around. “I was just trying to say… I mean…”

“How did you mean it, then?” Nola asked, raising her eyebrow.

Marley couldn’t even look at either of them by that point. She sank down in her seat and looked completely defeated.

“…Are you really going to make me say it?” She asked, her voice hollow with resignation.

“Marley… it’s okay,” Nick said, placing his hand over hers. “If you don’t want to… ‘say it’ yet, then you don’t have to, alright?”

The two of them shared a look. On some level, they both knew what the other was thinking. Marley’s feelings weren’t a secret to Nick any more than they were a secret to herself.

In theory, that should have made it easy for her to express herself, right? She should have been able to tell him exactly how she felt, and know that he wouldn’t reject her.

But she couldn’t do that. Every time she tried, she thought about how complicated the situation was, what, considering she was on the outside of his harem and everything. So even though a part of her wished she could be honest…

Nick was her first love. And he was surrounded by all kinds of wonderful women. And Marley was just Marley.

“…I’m afraid,” she admitted, finally looking away from him. “Nick… I love getting to spend this time with you, I really do. You mean so much to me, as a friend… and maybe… maybe even something more than that. But I’m afraid of taking things further than the two of us just having fun together. Because if I do that… if I try seriously… what happens when this all ends? You have so many women in your life that you need to focus on. People who depend on you, because they’re a part of your harem. You have a wife. To try and **** my way into that now… I just don’t see how it could work.”

“Marley…” Nick winced.

Marley could see how much her words hurt him, and she hated it. But she had to say it. She had to be the mature one in the room. Nick was such a nice guy… she knew that he had some kind of special feelings for her, that had been made clear today, as if all their interactions in the past hadn’t done so already.

But that didn’t mean things were just going to magically work out between the two of them.

Nick was the kind of guy who would do anything he could to make the people he loved happy, and that included Marley. But if they became more than what they already were, he’d be even more devoted to her. He’d dote on her the way he did with Mary, with Carly, with Rose, even with Holly and Sylvia. And that was time better spent on someone he was bound to. Someone in his harem who he was slated to be connected to for life.

Could Marley really do the selfish thing and try to cut a piece of that pie out for herself, knowing it would mean less for all the girls who relied on him? Someone like Morgana who looked up to him so dearly, or someone like Gina, who was a total hot mess without the stability that Nick provided in her life?

Someone like Rose or Mary would probably fight for their place at his side. But Marley wasn’t like that. She wanted what was best for the others, just like them… but in her case, that meant stepping aside and not letting her feelings rule her actions.

“This question is just about who Nick loves the most in his harem, right?” Marley said, turning away from him and leveling a cold stare at Nola, who shifted uncomfortably on her feet. “That’s fine then, I’ll put down my answer.”

“Marley…” Nick tried again, but she shook her head.

“Just… answer the question, Nick, okay?” She **** a smile to her face. “The more correct answers we get, the faster it will take to get out of here. And we both know which of the girls you care about the most.”

“Out of your harem,” Nola quickly reminded him. “Not someone who’s been eliminated, like Dakota.”

She cringed as she said that, hoping not to get struck by lightning or gassed with aphrodisiac for bringing that up. But it was part of the question.

Nick could see that in Marley’s current state, there was talking sense to her. He wanted her to know that it didn’t matter to him whether or not she was a member of his harem; that she was important to him regardless!

But… he couldn’t do that when she wouldn’t even look his way.

He knew what she was doing on some level. Trying to shun him, because she didn’t want to stir up even more drama by throwing her hat in the ring. It had to be something like that, that’s what Nick figured. Because Marley was a flower in a garden. She would sit in her enclosure and look pretty, but she wouldn’t try to extend her roots beyond where she was planted.

Honestly… maybe… maybe she’s right, Nick thought, even though it made him feel sick to his stomach. I just had four new women added to my harem. Amelia is one thing, she’s my stepmom. But the other girls… Vivian… Ella… and that Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. I could have been spending this afternoon getting to know them, but… instead I’m here, trying to clear this escape room with Marley, even though she’s not part of my harem.

He cared about Marley, he really did. But she wasn’t a member of his harem. Maybe he should start taking his responsibilities seriously, instead of behaving so frivolously. He’d had so much fun today, clearing the escape room with Marley while flirting up a storm with her. But… he could have done that with Carly. He could have done it with any of the girls. And they were the ones who wouldn’t be able to live without him, when this was all said and done. The ones who would be bound to him forever by the rules of the show.

Marley… Marley could move on. She could meet someone new and fall in love. She could have a life outside of Nick and the harem.

Even if the 10-foot rule keeps applying back on earth, that’s not a **** sentence. Conjoined twins find love all the time. She doesn’t have to be stuck with us the way the other girls are. Mary had been eliminated from the harem, but she was still his wife. Holly would devote herself to him no matter what. And Dakota… Nick wasn’t sure what would end up happening with her.

But Marley wasn’t like the others.

She still had a chance to get out of here and live her life. Could he selfishly try to convince her to stay? Why? Just because she was cute? Because they had some good chemistry for, what, the day and a half he’d gotten to know her when she came to visit Carly at school? Or because they had sex once, and she’d touched him a few times since? Or because they’d had one fun date in an escape room that had been **** on them anyway?

Were any of those things reasons to keep her in his life, when he couldn’t devote the same amount of love to her that someone else could?

Nick thought about Dani and Carly and how happy they were together. Nick couldn’t give Carly the love she needed, but Dani could. And the same applied to Dani; they weren’t compatible in the slightest, but Carly… Carly could be there for her.

Marley deserved someone like that, too. Someone she wasn’t **** to be with. Even if she did care about him, even if she did love him…

She wasn’t stuck with him.

That made all the difference.

“Nick.”

The sound of Marley clearing her throat snapped Nick out of his mental fog. He turned to see the brunette staring at him with a worried look in her eye. She was so sweet and so considerate, and he was just thinking about himself…

“You still haven’t written anything,” she said, indicating to his whiteboard with her pen. “If you want us to get out of here faster, you need to get a name down! Come on, we both know who it is, so just write her and we’ll get another point!”

“R-right,” Nick stammered, writing down the only person he could.

Nola felt miserable. She’d meant for this to be a funny “ha-ha, who’s your biggest romantic rival!?” question to stir the pot and get them both flustered, like the sex question from before. But no, she had to keep stepping into minefields! This was horrible!

“So, uh… who did you pick?” She was remarkably succinct with her statement, which didn’t go unnoticed by the two of them. Marley and Nick glanced awkwardly at each other, and raised their whiteboards.

Both boards carried the same answer.

MARY

“Ah! Well, would you look at that? It seems that you’re both on the same page about who has the biggest slice of Nick’s heart at the moment!” Nola chortled, trying to pick the mood back up now that it had sunk into the pits of depression and misery. “I’m sure our lovely irish lass will be so glad to hear it… not that she’s watching, of course!” She added with a wink.

Nick wasn’t laughing.

“I mean, she is my wife, so… it only makes sense to put her,” he mumbled.

“That’s what I was thinking too,” Marley nodded, subconsciously rubbing her own hand, right above her ring finger. “A stand-up guy like Nick, who truly loves the women in his life, he would pick someone he had made a promise to, like her, we both know he would. Maybe if he’d married someone else as well, but with Mary being his only wife… well, the answer was obvious, you know?”

She tried to smile her way out of it, the way Carly always smiled her way out of the difficult and painful emotions that she had to deal with. But she hadn’t suffered loss the way her sister had, and she didn’t have years of acting for the camera the way Carly did.

Nola quietly considered that for some time, before finally nodding.

“I agree,” she admitted. “I think you’re right about that, Marley. But… just because Nick’s married to someone else, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have room in his heart for other girls, you know. There’s always a chance…”

“I know he has room in his heart,” Marley cut her off. She looked gently over at Nick, and smiled. “That’s what’s so great about him. But just because his heart has room… that doesn’t mean everything will be smooth sailing, does it?”

Nick contemplated that statement in silence. He didn’t have anything to say in response, because… Marley wasn’t wrong.

He just really wanted her to be.

Sensing the mood in the room had gone from gloomy to gloomier, Nola decided to spoil that with some pleasant news.

“Well, since you both got the same answer, Marley, that means you get the question right! And that means you’ve got two points! Isn’t that grand!?”

The key slid a little further down.

“It’s not a bad feeling, I’ll say that,” Marley said with a smile, trying to follow Nola’s lead and put those painful thoughts past her. “What do you think, Nick? You ready for a few more?”

She turned to him with a pleading look in her eyes. She didn’t want them to be hung up on this. She wanted him to understand her perspective and move past it.

So that’s what he did.

“Sounds good,” Nick nodded, concealing his own pain behind a smile as well. “So Nola, what’s my next question then?”

Nola could see the valiant effort they were putting up, and it brought a tear to her eye. But she had to move forward.

“You two are doing great!” She said generously. “But we’re not done… let’s get to it then! Nick, you and Marley are at a party together! You’re having fun, you’re dancing very close, and suddenly, you get an erection! How do you think Marley will handle that? Will she A) Lend you a hand? B) Suck you off? C) Go all the way and have sex? Or D) Tell you to take care of it yourself?”

Nick’s jaw dropped. After the emotional atom bomb of the previous question, to ask something like that… he couldn’t even begin to think about it.

“I-I mean… a multiple choice question? Really?”

“It shouldn’t be too difficult, right?” Nola asked. She glanced at Marley, whose face was as red as a cherry. “What do you think, Marley? Have you got an answer for lover-boy over here?”

Marley was embarrassed, but at the same time, she was almost pleased by the question. After all, something like this was definitely preferable to answering one of those deep, emotionally-devastating questions that she’d just been asked.

And it wasn’t particularly hard, either. If Nick knew her, then he would know what she’d choose. She wrote down her answer.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Nick didn’t know her all that well, because he was totally lost.

Okay… C is probably out of the question, given that it seems like an **** solution to the problem, he reasoned. He and Marley weren’t exactly bumping uglies on the regular. Just the opposite, in fact; and she was definitely the kind of girl who would prefer a more intimate motive for the two of them making love then getting aroused at a party. It could be D… after all, we just kinda sorta agreed that there isn’t really a future between the two of us, but… I don’t see her choosing that one.

So it was down to A or B. A handjob? Or a blowjob? Which would Marley-

Nick realized that he knew the answer before he even finished thinking through the question. Of course! It was Marley, after all.

“Ooh, someone’s writing fast!” Nola giggled. “Looks like you figured it out, Nick! Okay, tell us, what do you think? How will Marley help you out with your little problem?”

“Hey!” Marley frowned. “It’s not that little! I mean… never mind.”

She shielded her blushing face as she realized what she was objecting to.

Nick blushed as well, but he appreciated it.

“I think… I’m gonna go with B,” Nick said, holding up the whiteboard and showing the “B” he had written on it.

B

“B for blowjob, I see, that’s quite a choice! And why that one? Why not a handjob?” Nola asked curiously. “After all, she’s jacked you off before, hasn’t she? In the hot springs? So why escalate up to a blowjob?”

Marley buried her face in her hands.

“W-well…” Nick glanced at the squirming girl. “Shouldn’t we wait to see what she wrote first?”

Marley didn’t even look up. She just raised her whiteboard in defeat.

B

“Ooh! Right on the money!” Nola whistled. “Another correct answer! That means you’ve both got two points now! But Nick, how did you know?”

“Aagh, don’t say it!” Marley wailed. “…Okay, fine, whatever…”

She knew that this was part of Dakota’s demented game. So she might as well.

Nick didn’t feel any more comfortable about this either.

“Well… yes, Marley has… given me a handjob or two before… but… when I was figuring out the answer, I remembered… back when she was Mimi.”

“Yeaaagh!” Marley squirmed even harder. This was the worst, the absolute worst!

“And back then, well, it really seemed that she liked the taste of my-”

“Can we please move on already!?” Marley looked like she was about ready to melt into a puddle of slime again. She was already an emotional wreck from that horrible question making it clear to her once and for all that she needed to put her feelings aside. Did she really need the added humiliation of something like this, too!?