Deny what you can’t admit...
While Nick had never been there that night, he knew exactly what happened. He knew Gabriela's outcry had been genuine right off the bat and he couldn’t even be surprised when she went back on it the very next day. Out of anyone, Nick knew exactly the kind of man his father is - A man like him never changes his stripes. Unfortunately, even after the daunting task of testifying against his father and going against the wishes of his family, they couldn’t convict him.
Then he had the balls to show up in the bullpen and with reading between the lines, he admitted to lying up on the stand. Nick’s blood was boiling and he couldn’t care less that his father acknowledged the fact that, after all these years, he finally stood up to his old man. Of all the things he said in that moment or even before that, he never once apologized. He wanted to mend broken bridges but Nick had no desire to do that.
After unleashing a round of his pent up anger against a punching bag, he showered up and headed out to the nearest bar where he knew people would leave him alone. Upon entering the bar, his eyes briefly scanned the sparse crowd and that’s when he saw the familiar figure of Barba at the bar. He wanted to turn right around and pretend he hadn’t seen him there but he ultimately decided against it. He approached the empty stool beside him and asked, “Mind if I sit?” Nick looked like shit and he knew it but he was beyond the point of giving a shit about it.
