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Part7. First Sip.

Nathan told me he'd be right back. He also told me to stay upstairs away from Toby for the rest of the night. Since Nathan knew the house better than I did, I let him lead me into another room, the one he called the 'guest room.' But after sitting on the bed for about ten minutes, I decided to go out into the hallway to see if I saw any sign of him.

Just as I reached the door, it swung open, and Nathan stood there, his dark blond hair in his face, his blue eyes sparkling. The grin on his face told me he was in his joking mood. But it was hard to tell with him, his mood changed so quickly. "Missed me?"

I scoffed, but it came out with a laugh. "Sureeee I did."

I noticed he carried two beers. One for him and one for me. I smiled anxiously, and took a bottle from him. It was wet, droplets of water clinging for dear life onto the glass of the bottle. I bit my lip as I sat down, the icy cold beer in my lap. Nathan sat down beside me on the bed, leaning back into the soft pillows and with a icy fresh noise, opened the cap of his beer. He took a chug and I tried to do the same, failing miserably and asking him to open it for me. He laughed when he took it in his hands, and it only took him half a second before handing it back to me.

"Thanks." I said back, stupidly. After that, I looked at him nervously, and he returned my stare with a clam expression on his tired face. I took in a deep breath and slowly held the cold icy rim of the bottle to my lips, then felt the bitter tasting liquid roll onto my tongue and down my throat. After the first second, I ended up coughing half of it up, but Nathan patted my back, laughed, and said to try again.

"Ehh, I don't know if I'm a 'beer person.'" I grumbled.

"And what exactly is a 'beer person?'" He asked, clearly amused by me and my stupidity. I felt my cheeks redden and I shrugged.

"I don't know..."

"Just try again," He laughed softly under deep, rough voice, "Think of all the sad things in your life and then just take a huge sip. Trust me, it works."

And so I did. And it was easy. My dad dying, my mom getting drunk every night, my brother running away, my constant depression every night, my mom becoming too clingy and worried...I could go on and on. But instead, I closed my eyes and with a deep breath, I held the lid to my mouth and took a sip.

As it went down my throat, the bitter taste was gone, not all the way, but it tasted better than before. Then I took another sip. And another. And another. "Mmm." I mumbled, smiling happily, again like an idiot. I heard him laugh from beside me and I opened my eyes to laugh with him. I caught him staring at me.

"What?" I giggled, suddenly feeling awkward again. But I knew I was safe with Nathan. I knew he wasn't drunk and I knew he would stop if I asked him to...right?

He shrugged, "Nothing." Then took another sip.

"No seriously, what?" I asked with an anticipating smile hanging on my face.

He chuckled. "It's just...I can see why Toby would come onto you. I mean, you're not bad looking."

"Gee thanks." I frowned.

"Not what I mean't-

"I know." I laughed, and he ended up laughing too.

"Yeah well..." With the silence creating an emptiness around us, he stared down at the beer in his lap. "Well, I'm going to go get another one, do you want one?"

I nodded, and drank the rest of the beer left over in the bottle. After another couple more minutes, he came back with two more in his hands. He tossed me one and jumped back onto the bed, the bed under me shifting under his weight. I watched him as he downed his beer, in shock and amazement. Both. He looked just as much as an angel as Toby did. But maybe...cuter? I don't know. And who was I to care?

I just drank my beer and minded my own business...

...But as the night carried on, it got harder to mind my own business. After around four bottle later, we were a bit dizzy, and the only thing I wanted was sleep. I didn't care where I'd get it, but as long as I did. Nathan helped me over to the bed and I ended up crashing the second my head hit the pillow. The last thing I heard was the sound of my own groaning.