Getting Under Nathan

41: "Everything is out in the open now."

Chapter 41 - "Everything is out in the open now."

**Dedicated to strikingswirl because she gets so enthusiastic about this story and always leaves great comments. I'm sure that when she reads this chapter (whilst eating popcorn and maybe hot chips), she'll realise just why it's dedicated to her.**

During a lazy afternoon in the flat, I encountered the skinny brunette that Jack had briefly mentioned to me. She was hovering outside Hayley's door, obviously waiting to be let in, as I was heading up the corridor to Jack's room. She caught my eye briefly, but then looked away almost immediately. It was odd behaviour but, after studying her appearance more thoroughly once her back was turned, she very much looked like an odd person. I'd teased Jack about how he found all girls hot, but I could actually see where he was coming from with this one. She had a pretty face, obviously fake tanned, but dainty, attractive features. Unfortunately, that was overshadowed by how skinny she was. It wasn't an attractive body figure, but rather made her look malnourished and scrawny.  

I shut Jack's door after myself, causing him to look up at my sudden desire for privacy.  

"What's poppin', girl?" he asked, in a strong deep-south accent.  

"I just saw that girl you were on about," I told him. "And you're right. She's so skinny!" 

"Well, now we know Hayley does drugs, she's probably on them too," Jack shrugged. "I'm sure it's no coincidence that Hayley starts doing drugs at the same time that she starts hanging around with other, shady-looking characters." 

"But why do drugs make you skinny?" 

"I dunno," Jack shrugged. "Why don't you ask your boyfriend?" 

I scowled, unimpressed with his joke. "Not funny." 

He laughed. "Sorry. But, seriously, druggies are always skinny. Maybe they just spend so much time taking drugs that they forget to eat." 

"Maybe." 

"Did you tell Nathan about the drugs?" Jack asked.  

Jack knew it was a difficult topic for me to bring up, even though it had been Nathan who had suggested they were taking drugs in the first place.  

"Not yet," I replied. "I'm seeing him tomorrow night to have a proper discussion about the whole Louisa thing, so I'll bring it up then." 

"Oh yeah? Mid-week visit, must be serious!" 

"Well, Jess and I made an agreement," I said. "The next time we Skype, we need to have both sorted out any unresolved relationship issues." 

"And did Jess talk to her boyfriend?" Jack asked me.  

I paused before answering. Jess and I had briefly chatted on Facebook about how she was going to approach the situation with Alex. It was difficult to have such a serious discussion when you're not actually there in person with your boyfriend; virtual conversations leave so much potential for misunderstandings. Skype was the obvious solution, but not the best one.  

On a whim, I'd decided to send Alex a message. A year ago, Jess and Nathan had conspired behind my back to arrange a surprise for me; thinking that I was meeting up for dinner with Jess, Nathan actually turned up instead. He'd been away in Italy for Christmas, and I wasn't expecting him back for another few days, so needless to say it was an amazing surprise. Whilst this wasn't exactly the same situation, I wanted to cheer up Jess by persuading Alex to surprise her. Hopefully, if it came from me, then he'd be more inclined to up his game and make the effort.  

"Sort of," I said to Jack. "Although I may have meddled a little..." 

I explained that I'd messaged Alex and suggested that he plan a prompt visit to Jess, preferably before the weekend to heighten the level of surprise. He'd agreed - obviously not wanting to let me down or give a bad impression - and had booked tickets to see her tomorrow, on Thursday. I think Alex was probably fully aware that his relationship with Jess was not as perfect as it had once seemed. He was a decent guy, and I knew he'd want to make things right. At the end of the day, he cared deeply about Jess and he probably knew he was hurting her. A little push was all he needed to force him to do something about it.