Getting Under Nathan

Epilogue

Epilogue

**Dedicated to WhiskeyPrincess911 for her fantastic comment on the last chapter - saying my story is realistic without unnecessary big drama is always a big compliment for me, as is the fact that the characters feel like close friends.**

"You're late." 

"Fashionably late," Jack corrected, bending to kiss my cheek. "You didn't seriously think I'd miss this, did you?" 

"No," I replied. "And that's why I was annoyed because I knew you were late rather than just standing us up." 

Jack shot me a cheeky smile as I shut the door after him. It wasn't the first time he'd visited mine and Nathan's flat, and that was evident by the way that he strolled casually across the room to help himself to a beer from the fridge. I watched him with amusement, slowly shaking my head to myself, as Nathan appeared by my side.  

"Nice to see Jack's graced us with his presence," he commented, winding a hand around my waist.

"Yeah," I said dryly. "Over an hour into the party."  

"Well, knowing him he'll probably stay later than everyone else anyway." 

"True." 

Nathan and I had been living together for nearly three months now and, having properly settled ourselves into the new flat, we'd thrown a flat-warming party. It wasn't a big event - mainly because we shared a lot of the same friends - but we preferred it that way. I'd never been a fan of huge parties and so the intimacy of this one was much more pleasing to me.  

"Has it sunk in yet?" Nathan then asked me, pinching my waist playfully.  

"It's just gone so quick!" I exclaimed in disbelief. "I can't believe we're in November and I'm applying for my year abroad. It's going to be Christmas before we know it." 

"Our first proper Christmas together," Nathan smiled, pulling me closer to his body and planting a soft kiss on the top of my head. "I can't wait to decorate the flat and buy a tree..." 

"Don't wish the time away!" I whined, wrapping my arms around his body and resting my head against his chest.  

"Bella, it's gonna be fine," Nathan sighed comfortingly as he stroked my hair. I could feel his chest vibrate with each word, soothing me.  

"Everything just feels so perfect now," I said, leaning back slightly to look at him. "And it's all gonna be lost when I move to Italy." 

"The only reason you're so worried about Italy is because you've literally only just filled in the application form for it. It's fresh in your mind and it's still very much unknown. But we'll be fine," he assured me.  

"Promise?" I pouted, gazing up at him with pleading eyes.  

He smiled gently, his own eyes filled with warmth and love. "I promise," he said firmly. "We got through this year, didn't we? We faced some real obstacles and we did it." 

Unable to help myself, I automatically glanced across the room to where Louisa and Pedro were. He was sitting on the sofa whilst she perched on his knee, glass of wine in hand. They were talking and laughing, looking every bit as happy as a couple madly in love.  

"I suppose," I agreed, tearing my eyes away from them as they began to kiss. "I mean, I guess we knew that living together would intensify things between us, and we decided to take that risk." 

Nathan shrugged, not seeming too concerned, almost as though that was no longer a worry for him.  

"Yeah," he said. "But, that's going to help if anything, at least that's the way I see it. We're having such an amazing time living together and it's making our relationship stronger and stronger. That's a great basis for a long distance one, even if it will be tough that we're apart."