Getting Over Matt

27 - "To three weeks in Hell."

She smiled. "That's nice. Have a lovely evening. And just...be careful, okay?"  

It wasn't my safety that she was referring to.  

I shuddered. "Thanks, Mum." 

After grabbing my coat, I headed down the driveway where Nathan was waiting. He jumped when I opened the door, as if he hadn't noticed me coming.  

"Sorry." He smiled, leaning to give me a quick peck. "I was a million miles away." 

"Evidently." I smiled back. "You look nice."  

It appeared that Nathan had made an effort, too. His blonde hair was neat for a change, swept back behind his ears. He wore a shirt with the top few buttons undone, teasing me with that perfect chest of his.  

"Finished mentally undressing me?" he asked. "I'd return the compliment, only I can't see through your coat." 

"You'll see when we get to yours."

"Let's get going, then."

-

When we got to his house, Nathan told me to wait in the living room while he disappeared into the kitchen. I removed my coat and slung it over the back of the sofa, straightening my dress and checking my hair in the mirror above the fireplace. Why did it never stay perfectly straight? I'd spent ages straightening it.  

I wandered towards the bookcase, curious about his taste, but jumped at the feel of his hands suddenly on my hips.  

"Nice dress." 

I spun around to face him and shivered under his touch as his palms trailed up my exposed arms, tracing my shoulders and then coming back down to rest on my waist. His eyes scanned my body in appreciation.  

"How about we skip dinner and go straight upstairs?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"But you've made so much effort." I smiled, playing along.  

He sighed to himself, his eyes back to studying my body. "You look so beautiful," he told me. "I don't want to leave you." 

"It's only three weeks," I reminded him, thinking back to my conversation with Jess. This felt like a bit of a role reversal; now I was the one trying to reassure him. "And there are plenty of ways we can stay in touch." I wound my arms around his neck and pressed my body up against his. "And I can still wear this dress during Skype..." 

An amused smile played on the edges of his lips. "No. I only want you wearing it when I'm here to enjoy you in it." 

Then without any warning, his mouth latched onto mine. After I'd recovered from the initial shock, I tangled my fingers in his hair, pulling him closer and no doubt messing up the do that he'd spent time styling neatly. 

Nathan's own hands weren't shy as they explored every inch of my body. For a second, as they got dangerously near to going up my dress, I wondered if dinner really would be abandoned. That's when he broke away, breathing deeply.  

"You're right. It'd be wrong to waste dinner." 

Laughing, I planted a hand against his rock-hard abs and pushed him off me. "You're such an idiot."  

He took hold of my hand, interlocking our fingers. "Shall I show you to our table?" 

"Our table? I'm glad I dressed up now." 

"I'm glad you dressed up, too," he said with another appreciative smile as he led me through the kitchen and towards the dining room.  

I was about to say that I knew he was, but then I noticed the table. Or rather the whole room in general.  

"Oh my God," I breathed, looking around. "As if you did all this..." 

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked, pulling out my chair for me in a formal fashion. "I wanted our last evening together to be special." 

I sat down in the chair but my eyes were still scanning the set-up. Candles illuminated the dark room, and a deep red table cloth covered the dining table. Two places were laid out immaculately, with neatly positioned cutlery. A bottle of red wine sat in the centre, the cork already removed to give it time to breathe. Nathan had gone to a lot of effort and I was touched that this was clearly a big deal to him, too. 

"Dinner is served," he announced, placing a dish down in front of me. I recognised the smell immediately.  

"Carbonara," I grinned. "My favourite." 

"I made the sauce myself," he said proudly, sitting down opposite me and pouring wine into our glasses. He only filled each glass to a quarter of its capacity, similar to the classy amount that you'd be given in a restaurant.  

"This is amazing, Nathan." 

"You haven't tried it yet." 

I shot him a sarcastic smile. "I meant this whole evening, the amount of effort you've gone to." 

He raised his glass in toast. "To three weeks in Hell." 

I laughed and knocked my glass lightly against his. "Cheers." 

-

The Carbonara was amazing, though I hadn't expected any less. Nathan was a great chef, a useful thing to be when you lived alone, really.  

"I never thought we'd be like this," Nathan said quietly after the meal.  

We were curled up on the sofa together. Nathan had his arms around me, stroking my hair as I rested my head on his shoulder.  

"Like what?" I asked back, closing my eyes in contentment as I relaxed under his touch.  

"I never thought you'd care about me as much as I care about you." 

I sighed and snuggled closer into his body. It was a touching thing for Nathan to say; despite him making his feelings clear, he never really talked about the times when I perhaps hadn't felt as strongly about him as he had about me.  

"Well, this sort of thing rarely happens, so I guess we've got something good, huh?" I tilted my head upwards to look at him.  

"Yeah." He kissed the top of my head. "I'm really going to miss you, Isobel." 

My heart lurched when he called me Isobel, a cocktail of emotions rushing through my body. He only ever used my full name when he was being completely serious about something. I didn't know what to say, but I did know there was nowhere else I wanted to be apart from here.  

"I'm going to miss you, too," I told him, tracing his lips with my index finger.  

He closed his eyes. It was a perfect moment. Two people who were completely comfortable with each other. Two people who were going to equally miss each other. Two people who felt the same about each other.  

"I want tonight to be as perfect as possible," he told me, his arm winding around my waist as he pulled me onto his lap.

There was nothing sexual about it; we were past that at this point. The sexual tension had peaked at the beginning of the evening. Now we were nearing the end and it was hitting me that I wasn't going to be near Nathan for another three weeks.

"It is perfect," I assured him.  

He smiled and kissed my lips softly. In that one kiss, something unfamiliar, but something that I had no doubt about what it was, washed over me. As we pulled apart, I stared into his eyes and I was held there. I didn't want to look away. Nothing could have forced me to look away. At that moment, I'd never been surer of anything in my life.  

"I love you," I said to him, without breaking his gaze.  

Something flickered in his eyes, but I couldn't tell what it was. Surprise? Happiness? Shock? 

If he was shocked or surprised, he didn't admit it.  

"I love you, too," he said instead. His tone was serious, but he smiled slightly. "And you've just made my evening even more perfect."

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