Time Heals

Chapter 48

Nathan

Someone was shaking my shoulder. They were also shouting. I squinted my eyes open and moaned at Eric to leave me alone. I felt like utter crap. My head was banging like mad.

"Your lesson starts in five minutes man." Eric said but to me it felt like he was yelling in my ear.

"Let me wallow in self pity." I muttered, pulling the covers over my pounding head.

"Whatever man, you've got some major making up to do with your bird." Eric reminded me and I sighed loudly. To be honest I didn't remember much from yesterday but I had a feeling in the pit of my churning stomach that I'd been a dick.

"Is she ok?" I peaked at my unimpressed mate who shrugged.

"She's stronger than you give her credit." Eric ripped my duvet off and I moaned again, curling up into a foetal position. "If you miss this lecture Paul will be pissed."

"I'm ill!" I protested grumpily.

"No you're hung-over." He corrected me and I couldn't deny that. "Get your arse out of bed."

"Ok ok." I surrendered and dragged my tired body into an upright position.

"After your lecture you'd better think up a good way to apologise with that special girl you've hurt." He challenged me and I frowned.

"Since when were you on Zara's side?" I rubbed my aching temples.

"Since she decided to make a big sacrifice for you and you treated her like shit." He threw his pillow at me to enforce his point. "Plus us two are friends now so I have her back as well as yours."

"Was I really a dick last night?" I asked, a pained expression on my face.

"Yeah, you were. Firstly she was trying to have an adult conversation about her big decision and you assumed she was breaking up with you. Very mature." Eric shook his head at me and I put my head in my hands. "You left and came home hours later drunk. You told her to fuck off and physically shoved her out of the way when she was just trying to help."

Well I'd never felt so guilty in my life. I'd been so worked up in convincing myself that Zara was getting depressed again that I'd ended up being the one causing her stress. Great work Nate, I thought to myself angrily. I literally felt like the worst boyfriend in the world.

~~~

Paul wasn't impressed when I walked into his class ten minutes late.
"Nice of you to join us." He said and I muttered an apology, still feeling ill as hell.
I took a seat next to Tanner seeing as it was the nearest one I could see. Slumping down I zone out to Paul's lesson, unable to focus my mind on what he was teaching us.
"You look like shit." Tanner whispered to me and I didn't reply. If this guy tried to push my buttons today I swear I'll punch him. "Your girlfriend being frigid?"
"Shut up." I growled, regretting sitting here. My temper was extremely short right now.
"What? Little miss perfect didn't open her legs for you?" He smirked, knowing he was getting under my skin. "Maybe I can have a crack. She does seem like the sleeping around type, don't you think?"
My fists clench under the tables and my jaw tensed.
"Tanner shut up." A guy behind clipped the boy around the ear. "He doesn't need you chatting shit while he's trying to concentrate."
Tanner pouted but for some reason he didn't bother me for the rest of the session. I didn't concentrate though, my head pounding too much. It didn't help that I was obviously feeling guilty for my behaviour last night.
The class was dismissed and I legged it out of class, my aim to find Zara and think up the best apology I could.
"Nathan, wait up!" A voice called from behind.
Tanner shoved past me when I turned around, wondering who called me.
It was the guy who'd got Tanner off my back.
"Hi man, you alright?" He caught up with me and offered me his hand to shake. "Names Oliver."
"Uh hi, thanks for telling Tanner to shove his hook." I shook his hand gratefully.
"No worries he's a twat. Anyway I've been meaning to talk with you, Paul mentioned you write books?" He queried and I nodded in surprise. "Well he praised them and suggested I spoke to my Mum. She works for a publisher you see. If you want I can give her your work. She can read through it, maybe give you feedback about possibly publishing your work?"
It's safe to say my jaw almost hit the floor. I was speechless.
"I-I mean...uh..." I ran a hand through my blonde hair, unprepared for this offer.
"You look a bit rough today." Oliver commented sympathetically. "We can talk about this another time."
"No no it's okay I just wasn't expecting this kind of offer that's all." I reassured him and we began to walk towards the library. The weather was cool, clouds sheltering the heat of the sun. "I didn't expect any of my work to get attention."
"Well you've got a chance man, don't miss it." Oliver grinned and his upbeat manner was so infectious I cracked a smile for the first time today.
"OK it's a deal, I'll give you a hard copy of my best book." I smiled, barely believing this was happening and Oliver slapped me on the back. "Thanks for this."
"No need to thank me." He said and then paused, something catching his attention. "Oh shit."
"What?" I followed his gaze and the scene I saw before me made me sick to my already nauseous stomach.
Tanner had his arms around my girlfriend. My girlfriend!
He had her caged against the wall of the library block. Zara did not look happy.
Anger like I'd never felt before burst inside of me. My stride lengthened and I stalked towards them, still unseen.
When Tanner moved in for a kiss, Zara moved her face away and shoved his shoulders.
"Get the fuck off me!" She shouted and my walk turned into a run. How dare someone put their hands on my girl?!
Tanner pinned his body closer to Zara's and I literally felt like I was going to explode. I couldn't get there quick enough.
And then the last thing I expected happened. Zara let out an angry yell and shoved her foot hard onto Tanners foot. He swore but didn't budge and I witnessed my girlfriend punching a six foot guy straight in the face.
No joke.
He staggered away from her in shock, clearly bitten off more than he could chew when he decided to mess with my girl. Finally I found myself by Zara's side.
Zara was breathing hard, massaging her fist and was clearly shaken.
"You bitch!" Tanner nursed his bleeding nose and I couldn't help the smug smile that crossed my face. "Nate control your crazy girlfriend."

I stepped closer to him, the twat who thought he could intimidate my girl like he did.
"Nathan leave it." Zara put a hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off.
I was hung-over, angry and seriously pissed off and I certainly wasn't going to let him go this easily. "Nathan!"

"She was loving my touch." Tanner smirked, asking for trouble. "Few minutes later and she'd..."
He didn't get any further. I landed a punch straight onto his smug face. This time he didn't just stagger. The twat fell over.
"Never ever touch my girl again!" I spat at him, my body tense and shaking slightly.
"Nathan please!" Zara's timid face blocked my view of the idiot I'd just floored. "Leave it."
"He's a dick man, don't let him get to you." Oliver warned from behind me.
Tanner got to his feet and wiped his bloodied face.
"See you in class." He smirked, purposely checking out Zara's body as he walked away from the tense scene.
"God I hate him." I stated through gritted teeth. "Are you okay?"
Zara tilted her head to the side a tad, nodding but not smiling. She wasn't OK and that was my fault.
"I feel like I'm intruding so I'm just going to go..." Oliver spoke again and then handed me his number on a piece of paper. "Call me to arrange details."
With that, he left. Now it was time to make up for the shit boyfriend I'd been.
"Got yourself a new boyfriend?" Zara chuckled, easing the tension slightly.
"His mums going to read my book, see if it's any good for publishing." I muttered and acted as though that wasn't important right now. Glancing around I noticed a bench nearby. "Shall we sit?"
Zara agreed and I led her over to the old rotting bench that just held our weights.
"I'm a dick." I admitted and she raised her eyebrows in amusement. "I was a twat. I'm sorry. The way I treated you was...well let's just say I feel ridiculously guilty."
"It's OK, honestly." She sighed deeply and stared across the concrete area which split the library from the English block. "I just wish you hadn't jumped down my throat when I was trying to have a mature conversation."
"You're not mad at me?" I stated in surprise.
"I was but then I remembered the shit I put you through." She admitted softly, her eyes flitting to mine and then away. "You had to watch me hit rock bottom. I'm sorry."

This girl was incredible. I certainly didn't deserve this from her. She should be yelling and screaming, not feeling guilty herself! Yet here she was, calm as a cucumber. Wait, did I really just think that?
"But Nathan you need to trust me when I say I'd tell you if I ever feel depressed." She carried on. "And I'm not going to compete in skateboarding anymore."

What? She couldn't be serious?
"But..."
"Nothing you can say will change my mind." She told me in determination. "I'm doing the competition next weekend but after that I'm done."
"I don't want to get in the way of your dreams." I protested, not anticipating that my make up attempt would turn into this.
"The thing is my dream isn't to be a famous skater. It never was. Yeah I enjoyed it but I already feel less love for the sport. I don't want to travel the world. I don't want a rollercoaster life." She looked up and met my eyes and I could tell this was genuinely what she'd been feeling. "My dream is to have a settled life. A quiet life. I'm a private person. I don't need fame. I don't want fame! I want you, Nathan. You're my world."
As soon as she finished speaking she planted a kiss on my cheek and left. I couldn't deny I was confused. My feelings were pretty muddled. Did she forgive me? The conversation hadn't been centred around my behaviour towards her. In fact she wasn't even mad.
One things for sure, Eric's right. I underestimated how strong my girlfriend was.

_________________

Finally updated! Sorry it took a while I've been away at a festival. Hope everyone's summer is going well, my aim to have this book finished by the time I go back to college seems quite unlikely but I'm still hoping I'll manage too!
What do you think of their conversation? Do you think Zara should have been angrier?
Thank you for reading :)
Please vote/comment
Sami xxx