Second Chances

Chapter 14

Chapter 14.

"I've got to go to work today, rent is due." Nathan mumbled against my lips as he held me tight against him beneath the covers. He was hovvering over me at a slight angle and a ray of sunlight was hitting his face. 

"Do you have to?" I asked as I ran my hands up his arms and wrapped them around his neck. 

"We've spent the entire week since you came back locked up in this flat, mainly in this bed, by ourselves. We need to let reality sink back in." He groaned as he pulled away from me. He rolled over top of me and got out of my side of the bed. I grabbed his arm and pouted. He bit his lip trying not to grin at me. 

"I like our dream world, it's better than reality." I admitted. 

"I wish I could stay cooped up with you for the rest of my life Maddi, I really do, but I can't." He bent down and kissed my forehead gently and I let go of his arm. "I'll be back later and we can lock ourselves away again for the night. I wish I didn't have to let you out of my sight again but... I want to provide for you also." He gave me a sweet smile as he began to get ready. He dressed in some dirty ripped jeans and a dirty what used to be white t-shirt. Despite the grubby look it was insanely attractive. Before leaving the room he came back over to me and pressed his lips to mine longingly. "I love you." He told me.

"I love you too." I whispered breathlessly as I watched him leave the room. I looked at the clock and saw the time and decided to catch a few hours sleep. I pulled the duvet around me and listened to Nathan leave the house. 

I stretched as I opened my eyes from my little extra sleep. I looked over at my dead phone on the top of the counter and decided I'd charge it up today. It had gotten left there after Nathan and I unpacked what little amount of stuff I had with me. I hopped out of bed and picked up the phone and walked into the living room. I put it on charge and decided on eating. I looked at the clock to see that it was almost 3 in the afternoon. Well I really have slept most of the day away! I shrugged and began making some pasta. 

Whilst the pasta cooked I had a quick shower and got dressed into some black leggings with an oversized burgandy jumper. I pulled on some grey socks with black frills on all just before the cooker began beeping allerting me to the cooked pasta on the hob. I put it in a bowl and sat down on the sofa to eat it. I like this appartment. It's small, slightly grubby, cheap and falling apart but it's lived in. And I know how hard Nathan had worekd to get it. He told me. Despite being the same age as me he had been emancipated from foster care last year and had used what little money he'd been able to scrape together to get this flat. He's only a few months older than me and I could never have imagined being able to do this. He turned 17 at the beginning of September, this month. He'd spent his birthday in a bar alone whilst on his journey to find me. 

Once I'd finished eating I decided to take a walk into the city. The city I grew up in. I put on my make-up, on my first night here Georgie had shown me how I used to do my make up because apparently I'd taught her! So I now was a pro at doing thick winged eyeliner, an extreme cat eye, with grey eyeshadow and a very bold lip. She made my get my make up out and showed me everything I used to use. Since the accident I'd only ever used natural colours and the darker colours remained at the bottom of the box. My favourite lipstick is actually a really dark purple so that is what I used. The girls had also shaped my eyebrows for me into the 'perfect' shape. The look suited me for winter anyway! I straightened my long brown hair aroudn my shoulders. I looked at my reflection and I saw the girl from the poloroid pictures. It was super weird. I pulled on my doc martens and left the house locking the door with the key Nathan had given me. I smelt the air and it was so different to the country air I'd lived in since my accident. It somehow wasn't as fresh. 

I began just walking down the road I now lived on and saw a bus with 'City Centre' as it's destination so I hopepd on it paying the £2 fare andn sat at a seat beside a window. Everyone on the bus was busy with their own lives doing their own things. The boy in front of me had the geeky look about him and was reading a book. The old woman across from me was sat with an emotionless expression on her face. The group of teenagers behind me were laughing and joking. Then there was a young girl at the front of the bus with her headphones in. I'd not actually been on a bus... as far as I can remember. 

The bus stopped in the bustleing city centre. It was packed. People were rushing everywhere. I thought that maybe I'd panic but I didn't, probably because I was used to it before the accident. I just began walking I didn't really have a place in mind. Shops lined the busy street and busses drove past at least every minute.

I dawdled in and out of clothes shops for a good couple of hours buying the odd item and a shirt for Nathan. He's meeting his parents, who gave him up when he was 2, for a meal tomorrow night and I thought he'd like a nice new shirt to wear. I liked it anyway. It was a simple black shirt but just pictureing him in it had me smiling. I'd even found a cute little shop that sold trinkets and stuff for poloroid cameras so I'd brought some film for mine. I was about to make my way back to the bus station when I saw the supermarket. I could make something nice for dinner tonight. 

I made my way into the large store and grabbed a trolley placing my already purchased items in it so I didn't have to carry the mildly heavy bags around the shop. My eyes met the stand of magasines and I froze, my breath caught in my throat, and my hands becoming clammy. I was on the cover of a lot of them. I took some shaky breaths and somehow forced my legs to stumble over to the aisle.

"ETHAN AND MYSTERIOUS GIRL"

"HALL SHACKING UP WITH BRUNETTE BEAUTY"

"BOAT FUN FOR LOST ANGELS!" 

And the headlines continued. Pictures of Ethan, Leo, Ashton, Dylan and I on the boat trip in France in the summer were everywhere. Even ones of the passionate kiss I'd shared with Ethan. On the front of one teen mag was the photo of me stood on the boat watching the boys swims in nothing but our swimwear. Who were the Lost Angels and why is Ethan and his friends so popular? I grabbed every magasine and shoved them into the trolley. I raced around the store picking up the stuff I needed to make chicken kievs and chips paid quickly recieving some looks from the woman at the till who had obviously seen me on the magasines. Another reason I was so shocked was the fact that I'd completely forgotton about Ethan. I'd spent the past week shacked up with my 'boyfriend' without giving a thought to the guy I've been 'dating'. Guilt ran through me and confusion fogged up my mind the entire trip back to the appartment.