accidental love • n.maloley「✓」| EDITING

twenty-two

anderson

"anderson, check this out," emily says and i lean over, looking down at her phone. "nate's fans are going crazy over you. they wanna know if y'all are dating and if you're natalia's mom."

i take her phone from her hand, scrolling through all the tweets.

is the blonde natalia's mom ?

who's natalia's mom?

are you with your baby momma?

is that blonde girl your girlfriend ?

handing emily her phone back, i let out a quiet laugh. numerous questions directed towards nate, asking if we're dating and if i'm natalia's mom. nate hasn't responded to any of them, making me wonder if he's even noticed all his fans questions.

curious as to if he's seen them, i send him a text.

[anderson] lunch?

and it's not even seconds later when his response comes through.

[nate] omw

××

"did i mention you look really good today?" nate suddenly asks, and i look up, the red straw from my paper cup still in my mouth. "because you do in fact look really good today."

i smile at his compliment, shaking my head. my outfit isn't anything special, simply a long gray and white chevron maxi skirt with a white tank top tucked in, my blonde hair curled. "thank you," i tell him. we sit in silence for another minute after his compliment before i speak up. "have you noticed all the tweets from your fans about us?"

nate's eyebrows furrow, giving me my answer before he verbally responds. "no, what're they saying?"

"i didn't notice their tweets either until emily showed me eariler. i didn't see anything negative when i skimmed through them, they were just asking if we were dating and if i was natalia's mom," i tell him. "i guess they seen us out in public together those few times."

"oh," he says. "do you want me to tell them no or just let them keep asking?"

"well, i'd prefer that you didn't say anything yet. not until we're sure about things."

"understandable," he nods. "i won't say anything, i promise."

"i actually wanted to ask you something," i tell him, fiddling with the gold bracelets on my wrist.

"and what's that?"

"well, my little sister graduates high school next month, and i was just wondering if you and natalia would like to come with me? emily and brandon will be going, since emily's little sister graduates as well, so you could talk to him too, if you wanted to," i tell him. "i'll be staying there for a few days, and if you came we could get a hotel room instead of staying at my parents place. i don't know, you don't have to, i was just offering." i shrug, glancing back up at nate.

he meets my gaze and smiles widely. "i'd love to go with you."

"really?"

"yeah, of course. i have no reason not to, and plus, i think natalia would miss you," he says. ever since i started coming out to l.a. to work, i've seen nate and natalia at least every other day. truth be told, i'd probably miss her more than she'd miss me.

"aw don't use natalia to cover for you, nate. natalia wouldn't be the one missing me, you would," i playfully tease.

"okay, you caught me," he says, grinning widely. "i'd miss you, but i think she would too. i think she's grown attached to you."

i glance over at the sleeping baby beside me in her carrier, a soft smile playing on my lips. i think i've grown attached to her, too.