The Cure

Chapter 7: Scared Oh so scared

"I'll start!" Casey says, raising her hand. "Never have I ever done it in a park," she says and I watch James and Kelly drink, looking guiltily at each other.
"Really guys?" Kyle asks and James shrugs, winking at her. I cringe and look as they go around the circle.
"Never have I ever had sex with someone who was in a relationship," Steph says and I look directly at Casey as she picks up the drink and swallows it.
"Who was it Casey? Oh yeah, I know, it was Matt and oh yeah, he was with me," Steph says and Casey turns a bright shade of red.
"Shit's going down," Kyle comments and I nod, looking at the argument happening.
"How did you know?" She asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You're a bitch, did you know that? How could you?" Steph asks, standing up. Casey copies her.
"I didn't mean to, we were drunk. I barely remember any of it, it was mistake," she says and Steph laughs in her face.
"You're damn right it was mistake," she says, but Casey suddenly becomes defensive.
"I said it was a mistake, calm down," she says, looking at the rest of the group for support, but it's clear who's side we are all on.
"Don't tell me to fucking calm down," Steph snarls, stepping closer to her. I share a worried look with Kelly but we seem to decide together not to do anything yet.
"You want to start something? Well how about we say how you replaced me with little miss prefect over there! Ever since she came you have barely seen me! I don't even know what so special about her, she is as ugly as fuck and she is nothing like you," she says and I just look down. What did I ever do to her? I immediatley go red and feel tears welling up. I wouldn't normally cry at something like his, but it hurts more than I thought it would.
"Don't listen to her, you're beautiful," Nathan whispers and I smile at him, thanking him without saying anything, I dont trust my voice right now.
"I'd rather be with Lily than you any day," Steph says and walks off. I take a deep breath as she leaves but it seems Casey has other plans.
"Just because your boyfriend would rather sleep with me than his own girlfriend," she says and Steph turns around, practically running at her. As fast as we can, we all get up and stop her, holding her back. I struggle due to my shoes, but the boys can hold my bit for me.
"Fuck you!" Steph calls and Casey replies," Matt already did." Nathan and Kyle control her and lead her away, but I am left with Casey.
"What do you want?" She spits.
"Nothing, I don't want anything to do with you, ever," I reply and walk away, trying really hard not to trip over. When I finally found the back door, I stepped outside, thankful for the fresh air. I found a small table and chairs and so I sat down. I kept thinking about what she said, the things she called me, what she accused me of doing and even the way she looked at me. She always looks at me like I am dirt, like I am nothing and I hate it.
I did nothing to her, I was even really nice to her when we first met, but she just hated me from the start.
"Are you okay?" A voice asks and I stand up immediatley. Stupidly, I lose my balance and end up on the floor, pain flooding my knee. "Oh my God," Nathan whispers running over to me. He helps me stand up and then sits me on the chair. I look down, red with embarrassment and then see the blood pouring from me. I feel Nathan freeze and when I look at him, he is staring at my knee.
"Nathan?" I ask and he jumps away from me, turning away. "Are you okay?" He shakes his head.
"Urmm, I'm just, urrrm, God, I'm scared, oh so scared of the blood," he admits and I smile to myself at how cute that is.
"Could you go and get me a plaster? Then the blood will go away." He nods quickly and storms inside and then within a few seconds, he is back outside, a first aid kit in his hands.
"You didn't need to bring me the whole kit, one plaster would have sufficed," I joked and heard him make a noise that sounded like a laugh but it was the laugh of a stranger.
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he mutters and I smile as I place the plaster over the cut and clean the blood with one of the antiseptic wipes.
"All done," I tell him and he turns around, breathing deeply. He looks distressed but as he moves closer to me, he calms down.
"You didn't answer me, are you okay?" He asks and I smile falsely, nodding.
"You're a rubbish liar, what Casey said isn't true, I promise. You are not ugly, you are beautiful and even though you are different, I like that about you," he confesses and when I look over at him, I smile, letting him know that I am okay.
"Thank you," I whisper and he nods as we sit in silence for a short amount of time, just thinking. Then, suddenly, he takes me in his arms, holding me like a bride on her wedding day.
"What are you doing?" I screech as he takes my shoes off my feet, holding them in his hands.
"I'm carrying you because you're injured, why do you wear these shoes anyway?" I laugh and roll my eyes, holding his neck for support.
"I wear them because they look nice but I knew I couldn't walk in them, I should have just wore my black ones," I ramble on and watch as he starts to laugh at me but this time, it's his laugh, the one where he scrunched his eyes and his dimples show in his rosy cheeks.
He effortlessly carries me inside and through the house, ignoring the people as they stare curiously at they boy holding a girl with no shoes on. I pretended they don't exist ad they are unimportant to me.
"Kelly had to take Steph home you know after the whole thing so I offered to take you, is that okay?"
"Yeah, why are you always dropping me home?" I ask and he he shrugs, showing his famous smile. His lips pull up his face, reaching his eyes, showing cute deep dimples and bright, white teeth.
"I'm sorry for being so rude then also," he adds and I shake my head, reminding him if the fact that we started over. We arrived at his car without me even realising we had gone outside. He gracefully sat me in the front seat of the car before slamming the door and walking to his side. What a gentlemen.

Nathan P.O.V

She looks so beautiful as she sleeps, her head resting against the window of the car. I wonder if she is comfortable, or if she is just so tired she doesn't care where she is, just that she needs her sleep. I wouldn't blame her, not after the events if the party. I honestly would not have held back from punching Casey if she was not a girl. How dare she call Lily ugly. Lily is the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on but I know that no matter how many times I tell her, she will not believe me. That is another thing that I like about her, she doesn't know just how beautiful, kind and sweet she is.
I park up outside her block of flats, not sure in what I should do next. Deciding against taking her back to my flat, that would be strange, I exit the car and pick her up again, taking her things with me as I carry her again. I'm not complaining though, I like being this close to her. I remember picking Steph up from flat 223 before, so I walk upstairs, Lily's sleeping body in my arms. When I reach her floor, I find the door and with difficulty I open it, making as little noise as I can. I don't want to wake her, she looks so peaceful,
I walk in and open the first door but when I see the mess of clothes, shoes and make up, I walk past and open the second door. Inside I see a room with picture frames, books filling bookshelves and papers piled into heaps and so I lie her on the bed, knowing this is her room, and cover her in her quilt, wanting her to stay warm. Before I leave, knowing she will not remember, I kiss her temple and then reluctantly I leave her there, a note beside her explaining what she needs to know, leaving out what she doesn't.