The Other One

Chapter 4

Well... it's finally up. Took me forever. And I'm not quite happy with it -  the actual content as well as the length - but it'll have to do. :/ Hopefully it's not too bad?

Try to enjoy reading I guess. xD

+Cake

*  *  *  *  *

"Oh my GOD. Why won't he DIE!" Lizzie growled at the screen while Nina giggled and clicked a bunch of buttons. It was Sunday afternoon, and Lizzie had just spent most of the day with Nina.

Lizzie joined the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program when she turned twenty-one, and Nina was her assigned little sister. At fifteen, she was about five inches taller than Lizzie's 5'4, had naturally blue-black hair cut in a flattering bob, and big, startlingly green eyes.

Nina was Lizzie's little sister in every way but blood and appearance. They loved and trusted each other with everything, and Lizzie had helped Nina through every difficult thing she'd had the misfortune to go through. When Lizzie first met her, she had been thirteen; Nina's mother was highly abusive and a drug addict, and was constantly stealing anything of value that Nina owned so she could sell it. One certain violent incident was the last straw for her father - Nina was carted to the hospital in an ambulance with a serrated knife embedded in her calf and a head wound that required twenty-six stitches - and he had divorced her mother and moved them to the big city for a fresh start.

Nina had a multitude of scars, most of them small and scattered across her body. She didn't mind the smaller ones, but she only trusted certain people with the aforementioned two; Lizzie was one of those special people.  

They were currently playing a video game that had a lot to do with war, and Lizzie was getting frustrated. She'd been shooting at the same guy for almost ten minutes, and he just refused to die. She was horrible at the game, but she was soon becoming single-minded in her want to beat the stupid thing. Come on! Really, who didn't die after getting hit by all those bullets?

Nina giggled and continued to snipe the enemy from a strategic position behind a wall.

"Ya know, Lizzie, maybe you should pretend that guy's Connor," she said speculatively. "Maybe then you'll actually have motivation to hit what you aim at. Because... you kinda really suck. I need you to be just a teeny bit better if we plan to win this." A grenade flew into a group of hidden enemies and animated body parts flew everywhere. Nina cheered. "My amazing ninja skills don't make up for your suckage."

Lizzie growled and aggressively clicked the shoot button. "Well excuuse me for not being a vegetable all day and wasting my time playing this stupid war game. Although that's probably a very good idea you have there."

Over the last two months, Lizzie's crying meltdowns had lessened until they were nearly gone. Anger had replaced the sadness, and lately all Lizzie wanted to do was hurt something. Preferably a tall, blond man who's name rhymed with 'Honour'. Though honourable he most definitely was not.

She knew that her rage, though justifiable, wasn't healthy. She still felt sad a lot over the loss of someone she'd loved so much, but it was more an annoying ache now than anything else. It was quickly disappearing, actually, and Lizzie was puzzled as to why it was leaving so quickly.

Not that she was complaining.

Along with the rage came the guilt. She felt terrible for doing that to another woman, and she'd resolved to find and speak to the woman about the thing her and Connor had shared. It seemed cruel, but the lady deserved to know.

Almost immediately, Lizzie's so-called 'sucky skills' had improved as she channelled her emotion into the controller, and she was hitting everything she aimed at with deadly precision. Nina whistled appreciatively and grinned. "Told you it would work." Lizzie chuckled darkly and whipped an explosive thing at another opponent.

Maybe she could ask Nathan about Connor's wife. The mental image of cuddling up to him and his muscular chest flashed in her brain, but she quickly shoved it away, a blush covering her cheeks. No matter how safe and tingly the man made her feel, she should definitely not be having these thoughts about him. She would just call him and keep it professional, maybe ask his advice on the subject, considering she didn't really want to botch it up for the woman.

After Nina's father picked her up, along with a container of brownies, Lizzie plopped onto her bed and picked up the phone.

*  *  *  *  *

Nathan sat at the Starbucks in his leather jacket and oil-stained jeans and waited for Lizzie. He had no idea why he'd agreed to meet her here. The space was awfully cramped and small for the amount of people occupying it, everything was rather overpriced, and they had the weirdest name for their drinks. What the hell was a caramel macchiato? Whatever happened to plain old black coffee? The female cashier winked at him and he tried not to grimace. Multiple women had stared at and flirted with him in the past fifteen minutes, and he'd managed to gently reject them all, but the cashier just didn't seem to understand that he was not interested.

He checked his watch for the millionth time and scowled. The hands were moving too damn slow.

He heard the door jingle and grinned when he saw Lizzie's red hair whipping into the store. He took the time to admire her before she spotted him.

She was wearing a tight, solid green v-neck shirt that emphasized her small waist and ample breasts, and a pair of worn black skinny jeans that showcased her amazing legs. A long rainbow scarf wound around her neck and large silver hoops dangled from her ears. He watched as her eyes scanned the room, and they finally fell on him and a bright smile graced her face.

The blood started to rush from his head and Nathan had to discreetly adjust his jeans. Hopefully it wouldn't be too visible.

As she danced her way over to him, he internally groaned. This was definitely going to be hard.

"Hey Nathan," she smiled against his chest as she pulled him into a hug, and he inhaled the scent of lilacs wafting off her. "Sorry for the short notice, I just had to talk to you in person about something. I need your opinion." They pulled apart and he smiled down at her, only to find her face quite serious. Puzzled, he quirked an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. "I thought we could go somewhere quieter where we could talk privately. Would you mind driving down to the park?"

"Nope. Would you mind if I stopped at a McDonalds on the way? I need food." Lizzie face scrunched up in disgust but she nodded anyway. What? What was wrong with McDonalds?

"Whatever you want. I'll get some french-fries, I think those are the only things I'll actually be able to stomach there." Ah, right. Her aversion to fast food.

At the park, they sat on a wooden bench and munched on their food. Lizzie looked thoughtful and serious the entire time, and Nathan scrutinized her carefully. There was a worry line between her eyebrows, and he really wanted to make it magically disappear somehow. He wanted the faraway look in her eyes to go away, so she didn't look so sad.

He also wanted to bury his hands in her hair and kiss the living daylights out of her, but, hey, that wasn't happening anytime soon, either. She'd probably get angry and slap him or something equally as violent.

Yeah, she'd definitely slap him.

Nathan hadn't talked to Connor since the beach. Oh, Connor had tried to contact him, but there was absolutely no excuse for what he had done. The next time they spoke, it would not be friendly, and Nathan would probably stick to the ol' 'actions speak louder than words' motto if Connor tried to make up excuses for what he'd done.

It seemed he'd lost his best friend.

But, thinking about all the possible secrets he could've kept, had he ever really been his friend in the first place? Grimly, Nathan considered the idea of going over and beating the crap out of Connor when Lizzie was finished talking to him. Maybe then he'd feel a wee bit better.

"So," Lizzie started in a quiet voice, and Nathan dragged himself out of his thoughts to listen intently. "I... well, I want to know what Connor's wife is like."