Hey guys! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! :D Or, ya know, Single Person Awareness Day, if you are missing a significant other like myself. :3
Aalso, today is my birthday. :] So I uploaded today as a kind of present. It is long overdue, and I apologize profusely for the super extremely long wait, but it is finally up! I hope you guys enjoy, I had to battle writer's block with this one, it was awful...
Anywho, here it is! Read, Comment, Vote, Enjoy! :D
+Cake
* * * * *
Lizzie woke up to someone quietly singing I Wanna Hold Your Hand in a baritone that was still husky from sleep. She tipped her head up slightly to find the source of the sound, and her exhausted mind and mostly-closed eyes registered the fact that there was a gorgeous dark-haired man in her bed, singing to and smiling at her. She smiled sleepily back and returned her head to its comfortable position on his chest, the rest of her limbs lazily sprawled across the rest of his body. She felt his fingers drawing gentle swirls on her back and she sighed in complete satisfaction. Was there any better way to wake up?
"Morning beautiful," he murmured, pulling her up slowly so his chin was resting on the top of her head. "Did you sleep okay?" She nodded, her body switching from sleep mode to slightly awake as she leaned on his shoulder. "Sorry about last night, I didn't mean to keep you up with my, er, angry outburst." He sounded ashamed, and Lizzie squeezed his waist in reassurance.
"S'okay. Not like I was gonna get much sleep anyway, considering how drunk I was." Embarrassed, she thumped her head on his chest a couple times. "I am such an idiot," she groaned.
And then her memory returned.
Sitting upright, she bolted off the bed and started to hurriedly pull clothes on, not even caring anymore that Nathan was watching her get dressed. He'd already seen her barely clothed, so it didn't much matter if he witnessed her tugging a shirt on, in her opinion. "We need to get your car back!" She exclaimed, and from her corner of the room she heard him grumbling.
Lizzie wondered if his sanity had left him.
She turned around to gawk at him, clothed in her underwear and a plain black t-shirt. Frowning at reclaiming his car? His baby? What was wrong with him?
She told him exactly what she was thinking. He rolled his eyes and gave a small smile.
"I know, I know. But it's Saturday. I want to sleep a little more," Lizzie couldn't help but agree that more sleep would be great. "Besides, if we rush over there without a plan, we'll most likely make asses of ourselves." Another very valid point, she grudgingly admitted to herself. "Now, if you'd just come back to bed, we will make some sort of plan up when we wake up."
"Alright, fine," she muttered, dropping the jeans hanging limply in her hand. "But you, mister, are going to keep to your side of the bed." She pointed an accusing finger at him, and he grinned wickedly, causing her stomach to flip-flop. "I mean it Nathan!"
"Ma'am, I believe you were the one who attacked me last night, not the other way around. I stopped you before you were able to rid me of my clothing." Lizzie flushed and glared at Nathan as she climbed under the covers and scooted as far away from him as possible. The nerve!
Of course, he was right, but Lizzie was still muttering to herself.
"Well... well - oh, just shut up and go to sleep," she muttered, giving up at being witty. It wasn't like she could pretend last night had never happened, so it wasn't easy to construct a scathing retort. She had definitely jumped him. Not that she'd willingly admit it out loud. "And don't try anything."
Nathan released a deep chuckle that made Lizzie shiver, and she felt the mattress move as he rolled. His arm hooked around her waist and pulled her abruptly into his body, wrapping his other arm around her before burying his face in her neck. Her breath hitched and she relaxed into him involuntarily, her muscles turning to jelly.
She convinced herself that this was him being a stubborn idiot male, and that he wouldn't let her go, so there was no point in even trying to move. She wiggled around until she was facing Nathan and pressed her face into his chest. She draped an arm over his hips and fell asleep almost instantly.
* * * * *
She awoke two hours later to the screeching sound of her fire alarm going off.
Snapping upright, instantly awake, she jumped out of bed and sprinted down the stairs, into a kitchen that was full of gray smoke. An unpleasant burnt smell reached her nostrils and she crinkled her nose in disgust.
She dragged a stool into the hallway and dismantled the alarm so it would shut up, and then stormed through the hall.
"Nathan! What the hell have you done to my kitchen!" She bellowed, stalking over to where he was standing by the window, looking pathetic and lost, clad in a t-shirt and his boxers. She waved a cloud of smoke away from her face and planted her hands on her hips, glaring daggers at the tall man who looked unfairly attractive despite the circumstances. "What did you do!"
He gave her a sheepish smile and held up the object he was gripping in reply. She squinted and walked closer to get a better look. It was some sort of metal thing, with a handle, and kind of a dip in the body...
Well, crap. That was her best frying pan. She took a deep, calming breath before linking her fingers together, and requested Nathan's presence in the living room, refraining from socking him in the face.
He sat down on the couch with the offensive frying pan still clutched in his fingers and Lizzie stared at him and the pan for a good minute.
Then she burst out laughing.
Nathan stared at her like she'd gone insane.
It was quite possible she had. That frying pan had cost close to two hundred bucks and was now completely ruined.
But Lizzie couldn't help laughing. She sunk down to the floor and dropped her head into her hands, giggling in relief.
The frying pan had become the metaphor for her life. It had been perfect and pristine like her life prior to the beach episode and meeting Nathan; all her men and other problems was the resulting random explosion in her kitchen.
Of course the destruction had been caused by Nathan, who had waltzed into her life and flipped it upside down. When she wanted to hate men, he showed her they weren't all bad. When she wanted to be antisocial and lash out at someone, he gave her a sounding board. When she needed someone to comfort her, he was there, and didn't act uncomfortable about having her getting tears all over his shirt.
She realized that it was completely unfair to blame every man for something three men in her life had done wrong. She couldn't punish Nathan, or any other guy for that matter, for a crime they hadn't committed. It would take a while to regain her trust in men, but she was willing to try, and that was an enormous step from where she'd been just minutes before.
Lizzie slowly unfolded herself from the floor and slid over to where Nathan was giving her a slightly frightened look. She smiled widely and hugged him around the waist, thanking him in silence, and she felt his arms wrap themselves hesitantly around her shoulders.
"Thanks for trying to make breakfast," she said into his shirt, and chuckled when she felt him relax.
"Yeah... that didn't turn out too well. Sorry about your pan," he grumbled, and Lizzie drew back to see his cheeks stained red.
"It's alright. Uh, could I run an idea past you?"
Nathan's eyes searched her face before he gave a short nod. "Sure. What is it?"
"Okay, so, obviously you need to get your car back soon. Not only is it your baby, it is also probably a very large part of the advertising for your garage. I was thinking maybe I could come with you when you go over to Connor's to retrieve it, and talk to Madi about her position. You know, two birds with one stone sort of thing."
Lizzie watched Nathan's eyes darken like storm clouds and his mouth press into a hard line. He looked downright scary when he was angry like that, and she instantly wanted to get his normal face back.
"Either way, I'm going with you, I was just letting you know beforehand," she said. "Hey, do you want something to eat?" She checked her watch and gaped in shock at the time. "I can't believe it's already noon. Let's go check if the kitchen's aired out, shall we? And then we can make a plan."
Lizzie hopped off the floor and pecked Nathan lightly on the lips, not giving him any chance to reply, before dashing into the kitchen.
* * * * *
Madi was one of the most beautiful women Lizzie had ever seen in her entire life.
Nathan's description hadn't done her justice, hadn't prepared her for Madi's beautiful blue eyes, or spun-gold hair, or her tall and willow-slim figure and perfect smile. And it wasn't only her outer beauty - she also had an amazing personality and was skilled at practically everything that required people skills. Lizzie observed to herself that they were almost direct opposites in appearance, and wondered why in the world Connor would ever cheat so much on such a stunning woman.
Lizzie wanted to die. If given the chance and under normal circumstances, she could've been very good friends with Madi. Why did she have to tell this amazing woman these horrible things? How was she going to look her in the eye and tell her what her husband did on his free time? That she'd been one who'd done those things with him?
She wanted to curl in a ball and fall through the couch, pretend as if she'd never met Connor, pretend that she hadn't even walked through that door, imagine that none of this had happened.
But then she thought about how devastated Madi would be in the long run. She'd created a sort of movie scene in her head of Connor and Madi's marriage in ten years' time, where he'd slipped up somehow and Madi had found out. The look on Madi's face broke her heart, and strengthened her crumbling resolve.
No matter how much Madi hated her afterward, Lizzie had to tell her. It had become her responsibility to make Madi aware of her situation. She deserved to at least be given the basic information; what she did with it was her choice.
She would tell her in as gentle a manner as possible, because Madi didn't deserve harsh words. Afterward, she was prepared to handle anything; if Madi needed someone to cry on, Lizzie would hold her, or get Nathan to act as the pillow; if she needed a punching bag, Lizzie would willingly allow Madi to hit her.
Lizzie had asked Nathan for as much evidence he could get his hands on in the past few weeks, and she had collected it into a canvas bag, which was sitting innocently in the living room doorway. There were also pictures on her phone. They were awful quality and didn't show very much of Connor's face - they were the only pictures she'd been able to take of him, because he'd never let her snap real pictures of them together on a good camera, or, really, at all - but they were still obviously Connor. Lizzie hoped it was enough to convince Madi to believe she was speaking the truth.
She took a deep, calming breath and linked her fingers with Nathan's before Madi walked back into the room, glasses of water in hand.