"Oh," Nathan's mother began. Her eyes started to swell with tears as she fanned her face. "I had such a lovely evening with you boys, and especially you Audrey."
I nodded my head and gave her a smile. "Thank you for having me, it was an amazing dinner."
Julie pulled me in for a hug and rubbed my back. I stared at Nathan with an expression that said help, but he simply shrugged his shoulders and smirked at the scene before him.
Darian said his goodbyes to his mother, as did Nathan, meanwhile, the taxi pulled up in front of us.
Steve said his quick goodbyes. It was hard for him to get a word in with Julie rambling her goodbyes and thank yous.
Nathan grabbed my hand as we started to go down the stairs, making me blush and almost lose my footing. He let out a little chuckle under his breath. "Don't worry, princess. If you fall, I'll catch you."
***
When we got home, Darian and Nathan raced to their rooms to get their suits off--something they have been complaining about the whole ride home.
I decided to have a shower, seeing as I didn't actually get a chance before we left. As I looked in the mirror, I sighed. What have I gotten myself into? Sure, it was one night of pretending, but what about other holidays or birthdays? Was I always going to be his fake girlfriend, or would I ever be anything more? More than that, did I want to be anything more?
I got undressed and hopped into the blistering hot shower, trying my best to soothe my pressing thoughts. I tried to think of anything but Nathan, however, I failed nearly instantly as I heard his voice shouting from the living room.
Worried, I shut off the water and quickly got dressed into some sweats and a green camisole. Throwing my wet hair in a bun, I went to go see what all the commotion was.
"I told you to get the hell out!" Nathan yelled at a man standing at the door.
The man raised his hands and his hazel eyes stared at him, pleadingly. "Please, Nathan. I just want to talk."
I stayed in the hallway and Darian was wide-eyed in the kitchen, watching this scene pan out in front of him. He met my eyes and shook his head slowly, telling me not to move.
"You want to talk?" Nathan let out a bitter laugh. "Christ, I talk about you for the first time in years and suddenly you show up at my door? What are you, Beetlejuice? You have had seventeen years to talk and yet you have been silent!"
The man took a small step towards Nathan and Nathan punched the wall he was closest to, causing the man to take a step back.
Not listening to Darian's look, I rushed towards Nathan and placed my hands on his shoulders, trying to get him to look at me while standing between him and the man. "Nate, look at me." His eyes lingered on the man behind me, but slowly, they landed on mine. His eyes swelled with anger, frustration, and a sense of overwhelming sadness. My heart clenched seeing him like this, but I simply took a deep breath and said, "You need to breathe, okay? Just breathe."
He nodded his head slowly and attempted to follow my breathing. When he seemed calmer, his voice cracked as he said, "I don't want him here."
"I know," I whispered. "Maybe you can go outside for a bit and Darian and I will handle this, okay?"
Nathan nodded his head and went to his room to grab a hoodie and his pack of cigarettes. Not meeting the eyes of anyone in the room, he went out on the balcony.
I turned my head to the man at the door. "I probably know the answer to this, but I'm going to ask for the sake of clarification. Who are you?"
The man chuckled at me but immediately died out when he saw Darian walk over to my side, with his arms crossed and looking stern. "Just answer her question, Liam."
He scratched his head and winced. "I'm Nathan's father."
"That's an overstatement," Darian barked out bitterly. "More like the asshole who comes in and out of his life, never making a consistent effort to stay. But makes it a point to mess up Nathan's life in the process." Darian tilted his head and gave Nathan's father a venomous look. "Do you remember the last time you came into Nathan's life, Liam? Or were you too drunk that time to remember what happened?"
Liam looked down at the floor and refused to meet mine nor Darian's eyes.
"You took Nathan out to dinner," Darian began. "And when he went to the washroom, you took his car keys from his jacket pocket and stole it. You stole your own son's car and left him at that diner." Nathan's father looked up and opened his mouth to say something but Darian cut him off. "Not only did you steal his car, but you crashed it. A car he spent most of his high school saving up for, a graduation present to himself--gone because of your recklessness."
"I just wanted to see my son again," Liam said quietly, tears starting to form. "I promise you, I am sober and well. I just want to see my son on Christmas."
I took a step forward and his father took a step back. "Well, Nathan doesn't want to see you and I think he has made that very clear."
Without waiting for his response, I slammed the door and locked it.
I looked at Darian and jerked my head towards the balcony. "Should I go get Nathan?"
"No," my roommate shook his head. "He needs space in times like this. His father tends to bring out the worst in him and he'll feel awful if he says or does anything to hurt anyone during this time."
I nodded my head, but not liking the idea of leaving him alone. "Make sense."
***
An hour after the mess with Nathan's dad, I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling. This whole day was wild from start to finish. First, it started out great from the morning with the guys and Samara, to the evening with the guys' parents. For once, I didn't feel awful around the holidays, but now, I did, worrying about Nathan.
"Audrey?" A muffled voice sounded on the other side of the bedroom door. "Can I come in?"
I sat up in my bed, instantly, and rested the back of my head on the headboard. "Y-yeah, come in."
The door opened quietly and Nathan emerged, closing it behind him. He looked tired and his eyes were glazed over as if he were crying--which he probably was.
"Sit," I said, patting the space beside me on my bed.
Nathan walked over sluggishly and flopped onto my bed. "I'm sorry for scaring you."
I gave Nate a confused look. "Scaring me?"
He didn't meet my gaze, looking incredibly guilty. "I lost my anger and punched the wall. I scared you, didn't I?"
"No," I said, grabbing his hand. "You didn't. I would have reacted the same way, although, I'd probably break my hand if I did that."
"I don't know," Nathan chuckled lightly, rubbing circles on the back of my hand. "Your punches have been improving since I've started training you."
I shrugged. "That's because I learned from the best."
"I suppose it is," he grinned. He made an effort to get up, letting go of my hand. "I should go. But I'm sorry again, for everything."
I rolled my eyes. "I know you don't want to be alone and you know you don't need to apologize."
Nathan's brows furrowed. "Yeah, but you need to sleep."
"That hasn't stopped you from staying in here before," I said patting the other side of the bed again. "Stay. I can pull out my laptop and we can watch Netflix until you're able to sleep."
"No Netflix," he replied, shaking his head as he laid beside me on my bed. "Just being with you is enough."
Unlike the last time Nathan slept in my room, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, causing me to rest my head on his chest. His heart was beating fast as if he were nervous, but when I snuggled closer, I felt his heart slow down in pace. I arched my head upwards so I could look into his eyes. "Goodnight, Nate."
Nathan held me tighter and kissed my forehead, not a lingering one, just a quick, casual kiss. "Goodnight, princess."