𝟘𝟝𝕩𝟙𝟛
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Natalie sighed as she realised that they were getting nowhere, not when she couldn't stop thinking about all the people that were in her house, as Mark was on top of her kissing her. So he pushed off of her instead. "I'm sorry, I can't. I'm sorry. This was a bad idea." It didn't take long for Mark's face to fell, thinking that she had already regretted it. "No, I mean coming back to my house. We should have gone to your hotel room."
After Natalie's confession it didn't take long for Mark to give in her, once again. Hoping that it wouldn't turn bad for them again.
So they ended up back in Natalie's place, which was empty when they first arrived, but it soon started filling in with all the guests of the house, who were once again arguing with each other. So when thing started heating up, Natalie couldn't concentrate, not even a bit.
"It's okay." Mark reassured her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against his chest.
"It's just that everyone is in the house." Natalie continued. "It's driving me crazy. I can't have sex with everyone in the house."
"Nat, it's okay." It was definitely not okay for him, but he had waited for her, he could wait one more day.
"No, it's not" Natalie sighed, knowing that she needed to let go of some steam. "Because I haven't had sex since when we last had sex, you know. Well, you don't know because you've had a lot of sex since then."
"Yeah, but this is over now. I have you now. I have you." He laughed like he had just realised that it was real. It was actually real. "How is it possible to want anyone else when I have you?" He kissed her shoulder.
Natalie smiled for a second, but then her face got serious as she looked at him over her shoulder. "I am making one thing clear here before we enter this relationship." Mark looked at her, knowing what she was going to talk about. "If you ever cheat on me, I will kill you. I don't know how, but I will kill you."
"How would I ever cheat on someone like you? You're just... incredible. Inside and out." Mark carried on with leaving kisses on her shoulder and he secretly waited to get a compliment back. "You have nothing to say about me?"
"Jeez, is this the only reason I get compliments from you? So I can say something nice back?" Natalie teased him, not finding a reason to be mad at him. "I'll praise you when the time comes." Mark mumbled back something annoyed and he continued leaving kisses, now on her neck. "This is the third time you're sleeping in my bed without having sex first." Natalie realised. "I feel special."
"You are special." He took his lips inches away from her neck to speak.
"I'm sorry, I can't, I really cannot have sex with all those people in here." Natalie told him when his hand started roaming on below the waist. "They don't seem like they are going to leave anytime soon."
Mark rested his hand on her thigh and just drew small circles with his finger, softly caressing her. He held her closer against him. But Natalie wanted to look at him so she turned her body inches, so she could look at him but not lose that comfortable position they had found in each other's arms.
"They are worried about you. It's nice that you have a family." Mark told her.
"They are hiding something and they are waiting for me to get better to tell me. You don't hide things from your family." Natalie sighed, making Mark realise something.
"I have to tell Derek about us, right?" He recalled that day he made him promise that Natalie was off limits for him. Just few days before her accident. Derek was too worried about her and knowing that his best friend's crush could turn out badly, he made sure that Mark was going to stay away, at least until Natalie was well enough to make her own decisions.
And Natalie was always well enough to make her own decisions. She definitely didn't need someone telling her what she could and could not do. But it wasn't possible for her to tell Derek, not when he was dealing with his father's murder all over again. So she let it slid.
"Yeah, I don't get what your whole deal with him was." Natalie replied. "I'll talk to him, it's nice that he worries but this is kind of ridiculous."
"No, don't tell him anything. I will tell him. I have to be the one who tells him. I tried to stay away, but it's impossible."
"You can tell him that it's all my fault because I am too damn charming."
Mark smiled and wondered if it was too soon to tell her that he loved her. So he decided against it. "I got all the charm in this relationship. This is a relationship, right?"
Natalie smiled up at him. "Yes" she confirmed. "I'm in this for real. I am done waiting, I could fall from a window any day and I would have wasted all the time I could actually be with you. I want to be happy Mark. And you are one of the people that makes me happy."
But there are so many different ways to say "I love you."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
It was around 6:30 when Natalie woke up. She felt calm and rested, the long conversation and the between kisses with Mark on her bed had helped her a lot, to feel calm again. Being honest to herself helped her a lot.
And the calmness lasted for about four more seconds, and then she realised that Mark's arm were still wrapped around her waist and he was still laying next to her. "Crap" she cursed, "Mark wake up, you gotta leave before everyone wakes up." She gently shook him awake.
Mark groaned and refused to open his eyes. "What time is it?" He mumbled.
"The time my mom wakes up and makes breakfast. And the time Amber wakes up for school... Crap I need to talk with my daughter." Natalie realised. And even if she knew that Amber liked Mark, it was not an easy situation to deal with. "She's been through a lot, I don't want to throw that in too."
Mark was fully awake the minute Natalie freaked out. "Hey, no pressure. We'll figure it out, whatever makes her feel more comfortable we will do it." He kissed the side of her head.
Natalie moved. She was now facing him. "Thank you." She gave him a sweet and slow kiss. "Now go."
"Okay, okay." He kissed her again and it didn't take long for both of their hands to travel to places they weren't supposed to.
And Natalie being the only one with some self-control left, she pulled away from him. "Mark I'm serious, we didn't have sex last night when everyone was sleeping, we are not going to have sex now when everyone is about to wake up."
"Fine." He groaned and stood up. "There's only so much self control I have." He whined as he got his shoes on so he could leave.
"I think you're going to be just fine for few hours or maybe another day? We will see." Natalie bit her lip so she wouldn't laugh when she saw his face.
"You don't have to torture me. I am yours and yours only. And if you want me to wait for a month I will. I've done it before." He declared and fixed his shirt.
"Jeez wait," she stood up from the bed and headed for the door where Mark was standing by. "Until I see you again." She looked him right in the eyes, a look he couldn't quite read. And then she took him by surprise. She pushed him - gently so they wouldn't make any sounds - against the door. And before Mark could say anything she pressed her lips against his. Slowly but sensually enough. Natalie ran her hands through his hair. Mark didn't hesitate to capture her body around his arms, with his fingers locking behind her waist. He brought her as close to him as possible. The heat rose in as her tongue touched his.
And then she pulled back. The moment they shared just enough to feel the anticipation about the next time they meet.
"Hmm." Mark hummed in pleasure and he smiled at her, his mind still numb from the kiss she gave him. "My hotel room will be empty tonight." He whispered against her ear and gave her a peck on the cheek. He, then, opened the door and his smiled soon dropped. "Good morning." He tried to keep his voice steady as he looked at the person in front of him, ready to knock on the door.
Natalie opened the door wider to see who Mark was talking to. And she prayed that it was Liam or her sister. But it wasn't.
It was a wide eyed Amber with her fist on the air, ready to knock on the wide open door.
Natalie didn't want to deal with that kind of stress that morning. "Amber, hey, um, Mark was just leaving. Leave." She pushed him outside of the door.
"Have a nice day?" Mark gave the teenager an awkward smile and quickly left, praying that he wouldn't ran into anyone else.
"Okay, we should talk." Natalie sighed, feeling slightly guilty and very embarrassed.
"No, just no, it's too early for this mom." She walked away. "I just wanted to ask for a ride to school."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
"Hey, breakfast is not ready yet. Where are you going?"
Amber walked by the kitchen first. Cara looked at her granddaughter confused, not sure why she was skipping breakfast, or why she was leaving for school so soon. And then her daughter passed by, following her own daughter. "Natalie? What's going on? You can't leave without eating."
"Nothing, she needs to be at school early for flute rehearsal. We'll get something on the road." Natalie replied.
"Hey, Nat. Can we get coffee later and talk?" Bella asked her. She didn't have many chances to make amends with her oldest sister.
"We will talk later." And Natalie was mostly avoiding it.
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Thirty minutes before first period started, Amber and Natalie were having breakfast at a small cafe opposite of school. They were having a conversation. Well, mostly Natalie was. Because Amber hated every minute of this. "Okay, it's fine if you're mad. It's even healthy really. I shouldn't have sneaked him in and out of the house like a fugitive. I should have asked you if you're okay with this."
"No, mom, stop. I am okay with this, but I don't want to talk about your s-e-x life." She spelled the word too embarrassed to even say it out loud. "It's terrifying and embarrassing."
"What?" Natalie exclaimed and as she earned few glances she lower her voice. "No, we-we weren't- we were just hanging out."
"Oh my god mom stop." Amber groaned.
"No, I mean it."
"Me too!" Amber looked around her praying for any of her friends to show up and save her from this. She didn't mind her mother being in another relationship, if it meant that she was happy. But she was not fond of actually talking about it. She was still feeling uncomfortable and somehow scared of what her mother's new relationship meant for her. So she didn't want to talk about it.
Natalie sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Amber, give me a break, I haven't done that before. And I wasn't planning to introduce you my new boyfriend like that."
"Okay, mom, I swear it's fine." Amber reassured her. "I don't mind Mark. Mark has helped a lot, especially with your accident. It's just too awkward to talk about this. Don't you get it?"
"Look, I don't know how this will turn out, I know I want it to work. And knowing that I have you by my side will make this easier. Because it's not that easy for me either." Natalie's best quality as a mother certainly was her honesty. She never hid anything from her daughter. She didn't treat her like she had to live in a bubble, protected from anything else in the outside world. She made sure Amber knew what was going on. What she felt. Because that's exactly what she wanted Amber to do with her.
"I just want you to be happy mom." Amber gave her a sweet smile, reminding Natalie of the time she was just a little kid. But she was growing too much for her liking. "But just so you know if he hurts you, I'll smack his face."
"Wow, how will you do that big girl?" Natalie teased her.
"I have friends." Amber joked, but Natalie took it a little too seriously.
"What kind of friends? Who do you hang out with? I am coming by to meet your friends."
"Mom, I was just kidding. My friends are a bunch of nerds that talk about superhero comics all day." Amber reassured her, not hiding that she was definitely not part of the cool kids. But she was just fine with that.
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .
During lunch time, Natalie decided to surprise Mark with take away that had nothing to do with cafeteria food. She had an easy morning, away from everyone. And after the talk with Amber she was feeling better with actually meeting Mark.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Mark entered the on-call room she had paged him in. He instantly smiled when he saw her sitting on the bed holding the package of food by her side.
"I brought you lunch." Natalie pulled up the bag. "Hey, hold up." Natalie stopped Mark when he was about to sit next to her. "You should lock the door first. We don't want any interruptions while we're eating." Natalie gave him a suggestive look.
"That would be a disaster." Mark quickly caught on to what was going to go down just seconds later.
The pleasure didn't get long to come; to build up inside of both of them. And soon enough Natalie found herself on top of Mark. Nothing on their minds but just each other, their bodies warmth, the pleasure of holding each other after so long.
And then all that turned into an accident when Mark let out a painful moan.
"Oh, my god." Natalie exclaimed and fell off him. "Are you okay?" She looked at him with wide eyes, noticing that something was very wrong.
"No." Mark exclaimed.
"It's bent in the middle. Did I break it? Let me just-"
"No!" Mark yelled and Natalie pulled back. "Get Torres!" He already felt humiliated enough, he didn't need her to be his doctor on this.
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
"Callie thank god you're here. I need you to come with me." Natalie told her friend the moment she saw her passing by.
"I'm sorry Nat, I'm heading down to the pit. I got a 9-1-1 page." Callie tried to pass by her but Natalie stood in front of her.
"It was me. I paged you 9-1-1 for me. Well, Mark actually. He's the emergency." She cleared her throat and gave her a look, hoping that she would understand and wouldn't make her say that she broke his penis. "It's... on him."
"Wait, Mark's hurt?" Callie asked worried.
"Yes. No. Yes." Natalie made up her mind. Not really sure how to handle what was happening. She just wanted a good time. "He's not dying. But Mark could die because of this, because he is Mark, you know?"
"No, I don't really know." Callie was just confused. It was the first time Natalie didn't make any sense.
"He broke a bone. I-I broke his bone."
"You're kidding, right?" Callie laughed and then she noticed how serious Natalie. "You broke Mark's bone. You're a legend."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Natalie was sitting a little further away from the on-call room everything went down, hoping no one would notice her. She wasn't even supposed to be at work in the first place. She had three more days off, even if she was ready to go back.
She was waiting for Callie and Owen to be done with examining the bent problem. Well done Natalie, she thought and almost rolled her eyes at herself.
Her phone going off interrupted her thoughts. "Hello?"
"Hey," it was her sister. "You're free for that coffee?"
Natalie was about to reply when she saw Callie and Owen leaving the room. Callie and her exchanged a look. "I have to call you back actually."
She hanged up on her and walked inside the on call room. Mark was laid on the bed his body covered below the waist and a painful look on his face. "So you, me and sex don't really work, huh?" She tried to lighten up the mood. "I'm sorry."
"Nat, go away. I don't want you to see me like this."
"Please, you've seen me far worse." Natalie leaned against the door and gave him a guilty look.
"I'm saying please here." Natalie didn't move. "Please." He repeated.
"Okay." She whispered. "But I'll around in case you need me."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
And true to her words Natalie didn't leave. She hanged by herself in an on-call room until it was safe to be out there. Callie informed her that Mark was awake and that his procedure went well. So Natalie didn't wait to visit him in the recovering room.
Mark was in the same situation as before, hurt and humiliated, for several reasons. "Please go away." He muttered when he saw Natalie walking inside. She didn't care if anyone found them. She wasn't hiding from anyone. Only Mark was hiding from Derek.
"No." Natalie shook her head and closed the door behind her.
"Natalia."
Natalie stood next to his bedside and intertwined their fingers softly. "I'm sorry that I broke..." she paused knowing that it was not a good start to the speech. "I'm sorry that I hurt you. And I'm sorry that you're humiliated. But I'm not going anywhere." She squeezed his hand just enough to make her point. "We're in this thing where when one of us is hurt, we lie down next to each other and we stroke each other's hair and we just make sure that we'll do anything to make each other feel better. So I'll lie down next to you and I'm gonna stroke your hair, exactly like you had done when I was in pain, mentally and physically."
And she did just that, and Mark let her take care of him for once. "I'm not going anywhere this time Mark. I mean it."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
ᴏᴋᴀʏ, ɪ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ꜰᴏʀɢᴇᴛ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴀʀɪᴢᴏɴᴀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ꜱᴛᴜꜰꜰ. ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀꜱꜱ ʙʏ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛ.
ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴀᴛᴀʟɪᴇ ɪꜱ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴛɪᴍᴇ. ꜱᴏ ɪ ɢᴏᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘʟᴇɴᴛʏ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴄᴇɴᴇꜱ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ!
ʟᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ!