It was 9:58 when Nate pulled up to the Jackson residence. He parked his truck outside after waving to Finnegan, and pulled out a pack of Bud Light from the back. He walked up to the house and knocked, Olivia answering it after a few seconds.
A small piece of her had hoped it was Fezco at the door. But she shoved that feeling deep down and ignored it.
"Hey." Liv said, moving to the side to let Nate in.
"Hey." He said back, walking in the house.
Nate was only ever there if there was a party going on. He's never seen the home like this; calm and collected, the fireplace on, a Tom Dixon "Fire" candle burning on the glass coffee table. It made his house seem like a hamster cage.
"You can just put that on the dining room table." Liv said, referring to the beers in Nate's hand. He looked away from the house and at them, nodding his head and following Liv to the dining room. He put the beer onto the table and shoved his hands into his pockets.
Even though they wouldn't admit it, they were both a little nervous.
"Where's your boyfriend?" Nate asked. Olivia's eyebrows furrowed.
"What makes you think he's not here?" She asked.
"If he was, would I be?"
Olivia didn't say anything. Instead, she looked at the floor, intimidated under Nate's gaze.
"Why'd you break up?" He wondered. Olivia rolled her eyes.
"We're not..broken up. We just..."
She didn't know how to answer that question. If they were just fighting, Fez wouldn't have left and he wouldn't have gone to Lexi's. But, at the same time, they weren't broken up. They couldn't have been.
"Right." Nate nodded.
Olivia pulled out a chair, sitting down at it. Nate followed her actions.
"Why am I here, Olivia?" He wondered. Olivia looked at his shoulder, not wanting to look him in the eyes.
She shrugged.
"I guess I didn't want to be alone." She answered.
A tear fell down her cheek, but she wiped it quickly and got up.
"I'll go get us some cups." Liv mumbled, walking away and leaving Nate to himself. She couldn't let him see her cry.
But he did. Whatever Liv and Fez went through, he knew she was hurting. And, for whatever reason, he felt like he needed to be there for her. Out of all people, she went to him for help.
That had to mean something.
Olivia came back with two glasses in her hand. She put one in front of Nate, and one in front of her chair, which she climbed into.
"Why'd you get glasses?" He asked.
Olivia let her hands go right to the beer, having already indulged in the other alcohol in the house the night prior.
"My mom told me to never drink out of a bottle." She answered, truthfully.
Just from that sentence, Nate compared Liv to Maddy and Cassie. Maddy would drink from a bottle without question, and Cassie would do whatever Nate was doing. Olivia was different. She was classy.
Even still, he pushed his glass aside.
"Do you want to talk about it-"
"So listen. Maddy invited me to her house the other day and she, uh, told me some things I thought you should know." Olivia brought up, cutting Nate off. He shifted in his seat at the thought of Liv and Maddy in the same room.
"What'd she tell you?" He questioned.
Olivia hesitated before answering, making sure she wanted to still bring this up. She would be betraying Maddy, but it would be for Rue.
Even though she hated Rue right now, she knew she still loved her.
And she couldn't have her hurt.
"She still has a copy of your dad's tape. And..there's another tape, too." Olivia brought up carefully. Nate sighed, taking another sip of his beer.
"Of my dad?" He asked.
"Of you."
Nate looked at Liv in the eyes. When she saw he didn't understand, she decided to elaborate.
"She has this hidden camera in her room. She said you went to her house one night for the tape or something, and you, like, threatened her. But she seemed really scared."
Olivia watched Nate carefully. Like usual, he was calm. And, like usual, that freaked her out.
"What did you do?" She wondered. He had to have done something to make Maddy so distraught she felt the need to make a tape for the police.
"I don't want you to freak out." He shrugged, taking another chug from his beer.
Olivia looked away from him. If he hesitated telling her, it must've been pretty bad. But she knew Nate was stubborn, and if he really didn't want to tell her, she wouldn't.
Unless she threatened him.
"Fine. Don't tell me. I'll just make sure I'm the first one Maddy calls when she decides to drive down to the police station, and I'll make sure I'll hand those cds myself over to Detective Riley. You know, the same detective I spoke to when you blackmailed me to put that guy in jail." She said, being careful with her words.
Liv sat back in her chair, crossing her arms and smirking at Nate. She knew she was just as manipulating as he was, if not more.
He knew it, too.
Nate nodded at Liv, impressed. He then put his elbows on the table, leaning forward and coming off a little nervous.
"Russian roulette." He said.
"What?" Olivia asked, not understanding.
"I played Russian roulette with her with the gun. But it wasn't loaded. I just needed the cd back." He tried.
Olivia looked at the table. No wonder Maddy was so scared. Nate's a fucking psycho.
"Nate, you're not fucking John Gotti. You can't just go around threatening people with all of these guns you own all of a sudden." She said, shaking her head with her eyebrows furrowed.
"It's one gun. Can we just figure out what we're gonna do about this extra cd? I get she's like, you're friend and all, but.." He asked, a little agitated.
"Don't worry. I already thought about it. I'll convince her to have a going away party or something and sneak into her room to grab them."
Nate nodded again.
They both took sips of their drinks.
"I'm sorry for scaring you with that gun. I just thought-"
"I don't wanna talk about it." Liv said, cutting Nate off.
She picked up her glass and chugged the rest of her drink, pouring another one. Nate watched her, sipping from his bottle and taking another one as well.
Eventually, Olivia got out of her seat and walked over to the couch. She looked back at Nate, signalizing for him to follow. He did, bringing his drink with him like she did.
They sat down on the couch, but no one reached for the tv remote. Instead, Nate stared at the candle flickering on the glass table in front of them, Olivia thinking deeply.
"When did you know you and Maddy were done?" Liv asked ubruplty.
Nate thought for a moment.
"I think I knew before we officially ended things between us. Even if we went back to each other, I knew it'd just be this cycle of breaking up over and over again, and I didn't want to put either of us through that." He said, thinking as he talked. Olivia nodded her head.
She didn't mean to, but she found herself comparing her and Fez's relationship to Nate and Maddy's. Nate and Maddy were toxic for each other, and Liv had a hard time coming up with that conclusion for her and Fez.
They loved each other. But they couldn't keep doing this.
"You really think you guys are gonna break?" Nate wondered.
Liv wanted to say no. But, in truth, she wasn't sure.
So she shrugged.
"I just hope I didn't throw my life away." She whispered, drawing her finger around the rim of her glass.
Then, she chugged it and got up for more.
It was obvious Liv was hurting, and Nate wanted to help her. He knew she was better than Fez, and didn't think it was right for him to make her this upset.
He thought about how Liv would feel if he was in Fez's position. He wouldn't have run from her, and he would've stayed. He would've been there with her, even if he was upset about whatever happened. Even if he was mad, he would've given Olivia what she wanted. What she deserved after all she's been through.
The thought had crossed his mind before of hooking up with Liv or having sex with her. But he never thought about what it would be like to love her.
He knew he could do a hell of a better job at it than anyone else.
"You don't deserve to feel this way." He said, watching her as she poured herself another beer. She stayed with her back turned toward him as she chugged it.
"I love him, Nate. But..right now I hate him for walking away." She said.
Her voice was shaky, and she wouldn't turn around. Nate got the idea Liv was crying, and got up off of the couch. He walked over to her and grabbed all of her hair, wrapping it behind her and getting it out of her face as she cried.
"Its okay." Nate whispered, trying to remind Liv that she could cry in front of him. He put a hand on either of her shoulders and turned her around, giving her a hug.
"It's okay." He repeated.
He felt Liv shaking her head in his chest, so he pulled away to look down at her. She was wiping her tears.
"It's fine. I'm fine." She said.
"You're not fine." Nate chuckled.
"Nate, I.."
Olivia started to snap, but drowned out her sentence when she looked up at Nate. He was looking down at her, already.
Maybe it was the fact that he was there trying to help her, or the light of the candles dimming the room, or the alcohol, or the fact that she was so angry.
But Nate looked really attractive standing there.
So, she glanced down at his lips, and he did the same with her.
And they kissed.