Chapter 25- "Strawberry ice-cream has never tasted the same.."
(PLEASE READ; IMPORTANT!
A/N: Sorry for having this before I start the chapter as well! But this is just a warning: The chapter contains an unhealthy amount of Harry Potter fangirling. I know it might be a little annoying and unfair to people who haven't read the books but it was important that I add that part. I put it in to show a quirky side of their relationship and also to introduce the topic of Oliver's death. The only thing you need to know about the fandom to understand this chapter well is that Fred & George were the Weasley twins who did everything together and were everybody's absolute favorites until Fred was killed in the second Battle of Hogwarts.
There's some other stuff they do talk about, but for all the Non-Potterheads reading this, please just skip that part. Or better still, read the books and understand it! )
SCARLETT POV
Nathan laces my fingers with his after declaring how pretty I look and making my day even before it started. As our fingers touch and I'm surrounded by his familiar scent, the butterflies in my stomach stop their fluttering and I ease into the conversation.
It's a fairly cold winter day and I'm not shivering, although a part of me wishes that I was, so Nate would have to, you know, do something like pulling me close to him to keep me warm. I giggle at the thought and earn myself a weird look from Nathan, who on second thought, doesn't ask me what's got me smiling so much.
"Am I allowed to ask where you're taking me?" I ask.
"Yeah, but you're not allowed to expect an answer, Princess." He replies, with a smirk.
There's a trace of finality in his tone so I decide not to push it further. We walk for about eight or so minutes when Nathan suddenly stops in front of my favorite place in the whole, wide world: The library.
"Um, Nate, why are we stopping here?" I ask.
"Because this is where I intend to have a good time with you!" he answers.
"But the library? What? How?!" I exclaim, thoroughly surprised.
He leads me up the stairs and into the library as he begins to answer, "Well, you know how I have this buddy, Travis... Um, you know him, right?" he pauses. I nod, and he continues, "Yeah, so he works right here and um, once he asked me to cover for him because he had some errands to run and I, uh, gladly consented. I mean, c'mon, it's the library we're talking about for Christ's sake! I spend most of my free time here anyway!
Anyway, so once I started working here, I actually started to enjoy shelving books. Then, like, I remembered, one day, we were just talking and you told me how much you liked coming to the library. Like how you come here when you're sad and sit on the cushiony seats between aisle 7 and 8 to feel better. And that day, an idea struck me... I mean, I thought it would be pretty cool to get you here when we completed a month together.
So, um, I spoke to Joshua and asked him if I could get three hours of the library only for an evening if I worked without payment for like a week. He was a little reluctant at first, but to cut a long story short, here we are!" he finishes, pausing for breath.
I just stare at him dumbfounded.
"So, let me get this straight: You stacked books for nothing in return just so you could bring me here?" I ask.
"Well, not nothing, I mean I did get to see your pretty face light up, but technically, Yeah!" he mutters.
"Wow!" I say, more to myself than to him.
"Um, do you not like it or something? Because we could totally go somewhere else!" he says.
"Are you kidding me? I love it!" I say truthfully and throw myself at him. He is a little taken aback at first but then he hugs me right back. I pull away a short while later and Nathan whispers, "I'm so glad you like it..." his ears going red.
"Me too!" I whisper right back. Nathan has this intense look in his eyes again, like he's about to kiss me. I move my tongue lightly over my teeth to kind of get ready as he leans in. Nathan pushes a stray lock of my hair behind my ears when I hear a cough. Nathan pulls back and we both look up to see who it is.
"Joshua, um" Nathan trails away awkwardly.
"Don't worry, kiddo. My lips are sealed. I'll be across the road whenever you need me. Though, by the looks of it, you probably won't!" he guffaws, and I blush a little.
"I, uh, yes" Nathan tries to form a coherent sentence, clearly still high from our almost kiss.
"She the one you were talking about, son?" Joshua asks. Nathan just nods. Joshua then turns to me and tells me how Nathan never talked about anything else and causing me to blush very badly before laughing at Nathan and leaving.
Nathan glances over at me, still a little embarrassed, "Well..." he begins, "...That.Was.Awkward!" I agree, before he can get a word in. He rubs the back of his neck, something I find exceedingly adorable... And distracting myself is all I can do to not lean in and smash my lips on his.
Shit.
Did I just think that? Well, I guess I must be REALLY whipped!
We stand there for a few minutes until Nate breaks the comfortable silence and leads me to the space between aisles 7 and 8. As I'm about to sit down, my eyes fall on two pizza boxes, two straws and a bottle of coke.
"Exceptions, Princess. Today's a night full of exceptions!" he smirks, clearly reading my mind. Nathan starts to set out the food as I'm still marveling over the fact that he actually got permission to get pizza in here!
As I fall onto the familiar feeling of the velvety seat, the reality of the situation hits me. I'm alone, (well, almost) in a library. A fully stocked library. A library that is filled from top to bottom with books! Hardbound, paperback, fiction, young adult, non-fiction... Books of every kind!
And I don't care how nerdy this sounds: I absolutely love it! I love it from the bottom of my heart to the top of my heart; with every bit of my heart! I love it: I love living my dream. I mean, I have books, food and Nathan. If someone threw in my friends and high speed wifi, the outside world would never see me again!
As I scan the room, my eyes fall on a Harry Potter book and I feel that familiar rush that is accompanied by reading the words 'Harry' and 'Potter' one after the other. As Nathan's eyes meet mine, we both realize what we are thinking. That we haven't fangirled about Harry Potter for the longest time now. Come to think of it, I don't remember the last time I had a conversation about Harry Potter with anyone.
"Three things everyone in the Potter fandom agrees on:
1.Maggie Smith made a perfect McGonagall.
2. Book Ginny is a 1000 times better than Movie Ginny.
3.Everyone should at least be a little bothered by how the phrase 'Dumbledore asked Harry calmly' from the books translated to 'HARRY DID YA PUT YA NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIYAH!?' in the movies." Nathan starts.
"Oh and number four: Voldemort's movie death was ridiculous. Not to mention how excluding Peeves from any of the movies was as stupid as hell!" I add on.
"And the fact that Umbridge is a, well, for lack of a more offensive term, a bitch." He begins.
"Don't even get me started on that one!" I half-scream, extremely delighted at the prospect of insulting that vile creature.
"She looked about as pretty as a toad! And what in the name of God is with all that pink!?! I mean blechhh!" Nathan makes a weird, gagging sound that sends me into fits of laughter.
"I know right! Though I probably wouldn't go as far as that... Don't want the toad kingdom feeling bad!" I say, causing him to crack up.
"Yeah! I'll admit though: I wanted her dead more than I could ever have wanted Voldy to be!" he replies.
"Not to mention tortured and troubled. No, seriously, she deserves to be tortured the most!" I add, thoroughly enjoying this make-believe premise of making that evil woman squirm like a worm. I know, I know.. It's fiction and there's no point in me getting so worked up but that bitch totally deserves it!
"And you know that part in Order Of The Phoenix when she makes Harry draw blood out of his hand just to get him to serve detention?" he asks.
"Yeah but then again Harry totally makes up for it when he refuses to make Grawp put her down when he says he must on tell lies!" I say, unable to hold back my laughter.
"Agreed." He guffaws, his laugh echoing in the empty room.
"But you know what Fred and George did in the Order Of The Phoenix? Totally epic!" I add on.
"Yeah, that foul git totally deserved the twin mayhem she got! I mean, if it wasn't for her imposing all those restrictions on the Floo network, Sirius might as well have been alive!" he says.
"Uh-huh! And, I mean, she was rude to the twins! Did she not realize she'd pay for it later?" I state.
"The dumb woman never had a mind of her own, did she?! All she did was Fudge's bidding!" he supports my statement.
Honestly, this is so much fun and well, it is the fictional version of a roast. Granted, it is a lot less derogatory than those roasts in real life but it has a nice purpose to it. I am totally right when I say that anyone in the Potter fandom with even an ounce of common sense nurses nothing but hatred for that horrible, horrible woman.
"You know what else everyone seems to agree on?" He begins.
"That Percy Weasley was a complete idiot?" I offer.
"Not exactly what I had in mind, but true enough." He states.
"You know, I actually feel sorry for Percy. He lost a couple of years with Fred just because he was kissing ass at the Ministry." I comment.
"Seriously? You feel for Percy? Have you thought about George? How awful it must be for him to live with himself every day?" Nathan says, a little aggressively.
My heart twists a little as I think about what he just said. Have I ever thought about that? About how George lives, or rather, has to survive, without his dead twin everyday of his life?
Nope.
I'm feeling that.
There's literally not a day that goes by when I don't think or feel that. People say it gets better with time for them, but maybe, I'm just not 'them'. Because it hasn't gotten any better for me yet.
"I have actually lived like that for the past four years.." my voice drops to a whisper.
Nathan's hand flies to his mouth as he begins to apologize, "I'm really, really sorry Scarlett. George is like my all time favorite, and I just, I got so caught up with talking about Harry Potter that I didn't even realize what I was saying! I, uh, I'm sorry... is there any way I can make it up to you?" he sighs, running a hand through his hair.
"It all happened on a sultry, summer evening about four years ago..." I begin, when I'm cut off by Nathan. "You don't have to tell me this, Scarlett. I know you're not ready and I'm okay with waiting for you to be okay with letting me in, no matter how long it takes."
"No, Nathan, you've waited long enough. It's about time I told you something like this, especially this, anyway. I was planning on telling you this tonight, because I seriously felt like you should know. The way the topic came up may not be ideal but just, lets, please, let's just get this over with." I finish.
"Princess, are you absolutely sure you're okay telling me about Oliver?" he confirms. I nod my head. "Go on then..." he encourages me, holding my hand in his, making soft, circular patterns on the back of my hand.
"So, yeah, it all happened on a sultry, summer evening four years ago. It was a very humid evening, the kind that intensifies your cravings for ice cream tenfold.
Anyway, Oliver and I were just chilling at home when I had this insatiable thirst for strawberry ice-cream. Mom and Dad had already gone to a charity dinner and Hazel was up in her room with Matt. Oliver was my only hope. So we decided to walk to the convenience store. Oliver and I left the house with a spare set of keys. I decided to leave both our phones at home so we could enjoy a little time, just being the two of us. We laughed and joked all through the five minute walk to the store.
Once we reached there, I decided to wait out on a park bench on the opposite side of the street, simply because I felt like it. Oliver agreed to go grab me two cups of strawberry ice cream. As he was crossing the road, I called out to him to get me four. He snapped and told me if I wanted four cups, I could very well drag my butt across the street and get them myself. This petty argument snowballed into a full-blown squabble and we were shouting our heads off in the middle of the street. Naturally, it was no wonder that neither of us..." I bite my bottom lip and my voice quivers a little.
I take a deep breath and begin again, "It was no wonder that neither of us saw or heard the repeated honks of a truck speeding in the opposite direction. Before I knew what was happening, my twin brother lay limp on the road and the truck driver was speeding away. I ran to the store to call 911 but it was..." I trail off.
Nathan squeezes my hand and tries to comfort me but I can feel my eyes getting misty. I somehow know I'm going to cry and despite the fact that I trust Nathan, I do not want to cry in front of him.
"Did they catch the guy?" Nathan whispers.
I nod my head. Although it was as much my fault as the driver's, it made me feel better each time I remembered that he served his time in prison for speeding away.
'Strawberry ice-cream has never tasted the same....Not since the accident." I mutter ruefully.
Nathan places his hand on my chin and makes me look up. He locks his intense gaze with mine and caresses my left cheek lovingly. He looks at me with love, the likes of which I had never seen in anyone else's eyes for me ever before.
He leans in and whispers, "We'll make you love strawberry ice-cream once more, Princess. No matter what, even if it's the last thing I do. That's a promise."
He closes his eyes and moves closer, until I can feel his breath fanning my lips.
A/N
I let a secret slip, so you gotta wait for the first kiss!
It'll be there in the next chapter for sure tho! :P
They're just OTP!
Stay tuned!
Sorry for the late update, I'm just having a ball with no studies and only fun!
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