THIS CHAPTER THOUGH. Vote if you screamed and comment the immense amount of feels you experienced during this chapter
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All conversation about Nathan's parents came to a screeching halt when Esther brought out our food. I was thankful for the distraction, though, because the change in Nathan's demeanor was almost relieving. His shoulders relaxed as his expression softens, and eventually, his eyes follow suit.
And when Esther places our plates in front of us, I suddenly understood why her and Nathan had smirked when I ordered earlier. The burger that I requested was the "usual" that Nathan seemed to get every time.
Nathan watches me with a smirk as I realize this and look up at him with the beginnings of a smile. "You're kidding."
"I order this every time I come here," He promises me with a chuckle. "Unless it's breakfast."
"Don't lie to the girl," Esther reprimands with a taunting smile. "This boy orders that exact burger every single time he comes here, whether it's eight in the morning or eight at night. His parents used to yell at him, but they gave up after awhile. There's no use in trying to get him to order anything else."
The endearing story sends warmth coursing through my body for a few reasons. One, I loved to hear about Nathan's childhood. Or hear about anything about Nathan's personal life at all, really. And two, I loved watching Nathan grow embarrassed by Esther's words. His cheeks even turned a rare shade of pink as a huge, satisfied grin spreads across my face.
"You couldn't have lied this one time to spare me?" Nathan groans at Esther, though he even has an amused smile on his lips.
She laughs jovially at him and sends him a motherly smile. "I have to make sure that this girl knows what she's getting into if she's going to be involved with you."
Her words send a spark of nervous excitement throughout my body as my gaze flickers to Nathan's carefully. I bit my tongue from telling her that we weren't involved because, honestly, I didn't want to admit it out loud. Nathan's gaze catches mine and he doesn't say anything, either.
After a beat of sharing a heart stopping look between us, Nathan looks away from me and to Esther and mumbles, "I'm going to the bathroom."
My excitement is short lived and seems to deflate when Nathan excuses himself from the table instead of addressing what Esther had said. But the woman herself gives me no time to mourn the loss of his presence when her hand rests on the back of my chair and she smiles warmly down at me.
"You know," Esther says sweetly with a motherly look in her eye. "You're the first girl that Nathan has ever brought here."
And despite the awkward moment between us a minute ago, her words make my heart skip a beat. This restaurant was a fond childhood memory for him, where he used to spend his beloved Sunday mornings, and he brought me here. I mean, that had to mean something, right?
"I'm happy that he did," I tell her with an honest smile. "Or else I would've never found out about this place. I love how secluded it is."
"It's nice to see Nathan so happy," Esther continues and pays little regard to my small talk about the restaurant. "I almost thought that he would never find a nice girl."
This time, though, I had to force out the words. "We aren't dating."
Her smile freezes before it lessens and Esther raises her eyebrows with a look that screams she's unimpressed. "You're telling me that boy hasn't asked you out yet?"
I noted the way she said yet.
With great reluctance, I tell her, "We're just friends."
When Esther frowns, there are deep creases that form in her forehead, like they were chiseled into the skin so she looked perpetually upset. She opens her mouth to say something, but she's cut off by the same sexy voice that I'll never get tired of hearing.
"You better not be telling her any more stories about me," Nathan warns as he steps back up to the table.
She merely turns around, not bothering to hide the traces of our previous conversation, with her frown lines still set on her face. Nathan looks confused as she mutters something to him before walking away, and he looks even more lost as he stands there for a moment, dumbfounded.
But he quickly pulls himself together not even a minute later and flashes me an uncertain smile as he lowers himself into his seat. "I hope she didn't get too serious while I was gone."
"She seems like a really nice woman," I tell him honestly and successfully avoid rehashing my conversation with Esther.
Nathan's smile turns warm as he regards me. "Yeah, she is. She's been like a second mother to me. She still cooks us dinner sometimes and brings it over so we don't have to eat microwave dinners all the time."
"That's really sweet," The sincerity drips off of my quiet voice.
We eat our burgers and everything feels so natural that I wonder why I was ever nervous in the first place. Nathan and I talked and talked like we hadn't been weirdly not friends for the past week and enjoy each other's company uninterrupted.
It felt good to talk to Nathan again. When he wasn't speaking to me, I realized that he really was one of my best friends. I hadn't realized how much I came to depend on his breathtakingly handsome smile until I was forcing conversation earlier, practically begging to see it again. I also hadn't realized how little I knew about Nathan before.
I think I learned more about Nathan in the two hours it took for us to eat and then finally leave than I had after knowing him for the past few months. Understanding his past made me understand why he had a cold, hard exterior most of the time. Why he never let people in. Why he had so much trouble letting me in.
But now that I was in, I was going to do anything to make sure he wouldn't kick me out again.
We left Rosie's reluctantly to drive home, and I actually found myself sad to say goodbye to Esther. The only thing softening the blow of leaving Rosie's and Esther was Exodus playing in Nathan's car, which filled the mustang with the melodic hum of the guitar.
Sometime during the drive, we broke out in song, and I finally discovered Nathan Rhodes' only flaw: he was absolutely, positively, without a doubt tone deaf. Every time he sang a verse, I dissolved into a fit of laughter, unable to control myself. He just grinned and carried on, enjoying himself greatly.
When we finally reached my house, Nathan surprised me by hopping out of the car and opening my door. I got out carefully, smiling at him, endlessly impressed with how gentleman-like he really was. You really wouldn't expect it, with the whole bad boy reputation and whatnot, but Nathan had exquisite manners.
"Sometimes I forget how chivalrous you are," I comment as he walks me to my door.
He just smiles boyishly. "It's a combination of my mom raising me right, and you bringing out the best in me."
His tone had been light and teasing, but something about his words shoot tingles up my arms. When we stop in front of my door, I look at him and my mind screams kiss him kiss him kiss him and I can't think of any valid reason why not. So, overrun by a mountain of confidence and lust, I grab the back of Nathan's neck and reach up to press my lips against his.
The butterflies in my stomach only increase when his lips move against mine hesitantly, and then with so much force and passion that it takes my breath away. I think my knees would've given out had he not grabbed my hips to draw me closer to him. We kiss until we can't breathe anymore, until my mind is completely mush and my heart feels the same.
I pull away a fraction, my chest heaving, matching the feverish rise and fall of his chest. His blue eyes look electric as they lock on mine, both of us struggling to catch our breath, just staring at each other silently. My heart is going haywire in my chest and I can still hardly form a coherent thought. A smile flutters on my lips as a thought crosses my mind.
"Because I wanted to," I whisper breathlessly, quoting his own words before taking a step back. "Goodnight, Nate."
There are far too many emotions on his face to read at once, but the most satisfactory one there is happiness. He's smiling at me and shaking his head slightly, and I can tell that he knew exactly where my words came from.
"Sweet dreams, kitten." Nathan whispers back, his voice husky and rough and sexy.
Sparks ignite in my stomach as I smile one last time at him before opening up the front door and stepping inside, and then shutting the door behind me. The second it shut, I let out a deep breath, and then replay the kiss in my head. I smile widely to myself, feeling my heart beat quicken when I picture the way he looked at me afterward.
I fell asleep later thinking about the very look.
***
"Have you been having any issues with Nina lately?" Stephanie asks in a monotone, probably because she's asked the question every time she takes notes.
"Other than the death stares, not really." I answer her with a shrug.
"Okay." She scribbles something down and moves on. "Have any other guys expressed interest in you lately?"
Without warning, my mind summons the memory of the earth shattering kiss that Nathan and I shared last night. My lips began to tingle at the mere memory, butterflies erupted in my stomach, my heart began beating faster.
"Lauren, answer the question," Stephanie pokes my arm with her pen.
I blink at her, drawing myself out of my daydream. She's analyzing me with her calculating gaze, eyes scrutinizing every detail of my expression, before her jaw drops.
"Something happened with Nathan and you didn't tell me?" She gasps dramatically. The smile makes its way on my lips without my permission, giving her an answer. "I knew it! Well, tell me the details. Did he ask you out?"
I shook my head, but still smiled as I said, "We kissed when he dropped me off last night."
Her excitement didn't waver. "You kissed?! Was it good? How did it happen? Details!"
As I was about to gush to Steph, I glance down at the recorder in between us that's usually stationed there for our weekly interviews and stop myself. That recorder is the very reason I haven't told her about Nathan before, like how we kissed on New Year's Eve; I didn't want Nathan to be dragged into this social experiment mess. She follows my gaze and snatches it up, turns it off, and tosses it in her bag along with her notepad and pen.
"We're done with that stuff. This is more important. Now, continue." Steph rushes eagerly.
Still, I hesitate before answering. "All the stuff about Nathan is off the record, right?"
She frowns at me, creating deep crease lines in her forehead. "Is that why you didn't tell me? Because you're scared I'm going to include it in the video?" I don't answer, but she can read my look easily. Stephanie sighs and says seriously, "Look, Lauren, I don't want this social experiment to get in between our friendship. If you don't want me to mention something specific, then all you have to do is ask. You're more important to me than this assignment, alright?"
Her words calm my nerves immediately, and I visibly relax. I give her an apologetic smile, a little embarrassed I let the whole thing keep me from telling my best friend about Nathan.
"I know, I do, I'm just being an idiot," I finally say exasperatedly, and then my lips curl up in a mischievous grin. "Well, Nathan and I talked a lot about his life when we were on our date, and-"
"You just admitted it was a date," She sings smugly.
My cheeks burn, but I ignore her and continue where I left off. "And Nathan never tells me about his personal life, so that was big. He was being so sweet and kind and funny and at the end of the night, when he walked me to my door, I kissed him."
Stephanie's jaw dropped. "You kissed him?"
I nod quickly. "Yeah, I just really wanted to and I couldn't stop myself."
A smile spread across her lips devilishly at this information, and she leans back on the bed, watching me with big eyes. "I never would've thought you would make the first move, but hell, I'm glad you did. What happened after you kissed? Did he ask you out? You know, officially?"
I bite my lip and shake my head as I think back to that night. "No, we said goodnight and I went inside."
Her cheeky smile fades into a frown pretty quickly. "When's the last time you talked?"
"Last night," I answer shyly.
Stephanie groaned at me, dropping her hand in her hands dramatically. "You kissed him, ran inside, and haven't spoken to him since?" Steph recaps, waving her hands dramatically. "You need to talk to him!"
I roll my eyes at her exaggeration and exasperation; it wasn't as bad as she was making it seem. But Stephanie was and has always been an expert when it came to boys, so I evidently took her advice cautiously, no matter how much I tried to play it off. I mean, was it really that bad? He'd kissed me multiple times before and we never talked about it, so what was the big deal?
It turns out I say this last part out loud, because Stephanie narrows her eyes and hisses, "It's a big deal because it was the end of the date kiss."
I give her a blank look. How many rules were there?
"He officially took you on a date, which is his way of saying he likes you. And then you kissed him, which is like your way of saying you like him." Stephanie explains slowly, annunciating the word 'like' very strongly. When she sees my blank stare prevails, she throws her hands up in exasperation. "Lauren, just text him!"
That was the exact moment that my phone buzzed to signal that I had gotten a message. Both of our heads snap down to the phone that sits on the bed beside me. I reach out and look at the screen and, sure enough, said boys name flashed across the screen. I looked up at Stephanie and showed her my phone and her lips curled up into a little smirk. My phone vibrated in my hands two more times, quickly one after the other, and I just stared at the phone dumbly.
"Well, don't just stare at the screen," Stephanie finally huffs impatiently. "Open the messages!"
Hesitantly, I do as I'm told, and scan the texts.
Nathan: Hey babe ;)
Nathan: Sorry, that was Asher. He stole my phone
Nathan: He's an idiot
I stare at the screen with a small smile, suppressing the urge to roll my eyes at the two of them. I look up and remember Stephanie is there, smirking down at me, and I try extraordinarily hard to straighten out my smile, but it's no use.
"Asher texted me on his phone," I explain lamely and inadequately.
Her smirk widens and she leans back to examine me. I feel her calculating gaze on me, over analyzing the situation in her psychologic mind. "Well, are you going to text him back?"
I cross my arms and narrow my eyes at her, but my words come out as a whine rather than intimidating. "Stop stressing me out!"
Stephanie giggled to herself, and without warning, my bedroom door opened. Luke was standing there, his eyes already on Steph, and a friendly smile on his lips. I raised my eyebrows and watched his grand entrance, earning both mine and Stephanie's attention.
"Hey, Steph," Luke greets dreamily, flashing her a thousand watt smile.
Stephanie's smirk twisted to a knowing, but friendly, smile. "Hey Luke. What's up?"
He leans against the doorframe and crosses his arms across his chest, still having yet to acknowledge my presence in my own room. "I was playing xBox with Cole, but I heard Lauren say she was stressed out and wanted to stress her out even more."
"How sweet of you," I say emotionlessly, my voice completely flat.
Finally, Luke glances over at me, and a knowing smirk curls his lips up. "I bet it's about Nathan, isn't it?"
I guffaw at him momentarily before throwing my head into my hands and groaning extra loudly for dramatic purposes. "It's none of your business, Luke. Go back to your room."
His smirk widens. "It is about Nathan. I knew it."
I lift my head from my hands only to grab a pillow from my bed and fling it at his head. Luke dodges it effortlessly, which makes me rapid fire three more pillows at his face, until at least one makes contact with that stupid smirk. Unfortunately, it doesn't wipe the stupid smirk from his stupid face.
Stephanie is laughing from beside me, practically rolling around in the bed from my frugal attempts at hitting my brother. Suddenly Cole pops up in the doorway behind Luke, apparently curious about what all the noise was. He popped up just in time for the fourth and last pillow to hit him squarely in the face.
This time, I join Stephanie in her uncontrollable laughter, just barely able to get out, "Cole... That was meant... For Luke.... But your face!"
He stared at me blankly, still in apparent shock from the pillow hitting him. Luke begins laughing with Stephanie and I, causing Cole to narrow his eyes at his friend and slug him in the arm. I grinned proudly, happy that at least Cole could inflict the pain I was trying to inflict on Luke.
"Ow," Luke whined, rubbing his arm. "What was that for?"
"For laughing," Cole defends.
"But you didn't hit Lauren or Stephanie," Luke whines, pointing an accusatory finger at the both of us sitting on my bed.
Cole glances at us and grins, then looks back at Nathan. "They're pretty girls. You don't hit pretty girls."
Luke frowns. "Gross, man, that's my sister."
Stephanie snorts, retorting, "Oh, please. Cole has been flirting with Lauren since we were in diapers."
"Just like how you've been flirting with Stephanie," I chime in.
The look on their faces is priceless. They both go pale, and then their cheeks coat with red from the unexpected call out. I smirk at their reaction, but Steph merely rolls her eyes. I twist around to grab the last pillow on my bed and then shoot it in their direction, but it only hits Luke's unmoving chest.
"Now you guys can leave," I say in a sing song voice, happy to have flustered them into submission.
Cole mumbles something under his breath and turns around to return to Luke's room, who is following close behind. Stephanie and I look at each other and start laughing again. Those boys might be ridiculous, but they were our boys. Always have been, always will be. It's inevitable.
Thankfully, the distraction got the conversation off of Nathan and I, which is all I really wanted. I know Steph was trying to help, but all of her advice was just bringing up rules I didn't know existed in the dating world, and they were only making me confused and nervous.
So instead of boy talk, we settled for collecting the pillows and putting them back on my bed, and then lying down on my bed to watch Netflix from my laptop. It wasn't until we were five minutes into an episode of Grey's Anatomy that I realized I didn't text Nathan back.
As discreetly as I could, so Steph didn't bring up the subject again, I grab my phone and think of a response. Of course, what I think of is nothing short of genius, and I text him back with a smirk before sending it.
Lauren: Hey babe ;)
Nathan responds a few minutes later, and I smirk at his message.
Nathan: Someone's excited to talk to me ;)
I laugh silently and type the next message that I was planning on sending because, well, it was too much fun messing with Nathan.
Lauren: That was for Asher. Tell him I say "hey babe". I miss his cute face :(
It takes Nathan longer than usual to respond. Stephanie and I get through the episode and I say goodbye to her before she leaves me alone in my room. Only after I heard the front door shut downstairs did I feel my phone vibrate again, and scan the message eagerly.
Nathan: Funny, but Asher's face isn't as cute as yours
There he goes again, making me smile like an idiot at my phone screen while butterflies take over my stomach.