I look at Nathan and feel a little bad, it's understandable I suppose. Not that any of it was Henry's fault. "Nathan cheer up already." Gemma says, jolting him out of his dark thoughts for a while. He manages a constipated fake smile and then looks back at his bowl of coco pops. "Coco pops bro? Bit childish isn't it?" I hear Henry asking before slapping Nathan on the back and taking a seat. I smile at him and shake my head in disproval.
"I think I'm done." Nathan states, pushing his bowl away from himself. He gets up and walks out, his hands clenched into fists. Charl sighs and Gemma shakes her head, looking upset. Henry gulps and starts to twiddle his thumbs with nerves.
"I guess I''d better go." I say, cracking the tension filled air by speaking.
"Someone has to. Good luck." Charl whispers to me as I get up. I'll need it, I think desperately.
"I'm going to need it." I mutter to myself, before turning around and walking out to where Nathan will be - the fountain out front.
I glance around the front garden, looking for Nathan. Walking over to the fountain I see him with his head in his hands, perched on the edge of the fountain. "Hey Nath." I whisper, touching his arm softly. He looks up at me with a scowl on his face.
"What?" he asks me.
"Can I sit?" I ask him tentatively.
"You can do whatever you like."
"Nathan… I under-" I start as I take a seat by him.
"No you don't understand, Ivy!" he practically shouts at me.
"Look, maybe I've never been there personally but he-"
"He doesn't even deserve to be around her anymore I -"
"Nathan…"
"No Ivy, it's true."
"It was an accident! He couldn't possibly have known-"
"He's an irresponsible twat."
"I'm not denying that I'm just saying give him another chance."
"Why should I?"
"You're related to-"
"I don't consider myself related to him." he snarls.
"Nathan don't be so difficult."
"I'm not being difficult."
"A little bit you are though. Everyone else-"
"Screw everyone else."
"Nathan you shouldn't hold grudges."
"Well it's easy enough for you to forgive him, isn't it?" he asks me snidely.
"Nathan this really isn't the time-"
"I didn't realise that you still felt that way." he spits out before returning to skulking.
"Geez Nathan grow up?"
"Grow up? After what he-"
"It was an accident! It was hardly done on purpose and he's apologised. What more do you want from him, huh?"
"To get lost."
"Well that's not happening any time soon so just be mature and accept that."
"It's easy for you Ivy, Miss Perfect in every blooming way but some of us can't just forgive and forget."
"I'm not bloody perfect Nathan I'm just trying to be mature here."
"You're not perfect?" he asks me with a skeptical glance.
"No but that's beside the point. What I was sayi-"
"You seriously don't see it?" he asks me, studying my face carefully with those gorgeous eyes of his. I feel my cheeks heating up under his intense gaze, the words I was saying slipping from my mind.
"We… I… erm." I stammer, unsure of what to say. His eyes skim over my face, finally locking with mine.
"You genuinely don't see it." he whispers quietly.
"Nathan we're-"
"Ivy, you are perfect, that's why it's so hard to-" he starts but then stops mid sentence and looks away again. I feel my heart stuttering in my chest, my curiosity peaked.
"Hard to what, Nath?" I question softly.
"Doesn't matter." he mutters offhandedly.
"It does to me." I reply quietly, gazing at him, completely confused.
"We'd better head back inside otherwise they might start to speculate what we're up to." he says eventually in a shaky-jokey tone I've never heard him use before, silencing me. "Come on then." he says, standing up and offering me his hand. I look at him, dumbfounded.
"Sure." I mumble, taking his hand and levering myself up, except something feels different. It's not like I've not held his hand before, we've done that plenty of times over the years, it's just that there's something different about it now. Something that definitely wasn't there a year ago. I look at his face as we continue to walk towards the house at a leisurely pace, our hands still linked. He either doesn't notice or doesn't care about our hands being intertwined because he does nothing to remove his hand, not that I'm complaining.
I glance from Nathan to Henry, talk about an awkward atmosphere. "You need to talk it out." Gemma says in a stern voice. Nathan doesn't respond, instead he starts glancing at the wall in front of him.
"Nathan…" I start, but one look from him shuts me up. The look in his eyes reminds me of the conversation we were having by the fountain, causing my breath to catch in my throat.
"I mean it Nathan, enough of this behaviour." Gemma demands, looking wiped. Nathan merely sighs and flicks the table, tapping out a random beat. "Nathan." Gemma says, her tone turning harder.
"Why?" is all he says in reply.
"It's in the past, that's why. It was a complete acci-"
"In which you could have been killed." Nathan hisses, staring at Henry stonily, his arms folded across his chest. I screw my eyes tight, trying not to remember the night.
"But I wasn't-"
"He should not have been drunk driving."
"I know that Nath-" Gemma starts, but Nathan merely stands up and strides towards me, and the door I'm supposedly guarding.
"Ivy." he says in a low tone of voice, his hands twitching.
"Nathan." I reply, trying to keep my voice steady. I hate it when he gets all angsty.
"Move out of the way."
"No."
"Ivy please don't try me." he whispers.
"Nathan, it was an accident! Henry didn't purposely-" I start but Nathan cuts me off with a glare.
"If you think I can just forget-." he says, his voice quavering. He pushes me aside gently, pulls the door open and slams with an audible bang. I nearly jump out of my skin as he slams it shut, scared out of my wits. Gemma sighs and Henry stands up with sagging shoulders.
"He is kinda right." he says, rubbing the back of his head guiltily.
"It was an accident, and no-one was hurt that bad." Gemma tries to reassure him but I don't think that Henry is buying it.
"You went to hospital." Henry whispers to her, shaking his head in disgust at himself. I sigh, unsure how to explain it to Nathan. It wasn't done on purpose. Henry was a little reckless, but it was purely an accident.
"Come on Henry, I should drive." Nathan insisted as the party came to a close.
"It's aallllll good Nathy boy!" Henry shouted, slapping Nathan on his back playfully. "I've only had a few."
"I still think it'd be better if I drove-"
"Just sit in the car Nathy boy. Don't you have a headache?"
"Well I do-"
"Exactly so you need to relax. I got this, where's everyone else?"
"I'll go get Gemma and Charl." I had offered as I left them to their bickering. "Hey Gemma, you good to go?" I ask her as I see her standing with Charl, smiles on both of their faces.
"Sure, lets go." Charl says, as we make our way out.
"I mean it Henry, let me drive." Nathan insists, his voice becoming harder.
"It'll be fine. Just sit won't you?" Henry said, opening the door and shoving Nathan in to the car. Gemma took the front seat and me and Charl clambered into the back with Nathan, whose face was sour.
"Chill out Nathan, he's not that drunk." I had whispered to him.
"Have you seen him Ivy? He's completely off his head-" Nathan was cut short by Henry swerving sharply due to driving in the wrong lane. Gemma screamed as a red mini crashed into the car, causing the world to fade to black and dark red.
AN: Hey there my readers. I have decided to only update if each chapter reaches a certain amount of votes. 10, that is all I am asking for. It's not much, but it's enough to let me know that people are actually reading :)
ENJOY :D