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“Are you?” He bellows back, his face turning red from the strain.
We both stand and stare at each other. Nothing can be heard but the heavy breaths escaping us and the tinkling of the fountain only a few feet away. I shake my head with a sigh. “And you honestly expected me to move back with you?”
“What?” His face softens, his eyes widening slightly with realisation. “If there were ever a good time to curse, now would be that time.”
“Yeah.” I laugh humourlessly and scoop my bag off the ground. “Agreed. And no, I haven’t even kissed Eric, let alone anything else. I’m sorry for making you believe otherwise.”
“Good.” He blurts and reaches for me, but I step out of reach. “I’d like to go home now, Nathan.”
He blinks as if shocked. “Home?”
“I have a headache.” It’s the truth too; my head is pounding. “You should get back to Dillan.”
He runs his tongue over his lips and looks up at the ceiling for a few moments. Brown eyes meet mine. “I’m sorry. I overreacted again. I’m not used to not getting my own way.”
“Don’t worry. I’m fortunately used to your mood swings.”
“You shouldn’t have to be.” He mumbles, his fingers rubbing at his eyes. “I’m sorry, Gwen. Truly. I’m not good at this.”
“Good at what?”
“This, whatever this is.”
“Right now,” I wave a hand between us, “this is nothing. I promised myself I’d hold my tongue, I’d try to reason with you gently when you get like this, but I’m going back on that. You can’t keep doing this. I want to empathise, I really do. I genuinely want to understand you, but don’t think for one minute that I’ll take your crap anymore. You don’t get to talk to me like that just because I’ve annoyed you.”
He gapes at me, shocked by my outburst.
I continue, “You need to decide whether or not we’re friends and what it is you want.”
We stare at each other for a long moment. It feels like minutes pass before I finally turn away and move towards the door.
“I want you to come home with me.” He says calmly, almost pleadingly.
“You’ve said that; I’ve declined.”
“I want you both back in my life permanently.”
Sigh. “And I want you back in ours. Trust me, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you. You have no idea the pain I’ve felt on your behalf from knowing what I now know about you.” Wincing slightly, he looks away. I really need to stop bringing it up; it’s all just so fresh to me. It’s hard not to bring it up because I’m constantly being tortured by it. “I’m here if you need me, for anything. I care about you, but keep this up and I won’t bother. Honestly, missing you hurts a lot less than hearing your cold tone and witnessing your anger towards me over nothing.” I’m bluffing. I’m not sure there’s anything he can do that would make me never want to see him again. I shouldn’t threaten him like this. I feel guilty. Although, he’s done it to me…maybe it’s time to turn the tables to knock some sense through his thick skull.
“I’ll do better.” He says quickly, taking a step towards me. “I swear it.”
His words put me at ease. My stresses seep away as I stare into his sincere eyes. “Me too.” I smile and walk over to him. He drops his hands to his sides. They quickly come back up again when I wrap my arms around his back and press my face into his chest. “Are we done fighting now? Are we in agreement?”
I swear I hear him grit his teeth, although his body doesn’t tense like it usually does so maybe I’m imagining things. “For the moment.”
He throws money onto the table before we leave. We move through the restaurant in silence, him never more than two steps behind. When I stop suddenly, he collides into my back, his hands coming up to grip my arms in an attempt to steady us both.
“Oh my god.” I gasp and stare at the couple kissing in the corner like teenagers in the back of a car.
“Isn’t that your mum?” Nathan enquires. I hear the smile in his voice.
“Who the hell is that guy?” I hiss and dart towards the exit before she looks up and sees. “And why has she never brought me here before?” I thought she was working.
Nathan starts chuckling as I cup my hands around my face and look through the window. His arm rests along my shoulders before he slowly guides me away. “Stop it.”
“What are the chances? Caleb always did say I always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.”
Nathan leads me to the car, my shock at the disgusting scene I just witnessed clouding my judgement. I’m pretty sure I was angry with him a moment ago. Now I’m fighting the urge to vomit. “What do you want to do? We’ll do anything.”
