Meeting Nate
by Nikki.
Summary : Where Alex can't stand fangirl mobs at the Connect Three concert , and bumps into Nate.
--
You glare at Mitchie as she pulls your hand and drags you through the crowded mob of teenage girls, who are shouting and screaming their name like they're some sort of Gods of perfections. It's superficial, you conclude. Pop-stars like that certainly don't have time for relationships as serious as what these girls hope for. There's a corner in your heart where you somewhat feel bad for them, but you're Alex Russo, and these emotions can only stick on you for a minute or two.
You feel Mitchie's hand lose yours and you're suddenly panicking because she knows the way and you don't and you're cursing yourself for losing her because a hundred girls here are probably wearing pink shirts, so finding Mitchie is close to impossible. You scream her name anyway, hoping that maybe somehow she'll hear you and come back for you, but she doesn't.
A wave of giggly girls comes from behind you and crashes into you and you're suddenly being pushed around and side to side, and honestly, this is not an experience you cherish.
You spot some kind of door in the distance, and you're hoping that you can make it and get out of this place and be happy that you thankfully didn't have to attend a Connect Three concert, since you weren't so keen in the first place. The crowd, it seems, hasn't noticed the door yet, so you break away from it and find yourself running to it like your life depends on it, and when you get there and turn back to the murderous fangirls in the crowd, you find yourself thinking that maybe it did.
--
You try to open the door with as much strength as you can possibly muster at that point but to your dismay, it seems that it's locked. You knock profusely, refusing to give up, and suddenly you hear someone whispering on the other side of the door but the noise is too loud for conversations, so you just say what you have to.
"Open the door."
There is some awkward shuffling on the other side and maybe they replied but you can't hear it. "Look, I don't know who this is, but I need you to open this door or else these Connect-Three fangirls will kill me with their giggling and laughing."
There is a chuckle from behind the door and you sense a little hesitation before the door opens slightly and you enter hurriedly, and upon shutting the door, you let out a relieved sigh.
"Not a fan, are you?" The boy who's now busy locking the door again asks you, his back turned to you.
"First, thank you for saving me. Second, yeah, not a fan," you reply good-naturedly, and come to think of it, Justin would kill himself if he saw you like this.
The boy turns, and you notice that he has curly hair and is wearing a hoodie and sunglasses at the same time, so you chuckle.
"Anything amusing you?" he asks, smirking.
"You're weird." You remark.
He looks humored. "How so?" he inquires.
"You're wearing Sunglasses and a hoodie at the same time," you say cheekily.
"Oh yeah," he smiles, before he removes the sunglasses from his eyes and you can't help but sort of think that you've seen him before, but you can't place your finger as to where.
"Hey, you know what?" you ask, but you don't wait for him as you continue, "I feel like I've seen you somewhere."
There is a look that passes through his face, and he obviously finds it funny as he narrows his eyes towards you. "Are you serious? You don't know who I am?" he asks, and you suddenly feel scared because what if he's one of the murderers that Justin keeps telling you he read about in the newspaper, but you never paid enough attention to him. But on second thought, he doesn't look like one.
"No." You say.
"Well then, this is interesting." He chuckles, "I'm Nate, from Connect Three."
You're dumfounded for a bit, but you recover soon enough. Of course, it was him. You remember Mitchie showing you his pictures all day yesterday. Well, Nate and this other Shane dude, because she's got the most psychotic celebrity infatuation with him.
"Oh yeah," you smile, "I sort of remember you from the pictures that my best friend showed me yesterday."
"Ah," he nods in understanding, "and you are..." He waits for you to finish.
"Alex," you say, "Alex Russo."
--
You talk to him for a bit about the most random things on Earth, and surprisingly, you enjoy his company. He doesn't have a massive ego, you notice, and he's easy to get along with.
"So, Alex," he starts, "you're not a fan, so what brought you to the concert?"
You silently groan because this is the question you've been trying to avoid but he keeps bringing it up, stupid pop-star.
"Mitchie, my best friend, loves your music." You answer, and he seems to be satisfied with it.
"And you don't," he remarks, smiling.
"Yeah. I don't," you state.
The silence starts to surround you, and you feel awkward suddenly but then you decide to speak up anyway.
"What time does the concert start?" You ask him. He checks his watch before replying. "In twenty-five minutes," he answers. "Don't worry, though. Until then, I'm all yours," he adds with a smirk, and you desperately try to stop a familiar red from coloring your cheeks.
--
"Nate, dude, get out of your room," Shane yells, "We've ten more minutes. Get changed and stuff."
"Yeah, dude." Nate replies. He looks up at you and you smile. 'Go,' you mouth to him, and he nods before taking off. He's back in two minutes, though.
"I should get going too," you say to him when he comes back, "Mitchie's probably worried sick." He nods.
"I'll see you in the audience?" he asks hopefully.
With a grin you say, "You bet."
--
You open the door and get out and run to the concert area, where the girls are chanting their name like music and you're gasping for breath as you get there. Desperately looking around for Mitchie, you finally find her in the very front. You push the girls and feel semi-rude but shake the feeling off as you find her.
"Mitchie," you say, relieved. Her troubled eyes meet yours and her face breaks into a grin.
"Lexie!" she exclaims, pulling you in for a hug, "where have you been?"
"Long story," you say, "I'll tell you later."
"Good enough."
Just then, three boys walk on stage, and you can't help but recognize one face too well, and it's sort of funny to you, while Mitchie gets star struck the second she sees Shane. Nate catches your eye and passes a wink in your direction (waitwhat?) and you smile at him and all the girls behind you swoon and giggle and you can't help but roll your eyes at them. But when you look back at the stage, Nate's still looking at you. Mitchie notices, though.
"Why is Nate continuously looking our way?" she asks, eyeing you suspiciously.
"Let's just say I had a little encounter with him," you chuckle, and Mitchie grins because she's trying to be 'calm' about this.
"Details later," you whisper, and she nods.
--
The concert is fantastic and you can't help but think that maybe Nate was looking at you a little too much than necessary, and you blush at merely the thought of it.
"You know," Mitchie begins, when they've left the stage, "he kept looking over at you."
"Yeah?" you lie, "I didn't notice."
"Mhm," she says, obviously not buying it. "Of course."
--
When you're getting out of the concert hall, you can't help but spot that door again and something clicks in that genius head of yours and suddenly you're dragging Mitchie along to it. You knock again, but this time the door's opened in a matter of seconds.
"Alex!" Nate exclaims, "I knew you'd be back!"
He's ecstatic to see you and somehow that thought is very, very pleasing. "Nate, meet Mitchie." You say, and Mitchie smiles.
"Hi," she says, and he replies.
Just then, Shane walks him. "Nate, dude, Jason's on about the birdho-" but he abruptly stops talking when he spots the two girls in the room.
"Uh, Hi?" He greets, but it sounds more like a question.
"Hey," they both reply in unison, Mitchie obviously being the more enthusiastic one.
Nate figures that it's best to explain. "Look, before the concert, Alex came here and we were talking and got along really well, and now she just came to say goodbye." Shane nods. "Cool, dude." He looks at you and Mitchie and continues, " I'm guessing you already know me."
"One more thing," Nate quips, "Alex here isn't a fan. Mitchie, on the other hand, is."
"Ah," Shane smirks, looking over at you and Mitch, "I'm Shane."
"Nice to meet you," you say. Mitchie on the other hand just lets out a nervous giggle.
"You're cute," Shane says to Mitchie, and she smiles and her cheeks shade crimson.
You look at Nate, who mouths the words, 'let's go' to you, and you nod as you get out of the room, with him leading the way.
--
"So," he begins, "How was the concert?"
"Fantastic." You say truthfully. "Never knew you guys were so good."
He chuckles, and it kind of sounds like the sort of music the main girls in a movie hear when they like someone. Come to think of it, you always thought it was stupid. He breaks you out of your thought, though. "I'm glad." He says and smiles.
You smile too.
The silence dawns on you both again, but this time it's comfortable in the strangest kind of way. You find yourself thinking about the most random things your mind can come up with, but it's sort of refreshing.
"Can I have your number?" He asks, his voice a little unsure, and you smile in reassurance. "Of course," you say.
You hand each other your cell phone and you save your number in his and he does the same for you. You smile vaguely when you hand it to him and your hand brushes slightly with his, and it's all so cheesy and cliché that for a minute you're just caught wondering how so many girls probably dream of this moment and you're right there feeling it, and it feels so magical that you're out of words.
The look on his face says he feels it too.
--
When you get home that night, (thanks to your mom just crashing your moment with Nate) you're still on cloud nine and Mitchie's texting Shane and you realize that you do have Nate's number. But you decide against it because it'll just seem like you're too desperate and in reality, you're not. You just want to feel the magic once more. But you're more than surprised when your phone beeps, indicating a text sent by a very familiar name.
I know I just met you, but I miss you.
You're shocked because that's the exact way you're feeling. A minute after you reply, you receive another text.
Want to hang out tomorrow? I'm still in town, so I thought we could. But it's okay if you don't want to (:
You call him, and he picks up on the first ring. "Hey Alex, what's –" But you cut him off with a "Yeah, I'd love to."
You're grinning like a fool, and you don't know it, but he's like that on the other side of the line too.
--
Review? Thank you.