"Come on, baby," I cajole, in a sexy whisper. "Just for an hour or so. We won't stay long, I promise. Don't you want to hang out with everyone? We haven't been to a party in for freaking ever."
"I'm just not in the mood for that tonight. I'm tired, my back hurts from work, and I really want to stay in. Maybe next weekend?"
"No, Nathan! No. Just, no, sorry. I'm losing my mind! Is that what you want to hear? I feel like a mental person. I appreciate a good night in, okay? Movies, cuddling, blah blah, blah, but this is just ridiculous! Who are you and what have you done with my hot, kinda-sorta dangerous boyfriend? I- I just need to get out of this apartment!" I explode, and my chest is heaving by the end of my tirade. Nathan gawks at me seemingly speechless.
"Speak!" I bark, poking my small finger into his firm chest, utterly annoyed by his lack of response.
Nathan blinks noticeably before breaking into a loud fit of laughter - laughing harder than I think he ever has, at least since I've been with him. My eyes narrow menacingly and I cross my arms across my chest.
"You think this is, like, a joke or something? Do you, Nathan? Do you not see that I'm clearly a woman at the end of her rope? I don't yell! I don't poke or push you! So, this is obviously a real issue we have going on right now. Get with it," I bite out.
He pushes his lips together then, making a firm line, desperately trying to stifle the laughter bubbling up his throat. This, of course, only infuriates me more. I jump off of his couch in a huff, and then proceed to pace around the small living room like a caged animal – which I am!
"Why, Hales, I didn't know you were such the little party animal. I wish I had known this fun, little fact when we'd first gotten together, I might have rethought our union," he goads me. Teasing a confessed mental person? Stupid.
"Fun, little fact? Union? Again, who the hell is this person I see in front of me? I could really use some answers because I'm at an absolute loss here! Are we forty-five all of a sudden? Should I run out and get a Scrabble game set so we can make this a truly memorable Friday night?" I pull at the ends of my auburn locks in sheer frustration.
"Oh, Scrabble. Now you're talking my language, baby," he intones huskily.
I drop to my knees in front of the coffee table, arranged with several candles I'd insisted he have, and let my head hit the solid wood with a thud. He lets out a loud snort at that.
"Seriously, Nathan… I - please? Please! I forget what Peyton even looks like and – and, Lucas? That's that scrawny blonde-ish boy, right? It's all just so hazy…"
"You saw Peyton and Luke this morning at school, Haley," he deadpans.
"But I haven't seen them outside of school in nearly…" I trail off pondering the thought before my face suddenly changes to one of absolute horror. "I can't remember the last time, Nathan! I can't -"
"Are you going to stroke out on me, Hales?" he interrupts, his face still the picture of ease and - to my annoyance – amusement. "Your mouth is getting all tight-like and your cheeks are pretty red, too."
"I have… no words. You have left me utterly and completely speechless. I'm at a loss. I can't even begin – What can I say to make – Why are you being so…"
"Wow, that's quite the bundle of words for someone that's been left so utterly speechless by me." He pauses in mock-thought before continuing, "Of course, it was all incoherent and without structure, so, yeah, maybe so."
It's my turn to blink now. We just sit there in silence as his blue eyes, shining and bright, look directly into mine. And then he does it. He winks.
I have to take a minute, literally, so that I don't leap clear across the table and claw his eerily happy eyes out. After all, I coach myself internally; I do love this boy - this boring, shell of former bad boy. And what a pretty, pretty bad boy, he was. Tragic.
"What really has you so chipper, Nathan? I mean, I do… love you," hesitating long enough to make him snort loudly, "but it's just weird. It is! It's like you're this, this uber peaceful, just…" I trail off, grabbling for the right word desperately but come up empty.
"Person?" He fills in for me, oh-so helpfully, smirking so fully that a dimple forms on his left cheek. Oh, well, maybe all of this was worth it just for that. I do adore that dimple, after all.
"Or," he begins again, interrupting my girlish inner thoughts, "am I acting too strange to even be considered a person anymore? Oh, my God, am I Pod!Nathan? Have I been, like, taken over by aliens and just not realized it until this very moment?" He screeches dramatically, even going as far as to look behind him and around the small room in mock paranoia.
I roll my eyes harder than I ever have in the sixteen years that I've been alive.
"Seriously, Nathan? No, but, seriously? Have you been waiting for this - I mean, this is just so completely different from your default setting that you must've been saving these one-liners up for quite some time, right? Who am I to deserve such greatness all at once? I feel unworthy," I deadpan.
He chuckles quietly, and then just looks at me, watches me in a way that immediately turns the mood upside down and inside out and has my stomach clenching nervously.
"I am, you know?" He whispers vaguely after several moments of silence pass between us. "Peaceful." He adds, at my confused look.
"Yeah?" I whisper back, unsure of what else to say.
"Yeah," he smiles softly, reaching out for my arm and dragging me closer to him. I move toward him willingly, even going as far as to crawl onto the couch and straddle his lap.
"That's something I never knew or felt before, you know? Living with my parents… peaceful? It was just always something – some fight, some mind game, some – I was always so on edge, just waiting for the next thing… even after I met you, I was happy, but still having to go home to them, deal with them, but then I got this place, and suddenly… I had you, and I just didn't feel the need to escape anymore. All of the drinking, the parties, the reckless crap, it just seemed… unnecessary. Life was just, yeah, peaceful."
The tears that had continued to pile behind my eyes throughout his admission suddenly fall unchecked down my cheeks. I fold and unfold my hands, hanging my head in shame.
"Wow, could I be a bigger brat? I really don't think so," I mutter sadly.
"Hey, don't talk about my girlfriend that way!" He jokes, attempting to charm me, before reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear and away from my sullen face. "Really, baby, don't feel bad. That wasn't my intention at all. I was just trying to be honest, you know? And that, and everything else about me now, is a direct result of you, of loving you," whispering the last part shyly.
I launch myself at him then, throwing my arms around his neck and placing kisses along the skin there. "We never have to leave the apartment again," I mumble into his neck, causing him to laugh. "No, I mean it! Who needs school and parties and fresh air? Not me, I say. No siree."
"It's okay, baby, there's no need to lie. We can go to the party."
…..
"Oh, thank God!" He chuckles, but allows me to crush our lips together in a hot, frantic kiss. I ply his entire face and neck with quick kisses that leave him smiling from ear to ear. His warm hands travel up the back of my shirt, fiddling idly with the clasp of my bra, causing my eyes to glaze over with lust.
"On second thought, there is always next weekend," I rasp out, breathless, before quickly tossing my shirt over my head and grinding against him.