Chapter 24- Nathaniel's Moves (Day 4):

Third Person:

The next day, Lysander woke up to find Erin cuddled back into his chest, snoring softly and cutely. Her head rested on his chest and her legs were intertwined with his. He blushed slightly, before the memory came back to him. Erin had yet another nightmare and had crawled into his bed again. He didn't recall them getting into this particular position, but he was not going to complain as she was the one had engaged it. He kissed her forehead affectionately before slowly trying to untangle himself from Erin, only for her to snuggle more and hold onto him more tightly.

Sighing because she was now even more tangled onto him and knowing that she was not going to let go anytime soon, he gently whispered into her ear.

"Erin, wake up, m'lady…"

"No," she whined, "Five more minutes."

"Erin," Lysander said firmly, "Now."

Erin groaned again and pulled away from Lysander. He found his missed feeling her warmth against him and his hands twitched- his first instinct was to grab her and pull her back to him. She slowly sat up with a stretch,

"What time is it," she asked with a yawn as she looked over to the clock.

When she saw the clock blinking 9:06 back at her, she groaned and plopped back down on the bed. She didn't care that she was still in Lysander's bed nor did she care that he was heading straight back into Lysander's arms. She snuggled her head back into his chest, causing him to tense slightly. She was going to go back to sleep no matter what.

"Too early," she muttered.

She frowned slightly as she realized how tense he was. He doesn't want me like this? Why? A part of her sank. She was enjoying spending time with Lysander, especially when they were like this even if she hadn't told him how she felt about him. She thought he enjoyed it too. She thought maybe Lysander liked her back. I guess not judging from his reaction…

"No," Lysander said firmly, "We have to get up… Your phone went off and I assume it's Rosayla. If you don't reply, she will come up here herself."

She still didn't move and she said no reply. She just tightened her grip around him. Lysander sighed. Erin had a love-hate relationship with the mornings. Sometimes, she was fine in the mornings. Other times, like these, she despised getting up. I need to get her off of me before I don't want to get up either. He pushed her off of him, meaning to just get her off of him, but he didn't realize how close they were to the edge of the bed. She fell to the ground with a THUD, her eyes widened in horror and she barely managed to even catch herself. Lysander's eyes widened as he realized what he just did. Oh no.

Erin stood up with a glare and quickly walked away from his bed, gathered her clothes from her luggage, her phone, and headed into the bathroom to change.

"Jerk!"

Despite the fact that it was one her tamest insults, Lysander felt a jab in his heart. She practically slammed the bathroom door as she struggled to control her mixed emotions. She finally just looked down at her phone. Rosayla wants to go skiing with me? Sure it will get me away for a while…

Castiel stood off on the sidelines in the lobby. Dressed in his warm clothing, he had his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. He watched Nathaniel pace in the lobby, waiting for Erin. Castiel just needed to see how it would go. Lysander, however, was the first one he spotted that came into the lobby. He didn't seem that happy and if Castiel had to guess, he would say Lysander looked almost disheartened.

Lysander headed straight for Castiel as he grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the resort. If Lysander wasn't so obviously distressed, Castiel would have fought for his way back to the lobby to see his chaos unfold.

"Lys? You okay?"

"I believe, my friend, that Erin is now upset with me."

"What did you do," Castiel asked with disbelief.

Lysander continued to lead them outside in the snow. It wasn't until they were out of earshot that Lysander finally replied.

"…I pushed her off the bed when she entangled herself to me."

Castiel stopped walking as he looked at Lysander in disbelief before he started to laugh. Lysander turned red slightly with a small huff as Castiel continued to laugh loudly, so loud it even drew the attention of a few people that passed by them.

"Dude," Castiel said, "How many times have I told you that if a girl gets into your bed or makes advances, you don't turn her down? But you didn't just turn her down! You pushed her off the fucking bed!"

"I made plenty of advances," Lysander snapped, thinking about the thigh touch (and her approval), and how they shared a bed before, "We shared a bed before when she had a nightmare. This time, she had a nightmare again and this morning, she was so stubborn and I was just trying to wake her up!"

"Look, I'm not exactly a romantic, but I'm pretty sure that when you wake up next to a girl, you either bail before she wakes up, or you wake her up with kisses so you can do a round two, not push her off the bed."

Castiel continued laughing as Lysander just sighed. Honestly, what did I expect from him?

Nathaniel grinned when Erin finally walked into the lobby. She wore her usual warm clothes, but she was grumbling to herself with a frown. A part of Nathaniel sank at her bad mood, but perhaps he could be the one to put her back in a good mood? He had spent the whole night up with Castiel, listening to Castiel's advice about women (most of which he didn't agree with, but sometimes he made a few points). He learned different signals a girl gives and what it means- body language. He learned a few pick up lines and Castiel informed him about some of Erin's favorite things- music, poetry, animals, coffee.

Erin spotted Nathaniel and let out a small sigh as she made her way over to him. I have some time to kill before Rosayla kidnaps me. Despite that it was a willing kidnapping, Erin called it a kidnapping out of habit and for fun. Nathaniel was smiling and his cheerful mood was contagious as he handed her a cup of coffee and a banana nut muffin.

"Ohhh," Erin teased, "How did you know these were my favorite?"

She took a bite out of the muffin with a small smile. The muffin plus the coffee were already putting her back in a good mood. She sipped on the coffee.

"A little birdie told me," Nathaniel answered with a grin.

"Oh mysterious," Erin joked with a nudge, "Well, tell the birdie they have my thanks for letting you know… This has put me in a better mood."

She quickly finished off the muffin, devouring it without mercy (which threw Nathaniel off, but he was laughing) before she moved onto the coffee. She finished it under a minute before tossing it as well.

"I am glad you like it…"

Nathaniel led her to the couch so that they could talk. He sat down beside her, a bit close to her, but Erin didn't notice. Now wide awake, her mind was thinking about this morning and her rather rude awakening- the mixed signals were confusing and frankly, she was a bit angry at Lysander for pushing her off the bed. A bit extreme. During her inner monologue, she didn't notice that not only was Nathaniel still talking, but he was moving closer- going so far as to put his hand on her thigh.

Nathaniel fought back a blush as he though about what Castiel had told him. "Girls like guys who are smooth and confident- so make a bold move and see what her reaction is. Read the reaction and react accordingly." He looked at Erin. She was a bit hard to read, but she wasn't pushing him away. She wasn't scooting farther down the couch. She wasn't denying him. Taking a deep breath, Nathaniel leaned forward and was pleased as she smiled- her mind fully occupied on thinking about ways on apologizing to Lysander. She turned to Nathaniel, about to thank him for the coffee when he smashed her lips against hers. His hand rested on her inner thigh, his thumb gently rubbing in circles that made her body betray her. Her eyes widened in shock and swore in her head as she finally just gave in to the kiss. She closed her eyes and relaxed, her legs twitching into his touch and her body leaning forward towards him.

Lysander walked into lobby alone as Castiel wanted to go skiing himself- Lysander originally planned on joining him, however ten minutes into their skiing, he learned that Castiel didn't want to ski so much as he wanted to flirt with all the other girls at the resort. The flirting made him uncomfortable, especially the flirting he received from other women. It made him feel heavy and he wanted nothing more than to leave to go to Erin to apologize. So that was he was doing.

The sight that greeted him was one that made his heart not only sink, but break. Erin was sitting on the couch, clearly comfortable with Nathaniel practically hovering over her as they kissed. The kiss was one thing. The hand on her thigh was something different entirely. He could do nothing but stand frozen in the hallway, everything else around him seemed to freeze as well. He saw nothing but Erin and Nathaniel. Everyone else in the resort seemed to not even see them at all. They just walked on by, oblivious to the hearts that were breaking.

Erin shifted slightly, her eyes still closed. If Lysander didn't want her making advances, then who was she to deny advances from someone else? Someone who was making her body react to his attraction. Someone who was making her heart feel burdened and broken. Someone who… isn't Lysander… What am I doing? Coming to her senses, she pulled away from Nathaniel with a large blush on her face. Nathaniel was blushing as well, but he was slightly disappointed. Did I take it too far? As he reached out to Erin, prepared to apologize, Erin stood up quickly, bringing her hands to her face.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, "But I… I just can't… I don't like you that way…"

She shifted on her feet uncomfortably. Lysander, watching and listening from the distance, looked at her hopefully (though she didn't notice). Her words registered in Nathaniel's mind as he put his hands back into his lap,

"…You like Lysander, don't you?"

"Yes," Erin admitted, "I'm sorry, but I like Lysander and I just can't do this to him or to us… If there even is an us… But, I promise you, I will still be your friend. Swear it."

Lysander looked at her shocked as he heard her words. She liked him. She may not love him, but she liked him. It was a step. Her feelings were confirmed and it was really his fault she was there with Nathaniel in the first place. If there even is an us, Lysander thought, there will be an us. He took a step forward, prepared to reveal his own feelings. However, before another word could be said, Rosayla appeared and dragged Erin away and out of the resort,

"Come on! We're going snowboarding and I won't take no for an answer!"

"…I thought we were skiing?"

Rosayla's reply was laughter- laughter that made Erin suppress a horrified chill.