Chapter 25

'Take It Easy on Me' Parts 1 & 2

Superhoodie

Driving back up to Manchester was risky even if I didn't wear the suit. Saxon knew what Seth looked like, at least, and who knows how many lackeys he has. It was probably one of Saxon's accomplices who had been the sniper in Manchester. One thing was for sure, we couldn't stay in Seth's flat anymore. Saxon definitely knew where it was. That's how he had gotten Seth in the first place.

Seth's office seemed like the best option. It may be easy to find, but it was also heavily fortified by the thick metallic doors and the fact that the office was underground. So Seth and I quickly packed up; clothes, food, you name it. If it was useful and easy to carry, we grabbed it. Seth wanted to make it look like we skipped town and in about an hour, that it did.

Nathan

9 ½ hours before…

"Nathan!" Nathan looked up to see Jeremy charging towards him, his pack rocking back and forth on his shoulders. He looked like a mad man; dark circles were around his eyes, his hair was a mess, and he had the beginnings of a beard. The only thing missing was the frothing at the mouth bit. When he got to him, Nathan was shocked that he hugged him. "Are you alright?" Jeremy asked between breaths. Nathan pushed him away, "Whoa! What are you doing?!" Jeremy's panting slowed. He grabbed Nathan by the shoulders. Nathan tried to wiggle away, but Jeremy held tight. "Let me go!" Nathan cried out. He tried to punch him. but Jeremy grabbed his fist from the air.

Nathan took the opportunity to rip Jeremy's other hand off his shoulder. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he exclaimed. Nathan shoved Jeremy so hard that he stumbled backwards. Nathan didn't want to admit it, but with the night he had had, he was starting to get really freaked out. Alone with a crazy guy in the middle of the woods? Yeah, he'd seen that movie and it didn't end well for one of them. "Nathan," Jeremy repeated, "Are you alright?" "I was fine until you started grabbing all over me. You know there are better ways for you to tell me that you are gay without violating me?" "Do you realize how worried I have been?" His eyebrows stretched upwards as if he was expecting an answer, "Wandering around in the woods like that was pretty damn stupid." "You can't speak to me like that!" "I bloody hell will!" he roared, "That's your problem. Just because your father never had a firm handling on you, doesn't mean you get to treat everyone else like shit."

"You don't know anything about my dad!" Nathan snapped. He just wanted to get back to the community centre and have a hot shower and a nap. He was all for the "I'll sleep when I'm dead" thing, but hell! He'd just spent the entire night sleeping on a porch. He wanted to have at least a good hour's worth of sleep. It was the only way he would really be able to unwind. That, or get hammered, one of the two.

"At least you have a father," Jeremy prattled on, "At least you know where he is and how to contact him." Nathan grimaced, not wanting to sit through some sob story. He knew in a way he was lucky. His father was around. Though he was a cheating, lying, prat, he was still there for him (most of the time). Hell, he had been willing to come bail him out when Beverley did him for eating Pick n Mix that night. He was condescending when he was there, but his presence in the middle of the night was worth something.

Nathan resolved to go see his dad when he got back to Wertham, but he'd be damned before he spoke any of this to anyone, especially Jeremy. "Jeremy, baby are you going to cry?" Nathan teased after realizing his future step-father's face was growing even more bitter by the second due to the lapse in their conversation.

"I know your father Nathan. Known him for a long time," Jeremy said finally. Nathan blinked, this information not fully registering initially. "I don't want you to become him," Jeremy asserted, "I won't let it happen."

Alisha

8 hours before...

Alisha sat quietly on one of the picnic tables out back at the community centre. She gazed out onto the lake. The cold water brought an even greater chill to the air as the wind picked up. The breeze's touch swept sheets of water over the water's far-too-short barrier. The early dawn sky brought with it the scent of rain. They may have gotten a good shower last night, but she could see by the collections of clouds in the sky, an even greater storm was brewing.

She heard the exit's door swing open and turned to see Simon stepping outside. He was still zipping up his jumpsuit. He walked over to her, but didn't sit down, "Where's the probation worker?" She shrugged, "Well we didn't kill him." He momentarily pinned his lips together, then sat next to her. "You shouldn't joke like that." She wasn't going to apologize, but when she remembered his relationship with Sally, she understood his reaction.

She laid back on the table, "where the hell is everyone?" "Dunno, I mean we are a bit early." He laid down next to her. "How early?" "45 minutes." She hit his shoulder. "Ow, what?" "Why were you rushing me then?" "I didn't know we were so close by," he explained, "I'm sorry." She playfully rolled her eyes.

Simon's phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He shifted slightly so he could take it out. He grimaced upon seeing the caller. "Who is it?" Alisha asked. "My dad." "Simon you can't keep avoiding him; he's your dad. You need to talk to him," Alisha said adamantly, "You can't ignore him forever." Simon stared at the phone until 'missed call' popped up on the screen. "Was that him that kept calling last night?" He shook his head, "No, that was your phone." She frowned and sat up so she could grab her handbag. It was sitting between her feet.

"Oi! You two!" The probation worker was standing in the doorway. "Either you two do some work or I'll make sure you have to do this shit for the next two years of your lives." With that, he went back into the building. She could hear him say "they don't pay me enough to do this job," before the door swung shut behind him. She rolled her eyes again, this time with a glare accompanying it as she got up.

Curtis

7 hours before...

Curtis kicked his locker door shut. He pulled on his grey sleeveless t-shirt. One more day of getting up this early. The thought gave him the energy to walk outside with his bucket of water and scrub brush. Kelly, Alisha, and Simon were already standing at the wall, hard at work erasing graffiti. Curtis decided to work on the drawing at Simon's right, a simple door spray-painted in black upon the wall.

Alisha stood at Simon's other side. She pretended she was focused on her task of wiping away the word 'swag' from existence, but occasionally he saw her looking at him out of the corner of her eye. His jaw tightened, he knew what she wanted, but he didn't like being forced to say it. He rolled his eyes, but still said the words, "I'm sorry for pushing you." Simon nodded, "I understand," he said as he continued to scrub the wall, "you were just trying to protect Alisha." "Exactly!" he turned to her, "Alisha, I was trying to help you."

Alisha stopped scrubbing and tossed her brush into her bucket. "I know Curtis," she said before picking up the bucket and leaving. Curtis looked at Simon, who seemed just as confused as he was.

Superhoodie

3 hours before...

After dropping off Seth and the stuff I parked the car under a flyover, abandoning it. I had given the money to Seth of course, for safe keeping. I picked up my duffel bag from the passenger seat and got out of the car.

The gathering storm finally broke again and sheets of rain pelted down on me. I tightened the hood of my orange jacket to stop the steady stream of water running down my shirt. It would be a long way to Seth's office in this downpour, but there was only one place nearby where I knew I could go.

Kelly

2 hours before...

Kelly finally finished cleaning off her side of the wall. Not that it really mattered because she figured given two days, it'll all be back up again. But by then, thankfully, it wouldn't be her problem to deal with. She went inside and found Alisha taking books out of boxes and stacking them onto a bookshelf. "What's all this?" she asked her. "They're holding some sort of program to get people to read more," Alisha answered. Kelly scoffed and strolled over to one of the boxes, "Well you're not going to get people to read with stuff like this." Alisha shrugged and continued putting books onto the shelf.

She seemed distant today, Kelly noted. Her mind was probably preoccupied with her row with Curtis. He did apologize so there was no reason to keep dwelling on it. Kelly made a mental note to tell her this if she kept carrying on. There was no reason for her to be caught up in drama with her ex if she wanted to be with Simon, but for now Kelly thought it would be best to try to keep her mind off it.

"Did you ever read this one?" Kelly held up an aging green novel, "'Sense and Sensibility'." These books were obviously donated. The edges of the book were all tattered and the printing on the cover was so faded, it was difficult to read. Alisha glanced at the book, "No." "I watched the film and it's shit," Kelly added. Alisha smiled and placed another book onto the shelf.

Suddenly the sound of organ music echoed down the hall. Alisha immediately put the last book she was holding onto the shelf and went to investigate. Kelly followed her to a trail of white stuff on the floor. Alisha reached down and picked some up. "Confetti," she said, looking at Kelly. Kelly shrugged; she had no idea what was going on. They followed the trail and the music to the toilets. Immediately after the door swung shut behind them the familiar sound of Nathan's voice coming from one of the stalls was both a relief and an irritant. "Dearly beloved," he was saying, "we are gathered here today to check me the fuck out." The stall door opened revealing a sight for sore eyes, Nathan in a wedding dress. The music coming from the IPod in his hand blared louder. The door behind them hit the wall as Curtis entered to see what was going on. "I scrub up pretty well, don't I?" Nathan gave them a little twirl. Curtis rolled his eyes, "No." He promptly exited the room, hiding the faintest hint of a smile.

"Don't pretend you're not turned on," Nathan called after him. Kelly shook her head. She wanted to know where he'd been all this time, but she'd rather have the conversation when he was wearing pants so she left before this horror show got any worse. Alisha stayed behind, but only for about a minute. After that, Kelly could hear her say, "no...no!"

Kelly looked up as the girl quickly walked out of the toilets. Curtis and Simon, who were now placing the remainder of the books onto the shelf for the girls looked up. "What happened?" Kelly asked with a smirk. She held up a hand as she walked passed, "I really don't want to talk about it," she said quickly. She grabbed the last five books and began placing them onto the bookshelf.

"Are you okay?" Simon asked. She nodded. She looked down at her watch, "We get off at 3:00 today, yeah? I'm going to go home and take a shower. I need to wash that image of Nathan out of my head." "Fair enough, but the hot water isn't working at yours," Kelly said. Alisha scoffed in response. Kelly got up and stretched, "Anyone want to go out for a drink?" "I've got to go sort some stuff for my gran," Curtis replied. "What about you?" Kelly asked Simon. Simon had been standing off to side, quietly listening to the conversation. "I think I'm going to go with Alisha," he muttered. "What, you two taking showers together now?" Curtis asked with a laugh. Simon's face grew red, "No-" "Curtis shut up," Alisha retorted quickly as she headed towards the locker room.

Simon

1 hour and 45 minutes before…

Alisha opened her locker and took out the clothes she had been wearing that morning, the pink and purple spaghetti-string shirt and cropped shorts that he remembered her wearing a few months before. Instead of immediately shedding her jumpsuit and beginning to change, she studied herself in the mirror that was hanging on the wall. An annoyed look passed her gaze. Simon furrowed his brow. "What's wrong?" he questioned. She turned, "What do you think of my outfit?" she asked. He went to stand behind her in the mirror. "I think it's fine," he said, "It's what you like to wear." "But do you like it?" she asked earnestly. He looked at the articles of clothing. Honestly, he found them too revealing and they weren't the proper clothes to be wearing this late in the year. Additionally, the sight of them made it quite obvious of why Alisha became so sick that night they'd all been walking in the rain, but instead of voicing his concerns, he wanted to know why she had suddenly become so apprehensive about her style. "What's brought this on?" he asked aloud. Her eyebrows knitted together, something he'd noticed that she'd begun doing quite frequently recently.

"I just…. your dad said that he didn't want you around 'that type of person.'" She paused momentarily, enough time for tears to come to her eyes, "he thinks I'm a slag." He clenched her shoulders remembering the day. He could feel the heat rising within him. He had hardly spoken to his parents since. They are always so critical of people, even with him, their own son. He was a walking disappointment in their eyes. "I know you're not," he said to her, "You were…misguided." He wished he could've thought of a better word, but there was none that wouldn't make the situation worse in one way or another. "Yeah blame the parents. That's what everyone does isn't it?" Alisha muttered bitterly, "My dad was soft on me and my mom just gave up, but it was still my decision to continue carrying on that way. I was a slag." Simon stroked her arms, "But you want to change. You're not being forced to do it, that's what matters."

He wished he knew what she was thinking as she moved away from him to put the clothes back in her locker and looked at him. "I'm going to wear this out," she announced, referring to her jumpsuit. Simon raised an eyebrow. The walk to her parents' flat wasn't that long, but she would surely encounter people on the way. "Are you sure you want to be seen wearing that?" he asked. She gave him a small smile for a brief moment and nodded, "It doesn't matter. People have surely seen us wearing them anyways; remember that day on the bus?" Recollection of the day the probation worker had lacked the foresight to supply a vehicle to drive them to the flyover so they had had to take a bus now made him laugh, but he remembered how embarrassed they had all felt with all eyes upon their group of delinquents sitting in the back of that bus.

"Anyways," Alisha continued, "I'm going to go take a shower at the other flat before going back to my parents. Why don't you go for that drink with Kelly, or go visit your parents?" "You want me to go visit my parents?" After relenting her anguish towards his father and her own parents he was surprised she was still encouraging the reunion. "Simon they're your parents and they might not agree on how you are living your life, but they are still there and they obviously want to see you."

She collected her handbag from her locker and shut it. "I'll see you later," she said before exiting the room. As if by cue, his phone began to vibrate again. He already knew who it was. Instead of ignoring it like he had done countless times the past two days, he took out the phone and answered it.

Superhoodie

Back to the present...

My flat. It was just as I left it, but I knew they'd been here. One thing that hasn't changed is the fact that yesterday was November 12th. We're together. I sighed as I put the duffel bag down next to my old clothes rack. I will never be with her again. The realization came crashing down on me. It was like we were destined to be together only for a short time. The universe's sick joke. At least with the loop I managed to save the others from death. But Alisha and I; it's like we are destined to die in each other's arms.

"Simon?" My blood ran cold. She wasn't supposed to be here. I felt like a deer caught in headlights. There was no way I could leave without making a sound. There was no point trying to hide. I watched as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. It took a moment before she saw me. I could tell by the look on her face that she instantly knew it was me.

"The hell are you doing here?" were her first words to me. She's upset, understandable. She approached me. Considering the wounded look in her eyes, I couldn't tell if she was going to slap me or hug me.

It was the latter. I wrapped my arms around her.

A.N.- Sorry, I know, I know, I missed last month, but I was super busy with school and issues with my family so I didn't have time to edit this chapter until finals ended. By the way, I decided to combine 2 of the chapters from the 3-parter story arc I'm doing because this story is moving way too slowly. (I can already hear some of you saying "You think?!").

There were a lot of references to earlier chapters this chapter (didn't do this on purpose), but here's the only outside one I used:

lol the part with Kelly and Alisha finding Nathan in the wedding dress is taken from the online short called 'Plain Wrong.' Here's the link: watch?v=dePfw6GGeFg . Personally I think it's one of the best ones :)

P.S., before ending this installment of author's notes I want to congratulate Lauren (Kelly) on her new daughter Reenie-Rae! She's super adorable. (She's nearly 8 months now though so I am a bit late). And I also want to encourage you guys to go check out Antonia's (Alisha) show on Netflix, 'Lovesick'. It's hilarious in my opinion, well done everyone involved! :) ~Wingheart99

Next chapter- Dec 31-Jan 1st

This chapter is titled 'Take it Easy on Me' by Beth Hart