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Chapter 5

John and Natalie met to Play pool every night for a week, having more fun each night than the one before, more fun than they had ever had in their lives. They were so comfortable around each other already. Tonight John was running late for their nightly game when he walked into the bar to see her standing by the pool table with a few guys. She was talking with them, they were flirting with her, she was smiling with them and joking and he started to feel rage, angry almost, jealousy. He walked closer to her and them and she saw him and she smiled.

"Hey, you're finally here" she said as he walked closer to him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him as she saw his face.

"Nothing. Who's your friends?" he asked her bluntly and she was shocked at his tone, she hadn't heard him use that tone at all this week.

"Are you sure nothings wrong?" she asked again and he gave her a look, a strange look.

"Who's your friends?" he asked again

"This is Travis and Brian, we have a few classes together, they were just keeping me company as I waited for you, they actually wanted to know if we wanted to play doubles" she told him and then she saw him walk away from her.

"No, Not tonight, actually not up for playing, see ya," he said and he left the bar, she looked after him confused. Brian said something and she turned back towards him.

Two hours later John sat outside her apartment waiting for her to come home, he saw her car pull up and he got out to talk to her.

"It's about time you're home" he said nasty as he approached her

"Excuse me?" she told him back just as harsh. He heard her tone and stopped himself from getting even nastier

"What's up with you John?" she asked him

"I.. I don't know"

"That's a lie," she told him and he looked at her for a few minutes and then smiled, she already knew him so well.

"I know, I.. was just jealous, I mean you were talking to those guys and .. and well they are your age so much younger than I am."

"John, we are just friends remember, this age thing is really bothering you isn't it? We can't continue to be friends if you are going to be jealous every time I talk to someone or go out with them"

"What do you mean go out with them? Do you have a date with one of them?" John asked quickly as he picked up on the words she used

"No, no..but.. Brian did ask but I don't need any of that pressure, I don't really like him that much, anyways, we are friends and its not normal for you to have a problem with me seeing someone, are you sure this isn't going to be to hard for you, to be friends I mean" she told him hoping, praying he said he could handle it cause she loved spending time with him, just being comfortable around him.

John was about to tell her, tell her how hard this was for him and that maybe they should not spend so much time together, maybe distant themselves from each other. When they both heard a noise and looked to see Roxy drunk and walking unsteadily up the sidewalk. Natalie automatically walked over to her and started to help her inside, John went over to her and also helped get a drunk Roxy inside.

Inside the house they put her into bed, covered her up.

"Thanks, you should go now" she told him and he stared into her eye's, she had life bad, and he knew it, yet she didn't complain much, she just kept going with life and trying to obtain her goals

"I'll talk to you tomorrow" he told her and she nodded, he went out the door and down to his car, he started it and was about to drive away when he saw Roxy's boyfriend Billy from the other night walk into the front door of the apartment building, he stood there for a few minutes and then got an uneasy feeling come over him, he ran into the apartment building and up to her apartment, just as he heard her scream.

"Get the Hell away from me Billy! Get your hands off of me!"

"Now Natty baby, your mom promised me some action tonight and since she's asleep, I think you will have to keep her promise"

"Get off of me you drunk bastard" Natalie said as she pushed him across the room, but he came back at her and grabbed her shirt, and a few buttons ripped off by the top. He had his body touching hers as she screamed "NO " and spit in his face.

John pushed in the door with his shoulder and ran in to see him trying to touch her, he grabbed the son of a bitch and threw him across the room, he pinned him up against the wall and punched him in his gut a few times as he released his anger for the man on him.

"John... John, No, don't hurt him. He's drunk, I could've handled it myself, I could've taken care of it," she said with a soft shaken tone to her voice.

"John!" Natalie screamed this time as she saw him bring his arm back one more time to punch Billy. John was so enraged that he hadn't heard her first plea to stop but then he heard her scream his name and he turned with his arm mid air and looked at her, into her teary blues, her eye's pleaded with his and he saw how hard this was for her, how hard it was for her to not cry and he slowly lowered his arm from the air, moved away from Billy as he fell to the ground.

John still kept complete eye contact with her for a few minutes and then pulled her to his chest, he held her for a few minutes when they heard a drunken Roxy come out of the Bedroom.

"What's going on? Billy, what the hell?" she said slurring her words a bit as she approached Billy on the floor, she looked at him and then up at Natalie.

"Natty, how could you?" she told her

"What?" Natalie said back to her as she completely came over near Roxy.

"What the hell did you do to my boyfriend?" Rosy asked nasty

"What did she do to your boyfriend!" John told her back not so nicely

"Your drunk fucking loser boyfriend attacked your daughter, he's lucky I didn't fucking kill him" John told Roxy as he moved a bit closer to both she and Roxy.

"You had to do it didn't you? One guy wasn't a enough for you, you gotta go after my man again, just like the last freaking time" Roxy said getting in Natalie face as Natalie tried so hard this time to push back the tears, one tear fell and she bite down on her tongue to make the rest of them to stop coming.

"What the hell kinda mother are you? That asshole attacks your daughter and its her fault" John told Roxy wanting to punch her now, he shook his head knowing he couldn't but he so wanted to when he heard her speak.

"Go to bed Roxy, I'll make sure he's all right" John heard her words and he couldn't believe what she had just said.

"Like hell you will, Natalie, you don't need to take care of that drunk, neither drunk" Natalie heard his words and she pulled him a side away from Roxy as Roxy was looking over a drunk Billy who was starting to move around and stir.

"John, I appreciate what you are doing but.. but I can handle this myself, unfortunately I've been down this road before" she told him and he looked at her, it seemed she had been down this road before, and she would probably always go down this road with a drunk abusive mother.

"Go home John, I'll call you tomorrow okay?" she told him quietly as she had a feeling he wasn't going to just leave.

"No, I'm not leaving you here with them tonight, come home with me"

"John, that's really nice of you to offer but.. but I will be alright, they are both drunk and ..and even if you hadn't been here, he was to drunk to hurt me"

"Natalie, I'm not going to argue with you on whether that bum was to drunk to hurt you or not cause he could've hurt you, he did hurt you, emotionally, but.. Either come stay at my place, in my extra bedroom or I'll just have to say here on that couch." John told her persuasively as he stared at her.

Natalie looked at John and then looked over at drunken Roxy picking Billy up off the floor. She heard Roxy call out for her to help pick Billy up off the floor, Natalie looked back at John and stared into his serious blue eyes

"Alright, let me get a few things" she told him as she went into her room quickly and got some clothes, she returned quickly to see Roxy and John glaring at each other. John came closer to her, took the small bag she had her stuff in and then they proceeded to walk towards the door in silence.

"Natty baby, where you going and when you comin back?" Roxy asked, as she was suddenly sobering up, Natalie turned to her when she heard her words.

"Does it even really matter?" she asked her and when Roxy didn't respond she shook her head, turned back to John and they walked out of the door, out of the building, and not even knowing, out of Roxy's life.

Natalie followed John in his car, to a small house in a much nicer neighborhood in AC, she got out of her car and walked up to the front door with him.

"You live here? And alone?" she asked him as he opened the door with the key, John opened the door and they went in before he answered.

" This is your place?" she asked again as she looked around it

"It's actually my mom's its where I grew up" he told her as he flipped the lights on, he walked over by her as he saw her looking at some pictures on the walls.

"You were a cute kid," she said with a sarcastic tone and a small smile

"What do you mean I was?" he told her back playfully. They stared for a few minutes and then he looked towards the stairs.

"Are you tired?"

"No, not really, you?" she asked him back

"No, how about you get your pj's on and we watch a movie?"

"Sounds good, where do I change and are Pj's mandatory" she asked innocently as he gave her a quick look of something brewing inside him, was that desire she saw in him, she ignored it, as they stared intently into each others eye's.

John looked into her eyes and he knew this wasn't going to be easy, it was going to take all of him to have her here in his home and not touch her, not be close to her, but he had to remember, remember she was so young compared to him. Younger, a kid, a friend, he told himself in her head. He told himself all those things but still asked the question that was on the tip of his tongue.

"What do you sleep in?" he asked and regretted it the minute it came out of his mouth, did he really want to know, what if she said she slept in the nude, would he be able to stop himself by getting aroused by her words, and the thought of her with no clothes on. He shook his head, and thought Friend as she spoke.

"A shirt, a tee shirt, a sort of long one, does that meet you approval" she told him and she laughed, she could see he was lost in his own head for a few minutes there.

"So where do I change and put my stuff, where will I be sleeping?' she asked and he came out of his trance.

"Sorry, upstairs first door on the left is the bathroom and second door on the right is the extra bedroom, go get undressed and I'll get us some snacks and pick out a movie" he told her, she nodded and walked up the stairs, she glanced back slightly and noticed he was watching her walk up the stairs. She smiled and ignored his roaming glares as she proceeded up the stairs.

Ten minutes later she came down to see him already on the couch with a bag of chips and a few beers, the movie was in the VCR and he pushed play as he saw her walk over to the couch in a black tee shirt that only just went half way down her thigh. He had pushed the play button so roughly, he was enjoying what she looked like in just a tee shirt and he needed to control himself, his desire.

Natalie sat on the couch next to him she grabbed a pillow and held it to her as she settled in to watch the movie, he seemed quiet she thought at first but then realized it must have been because the movie was playing. About a hour into the movie she started to get sleepy, real sleepy, she was trying so hard not to give into it but it was getting harder not to, she leaned her body over, she laid her head across his legs, and fell asleep.

John was trying so hard to keep his distance from her, she looked so beautiful just sitting on the couch next to him and it took all his will not to reach over and touch her, taste her again. He concentrated on the movie and then she moved closer to him and laid her head down on his lap, he couldn't breath for a minute, she was so close and her beautiful hair extended over his lap, he knew he couldn't not touch it, her hair, to feel the softness of it, he reached down and started to caress her hair as he felt her get real comfortable and fall asleep on his lap.

John too was getting comfortable as if her being here, and her lying on his lap as he touched her silky hair was the most natural thing. He closed his eye's, and next thing he knew he was waking up to find himself on his side holding her from behind while still on the couch, he had his arms wrapped around her front and her head laid nestled into his neck. He took a deep breath and again said Kid, Friends. How he wished he had only believed the lies he was saying.