"Are we spending the night there?" I ask Nathan as I skim through my closet.
"We can if we want to." He replies, "It's Lucas' yatch so he won't mind."
"Okay, so should I carry my PJs?"
"No, he will arrange everything for you, we don't have to carry anything. If we do decide to spend the night, I'll tell him to get us a pair of nightwear."
"Oh okay." I say and pull out a gown for tonight. I pick a peach colored satin gown with cuts on waist. I do very light makeup and pick out my heels. When I come out all dressed up, Nathan looks at me intensely. He gets up abruptly, walks towards me and connects are lips, kissing me hungrily.
"You look beautiful." He says breathless from the kiss.
"Thank you." I smile at him, "Now go get ready." I shove him into the closet. By the time we get are ready to go it's 8:45. Nathan takes one of the cars.
"We are too late. It will take us almost an hour to reach. The invitation said 9 o'clock." I rant in the car.
"Okay, first of all, no New Year's party starts before midnight. Second, it's Lucas' party who cares if we are late, he's basically family. You are such an alarm clock." He rolls his eyes.
"I am punctual that is all." I look away from him, peeking outside. The cold had settled in, everyone was out on the street celebrating the New Year. I wonder where my parents might be. I absentmindedly scroll my phone and stop at my father's number. Should I call him?
"You know he's your father, you shouldn't think twice before calling him," Nathan says and I snap my head towards him. I don't say anything, I am still debating whether to call him or not. He's my father, I think. I want to call him. But there is something inside me which is pulling me back. I look around the car and outside to get rid of the emptiness I feel inside me. Finding anything to distract myself. My eyes land on a picture lying on the dashboard. I lean forward to look at it properly. It's a picture of a couple smiling at each other.
"Who's this?"
"Just a family friend," Nathan replied hurriedly.
"Oh!" I stare at the picture for a long time then I keep it back. "Are they still together?"
"Umm, yeah sure." He shrugs. I lean back in my seat and outside for the rest of the ride. When we reach the port, there are quite a lot of cars there. Someone opens the door for me and I get out to cameras flashing in my face. I immediately turn back to get into the car as the flashlight is blinding.
"Hey, I got you." I feel Nathan's hand on my back.
"Umm, okay." I whisper. The cameras keep flashing, asking me to pose for them. Oh God, I almost roll my eyes.
Nathan smiles at them warmly, his hand never leaving my waist. I don't understand how calm he is. He casually answers some the questions they ask us and excuses himself.
"Are you okay?" He asks me once we leave the limelight.
"Yeah!" I give him a small smile. Nathan guides me towards the yacht. My eyes grow big as I see the yacht. It's so damn grand.
"Yep, it's extravagant."
"Yeah." I let out a shaky breath. My nerves started to grow, his world is so different. I walk beside him with as much confidence as I can muster. Jason greets us at entrance.
"Hey!" He gives Nathan a half hug, "Thank God you guys came. This is going to be so much fun."
"Yeah I know. Happy New Year!" Nathan says excitedly, "Congratulations man! I loved the album."
"And yet you weren't at the launch!" I look down as he taunts Nathan. He missed it because of me. "Hey April!" Jason turned towards me.
"Hey! Congratulations! I am sorry Nathan couldn't-"
"Oh please. We have had him for years, now he's all yours." He winks at me and I laugh nervously. Nathan rubs my back lightly as we move forward and greet more people. I take deep breathes trying to get myself through whatever this is.
NATHAN'S POV
As we greet more and more people I notice how uncomfortable April gets. I internally sigh, this wasn't a good idea.
"Hey man!" Zayn says as I get drinks for us.
"Hey! Where have you been?"
"Getting rid of someone." He smirks and I roll my eyes. Another one bites the dust. "How is April?" He asks looking in her direction.
"Not good." I tell him honestly, "She's not comfortable here. She barely sleeps, she eats nothing. I don't know what to do."
"It's okay man. We all know you have been trying your best. You have been with her all the time, you even found her birth parents. There's nothing more you can do."
"Yeah I know. I just wish there was someone who could bring her back to her old self. I mean look at her, she is barely enjoying herself and it's New Year's."
"Maybe we can call her friends?" Zayn suggests.
"No I have already tried that. Didn't work." I let out a sigh.
"Come on, Nathan, cheer up pal. If you are not happy how will you make her happy." I nod at him and join her again.
"Hey!" I say with cheer. She turns and gives me a completely fake smile. "Do you wanna dance?" I ask her.
"Maybe later."
"Okay." I smile at her and kiss her forehead. My eyes move behind her and land on a very familiar face. Oh fuck! I see Victoria walking towards our direction. My eyes widen and April notices that. She turns to look where I am looking and her eyes widen in excitement. There is a shine on her face which I didn't see in a long time.
"Oh my God!" She squeals in excitement, "It's Victoria Greene! Nathan it's Victoria Greene!" She taps on my chest frantically. "I'm a huge fan! Can you please get me an autograph! And gosh, she's so beautiful!"
"What?" I am so surprised by her reaction. Does she not know I dated her? I thought I told her.
"Autograph! Please!" She almost begs, "Oh and we need to get one for Amy as well." The way she says it makes me laugh out loud. She looks at me with confusion which makes me laugh harder. Then it hits her and her eyes widen.
"There it is!" I say between my laughs.
"She's your ex girlfriend!" She states, "One of many." She grits her teeth.
"Not that many." I say cheekily.
"Yeah, of course. You have just dated people more than my age. That's not a huge number."
"Okay, I'm sorry." I rub the back of his neck just to look cute and avoid the topic.
"But, I still want an autograph. Her songs got me through some tough times."
"Tough times? I thought her songs are the tough times." She rolls her eyes. But of course, Victoria is an amazing singer, her only problem is that she writes songs about her relationships a lot.
"Did she write a song about you too? Which one was it?" She nudged me and I give her a look. She already knows it, I remember her playing that song the morning after I told her about the relationship.
"Please, April! Stop it!"
"Well, well, look who it is!" I hear Victoria's voice from behind April. I immediately wrap my arm around April as if to protect her. I just want her to feel comforted in case Victoria says the wrong thing. It was a very ugly breakup.
"Hello, Nathan." She eyes me from head to toe. Here we go. "Many congrats on the wedding!"
"Uh, thanks, Victoria." I say awkwardly and pull April closer to me, "This is my wife, April Grey." I introduce April, which is all I can think of doing. Her eyes move towards April, she looks at her too sharply and I immediately feel defensive. Oh God, why did Lucas have to invite her? I see April's smile disappear from Victoria's gaze.
"Hi," April fakes excitement and extends her hand to her. She takes it and gives her a completely fake smile.
"I'm quite surprised that Nathan settled with a commoner. His taste were very classy when we used to date..."
Commoner? Did she just say my wife is a commoner? I feel anger boil inside me. "She's not a commoner!" I snap at her. How dare she? "Her father is just as big of a businessman as my father. There is no difference between us."
"It's okay, Nathan calm down." April turns in my arm and rubs my back. "Umm, Can we go inside, Nathan?" She interrupts us. "It was nice meeting you, Victoria," she ends the conversation. I nod at April and ignore Victoria as we move inside. It's warm inside and shivers run down April's back with the change in temperature. Something inside me ignites seeing her, I turn her around and kiss her hungrily. At first, she is startled by my sudden affection but then she returns the kiss. I feel so possessive after what Victoria said. Does everyone see her that way? I certainly have never. She has always been extraordinary. When we pull away she has rosy cheeks and I can't help but pull her into my arms.
"What's up?" she whispers, smiling at me.
"I..." I lick my dry lips, unable to finish my sentence. How do I tell her what I feel for her? Sometimes I wonder if I know that myself. "I like you. A lot!" This is the only way I can express what I am feeling right now.
"I like you too!" she says, cupping my cheeks. She stands on her toes and kisses my forehead.
"I'm sorry about Victoria. She's crazy. One of the reasons why we broke up." I shrug.
"I don't mind her. Tell me, Mr Walsh," she wrapped her arms around my neck and closed the gap between us, "I'm crazy. Will that be the reason we'd break up too?"
"No. I don't think we can ever find a reason that will result in a breakup. Because you are you. You are April. My April! So you are allowed to be crazy, you are allowed to careless, you are allowed everything. You're even allowed to be stinking."
"Eww," She laughs, first genuine laughter of the night, "I really like you," she kisses me on the cheek. I hold her close to me, looking around. There were little to no people on this part of the yacht. April keeps her head on my chest and as we sway to the faint music. I snake my hands around her waist. All I want to do is make her completely mine right this second but I control myself. One step at a time Nathan.
APRIL'S POV
Out of nowhere Nathan and I found ourselves dancing to the faint music coming from the other end of the yacht. He spins me around and pulls me closer. I couldn't help but have a deja vu of the first time we met and danced together at my father's business party. I am intoxicated by Nathan's scent and all I wanted to do was to be completely his, I want him to kiss me and never stop. Our bodies are attracted towards each other, unable to control themselves. We keep pulling each other closer. Nathan's hands travel up my back, into my hair as kisses me deeply.
When we pull away both of us are looking at each with eyes full of desire. I tug at Nathan's collar, pulling him into another kiss. He moves us back until my back hits the wall. His hands travel all over my body turning me on with every touch. We pull away from the kiss to breathe, panting hard. He keeps his forehead on mine and we stay there looking into each other's eyes.
My eyes travel to his neck and I have a sudden urge to kiss him there. I move closer to him until my lips are centimeters away from his skin. I sucked his skin softly. Nathan takes a sharp breath, I feel his grip tighter on my waist. I lift myself on my toes and whisper in his ears, "Take me to our room."
"April-"
"I want this. I want you. It's absolutely okay if you don't feel the same..."
"That's not it and you know it." He turns his back to me.
"Okay." is all I say. Somehow I don't have the energy to convince him to give me a chance. I lean against the wall and let out a sigh. I gather myself together and straighten up. This is never going to go anywhere. "Come on, let's go back to the party." I give him a fake cheer. It's the last day of the year and its high time I get a fresh start.
"No!" He interrupts, "We are going somewhere else."