I feel someone pick me up. I look up and see Nathaniel's chiseled jawline and I remember falling asleep in his car. He walks to a building and gets in the elevator. I want to tell him to put me down but I don't want him to let go of me.
"Hey cupcake" he smiles at me and I swear I could feel my heart skip a beat. "Hello Nathaniel" I return his smile. He doesn't put me down. He walks to a door which I'm guessing is his apartment.
He unlocks the door while holding me firmly. "Welcome to my humble abode" he says and throws me on the couch. He threw me like a sac of potatoes
"What the hell King" I laugh "what? My arms were getting tired" he laughs. "Uhm can you wait here for a minute, I wasn't expecting anyone so my room's in a mess, I'll be back in a minute. Try not to eat all my food cupcake" he winks and leaves the living room.
I walk around the living room, taking in the whole decor. The walls are grey, black couches and a few black and white paintings hung up on the wall. I don't see any family photo's so I'm guessing he lives alone. His place was small but oddly comfortable.
I make my way behind the couches and over to his kitchen. It wasn't a total mess, just a few dirty dishes. It looked rather empty.
I turn around and see him leaning on the door frame. "Nice place" I say. "Yeah I try" he chuckles. "You live here all by yourself?" I ask "My foster parents got me this apartment once I turned 18, I wanted to move out and they were ready to do anything to make me happy" he says scratching the back of his neck. He was uncomfortable. "Can I finally go to your room now king?"
He doesn't say anything as he grabs my hand and pulls me to his room which I allow. His room is nothing different from the living room, just a king sized bed, a table and a mini bookshelf, the couch still looks the same.
I plop down on the couch not knowing if it's okay to stay on his bed. He walks over to my direction and stands above me. Staring at me as if studying my emotions.
"Are you hungry cupcake, you lost a lot of food back there and you need to get something in your stomach. I'm gonna order something" he says and takes out his phone. "No it's okay, I'm fine King"
"You have to eat" he says sternly "I don't want to" I whine. "We'll then, I'd shove it down your throat if I have to" he smirks and moves closer. "I'd like to see you try" I pull my tongue out like a little kid and he laughs at this gesture.
I love to see him laugh, the way his eyes wrinkles and his nose scrunches up and the sound is utterly euphoric to my ears.
He places our orders and puts the phone back in his pocket. He catches me looking at him and his expression softened. He sits next to me on the couch and began fidgeting with his fingers like he did the last time.
"Uhm, I'm sorry about what happened today. I was leading her on to spite you and she obviously got the wrong idea. I'm sorry she hit you and if she or anyone else tries to hurt you again I swear, I'm going to kill them." He says coldly, looking angrily into the abyss. His fist tightened, knuckles turning white.
I put my hand over his, he tenses up for a second but relaxes afterwards. "I'm not mad at you or her. I'm just happy she got what she deserved."
"Yeah, she's an asshole" he chuckled "you're an even bigger asshole" I laugh "proudly" he says with a grin.
"Wanna talk about what happened earlier today at your house" I was hoping he didn't bring this up. I don't like talking about Racheal.
He senses that I was uncomfortable and opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off . There's something about him, I don't know what, that makes me feel like I can trust him and he won't judge me
"My mom wasn't always like this. After my dad left she became this monster. He left because he didn't want to bare the consequences of bearing a child. He didn't want to start a family"
"She hated me but couldn't throw me out so she put me in Patricia's care. She blames me for everything. She says I took the love of her life away from her. I ruined her life. After he left she became miserable at first but eventually he she Started up her own fashion line and became a big time fashion designer. She drowns herself with work so she wouldn't be able to see my face every day. She has never shown any sort of affection towards me. She's always so strict and apparently loves giving orders. But I won't blame her. I ruined her life" By the time I was done with my rant I could feel tears trickle down my face.
I have never opened up to anyone before, not even Mikel. Nathaniel here got it out of me with just a simple question. He probably thinks I'm so pathetic just like everyone else does.
"You didn't ruin her life cupcake, don't you ever think that. You're not the cause of her problems. You're great and precious and beautiful and if your mom doesn't recognize what treasure she has brought to earth then it's her loss" his golden orbs looking straight to mine.
He takes my hand in his and uses the other thumb to caress my tear stained cheek and butterflies explode in the depth of my stomach at our contact.
"You're more than what your mom portrays you to be. You're special. You're special to me Naveah" I looks at me with soft brown eyes. Every word he said dripping with emotion. His voice so captivating that my breath got hitched in my throat.
"That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you King, I really needed to hear that. Funny how the bad boy can be so nice" I chuckle but he's still looking intently at me.
The air around us growing thicker my the second. He moves closer to me, stopping inches away from touching me. I could feel his minty breath fan across my face and I stopped breathing.
His gaze shifts to my lips and I instantly lick them, he mimics my actions. His eyes flutter from my lips to my eyes and my heart beat goes a million beats per second pounding on my rib cage. I could feel him leaning in, our lips barely touching. My eyes flutter close then the door bell rang.
King and I jump away from each other as if zapped by electricity. We stay there frozen staring frantically at each other. The the door bell rings again, snapping us out of our trance.
"Uh um I'll g-get it" he stuttered and shuffles his feet out of the room.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Did we almost kiss? Nathaniel King almost kissed me!
Nope. We're friends, we can't be doing this. We're just friends and that's what we're ever going to be. I can't be doing this.
Oh crap.
"Um food's here" he says not looking in my direction and I try my best not to look at him too. He hands me a cupcake and I mutter a thank you.
We finish our food in silence and he offers to take me home since it was getting late. I didn't want to go back there but I can't stay here either.
The car ride back home was awkwardly silent but I'm thankful for the radio which fills up the silence.
I walk in to my house to see my mom passed out on the couch with a bottle of vodka in her hands.
I take the bottle from her hands and place it on the counter, then I got a blanket from one of the spare rooms downstairs and cover her. I don't want her to die freezing here.
I walk up to my room, still in a haze of what happened a few hours ago. We didn't even kiss! He was so close it was intoxicating.
What if we did kiss. Would I be able to stop him? It's Nathaniel King we're talking about! The schools player. The guy known for this kind of stuff.
Why can't I get it off my mind. I take out my mini speaker and let Giveon play softly through them until I finally fall asleep forgetting about a particular curly haired boy.
...
Hey besties!!
Unfortunately I won't be posting on here frequently but I promise I will whenever I'm less busy with my academics.
Here's another chapter for y'all. I'm really not proud of it but I hope you like it!!
Xoxo
-Shalom