It was never meant to be this hard. Life shouldn't have hurt this much.
Nathan had seen everything that life had to offer, and even then, it was as though it was still continuing to laugh in his face and show him that he hadn't seen anything yet.
Nathan Maxwell was the oldest son of Jacob and Alexandra Maxell. He was their very pride and joy, and they cared about him more than anything. They had been married for almost ten years before they finally had him, and there were people in the house who had begun to whisper and talk about how they were simply destined to not have any children. But as always, he continued to prove them wrong over and over again at every chance that he got.
He was a prominent figure in their lives, and he was what they would call their miracle baby. They had been very grateful to have him in their lives, and they wanted to show him love and support through all of his endeavors. They had found out that they couldn't, in fact, have any more children, and so they were determined to cherish him every chance that they got. He was the very reason for them to continue living, and he loved them endlessly because of that.
He had grown up in a close community, and his parents had been best friends with the Blacks; they had grown up together, and they had a son who was also around Nathan's age. They easily became the best of friends, and they would soon start doing anything and everything together with each other.
He was grateful to have him in his life, and they became the best of friends easily. It was hard for them not to do so. Some often joked that they were like two peas in a pond and that they were practically destined to be friends with each other.
They had formed a close, tight bond with one another, and they had become so close that they saw each other as brothers. They were close with each other in every aspect of the world; they attended the same schools to get the same education.
It was refreshing to have such people in their lives, and they were beyond grateful for that. They were in a world where they could have everything that they wanted, and Nathan wanted nothing more than to enjoy his time in this world while continuing to live wild and free. Due to his exceptional intelligence, he kept getting everything he wanted effortlessly.
School was never something that was a problem for him, and so he was able to easily ace all of his classes. As for college, there had never been any other possibility for him; he was always expected to study business so that he could take over the family business from his father.
He had started to feel as though he was being placed under pressure from both sides by his family, and so he had decided that when he went to college, he was going to get the most out of the college experience. It was almost funny for him to think about it. He had been restricted and confined to his home for the better part of his life, and now he was getting the opportunity to step out of that circle and explore a world that was unfamiliar to him.
And at every step, Aidan was right there with him. He had thought that his life was perfect and that there was nothing that could go wrong for him, but he had no idea what he had been getting himself into. Inevitably, life was going to crash down on him, as he had set himself up to fail, and he didn't know when it was even possible until it had happened.
**********
That day was still fresh in his mind, and he was certain that it was always going to be a day he would never be able to really get over or live with. After the events of that day, his life was never going to be the same.
He had woken up that day in a good mood. He and Aidan rented a house off campus, and it allowed them to have access to almost everything that was around them. They often threw multiple house parties, and they have come to be known as the kings of partying.
He groaned as he slowly sat up in his bed. He stretched out his limbs as he let out a small sigh from his lips. He ran a hand through his hair as he saw that it was two in the afternoon. He smirked as he remembered the giant party that he and Aidan were planning on throwing that evening. It was meant to be the last party to take place before the start of junior year. It was supposed to cement their position in the school and make them set their paths toward becoming the talk of the school. Aidan had been planning this very party for what had felt like months, and he was excited to see how it would finally turn out.
He decided to take a quick shower and then began making his way downstairs. He groaned as he stretched out his limbs before he began making his way down the stairs. He shook his head with a smirk as he heard the loud, booming laughter coming from downstairs.
He walked into the kitchen and smiled when he saw Chantel arm wrestling with Aidan while his other friends, Simon and Alex, stood around the room as they nursed their drinks and cheered them on for them to continue. It was ridiculous how often they fought, but Nathan had long gotten used to their various antiques. He cleared his throat in order to grab their attention, and he watched as they quickly pulled away from each other before looking at him with a grin. "Hey, bro" Aidan called out, and he rolled his eyes, ignoring them before he began heading his way over to the fridge, where he went to grab something for him to drink.
"Hey Baby." He heard Chantel whisper as she came over and wrapped her arms around him from behind him as he let his body relax into his. He hummed before turning around and placing a kiss on her lips. "Where were you this morning? It seems that you were too busy wrestling with the idiot." He said this to her, and she only shrugged her shoulders at him as she offered him a small smile. "Yeah, sorry about that. Nathan laughed at her statement. "You are aware that you never wake up early, and he was making so much noise downstairs that I had no choice but to shove his foot in his mouth."
He and Chantel had been dating for almost two years now, and she was the love of his life. He didn't know how he had managed to be able to date anyone before he had met her. She was the breath of fresh air that he didn't even know he needed in his life, and he was beyond grateful that he had her in his life.
"So, are you guys ready for the party? Simon said, and Aidan, like the idiot he was, let out a loud cheering sound on his lips. "You guys know that it is going to be the greatest party of all time, and they are going to be talking about this for every year to come, and they will definitely put this one in the record books." Nathan said as he began to speak the words over the crowd of people.
"Well, then he guessed that we should get going. The party decorators are going to be here soon, and so we should get the place cleared up for them." Nathan spoke. They were going to throw a party. But he would be damned if he was going to trust any of his friends to be able to do a good job in setting everything up; instead, he had come to the decision that it was a better idea for them to hire someone that would be able to set everything up for them.
They had all decided to leave the house and made the decision that they would come back later after everything was finally set up for them. Nathan had decided to take Chantel to their favorite spot in the town, which just happened to have a great view of the mountains, which seemed to overlook the city. "You know, I never thought that it was possible for me to love someone the way that I have come to love you." He spoke to her, and he watched as a smile appeared on her face. She didn't say anything in response as she leaned in and placed a searing kiss on his lips. He knew that he was always more vocal with his emotions, but he also knew that there were times when words didn't have to be spoken for one to convey how they felt. She did a lot of that with her actions, and that was more than enough for him.
After the sun had begun to set, they had made the decision to head off. He had been planning on telling her a lot of things, but he had made the decision to refrain from doing so. But he had decided that it was time for her to know exactly how he felt. "I want you to know that I plan on marrying you," he said to her firmly, and he watched as her body stiffened before her eyes widened instinctively at him. Her lip began to wobble as she seemed to struggle to find the words that she would say to him in order to reply to him.
"I don't know what to say. I think this might be too fast. I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment." she said to him, and although she hadn't rejected him, it turned him down. At that moment, it felt as though she had reached out deep into his chest and yanked out his heart.
He felt a wave of anger come over him, and although he knew that he didn't have the right to feel that way, he couldn't help but feel betrayed by her. He didn't talk to her again after that, as he had left them back in the car. His body trembled with anger, as he seemed to have a deep hatred that was clear on his face.
When they had gone home, he had still refused to speak to her, and she couldn't help but start to feel worried about him. As the party started, Nathan didn't feel in the mood to engage himself in any of the party activities. He only wanted to be left alone so that he could be allowed to wallow further in his own self-pity. He had been hurt, and he wanted her to feel the same way that he did, but it only angered him further when he saw how seemingly happy she appeared. He didn't seem to have a worry in the world as she freely interacted with his friends.
He felt as though she had been doing it on purpose in order to make him jealous, and if he knew that was what she was doing, then it was definitely working on him. He had had more drinks than he could count, and he was barely able to see straight and keep his eyes open. He began to tumble around the room, and he found her talking to Alex. Without warning, he grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her outside.
She looked shocked by his actions, and she could tell that he was also very drunk. "What is wrong with you?" She asked him, and he let out a bitter laugh as he hiccupped slightly at her words.
"You know he had thought that the reason that you had rejected him was that you didn't want to get married, but it seemed as though the problem isn't that the problem is him, isn't it?" Nathan said this to her bitterly, and instinctively, she took a step back away from him. He seemed very violent, and she didn't know how to feel about him.
"It is not like that, and I don't know what you think of him, but we both know that I am not like that." She attempted to maintain her composure while speaking to him, but she felt hurt that he would think that way of her.
"Well, if that is true, then why were you out there selling yourself like a whore?" He yelled in her face. He watched as her face fell, and a single tear slid down her cheek before she wiped it away. She came up to him and shoved him away, causing him to stumble.
"Do you know what? I won't do this anymore. Maybe I should leave you. I am done being treated this way." She yelled, and she tried to move away, but he grabbed her hand angrily. She winced as she tried to pull away from him when suddenly the doors to the back of the house were pulled open.
"What is going on?" Aidan asked as he looked between them, and Nathan let out a laugh.
"I am now just discovering what a whore she is." Nathan spoke, and he watched as Jacob's face filled with anger. He made his way over to them as he pulled her away from him.
"You need to sober up and stop saying shit like that. You will regret this later." He said that, and Nathan didn't seem to listen.
"The only person that will regret anything is her for cheating on me." He spat, and they watched as he began to stumble his way back into the house. Maybe they should have stopped him, but was there really any point? He would have only served to start causing her trouble with them. He had had several more beers in the house as he hummed to the invisible music. After a while, he couldn't help but feel as though the room was starting to suffocate him. He made the decision to leave as he didn't see any further reason for him to stay.
He decided to make his way towards the garage that they had on the side of the house as he selected a car for him to use. He could barely make out anything that was in front of him as he stumbled to put the keys into the ignition, but even that didn't seem enough to stop him from leaving.
He felt that his girlfriend had betrayed him and wondered if she had been having an affair with his best friend. He laughed at the thought as he tried not to think of the possibility of that happening. He laughed loudly as he continued to speed down the road. He loved the rush of moving on the edge of danger, and he was grateful that the roads were empty. He didn't even notice the red light in front of him.
It was as though everything else after that happened in the blink of an eye. One moment he was driving as fast as he could, and at the very best moment, he was crashing head-first into a vehicle that was in front of him. There was blood; there was so much blood everywhere, and he could feel a deep ringing. In his ears, he tried to raise his head and get a hold of his senses and everything that was going on around him, but he found himself struggling to do so.
He could hear a scream coming from the other vehicle, and he tried to get himself to move because the seat belt that was cutting into his skin was stopping him from doing so, and he found himself unable to move his legs. He tried to get out of the hold that the seat had on him, but it seemed to prove to be an even harder challenge. He managed to pry his eyes open just before he passed out, and for a second, his face drifted towards a girl with thick brown hair.
While he stared at her peaceful features, he tried to remain conscious but soon felt himself blacking out as he found himself unable to do so. He tried to remain calm as he struggled not to choke and weakly coughed, there was a metallic taste in his mouth, and he could he realized that he was choking on his own blood. When he relaxed he turned his head with difficulty to look back at the girl, just then noticing she was inside a burning car, bloodied and hanging upside down by her seat belt. She looked utterly helpless, and just before he passed out, he couldn't help but feel the guilt that was coming over him as he came to the realization that it was him. He was the one who had been responsible for doing that to her, and essentially, he had been the one who had ruined her life, maybe even killed her.
**********
Nathan woke up the next time. The first thing he remembered was that the monitor was beeping loudly beside him. He groaned as he pried his eyes open, and he was met with the tear-stained face of his mother.
She gasped as she took his left hand in hers. He looked down at his right hand and choked back a sob when he noticed that it had screws and bolts sticking out of it.
"What?" He struggled to say it as he felt the memories of the crash come back to him. He struggled as he tried to sit up on the bed, but his mom pushed him back down. He had hit those people, and they were most likely dead because of him.
"What have I done?" He managed to say He watched as his mom shushed him before she said to him with sincerity, "Don't worry. I will take care of it."
Although he knew he shouldn't have agreed, he let the fear of facing his mistakes take over, and he allowed his parents to cover his tracks along with his sins.