The Heaven I Found In Hell (29 page)

A while after, the guys, Nathan excluded, decided to join in the conversation, as they joked around and made fun of each other. By the wide smile and the light shining in his eyes, I could tell that Dylan was glad to have met my friends, and I too was. I turned around, hoping to come face-to-face with a Nathan who was about to stand up to join the rest, but instead, I was greeted by a miserable looking hottie…and only I could tell that he didn't seem to be enjoying what was happening. It was just a feeling, but it was a strong one. And my expectations were suddenly reached. Nath looked jealous.

I took the empty space on the couch beside him, before I started to speak. I asked him if he was okay, and as an answer, he just nodded at me. I told him to turn his frown upside-down, but instead, it grew deeper. I didn't like seeing him this way. A sad Nathan was just as worse as an angry one. He looked helpless.

"Aren't you enjoying this?" I asked, and in response he shrugged his shoulders.

Why did I have to ask?

"Come on…join the group," I persuaded, taking hold of his hands, but he didn't budge.

I heard him let out a grunt, and I took it as my cue to stop since sooner or later he'd probably get annoyed. I didn't want to take the risk, since I wouldn't be able to stand it if he shouted at me. I knew Nathan wasn't that kind of person, but still…I'm not taking chances.

"Okay." He softly said, standing up, as he headed over to where the rest of the people were.

He took a seat at the farthest part of the circle, and though he was already part of the conversation, he still looked unhappy. I didn't know what else I could do, so I just decided to let it go since it seemed like he wasn't even making an effort to be part of this, as if he was just forced by me to join the group.

"So…how'd you meet Alex?" Anthony asked with nonchalance.

"You guys dated each other right?" Cindy asked, and immediately, Dylan took a quick glance at me.

I caught it, and then smiled weakly, before I gave him a nod. He brightened up, and seeming to have received my confirmation to continue, and he nodded. And when the 'why,' 'how,' and 'when' started pouring out, he was glad to tell everyone, with no bitterness at all in the tone of voice he used.

"Yup…it happened last year. We were both models for Guess, so during pictorials we ended up getting closer," he said, the small grin still remaining on his olive-tanned skin. "I asked her out…she said yes…and thus…the 'us' was born."

Everyone laughed, and surprisingly I heard one coming from Nathan. Spell bounded by his sweet tone, I turned to look at him, but when I caught his eyes, I saw what he was trying to do. He was just trying to fit in since he didn't want anyone pestering him. He was just trying to get along with everyone in this situation that he ended up looking lost, and I felt it as my duty to 'save' him from the awkwardness he was feeling.

"Nate," I said, calling his attention, which ended up with everyone looking at me. "I left my car at the mall…"

He must've have thought I was stupid since he cocked his eyebrow up at me.

"I got here because of Dylan…the mob was crazy, so he pulled me into his car. I totally forgot about mine. Do you want to come and get it with me?"

"Why not ask the others?" he questioned, and I felt myself getting slightly tired with the game he was playing.

I know he's hurting, sick, and jealous, but couldn't he at least just 'say' yes, instead of trying to play hard-to-get. I'm making an effort, and leaving my friends, just so that he wouldn't feel so depressed, but he was acting so, so emo. And tell me…when did the leader of the jocks ever become emo? Never…until now.

"I think you should go with her…" Dylan said out loud to Nathan, and I instantly felt my cheeks burning. "We're in the middle of this totally awesome game. Wouldn't want to bother us…would you?"

Hah. There is no game.

"No, I wouldn't." Nathan answered, with a small shy grin slowly appearing on his face, a first tonight.

We left the room, but before I closed the door behind us, I caught Dylan's attention, and sent him a wink. '
Thank You'…
was the mental note I gave him.

"Which mall did you leave it at?" Nathan asked, referring to my baby, a.k.a. my BMW.

He started the engine of his car, before he stepped on the pedal, and drove. The first few minutes of my ride with him were silent, and only the barely audible voice of Unk coming from the radio was heard. I was starting to feel weird since 
this
 kind of thing had never happened between us, and it felt like it was only yesterday that I was hugging him, and pinching his sides like crazy.

"Uhm…the Harbor," I said, as I turned my head to face him.

He was staring out at the road ahead of us, and with his hair starting to grow longer I could almost no longer see his hazel-green orbs anymore. Strands of his light-brown hair were almost starting to cover one of his eyes completely, but I wouldn't object. He was looking so much better.

"Oh ok-"

"I like your hair," I suddenly blurted out, cutting him midway.

My gaze remained on him, so I was able to see his lips curve up into a grin with what I said. He took his eyes away from the road, and turned to look at me. He was smiling, and the more I couldn't help myself. I was falling deeper.

"It's getting annoying, honestly," he started, "but I'm too lazy to get it cut."

I smacked him on his shoulder, and before I realized what I had just done, he was getting his revenge by giving me a noogie. If he were someone else, I would've started to get annoyed, but with him, that was like a nearly impossible feeling. Ever since I realized I was attracted him, I saw him as someone 'way up there'. Don't get me wrong…he was awesome ever since…but I don't know…I guess he just became more awesome in my eyes.

"My hair! You know how long it takes me to fix it!" I said, crying out loud, as I held my hands up in the air for exaggeration.

"I know…forever," he said with a roll of his eyes.

I didn't really have a clue as to what happened that made Nathan and me all-buddy-buddy all of a sudden, but I wasn't going to complain. I had been missing his laugh, his jokes, and his excited voice so that it was like a breath of fresh air to see him smiling at me again. I must've seemed stupid looking at him with a small grin without saying anything and I wanted to melt and then disappear when he asked me if I was okay.

I nodded quickly, before I gave him a, "Why? Did you think something was wrong?"

He scratched the back of his head in confusion with his left hand, while the other remained on the wheel.

"Yeah…you were looking at me like I was a pair of Jimmy Choo heels…" He said unsurely, while I was starting to laugh like a maniac.

"Oh please…I look at Jimmy Choo heels with admiration…that look I gave you…I-…I was jus-"

Oh damn. What should I say?

"So you admit you were looking at me?" he asked with a small mischievous smile starting to creep up his face.

My eyes suddenly grew bigger, and I felt like a deer caught in headlights. He cornered me, and he was smirking! I knew he loved this inside, and wanted to get 'it'…whatever 'it' was out of me. I started to stutter, saying incomprehensible words, before he started to drive the car in a slow manner, and soon after parked it. Thank God! I was saved!

"My car's over…" I started, but I was stopped when I felt Nathan's hand on my own.

I looked down, and saw the both of us holding hands, so I put my head up to start and question him, but all he did was smile. I felt my heart rate start to increase, and before I was able to ask him what all this was about, he asked me if I wanted to take a walk…a long, long one in fact.

"Do you want to go around, first? It's still kind of early…and I kind of want an early dinner…" he said. "…do you want to come?"

Obviously, with a million thoughts trying to be processed by my small brain at once, I didn't think properly.

"I'm here with you anyway, aren't I?" I said, smirking.

He grinned once again, and led the way, as we exited the indoor parking lot. He let go of my hand once we were inside the mall, and I felt myself suddenly wanting to feel his touch even though I had just experienced it a few seconds ago.

We started walking around, and I stopped, and got a hold of his arm when we stood in front of the Coach store. He asked me what was going on, and I told him I wanted to get a new bag since the one I was using now looked so out of season. He looked at me weirdly, before I told him that explaining would be useless since it was a 'girl thing.'

"I'll never understand a woman's mind," he said shaking his head from side-to-side, before he followed me inside the store. "And I don't think I want to."

I browsed around, looking for something that would catch my attention, and when I did, I squealed like a little schoolgirl in love. I found the cutest denim shoulder bag resting peacefully on a shelf, and it kind of reminded me of one of my mom's Louis Vuitton handbags. Before I could get it off the ledge, Nathan said something that made my head do a three hundred sixty-degree turn.

"I'm sorry."

I immediately took my eyes away from the bag, as I turned to Nathan with a confused look. He was grinning, but it seemed like he was just trying to hide this sad feeling inside of him. I couldn't really explain how he looked at the moment. All I could say was that I found it cute.

"Sorry for what?" I asked, returning his grin with a smirk. "You didn't do anything wrong…unless you did it behind my back…?"

"No! No…!" he quickly said. "I just…" and then he turned serious. "…you really didn't need me to help you get your car…"

"Yes, I did."

"No, you didn't…you just wanted to help me…you knew I was…"

I'm not sure, but he sounded like he was having a hard time saying something. I wanted to know what that something was, but I didn't want to be a nosy pain in the ass, so I decided to just keep quiet.

"What exactly are you trying to tell me?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows in perplexity.

"You knew I was…" 
Get it out! Damn it! 
"…jealous."

"What?"

I seemed to have been dreaming. But no. I seriously had heard the word 'jealous' come out of his kissable lips!

"You knew I was jealous…so you got me out of…that."

I didn't know what the right thing to do was, so I just gave him a wide smile full of mischief. He must've been embarrassed since his cheeks started to turn red, and he was trying to cover his face with his hands. I swear. I wanted to kiss him at the moment.

"Hold on, okay?" I said to him.

His eyes grew wide when I told him to wait. He must've thought that I was going to do something to him to return what he had said, but I didn't even know what I wanted to do. Sure, I wanted to kiss him, but come on! I'm trying to be realistic here!