What Love Has Lost (10 page)

Our first time is very diverse from now.

The drive back to the apartment is very quiet. Rhiannon decides to drive the speed limit, for once. Something is definitely wrong. I know it's my fault. I replay all those cruel comments towards Rhiannon.

I can see the pain in her eyes, but she tries to cover them so I won't notice. I need to talk to her.

Arriving back at the apartment, Grady and Nathan decides to grab all the luggage from the trunk and put them inside the house. Rhiannon stands outside, fiddling with her wallet and her keys. I watch her as I gradually walk towards her.

"What do you want, Inna?" she spats, not making eye contact with me.

I exhale, deeply. "Look, I'm sorry."

"Are you going to keep lecturing me about...Wait, are you apologizing?" Rhiannon asks.

I smile. "Yes, I'm apologizing for those mean things I've said to you, earlier. You're my best friend, and I will try not to keep secrets away from you. I understand that you worry about me, because you love me. You're my sister. You're my other half. Although you can be a pain sometimes, I want you to know that it's my decision to make mistakes. I'll learn, eventually. If I end up in sorrow and pain, then I will definitely come to you for comfort."

Rhiannon forces herself not to cry, but she falters. I give her a warm hug. Standing outside in the cold weather, I hear Rhiannon crying. My hand starts rubbing her back. She sniffles as she whispers, "Thank you, and I'm sorry."

"You're welcome." I mutter. We stand there for a couple of seconds before walking inside.

Walking up the stairs, Rhiannon stops me. I slowly walk down a step to make good eye level with her. "You're crazy about him."

I tilt my head, sideways. "What are you talking about?"

"You're crazy about Nathan and I can see it. You two are so stubborn to see the chemistry you guys have, but it's still there." She smiles and shakes her head. "Ah, but it's none of my business in the first place. I'm just keeping an eye on you." She finishes and proceeds walking inside.

Truth is, I think I'm crazy about him as well.

Chapter Nine

The Notorious Cousin

Another lazy day, Rhiannon decorates the apartment with Christmas ornaments. Yes, it's almost that time of year, again. In astonishment, she places the mistletoe up, first. She looks at me and flashes a bright, white smile. "You never know who will get a lucky kiss for Christmas." She giggles, prancing around the apartment.

I roll my eyes. "I'm betting that it'll be you and Grady, snogging under the mistletoe!"

She sticks out tongue. "At least, Grady and I don't have sex in other people's bed."

Abruptly, Nathan and Grady comes back with a set of logs for our small fireplace.

"Who had sex in other people's bed?" Grady asks. My eyes form into large saucers. A part of me wants to slap Rhiannon across the face because she promises me that she won't mention speaking this, again. Sadly, we have to go back to the uncomfortable status of Nate's and my private love life. There is no love life! I'm not in love with Nate! I completely feel nothing towards him!

"It's nothing, Grady. Please, let's not continue." I hinder, hoping that Rhiannon and Grady will look beyond this point. Besides, it's only one night!

"No, I want to say something." Nathan adds. "I had sex with Inna, four years ago. I had sex with her last weekend in one of Rhiannon's bedrooms. We also had sex in the shower before we left Denver. So yeah, I fucked Inna and it was good." He finishes, gloating.

My jaw drops. We all look at Nate with astonished looks. My blood boils because I cannot believe he spills the news to my best friends. Conversely, I watch Grady's facial expression change from being provoked to livid.

"You fucking bastard, I'm going to kill you!" Grady swears, attacking Nathan with force. Rhiannon cries as I try to stop Grady from doing something idiotic, but the boy is strong. Nathan doesn't bulge. He proclaims that he will fight against anyone, especially females. He states that he isn't afraid of hitting a girl. I want to challenge him, but he swears that it's not worth for me to fight against him.

I'm not afraid to fight against a boy, but Nate doesn't want to do that to me.

"Grady, let's not fight about this." I soothe, but Grady ignores me. He grabs a small shovel, which is placed next to the fireplace, but I think he's taking this argument to the next level. Nathan chuckles, with his arms folded across his chest.

"What the fuck is so funny, Hampton?" Grady spats.

Nathan cocks his bushy eyebrow. "Don't you think it's funny that you're hiding your real feelings for Inn?" What is he talking about? Grady doesn't like me as more than a friend. Besides, he's getting married to Rhiannon! What is there to hide?

"What the fuck are you talking about, Nate? Inna is like a sister to me!" Grady defends, still tugging further away from me. Nathan just stands there with his egotistic, arrogant self. I think Nathan has caused much trouble as it is.

"Hmm, I bet you're just saying that because you don't want to hurt your fiancée's feelings."

Grady doesn't reply to his quirky remark. Instead, he forcefully pulls me away from him and attacks Nathan. Nate fights back. Rhiannon and I yell at them, forcing them to stop before anyone else gets hurt. Somehow, Grady kicked Nathan where the sun doesn't shine. Nathan starts whimpering, and Grady starts laughing, but Nathan finds some way to get Grady back. Therefore, he punches Grady where the sun doesn't shine.

Now, we have two grown men, scowling onto the floor.

♠♣♥♦

Later, Rhiannon and I find ice packs in our freezer. To our dismay, we find vaccum sealed steaks and vaccum sealed vegetables, but no ice packs. I guess we have to use them for Grady's and Nathan's lower regions.

"I cannot believe you two," Sighing, I sit on the space between Grady and Nate.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings. Rhiannon cheers and hurries to the door. She opens the door as we all see a strange, tall young boy, standing in front of our door. "Who are you?" she asks.

"Grady Sullivan," the young boy introduces, unpleasantly. Then, he walks into our apartment without an invitation. Ugh, this boy has no manners at all.

"Yo, Grady," Nathan hollers as he still holds the ice pack onto his lap.

Wait, he knows this guy?

"What's happening, man?" Grady walks towards Nathan, giving him a high five. "Dude, what happened?" Grady asks, looking at Nathan's lap, where the pack of vegetables lay there.

Nathan scrunches his nose, before responding. "Uh, it's a long story."

Grady just shrugs and starts finding a spot to sit. "Yo, Red; move!"

I gap at him. "I beg your pardon, but you have no manners at all!"

"Is this your girlfriend, Nate? She's much of a talker." Grady rolls his eyes, kicking his feet.

Nathan scoffs as he slowly gets out of the couch. Then, Grady slouches next to me. I slowly get out of the couch, which is only Grady (my friend) and this other Grady, who Nathan apparently knows!

"Uh, who are you, again?" I ask, tapping my foot against the pavement.

"Grady Sullivan, high school student, Nathan's cousin...Are there further questions, Red?"

I gap at him again. "Rude," I mutter.

"Wait, you're Nathan's cousin?" I repeat.

"You have the same name as my Grady!" Rhiannon squeals, jumping up and down.

I roll my eyes, sighing. What am I going to do with these people?

"I didn't stutter." Grady spats. Does he even know any manners? No wonder Nathan and his cousin can get along! They're so arrogant and obnoxious! I also want to know why is he doing here?

"Why are you here, anyways?" I ask Grady, trying not to show politeness because this young boy obviously doesn't show any! Ugh, I'm so appalled! Grady sighs, rolling his dark eyes. Getting out of the couch, he walks towards me.

"I came here because my father wanted me to visit Nathan, and there's this girl who annoys me, as much as Red here." Grady admits.

Rhiannon squeals, running towards Grady. "What's she like?"

Grady looks at Rhiannon with disgust in his eyes, and then turns to face Nathan and me. "She annoys me because she keeps complaining about her stupid journal..." Grady shakes his head.

"Then, give her back her journal!" I advise.

Grady laughs. "I don't want to give her back her journal. Besides, it's no fun to watch her get everything she wants!"

I give him a confused look. "Do you like her?"

Grady scoffs. "No! It's absurd to think of liking a girl like Juliette Harving."

"Juliette is a very pretty name." I wink.

"Are you done being so peppy and obnoxious?" Grady barks.

"Are you done being so cruel and inappropriate?" I backfire. Nathan comes towards me and places his hands on my shoulders. I look at him. He gives me a sympathetic look. I sigh.

"Grady, let's go outside. I think you and I should talk." Nathan suggests. Grady shrugs as he follows Nathan outside of the apartment, leaving Grady, Rhiannon, and I in the apartment. This is definitely a weird day.

♠♣♥♦

Nathan comes back inside, alone. I sit on the couch, watching a film from some network.

"Where's Grady?" I ask, lowering the volume. Rhiannon and Grady are in their room, cuddling with each other or whatever they're doing in their room. It doesn't bother me.

"He's driving back home." Nathan admits.

Having the remote in my hand, I decide to turn off the television. "So, what did you guys discuss?" I ask, while fixing my hair into a ponytail.

Nathan grunts. "Well, boy stuff. You don't want to know."

"What? I so want to know what you guys were conversing!" I exclaim, scooting closer to Nate's body. Then, I realize how close I am with him, so I decide to scoot back, away from him. He gives me a confused look. "What?"

Nathan scoffs and shakes his head, back and forth. "I want to show you something."

"Okay, where is it?" I smile.

Nathan lets out a deep, sultry chuckle. "Come with me." He orders.

I don't know where he's going with this, but I hope this isn't bad.

Without hesitating, Nate grabs my hand as he leads us out of the apartment. We both run out of the apartment and into the cold air. Okay, I should have gotten a jacket, but Nathan offered to give his jacket to me. He says that he has an extra one in his car.

Quickly, he starts the car and turns on the heater on high. I shiver. "Where are we heading?"

Nathan ignores me and turns on the radio. "Just relax." He explains, and then winks at me.

Still confused, I try not to worry about it. Turning the volume on his radio, I listen to the modern music. I sing along to the songs. There are some lines that I don't know, but I just wing it. Nathan won't stop laughing at me. I gently hit him against the arm. He feigns a hurt.

Driving, I look at the clock. It's almost ten o'clock at night. Rhiannon and Grady might be worried about us. Honestly, I still don't know where Nathan is driving us. I just hope he's not kidnapping me for some odd reason.

"Um, you're not kidnapping me, are you?" I finally ask.

Nathan laughs half-heartedly. "No, I'm not unless you want me to kidnap you." He wiggles his eyebrows. I roll my eyes as I stare out the window. It's foggy outside, and the side windows are foggy, so I draw onto them. I love drawing on foggy windows! It keeps the mind out of boredom.

♠♣♥♦

Finally, we arrive to our destination. It's still dark. Oh my god, we're going to be kidnapped by some wolves, or a wooly mammoth! Shivering, I ask Nathan where we are but he ignores me, again. Twisting the key and pulling it out of the ignition, I panic. "Nathan, where are you going?"

"Stay here." He whispers and gives me a quick kiss on the lips.

Pouting, I wait in the car. Nathan is definitely starting to scare me. Then, I hear a knock on my window. I'm scared to open the door. What if it's a black bear, trying to eat me? What if it's a strange creeper, trying to rape and kill me?

"Inna, open the door." A familiar voice commands. Cleaning the window, I see Nathan's face. Sighing with relief, I unlock the door and open it. Unexpectedly, he grabs me as I squeal. I quickly get out of the car, but Nathan wraps his arms from behind. Still squealing and laughing, he picks me up.

"Oh my god, put me down!" I squeal. He doesn't pay attention, but he walks as he is still carrying me. Still carrying me, I start to get bored. "Where are we going?" I exclaim.

Nathan finally gently places me onto my feet. Nathan whistles as we start seeing lights, glowing in the atmosphere. "Wow, I can't believe that you planned this all along." I breathe.

Then, we hear music, coming from afar. My mouth gaps open. "Shut up!"

Nathan chuckles, rubbing the back of his head. "Shall I have this dance, Madam?"

Blushing, I nod and gently takes his hand. Then, the lights starts flashing onto this small circle, which is our dance floor. This is so like the scene from The Cinderella Story, where there is Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray. I adore that scene.

He leads the way as I follow. Walking up the steps and into the small circle, we stop. I watch Nathan take a bow. I slowly curtsy. He takes out his hand and I gladly accept it. Pulling me towards him, he places his hands onto my waist. I embrace my arms around his neck as we start to sway with the music.

I take this moment, embracing this new memory of us. "This is incredible, Nate."

"Inn, I brought you here because I wanted to ask you this question all day." Nathan admits. Suddenly, he lets go of me and gets down on one knee. Oh my god, please don't tell me what I think this is! "Inn," he continues.

Please, do not propose to me!

"Will you come with me and visit my parents for Christmas?" he asks.

Being surprised and utterly flustered, I stiffly nod. Suddenly, he gets up and embraces me. Then, he pulls us apart and he places his hand onto my chin. Tilting my head up, we make eye contact. He leans towards me as I smell his peppermint scent. Taunting me, he brushes his lips against mine, before crashing them.