NOCTURNE ? Nathan Prescott

"Alright, you need some cheering up," Nathan said very determinedly and began rummaging through my DVD shelf. I sighed and stood up as well, telling him I would go get us something to drink from the kitchen.

"Snacks or anything?" -- "You're a snack already." -- "Shut up, Prescott." -- "Ha! That's a smile!"

I just grabbed a random bag of chips along with the cans of beer, checked in on the cats and shuffled back to my room, where Nathan was already busy pulling down the blinds.

"Find anything good?" I asked and he held up a bunch of movies. We ended up picking some random movie from the 1950s and I threw another blanket over the bed while he got the TV ready. He picked up the remote and crawled onto the bed next to me, pulling me closer to him with one swift move. Movie nights, or movie afternoons in that case, weren't a rare occasion for the two of us. Things were just a little different now.

"What?" He asked, holding up the remote and I just stared at him from the side. "You were so pissed off just half an hour ago," I noted and he chuckled.
"Thanks, it's my fucked up brain." -- "Aw I have one of those too," I responded and we both started laughing for a bit, until we stopped, probably both coming to the realisation how absurd it was to joke about.
Without another word he started the movie and we opened the beer cans during the introduction. For a long time we just watched silently, Nathan's left arm still around my shoulders. Very unusual for him; normally just touching his hand during a bad episode would get him to flip. I wasn't complaining though.

"Sorry I cried earlier, by the way," I mumbled and took another swig of my beer.
"Don't apologize. I was gonna give you a whole fucking rant about how everybody always lies about everything. And you didn't lie to me -- not anymore at least. Being honest is the last damn thing I expected."
I didn't say anything but just rested my head on his shoulder, at which he shifted a little and stretched out his legs to get more comfortable. At this point neither of us were really paying close attention to the movie anymore.

"Seeing Kate on that roof yesterday just- ... made me remember a shitton of things that I never wanted to think of again." -- "You had a panic attack, that's why you passed out too, right?" I nodded. "That in combination with the hangover probably wasn't the best." -- "Yeah no shit."

We finished watching the movie and the credits started rolling, when I lifted up my head and felt how stiff my neck was.
Nathan laughed, and it was one of his genuine, loud laughs that he threw his head back at. A rare sight, especially now.

"Hey, you wanna go visit Kate?" he suddenly asked and my eyes grew big.
"You think she's allowed visitors?" -- "Victoria said so." He shrugged, placed a quick peck on my forehead and got up from the bed.
"You get changed and I'll drive you to the hospital, alright?"

I nodded almost aggressively and skipped towards my dresser, pulling out a pair of jeans and a dark green knit-sweater. Nathan said he would wait in the car so I hurried to change and put on at least a bit of makeup. The thought of seeing Kate again, alive, made me feel a bit better. And maybe also the fact that Nathan and I had finally gotten much closer, after such a long time. For some reason that made my heart flutter at the bare thought of it.

"Moodswings," I murmured as I picked up my phone and keys and left the house. As I got into Nathan's car he gave me another crooked smile at which I raiser my eyebrows. "What?"
He shrugged and started the car, pulling out of the driveway. "That colour looks really good on you."

I felt the heat creep up into my cheeks and rolled my eyes to cover it up.
"This is nice," he added, eyes fixed on the road.
I glanced over at him. "Huh?" -- "Giving you compliments without sounding like a fucking creep."
Letting out a huff I switched my phone back on.

"I could be mean and say you always sound like a creep ..." -- "But?" -- "But you're driving and I'm not in the mood for taking risks." -- "Fuck you, too," Nathan scoffed, but he smiled at the same time.

DAD
You holding up okay? Need anything?

ME
Doing better, I'm going to visit Kate at the hospital now :)

DAD
Give her my best!

ME
Will do.

Nathan stopped near the entrance of the hospital and checked his phone while I took a deep breath.
"Shit," he spat and I looked at him.
"Something wrong?" -- "I gotta get back to my dorm real quick. Forgot something. If I hurry I can be back by the time-"
I held up my hand. "I can take the bus, Nate. You're not hurrying up and then getting into an accident. That's not happening." -- "... Yes Ma'am," he said and saluted.

I shook my head with a smile and quickly pecked his cheek, reaching for the handle of the door.
"Get back here," he ordered and pulled me in for a proper kiss.
After we parted again I stared into his eyes for a while. "I could get used to this."
He grinned, rolling his eyes. "Drive safely!" I called out as I got out of the car and he waved at me before speeding off.

After I got some flowers it took me a while to find Kate's room, and when I did I bumped into Chloe and Max in the hallway.

"Madeline, didn't see you in class today," Max stated and Chloe looked over at me.
"I wasn't feeling good," I replied and looked at the ground. "Probably scheming with Nathan," Chloe said wuth an annoyed undertone and I furrowed my brows.

"Excuse me?" -- "Max told me you practically handed Kate over to Nathan, so he could do whatever the hell he did to her." -- "Woah woah woah, what the fuck?"
Max was obviously uncomfortable while I was just confused as to why Chloe was freaking out like that.

"I don't know what you're on about, but I'm just here to visit a friend. So can I please just-" Chloe took one step closer to me and I just now remembered how tall she actually was.

"Chloe, please," Max chimed in and grabbed her arm, at which the girl seemed to relax a bit. "Let's just go."
The blue-haired girl shot me another probing look and left, Max however gave me an apologetic smile.

After sitting down for a moment and taking a few deep breaths I knocked on Kate's door.

"Yes?"