Still Falling

09 | chance

Amanda

*

I woke up with a headache that made my head feel like a coconut about to be cracked open. Groggily, I got out of bed and squinted at my surroundings. The hangovers were often rough, but they hardly deterred me when I was determined for an escape. That was something that needed attention, but I put it off for another day, like I always did.

I was having a hard time recalling some parts of last night, and even the ones I could remember were smudged and incoherent. I could vaguely remember leaving the hotel with Finn, but everything after that was murky. How I managed to get changed out of my outfit and find my way to my bed was a mystery too.

I grabbed a bottle of Tylenol and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water but stopped in my tracks at the sight of a pizza box on the counter. Slowly, I pulled the lid up and picked up a slice. It was still warm. I dropped it and spun around the same moment Nate walked in.

"Hey, about time you got up." He casually walked past me and grabbed the pizza. "You weren't answering the door or your phone, so I let myself in. I was kinda worried about you. You look hungover."

He left the kitchen while I stood, brain buffering and taking three times the amount of time it usually did to absorb information. I shook myself out of it, fetched a glass of water and downed two pills. I gulped the rest of the water and filled the cup again.

Nate was sat cross-legged on a couch with his attention glued to his laptop.

"I'm guessing the party was a blast last night?"

I sat next to him and reached for the pizza. "Thanks for the food, I'm starving." I took a large bite and sunk into the seat.

"Anytime."

"I drank too much and now my head feels like a brick." And the lights were blinding and my stomach was eating me inside out.

"Must have been fun. You mentioned they're friends of F-" he halted. "Him. Right?"

Him. Was it really him yesterday, and not by some chance just my imagination? The memory of his green eyes was vivid in my head, and it brought an ache to my chest.

"It's okay. You can say his name," I said and filled my mouth with another bite. Nate had one eyebrow raised. I wasn't looking at him directly, but I could just sense it. "Since he was at the wedding yesterday, and brought me home."

I turned to see the expression on his face, and just as I'd expected, he sat up in alarm. "Wait, he was at the wedding?! He's in New York??"

I sighed. "You can say his name. Really."

"Who gives a shit about his name? I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that you were in the same room with him! How was it? Are you okay?" He looked worried, like I was a highly inflammable item and Finn was an open flame.

"I'm fine now, I think. But yesterday, I was completely blindsided. Natalie and Elliot weren't expecting him to come. She specifically made it clear he wasn't going to when she gave me the invite."

"Why would he change his mind and show up unannounced?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. He's best friends with Elliot, maybe he changed his mind at the last minute. He's leaving today, though."

"It was kind of him to bring you home."

I shrugged, picking at my fourth slice. "I'm sure Natalie put him up to it. I was out of it, and he probably didn't want to anyway."