Damage Repaired

Chapter 52

Two weeks later, after Nathaniel and I had two more weekly sessions with Walton, he greenlit us being able to see each other outside of those scheduled sessions, which I'm sure Nathaniel was grateful for, considering he tried to use every excuse in the book before that to see me. He'd also been texting me more often than usual, like now.

Nathaniel: When can I see you?

"And with your...coming up in...and..."

I tried to focus on what Dylan was rambling on about as he paced in front of me while Ethan and I sat on the couch in my living room, trying to keep up, but the moment I saw Nathaniel's text, I stopped paying attention.

Me: Miss me already?

He responded immediately.

Nathaniel: No, why would you ask that?

I didn't get a chance to reply before he sent another message.

Nathaniel: Yes.

I laughed out loud, which unfortunately meant Dylan heard me, which meant he knew I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying.

"Stazi, are you even listening to me?" He snapped, crossing his arms against his chest.

"Yes," I lied, hoping he wouldn't test me.

"Then what was I saying?"

Shit.

"You were talking about..." I paused, wracking my brain for any piece of information I might have heard, but I came up with a steaming pile of nothing. "Okay, fine, you caught me."

Me: Brb, you got me in trouble; now I'm losing phone privileges, and I miss you too

Nathaniel: Dylan?

Me: Yup

"Like I was saying," Dylan continued, side-eyeing me until I put my phone away and gave him my undivided attention. "Your birthday is a week from today, and you haven't even told me what you wanted to do."

"I told you I didn't care what we did."

"And that answer is unacceptable. Do you want a big birthday party or a small one? Who do you want me to invite? Where would you want to go?"

"I'm fine with staying home and having a movie night with you, Ethan, and Nathaniel," I shrugged.

"Ugh, you're hopeless; never mind, I'll figure it out," he waved me off, then dropped in Ethan's lap dramatically. Ethan, without hesitation, started massaging his scalp to calm him down.

When the coast was clear, I pulled my phone back out.

Me: Come over.

Nathaniel: On my way.

Thirty minutes later, he was walking inside my apartment.

"Hi," I whispered.

"Hi," he lowered his head and kissed my cheek.

"Well, if it isn't Sir Nathaniel Asshat the third, welcome in." Dylan greeted him.

"Dylan," I warned. He promised he'd try to be nicer.

"Shit, sorry, it just came out."

"Good to see you too, Dylan," Nathaniel nodded his head politely in his direction as I grabbed his hand and guided him to the couch. It was weird seeing him being nice.

"Well, since you're here, maybe you can be useful," Dylan sat up.

I grabbed a blanket and curled into Nathaniel's side, resting my head on his shoulder while he wrapped his arm around me.