accidental love • n.maloley「✓」| EDITING

thirty

nate

i dial the number to anderson's salon, unable to stop the grin from spreading across my face. messing and teasing her has definitely became my favorite thing to do. it only rings twice before she answers, "hello, this is beautiful chaos salon. how may i help you?"

trying my best to disguise my voice, i reply, "uh yeah, is this anderson?"

"this is her," she replies, confusion thick in her tone.

"okay, uh, hey anderson, this is swazz, nate's friend."

"oh, hi swazz. not to sound rude, but why are you calling? is everything okay?" she asks, and i pull the phone away from my face as i try to hold back my laugh.

"well, anderson, um nate's not doing so well."

"what's wrong? what happened?" she immediately asks, a bit of panic now seeping into her tone.

"well, turns out nate has this problem. it's where he's so in love with you that he's in constant pain."

"nate, you asshole!" she then exclaims and i let out a loud laugh. "i can't believe you, i thought something was seriously wrong!"

"you still love me though," i tell her and she lets out a huff, causing me to chuckle lightly. "when d'you get off work, beautiful?"

"in thirty minutes."

"stop by my house on the way home? i have a surprise for you."

"i will," she pauses and i know there's more. "as long as you cook for me, because i'm really hungry."

"aw man, can't i just order pizza?"

"nope, i want a home cooked meal," she says stubbornly and i sigh, leaning back on the couch.

"fine," i give in and she cheers just to tease me further. "okay, i guess i'll let you get back to work. i love you, see you soon."

"i love you, bye." with that, i pull my phone away from my ear and end the call before tossing it onto the couch beside me. letting out a deep breath, i turn and look at natalia as she quietly swings, happily playing with a small stuffed animal.

"your mommy's trying to kill me, nat," i tell her but she doesn't even glance my way, so with a shake of my head, i push myself up off the couch and head into the kitchen to find something to make.

××

half an hour later, i hear the front door open, pulling my attention away from the stove. just as i go to call out and ask if it's anderson i hear her happily exclaim natalia's name, followed by a bunch of cooing. turning back to the stove with a grin, i stir the noodles once more before turning the burner off.

"mmm, what smells good?" i hear anderson ask, and i glance over my shoulder to see her enter the kitchen with natalia in her arms.

"i made fried chicken and mac-n-cheese," i tell her as i take the pot of noodles off the burner and walk over to the sink, pouring them in the strainer to drain all the water off.

"wow, chef maloley in the house," she teases and i shake my head, unable to stop the amused grin from breaking out across my face.

"don't tease me, andy," i warn, pouring the now drained noodles into a bowl before squeezing the cheese onto them. picking up the spoon, i begin mixing it in as anderson walks over to where i stand and wraps her free arm around me. glancing over at her, i smile and she returns it, her hand rubbing over my bare back soothingly.

"has natalia ate yet?" she then asks and i shake my head. "so she's probably hungry," she concludes, stepping away from me to make natalia a bottle, i would assume. once i get all the cheese mixed in, i pull a couple plates out of the cabinet and put a couple pieces of chicken on each, along with some mac-n-cheese.

after natalia's fed and placed back in her swing, me and anderson sit down to eat. i wait for anderson to try the chicken first, wanting to see her reaction. "it sucks," she tells me before breaking out into a grin. "i'm joking, it's really good, nate. i'm impressed."

"that's what i thought," i tell her smugly, grinning. she simply rolls her eyes though, and after that we begin eating.

××

"okay, so what's the surprise i originally came here for?" anderson asks thirty minutes later, once we've finished eating and have cleaned up.

"oh, right," i say, then remembering the reason i told her to come by. "okay so, you know i'm a rapper, right?" she nods, her eyebrows furrowing. "well, i wrote this rap... about us." her eyebrows then raise, surprise painting her features.

"wow, really? you know i was just joking when i said that you should write a song about us the other day, right?"

"of course i do, but when you said that it gave me an idea and i wanted to," i tell her, pushing myself up off the couch. i head over to the desk in the corner and pull up the song on my laptop.

"what's it called?"

"accidental love," i tell her with a grin and she returns it as i press play on the recording, turning to face her so i can take in her reaction. by the end of the song, her eyes a filled with tears even though it was an upbeat rap song, and not some sweet, smooth love song. "why're you crying?" i ask, walking back over to the couch and retaking my seat.

"i just love you so much," she sighs and i let out a short, breathy chuckle as i wrap my arms around her, pulling her into my chest. "i want a copy of that, please."

"of course, andy," i tell her, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "and just so you know, i love you so much more."