Nathan

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"I think my eyeshadow is better than yours, yeah?"
- Asher

Tonight was the last play of the school year for the drama club, which is comprised of many popular seniors. Needless to say, the turnout will be the best they've ever had, since the city would want to gather to witness their final show. A few of us were currently in the auditorium, helping the crew prepare for the special night.

Farrah and I were painting the cardboard cut out green, to mimic the leaves of trees. Roman and Asher found themselves also painting, only, it was makeup, on the faces of the various props.

"I think my eyeshadow is better than yours, yeah?" Asher joked, standing back to admire his work. Roman looked over from his, and shook his head slowly as a response. "Why not, mine has the fade, wait, Peri, what's that called again?"

I looked up from the floor to view the both of them. "A smokey eye?" I tried, titling my head to the side in thought.

"No, that O word." He elaborated, and a couple of the girls working around him chuckled.

"Ombré ..." I trail, and he smiled at Roman, as if he knew something that he didn't. Ro most likely did know what he meant, but I found Ash's innocence cute nonetheless. "Hmm, I don't think Farrah knows how to do that, maybe you should give her lessons."

Farrah turned to me with a dull face, and I laughed at how unfunny she thought my joke was. Their history completely skipped my mind, most importantly, all of the negative shit she's said about him. If I could go back in time and prevent myself from making that comment, I would. I know that in his mind, Asher is hoping that I could do the same.

"Peri, could you uh ... come with me really quick?" Roman questioned, sitting his makeup brush down on the primary color pallet. I stopped painting to observe his face, and it didn't look as though he had anything pressing on his mind, so it made me wonder why.

"Sure." I agree, standing up, and wiping my hands on my blue jeans. I slowly moved around my art to meet him at the base of the steps. He was waiting for me, and from there, we walked down the long walkway between the rows of seats. When we reached the hallway outside of the auditorium, the boy instantly got to the point.

"Listen, I didn't want to sound crazy, or freak you out by asking you this, but I have to. I mean, it's been eating away at me for days and I never knew if I should make this a thing, but it probably is." He panicked, his voice lowering so that only I could hear him.

My face held confusion, because I wondered why he was being so secretive. Also, what the hell was this about? "Roman ... you just threw a lot at me, I'm going to need for you to take it down a few notches." I laugh, and held my hands up cautiously.

"I'm sorry, look, that night at my house, when you took me upstairs did I say anything weird to you?" Ro questioned.

That instantly brought up the one thing I decided to let go of. I didn't want to bring it up myself, because I didn't want to embarrass him, or whatever else me disclosing that would make him feel. But I guess it was for no reason, because he clearly remembered.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure if I should talk to you about it since you were ... pissed drunk. It's nothing, though, don't sweat it." I downplay it.

"I can't do that, Peri, I need to know what you said in response. I freaking told you the truth, I can't believe it." He spoke more to himself on the last bit, and this was clearly eating him up for some odd reason. Why is being truthful, especially about something that painted you to be the bad guy, such a bad thing?

"I didn't exactly say this to you, because you were asleep. But I basically said that being with you made me happy, the only thing that made me the opposite was you choosing not to fight for your own happiness." I retell, rethinking that entire night in my head. As well as, the days that lead up to it, seeing as though I spent the majority of them resenting him just a tad.

"I feel terrible." He admitted, and I grabbed onto his arms to emphasize my point.

"Why?! There's no reason for you to feel that way, you were honest." I remind, trying to steer him in the right direction of thinking. But I could tell by his face that it wasn't going to be that easy. He already made up in his mind that shaking this bad feeling wasn't possible. "Right?"

"Yes, I was being honest, but I was supposed to hold on telling you that ..."

"Because....?" I egg, trying to get to the bottom of this.

"Because I'm moving away, Peri!" He blurted, and ran a hand through his hair. Before I could even process what he said, he continued. "At the end of the school year my parents are making Parker, my sister, and I move to Arizona."

I could feel my heart sinking in my chest, because his words had finally gotten through. Instead of me being selfish, and thinking about how I was going to lose my best friend, I tried to look at it as Roman hating it. It was so far away from everyone here, the rest of his family and his friends.

"Oh wow ... I assume you didn't have a choice in the matter, clearly." You could probably tell from my voice that I wasn't sure on what to say.

"Yeah," Ro scoffed, avoiding my eyes, "I told my Mom how much I would hate being away from you ... guys-you guys." then stumbled over his words awkwardly.

"What does this have to do with you telling me the truth?" I question, and cross my arms, confusion dancing across my face.

Roman sighed, probably working up the balls to actually tell me what all of this was about. "Arizona is a ways away, man, try saying that ten times fast." He smiled, most likely trying to cushion the blow of what he was about to tell me. "I found out about the move while we were still together, and I know how much you don't believe in long distance relationships. With that being said, I knew that – no matter how much you loved me – you wouldn't be a fan of giving one a go.

I'm sorry, but, I lied about kissing her, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. It was either be 2,000 miles away with you content because you hate me, or 2,000 miles away with you heartbroken because you love me. I wasn't supposed to tell you that night, but I'm a pussy, who just so happens to put your feelings before his." Roman revealed, and there wasn't a single part of me that hated him.

I didn't know what to say, so instead, I started to cry. I wasn't sure what these tears were for, or what they were out of, but it felt good nonetheless. For his own reasons, Ro consoled me, pulling me into his body for an embrace. Unexpectedly, this felt right, even though I really didn't want it to.

I mean, yes, I still love Roman, and I probably always will. But at the moment, my heart isn't solely set on him, which is a problem.

"I have to get back, Ro." Was all that I replied with, and he understood, so he let me go without hesitation. But I had a feeling that after dropping a bomb like that, he was going to want to sit out here and wallow in his thoughts for a bit. So I left him be, and walked back into the auditorium.

As I was drying my tears, and walking across the threshold, I was met by Nathan, who had been standing against the door already. By the look on his face, he wasn't pleased, which led me to think that he had heard something he didn't want to.

"Um ... how-how long have you been standing there, Nate?" I asked, and he knew that it was rhetorical.

Instead of entertaining it, he let me have a piece of his mind. "Never thought I'd have to have this conversation again, but it's clear that I do. Peri, I'm tired of having to fight for your attention. The first time, I gave you a pass because you spent your whole life doing it for mine. But that doesn't give you the right to do it to me, especially when I didn't know I was doing it to you.

I'm not going through this, P, this is the last time that I'm going to tell you it. You have to pick, Petra, it's me or Roman. You can't have the both of us at the tip of your fingers, we're not expandable. The second you come to your conclusion, tell me, because I'm not going to be sticking around, waiting for you to chose." Nathan informed, before turning around and walking down the pathway to the stage.

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