The Game

6. Drew

I'd seen the change cross her face. From the pink rising in her cheek to the hurt in her eyes. All in a matter of seconds. She looked back down and began picking at the grass around her. The more I looked at her, the more I realised how hurt she looked. I hadn't noticed that earlier, but then again, I hadn't know that she was dealing with personal things. Things that were clearly troubling her when they flitting into her mind.

I wondered what had happened for her to think leaving town would help her parents. Help her. Why she needed a fresh start, and what was troubling her. I was curious, but I didn't want to pry. It wasn't something she wanted to talk about, at least not yet, and I was hardly her best friend.

I'd done some pretty stupid things in the past, but nothing had ever made my parents happy to see me leave. They threatened to do a lot of things, but I knew I always had a home to go back to. I wondered if Natalie had a home to go back to at the end of the year, or whether Rosehaven was the start of a whole new life.

I may have been dealing with all this crap to do with Jess, but I sensed that Natalie was dealing with a lot worse. And admitting that was actually weird. Jess had put me through hell with all the lies she told, lies and heartbreak that was still messing with my head today. Suddenly, my own insecurities paled in comparison. They were still there, niggling at my brain, but looking at Natalie, who looked so vulnerable and hurt, I knew she was dealing with something bigger. A lot more than teenage heartbreak at the hands of a lying bitch.

I watched as Natalie reached to her left and picked a buttercup flower from the small patch that was growing around the tree. She twirled it around her fingers.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"About whether or not you'd pass my friendship test," she teased, a small smile returning to her sad face.

In one swift move, she was sitting next to me against the tree, flower still in hand. She held it under my chin as I sat watching her, afraid to move in case she moved away.

"Did I pass?" I asked as I realised that she was doing.

"Yep, you like butter," she smiled up at me.

"You can have just asked," I teased, letting out a small laugh.

"I needed officially confirmation," she joked as she pulled the flower away, "what about me?"

She held the flower under her own and I learned in to see if it reflected yellow on her skin too.

"Good news, you passed too," I whispered as out eyes met.

Slowly, she leaned in the last few centimetres, her lips softly brushing over mine hesitantly. I closed our connection, hardening the kiss as my hand reached behind her head and into her hair. Her mouth opened a little more, and I took the invitation, my tongue slipping past her lips and meeting hers. I could taste her apple lip gloss, and I could have sworn apple had never tasted so good. A voice at the back of my head told me this was wrong and I should stop, not just because of what I'd been through, but because Natalie was hurting and this wasn't how to fix it. But I didn't want to stop. I couldn't stop.

Suddenly, she pulled back and turned away from me. My breath was hard and fast, my chest pounding. Not how I was expecting this to go.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"For what?"

A tear rolled down her cheek. I wiped it away with my finger, turning her head to look at me.

"I've made mistakes in the past. Mistakes I don't want to repeat. I told myself that this year I was starting over. That everything would be different."