The adventures of Evan and Tia.

Natalie.

Natalie didn't like Lily for the simple reason that Lily was an artistic loner.

There were four of us, forced to be flat-mates in uni. Myself, a black boy called Ryan, a blonde girl named Lily and Natalie. Ryan and I immediately got on. He was studying maths, and although we were doing complete opposite degrees we had so much in common.

Natalie and Lily tolerated each other, but they would never be best friends. Lily was an Art student, and she spent most of her time holed up in her bedroom painting or studying. So Natalie became the unofficial third member of  Ryan and I's little gang.

Plus, Nat and I were doing the same degree so we saw each other a lot. She was a good person to be around. She was always positive, always hopeful. There hadn't been an instant attraction when we met — sure, she was pretty, but she was my friend. I had always just seen Natalie as my friend, until that night in November. It was a Friday; Ryan had gone home to see his parents, and Lily was holed up in her room like usual, so Natalie and I were sat in the sitting room, watching a movie on her laptop and drinking alcohol.

We were twenty years old, stuck between adulthood and immaturity.

We were both a little drunk, and we ended up kissing ... and more. Let's just say we took things to the bedroom. The incident was never mentioned again, but neither of us regretted it. Two months later Natalie grabbed my arm as I was about to leave the flat, a wild look in her eyes.

"I'm pregnant." She blurted out.

"What?"

"I just found out this morning. I - yeah."

"And you're posit--?"

"One hundred percent, Evan."

"Holy --"

"Shit? Yeah, me too."

"Whoa ..." I was speechless, a rare feat for me. "A baby. Nat, what are we going to do?"

"We?"

"Well I had a hand in all this. You didn't get yourself pregnant," I spoke honestly. We had been careless and this was the result of such immaturity, but I wasn't going to pretend I had had nothing to do with it. A shocked laugh left Natalie's lips, but the worry hanging over her brow had faded slightly.

"You're not going to be dealing with this on your own, Nat." I promised. Her lips trembled and she pulled me into a hug, a few tears sliding down her face.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I was so scared, so scared."

I slid my hand up and down her back, attempting to be consoling. How could she think I would just leave her to deal with a baby all by herself? No way. I wasn't that cruel.

"You don't have to be scared anymore." I whispered into her hair. Natalie pulled away, wiping at her eyes. She managed a laugh.

"God... a baby. How am I going to tell my parents?" She ran a hand through her hair.

"We'll tell them together. I'm with you every step of the way on this, Nat."

And I was. Every step of her pregnancy, I was there. Telling her parents was the hardest thing we had to do, I think. Nat took me over to hers a few weeks after she had found out.

Her parents house was nice, way out in the country with loads of wildflowers growing. Idilic. The door was a bright red, and the knocker was in the shape of a lion. A strangely familiar lion ...

"Aslan," Natalie said, answering my unspoken question. "My parents are huge fantasy fans."

"I love it."