NOCTURNE » Nathan Prescott

» xii. collapse

You're not alone.
You're loved.

×

I woke up with a massive headache -- probably thanks to the whiskey and the fact that I hadn't smoked weed in an insanely long time. Then again I didn't even know if that could give you a headache anymore. Probably not.
Either way, the day wasn't off to a good start to begin with.

I took my time showering, and had breakfast afterwards. I ended up skipping the first two periods since nobody else was at home anyway.

VICTORIA
Where r u??

ME
Chill, Vic. Having a headache.
Coming later.

She caught me up on everything I had missed in chemistry, while Luke also told me about what I had missed in art class. After doing my makeup and covering up the dark bags under my eyes I packed my stuff, fed the cat and left the house.

It looked like it was going to start raining soon so I stuffed the raincoat that I had in my car into my backpack. The fresh air felt good. I'd always liked rain the most.

"Jeez, are you hungover?" Victoria asked as soon as she grabbed my arm and I shrugged. "Just a little," I replied and Nathan rolled his eyes, as he smirked knowingly.

"Anyway, like I already messaged you-"
And like that she just kept rambling on about something weird the teacher had said during drama, which didn't even concern me in the slightest. I let her talk and, like I just did for the rest of the day, I didn't really listen at all. Everything just ran past me.

Everything came to a stop when Zachary came running into photography class.

"Yo, some crazy shit is going down at the girls' dorm! Check it!"

As everybody started getting up my gaze immediately shot towards Kate's empty spot, my stomach churning.
"Zachary, do not come into my class like that ever again-" Jefferson tried to stop everyone but Victoria already pulled me out of the classroom with her before I could do anything.

Everybody ran over to the girls dormitories and Victoria kept going to the very front while I stopped dead in my tracks. There was Kate. Standing on the edge of the girls dormitory roof. Looking down to all of us.

My heart started racing and I felt sick as I staggered towards the front, hoping to be able to run up to her and stop her in time, although I knew I would never now it up here. She turned around and looked away from us, as somebody grabbed my arm again and stopped me from trying to stagger onward.

Nathan slowly shook his head as I gave him a panicked look, still holding onto my arm. Maybe somebody was up there already, but how could anyone be so fast? I could barely hear anything because of the rain.

There were people with their phones out, recording Kate yet again. I started to get dizzy and leaned onto Nathan for support -- he didn't step away.
"This can't be happening ..." I whispered and felt like my heart was about to stop.

Suddenly Kate was gone and for a moment I got scared she had jumped already-- but she hadn't. Everybody around was mumbling about what could have happened until the door opened and Max came out, with Kate in her arms.

I sank on my knees as I watched the two walk over to the ambulance that had arrived by now. Some people started cheering but it was almost drowned out entirely by the white noise in my ears.
"Let's get out of here," I heard Nathan's voice from far away and was pulled back up on my feet.

For a while I was walking, but I just saw a hallway at the very edges of my blurred sight, the buzzing in my head growing consistently.

×

I woke up in a vaguely familiar room. After my eyes got used to the light I realised that it was Nathan's room. I found myself on the couch, and upon looking around I realised Nathan was sitting at his computer.

"What happened?" I asked and he turned around.
"You passed out." -- "No shit," I huffed and laid my head back down on the pillow.

Looking around I noticed an odd stain on the wall next to the door. After shuffling around for a bit I got back up and examined it, coming to the conclusion that it was blood. Fresh blood.

I rushed over to Nathan's side and grabbed his hand -- he just kept staring at his computer screen as I examined his bruised knuckles.

"What happened?" I asked and knelt down next to him.
"Max Caulfield happened," he spat and I raised my eyebrows. "That bitch got me suspended! First she snitches on me having a gun and now she accuses me of drugging Kate!"

He slammed his other fist on the desk. "Don't you dare ask me if I did!" -- "I wasn't going to," I mumbled and let go of his hand, rummaging around the top drawer for the bandages that I knew he had in there.

"I can do this myself," he snapped and tried taking the bandages from me, but I held my hand out of his reach.

"Nathan, please. Let me."

After blankly staring at me for a few seconds he let his shoulders sink in defeat and placed his injured hand on the table. I disinfected the wound in silence and wrapped the bandage around his hand, trying to be as gentle as possible.

"Thank you," he mumbled and I nodded, grabbing my backpack.

"I should get home. It's late," I said and Nathan got out of his chair. He looked tired, like somebody had drained all the energy out of him. I staggered towards the door, knees still weak from earlier.

"Take the bus, okay? I don't want you getting into an accident." Nathan spoke; I nodded again. "I will. You try and get some sleep, promise?" -- "Promise."