Maintaining Dominance

Chapter 8

I look down at the phone in my hand as I wait for Nathan to arrive at my house. He had offered me a ride to work most days this week and I had excepted, but only because it felt nice to talk to somebody. We have been texting ever since the day I told the counselor about the accident.

Nathan kept me in his arms that night, at least until I passed out, but I think I remember feeling him move me so I am laying down on the bed. He never left though, afraid that if he did I might wake up and do something to hurt myself.

I wake to my head laying across my mother's lap and Nathan is sitting on the floor looking at me intensely. From the way I am holding the jacket, it isn't hard to understand that the Trevor that Easton had asked about is dead.

"Thank you for sitting with him Nathan, I appreciate it, he's been having a really hard time since we moved here." My mother is sugar coating the issue a bit but, she knows that I don't want to tell anybody because I don't want to have people asking me questions

"It's what friends are for, but it's safe for me to assume that something really bad happened in California. The way he speaks about it sometimes, he doesn't want to talk about it, but something really bad happened." I feel so weak, unable to keep my eyes open, but still listening to their conversation.

"He is the only one that gets to tell that story. He has to let himself accept that what happened, actually happened. Nothing will ever be the same for him and I can't change that, I can't take his pain away and it kills me to watch him suffer day in and day out." I feel like she is trying so hard to keep me afloat, but I am doing the same for her on days where she can't even lift her own head up.

"I won't ask him what happened. It is clear that the pain he feels is rooted so deeply that he panics when he talks about it. I don't want to cause him that kind of a pain to feed my own curiosity." I feel the tears slide down my cheeks once more and I feel somebody wipe them away. The shuffling in the room tells me that it is Nathan who wipes the tear away.

I succumb back to unconsciousness once more, but when I wake nobody is in my room and there is a note sitting on my nightstand.

Hayden,

I am sorry for whatever is going on inside of your head and for what has caused it. I just want you to know that there is somebody other than your family that cares about your well being. I want to be somebody you can rely on, no matter how long that takes, that's what friends are for. As for now, when you get this, I have attached my cellphone number, give me a call and tell me how you are feeling.

Nathan.

Ever since I read that note I have realized that Nathan is not the asshole I once thought that he was. He cares deeply for his friends and that includes me. That night we were on the phone for hours, talking about everything other than the accident.

He told me that Jake is his friend but there are things that Jake does that he doesn't agree with. He also says that there are things about him that he hasn't told Jake because he knows how he will react and he doesn't want to deal with it. Hayden tells Nahan that he knows how to fight, but when they moved here, he promised his mother he wouldn't.

Nathan pulls up in front of my house and rolls down his window, those sunglasses on his face making him look cocky. The smirk that spreads across his face makes him look even cockier. I laugh a bit and throw on my own sunglasses before getting in the car. I buckle myself in as Nathan takes off.

"Thanks for the rides to school. I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience. I am just not one who likes to drive." I mutter and look down but he reaches over and puts his hand on my should, squeezing it, trying to comfort me.