Give Me Back Whats Mine ➳ David Dobrik

Chapter Seven ➳ This Was A Whole Other Thing

DAVID

The feeling of warmth on my skin was what woke me later that morning.

Opening my eyes, I was completely disoriented, unsure of where I was for a couple of seconds.

The room around me was bright, completely bathed in sunshine. Looking to the window on my left, I noticed that it was open, a small breeze making its way through the entire room.

This was not my bedroom.

My room was usually pitch black, no matter the time of day. And it was always unnaturally cool, my air-conditioning forever set a few degrees lower than recommended.

It wasn't until I looked to my right that I fully realized where I was.

Natalie was propped up in bed next to me, glasses on, her nose in a book.

I totally forgot that I had ended up crashing in here.

The two of us falling asleep together was nothing new. We often passed out on my bed mid-way through editing. Only I usually wasn't asleep for long, and when I did wake up I could never quite bring myself to wake her up as well, instead opting for the couch, leaving her in peace.

This was a whole other thing. A new thing. A kind of nice thing.

I watched her for a while, reading her book in somewhat silence.

'You know I can tell that book is really good.' I whispered after a minute.

She closed her book and looked down at me. 'How could you possible know that?'

I just smiled, pushing my hair out of my eyes.

'You know that you read out loud, right?' I asked.

Natalie continued to look at me, her face taking on a confused expression. 'No, I don't.'

'Yes, you do.' I said. 'When a book is really shit, you kind of just mumble, your words completely incoherent. But when a book is really good, your words become clear and concise, you can hear the smile in your tone. For instance, the book you were just reading was a particularly good one, because I heard it word for word.'

She just rolled her eyes and picked her book back up, trying not to say another word.

I continued to lie there and just look at her.

So many of my friends had crushes on Natalie, and in that moment I could see why.

She was this effortless, natural beauty. She practically glowed as the sun from the open window hit her skin.

My eyes couldn't help but trace her face.

Looking at her was comforting, she was as recognizable to me as I was to myself. It was like having this secret piece of my childhood with me at all times.

'Can I ask you a question? Without you getting annoyed with me?'

'You can ask me a question, I'm not going to promise that I won't get annoyed with you though.'

'Why did you leave the club in Vegas with Riley the other night?'

The question had been burning inside me for the last three days.

She sighed, once again closing her book. 'I-I don't know.' She said.

I let the silence weigh heavy around us, hoping it would make her go on.

'I suppose I was ... lonely.' She said after a minute.

'Lonely? We're literally surrounded by like a hundred different people every single day.'