Nathan Prescott X Reader

Chapter Nine

By 9:40 I was already waiting in the parking lot for Nathan, my stomach in knots. I shivered a little; the September sun was quickly evacuating Arcadia Bay, and Fall would soon be upon us. I could have gone back for a jacket, but I my ass was frozen to the wall- partly from the cold, partly pure anticipation. I had Nathan's in my hand, but I didn't think he'd appreciate me wearing it. After waiting around for a good fifteen minutes, Nathan Prescott showed up.

"Hey." he said frowning down at me as he approached.
"Hi." I said handing him his jacket. A nearby streetlight flattered Nathan's face, his bone structure highlighted in the orange glow. He sat on the wall next to me.
"So what do you want to know about last night," he said, his leg bobbing up and down rapidly.
"Just, go from when I passed out, please." my voice shook I was so nervous.
"You got piss drunk and I had to take you back to your dorm. I carried you up and put you on your bed. I waited around on your chair for 10 minutes or something, just to make sure you didn't die choking on your own puke. That's it."
"What about this?" I said pointing at the bruise on my face.
"You slammed your head on the floor when you passed out. I bet you thought I did it, huh? Thought I punched you?" He laughed morosely to himself. "I'm not like that. I... I don't want to hurt you- I don't want to hurt anybody." Nathan looked upset and guilt settled in my stomach, knowing I had suspected it might have been his doing. Of course it was from the fall. How could I have not realised that?
"I didn't think it was you." I said twisting the truth. I didn't definitely think it was him at any point. "And I'm grateful you looked out for me that night... nobody else did."
"I didn't do shit. I saw Hayden trying to get in your pants, and I did fuck all. I should have said something." It was quiet for a moment and Nathan turned to me. "You're shivering. Here." He threw his jacket back at me.
I put his jacket on. It was a little too big, with the sleeves covering my hands and it had that distinct smell that I was coming to associate with Nathan being around. "So nothing happened with Hayden, right? Victoria said-"
"Victoria chats shit, okay?" Nathan said through his teeth. "Yeah, she's my friend, but I know she's a cunt to you."
Silence fell once again. I watched as fireflies twirled in the air in front of us, their choreography illuminating the sky.
"I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble." I murmured.
"That party sucked ass anyway. It would've been cool if you were conscious, we could have spent more time together."
That comment shocked me and my face flushed. I hoped it was dark enough that he wouldn't notice. "But you never text me or anything since last week. I thought you were still embarrassed to be associated with me."
"Yeah, well you never text me either. I assumed you didn't want to hang around with my fucked up self." He said, spitting at the ground. I supposed I'd never actually messaged Nathan first. Maybe I should have made more of an effort.
"I liked hanging out with you last week. I didn't message you again because I thought you had just seen me because you felt guilty. I was wrong." I said while looking at my hands, fidgeting with the cuffs of Nathan's jacket. "In fact, I felt like I could really be honest with you... talk about anything you know? Maybe that's stupid."
"I'm glad at least one fucker in this shit hole's honest with me. You're the only person I've met here who doesn't treat me like some kind of land mine. Like I'll blow up if they say the wrong thing. It's lonely as fuck knowing everyone feels the need to act so fake towards me."
Nathan turned away from me. I definitely wasn't expecting him to open up like this, but I understood how he must feel.
"I'm not special for treating you like a human being. And I'm fucked up in my own way too. Maybe we have more in common than we think."
He sighed and looked back at me. Then he smiled. "Your dorm room's cute. Nice stuffed animals." I hit him on the shoulder and Nathan chuckled.
"It's a cool room, okay," I said defensively. "It's just... cosy!" Suddenly it was like that Friday night again. Just talking and laughing, no more deep topics.

By twelve o'clock, Nathan and me had been talking for over two hours and I was getting tired. I yawned and told him I should probably get back to my dorm.
"I don't want you to ghost me again though," I accused him jokingly as I went to take off his jacket.
"Keep it." He said putting his hand onto my shoulder so I couldn't take it off. "You'll just have to give it back tomorrow night."
I smiled up at him. "Same time, same place?"
"Same time, same place. Come on, I'll walk you back to your dorm."
"Wow, what a gentleman!" I said mockingly, and he pushed me lightly in response, yet somehow I still managed to trip and make a scene. Nathan cackled like a fox, and I laughed too as he pulled me up off the tarmac. It seemed I had a habit for falling when Nathan Prescott was around.

"This is the girls dorm, you're going to get in trouble!" I whispered loudly as Nathan escorted me down the corridor to my room.
"Chill, I own this motherfucker," he said, swaggering along. We reached my door and I looked up at his face; how could someone be so pretty?
"Goodnight, Nathan Prescott."
"Goodnight, y/n y/l/n. I'll see you tomorrow."
He did a one-eighty back towards his own room as I closed the door behind him. I smiled to myself like a fool. He'd see me tomorrow. I couldn't wait.