No Longer Euphoria | Nate Jacobs

Part 10

*Trigger warning - overdose & depressive themes*

I slowly wake to the sounds of birds chirping and the sunlight pouring through the sheer curtains. I feel a warmth on my back, and I remember who it is that warm body is. I reach for his hand and slowly pull it off of me, careful I don't wake him. I look at Nate as I begin to stand up slowly, he looks so peaceful when he's asleep. I creep into the bathroom and go to the toilet. As I go to wash my hands and hear Nate get up, the door to the bathroom slowly creaks open.

"Good morning" he says in a low raspy morning voice. "Good morning" I reply. "How are you feeling today?" He asks. "I'm okay, I just don't really want to think about it. I'm more concerned about my car, I don't know where my keys are" I say. "Don't worry about that, after I dealt with that pervert I picked them up and locked your car up before I drove here. Here let me go get them" he says. "Thank you so much" I reply. He really is a dream. I follow him out of the bathroom, and he then hands me my keys. "Alright so do you want to go to the mall now? I really just want to get home and sleep in my own bed" I say. "Yeah of course, here are my keys just hop in the Ute, I'll make sure we don't leave anything behind" he says. "Awesome" I say. He throws me the keys, I catch them and start walking to the Ute. I take a seat in the passenger side and look around, he keeps his truck super neat. I decide to be a bit more intrusive and have a look inside his glove compartment. Curiosity killed the cat. I open the compartment to find a shotgun staring me straight in the face. I instantly slam it shut and sit there anxiously. What if he killed the kidnapper? Has he ever used it before? Do I even dare to ask?? I decide to pretend like I've never seen it before in my life.

Seconds later, Nate climbs into the truck. "Alright, ready to go?" He says. "Yep" I say in reply. "You okay? You sound weird" he says. Fuck am I that easy to read? "No I'm fine, just flashbacks is all. Gotta love PTSD" I say and laugh awkwardly at the end. Nate just looks at me funny and says "okay". We make it to the carpark, thankfully my car is still there and not a scratch has been placed on it. We pull in next to it and I look to Nate. "Thank you so much for everything, I don't know what I would have done without you last night" I say honestly. He goes all serious and turns to me and says "Cassie, if anyone ever wanted to hurt you... I would kill them. I wouldn't let anyone lay a finger on you". I pause for a minute, comprehending what he's just said to me. He must think he sounded too full on because he quickly chased it up with "I'd do it for any girl though, it's just like the right the to do you know?" He says... not so convincingly. "Oh of course" I say, just trying to diffuse the tension. "Anyway I better get home now but thank you again" I say as I hop out of the Ute. I fumble the keys for a minute before I'm able to unlock the car and hop in, Nate still sitting there watching. I start the car and pull out of the spot, waving to him as I drive off. What a night.

___________________________________

I pull into my driveway and look at the passenger seat. My Alabama Worley costume is still sitting there, ugh god do I even still want to go? It's a good thing the party isn't tonight, there's not a chance I'd be putting myself through that. I wonder if Nate has gone to school today, it is a school day after all. Plus I wonder what his excuse to Maddy would be... I doubt it would be that he saved me from being kidnapped and showered/cuddled with me all night after. I unlock the door with my keys and make my way up the stairs, my dad is standing at the top of them. There's something about him that doesn't seem right, he looks lost and sad. "What's wrong?" I ask. "Cassie... your mother" he says. "What's wrong?" I ask a little more concerned this time. "She's had to go to hospital, she overdosed on oxycodone. She had used the tablets left over from her last hospital trip" he says. Why would my mother do that? I don't understand, she's always so quiet and kind. She's never shown any signs of being upset or depressed? "Can I visit her?" I ask. "Cassie, she's had to be placed into a coma" He says. I don't know what to feel or how to think right now, so instead...I don't. A sudden numbness overwhelms me. I don't feel like crying, I don't feel sad. I don't feel angry. I just feel numb. "Oh okay" I say as I walk away from him to my room and shut the door. I hear him calling after me but I don't listen, in fact I don't even take notice of it. I climb into bed, and I go to sleep. I wish I could take my mothers place and become comatose. Too much has happened in the last 24 hours for me to want to deal with it.

___________________________________

I slowly wake to the sound of alarm. I had slept until the next morning. I lay around and cry for the whole of Thursday and decide to go back to sleep again.
___________________________________

I wake up Friday morning to my dad knocking on my door, roughly 5 minutes before my alarm was meant to go off. "Honey, you need to wake up. You've been in your room all weekend" he says. I stare blankly at him, my eyes swollen and puffy from all the tears. I see a look of concern in his face, before I let him say anything that will make my feelings real, I stop him and say, "I'm really sick with a head cold. I think I just need to rest". I fake sniffle to make him at least try to want to believe it. "Okay, but tomorrow we will be visiting your mother. I will wake you up" he says. "Okay, also I'll be staying at Maddy's tomorrow night. I've told her what's been going on and she wants to support me" I lie. Never would I tell anyone about this, I don't think my mother would want me to either. "Okay sweetie" he says as he walks out of the room.

I plan to get completely, and utterly fucked up tomorrow night.

I hope you like the GIPH! I thought I'd explain it as I thought 'riding the carosel' relates to the story as Cassie feels like shes going round and round in circles and is tired of having so many things being thrown at her during this chapter xx

Please vote if you enjoy and I love feedback! :)