Aimed At You

Chapter 10

Lexie stared at Nathan, stunned. She tilted her head as if to ask him if he's serious, and like before, he nodded. They stared at each other for a couple more seconds before Nathan finally spoke up. 

"So...?"

"Uhm, I- What?"

"You can move in with me since, you know- I just want to help."

"What?"

Nathan chuckled and dipped his head down. "Well, you don't have to. I was just offering so, yeah you don't have to. It's not like I'm begging you to, ya know?"

"Okay. You don't have to get defensive, Nathan." Lexie laughs and looked out the door to think. "I- are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Lexie paused again, trying to come up with an answer. She badly wanted to move in with him and not have to reside in a hotel room for the rest of the year, or until she finds a stable job. If she moved in with him, she wouldn't have to worry about the expense of a hotel room or the exhausting hunt for an apartment. However, they barely knew each other. For all she knows, Nathan could be a serial killer masked with an alluring charm and looks. Despite Lexie's paranoia, she found herself gravitating towards Nathan - moving in with him and worrying about everything else later. They could grow closer and perhaps get to know more about one another. Maybe they could even-

"Lexie?" 

"Yes?"

"Do you want to move in?"

"Uhm," she paused again to take a deep breath. "Yes, I'd love to."

***

They drove in comfortable silence for about 15 minutes. Once Lexie agreed to move in, they went straight to Nathan's black Honda Civic parked behind the diner. He surprisingly opened the door for Lexie, an action she wasn't used to. Lexie tried her hardest not to overthink her decision and simply enjoy the car ride, and the fact that she found a place to live in temporarily. 

"Here we are!" Nathan stopped the car in front of a bricked building that had several cars parked in front. He stepped out of the car and tried to open the door for Lexie, but she beat him to it. 

"I'm at the 12th floor."

Lexie nodded, and they silently entered the building and went straight to Nathan's floor. She wasn't used to apartments. She lived in a house with her father since she was born, and never once moved out, that is until now. 

Just like Leo's apartment building, everything appeared the exact same. The walls of the hallway were lined with a vintage wallpaper that had one pattern scattered all over. The floor was covered with a dark green carpet, and there was a trash can at each end of the hallway. 

"This is me," Nathan says as he unlocked the room 136. He opened the door and revealed a somewhat empty looking apartment, despite the furniture.  Lexie expected the apartment to look like a typical New York apartment - like Leo's, but Nathan's was surprisingly homey. 

Regardless of the lack of decorations, his apartment looked like a place that you would permanently want to live in. His place radiated comfort and security that Lexie never felt in her own home.

"I like it... a lot"

Nathan, who was watching Lexie's reaction to his apartment, smiled. "Thank you. I had hoped you would."

"Yeah sure," she rolled her eyes. "Lacks decoration though."

"Okay! Not even 5 minutes in, and you're already criticizing my apartment." 

Lexie laughed and turned to face Nathan, suddenly appearing serious.

"Thank you. I mean it, really. Thank you." 

Nathan stared at her for a while. "It's the least I could do."

***

Nathan showed Lexie her room, which was adjacent to his. Her room was empty, aside from the bed, the lamp, dresser, and a chair. Her mind quickly thought of ways to decorate the room, but she stopped herself - not wanting to get too attached. 

"Bathroom?" She faced Nathan, who was leaning on her doorway - watching her. 

"Hm," he stood up straight. "Well, here." He opened the door beside Lexie's dresser and revealed the white-tiled bathroom.  Lexie noticed the door on the other side of the bathroom, facing hers.

"Yeah, we kinda have to share the bathroom."

"That's fine," she paused. "As long as you're not messy." She winked at him and opened her suitcase to start sorting out her belongings, leaving Nathan dumbstruck at the doorway.

"Uh, yeah okay. Make yourself at home, I guess."

Lexie stayed in her room for about an hour, organizing her things and thinking about the next step. She had to get a proper job to help Nathan pay the bills. She finished sorting everything after about 30 minutes, and she spent the next 30 laying in bed - her head clouded with thoughts.

Nathan waited for Lexie to leave her room for about 15 minutes. When she didn't, he decided to just start cooking. It was almost midnight, and he really didn't have to cook anything, but cooking was the only thing that could calm him down. His heart rate started to speed up when she heard Lexie enter the bathroom - the fact that she was living here with him just sunk in.

After an hour, Nathan hastily knocked on her door. She didn't answer immediately, so he knocked again.

"Lex?"

"Yeah?" She answers from the other side of the door.

"I made something, in case you're hungry."

"Okay!"

Lexie quickly opened the door and almost face planted onto Nathan's back. He chuckled, "Calm down, honey. No one's stealing your food."

"Don't call me honey."

"Okay, sweetheart." 

"I swear to god-" 

Nathan ran straight to his kitchen, avoiding Lexie's wrath. She sat down in front of him in the kitchen island and smiled down at the food Nathan made. 

"Is pasta the only thing you can cook?"

"First of all, I know a lot. Second of all, that is a mushroom truffle pasta. And lastly, you'd be begging me to make you more pasta once you taste it."

"Oh my god, the confidence," she coughed, choking on Nathan's arrogance. "First of all, prove it. Second of all, just because a certain food has a fancy name doesn't mean it's good. And lastly, I will never beg you to do anything."

Nathan smirked, and they stared at each other again, trying to see who will look away first. The food started to grow cold, and they still haven't looked away from one another. Eventually, Nathan's gaze fell from her eyes to her lips. His smirk faltered as he stared intently at her plump red lips, making Lexie catch her breath. Her lips parted when she noticed that Nathan leaned closer. She stared at his parted lips too, wanting to move closer. Contemplation was clear on Nathan's face, but all he wanted to do was to touch her lips and feel it against his. He wanted to-

"I guess I should eat it now."