Aimed At You

Chapter 13

Nathan and Lexie awoke at around 10am the next day - both still groggy and tired. Their friends said they wanted to give the two some"alone time", and they left at 2 in the morning. When Lexie snoozed her alarm, she stood up to stretch and drink a bottle of water from her nightstand. Rubbing her tired eyes, she opened the bathroom door without looking, and closed the door. She heard the faucet running, so she turned to the sink and saw her roommate - shirtless with a toothbrush in between his teeth, and his eyes wide open in surprise. He took the toothbrush from his hand and raised a hand in greeting, "Good morning." 

"Uh," Lexie coughed, trying not to look at his perfectly sculpted body. He was tan and utterly toned, and Lexie found herself having trouble looking away. "Morning. I'll uh- I'll go."

"No!" Nathan quickly exclaimed. "I mean uh- I'm already done, so you can have the bathroom."

"Okay."

Nathan opened his bathroom door and left with one last glance at Lexie, smiling. She shook her head and stared at herself in the mirror - cheeks burning red as if she's never seen a shirtless man before. She splashed water on her face and grabbed her toothbrush. "Get it together, Lexie."

Lexie left the bathroom 5 minutes later and noticed the mouth-watering fragrance of bacon lingering in the air. As expected, she found Nathan cooking in front of the stove. She walked to the counter to make some coffee, and glanced at him for a millisecond. "Bacon?"

Nathan nodded, "Yes, very special bacon."

"What makes this bacon special?"

"I made it."

Lexie smiled teasingly, "Uh huh. Sure." She noticed that he was still shirtless, but he wore a blue apron with white text that read "kiss the chef". She snorted, making Nathan turn to her. 

"What?" He asks.

"Nothing. You just have an odd choice of clothing."

He looked down at his apron and grinned. "Can you tell me what the words on the apron are? I can't read them."

"Hmm, its says kiss-" She paused and made eye contact with him. "My ass."

He chuckled and flipped the 4 pieces of bacon on the pan. "Witty."

"I know." Lexie smiled at him and spotted something shiny on his chest. She trailed her eyes down and saw a dog tag necklace with two names engraved on it. "That wasn't there before."

"Ah, so you look at my chest?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, grabbing two mugs from the cupboard. 

"My brother gave it to me. It's our names that are engraved on it."

"Hmm," she nodded. "A present?"

"Yeah, he gave it before he left for Japan."

"Why wasn't it there last night?"

"Lexie!" Nathan teased. "You're making it sound like we did something last night!"

Lexie rolled her eyes again and sat on the bar stools after placing the coffee on the island. "You are a child."

He laughed and set the bacon on 2 white plates, grabbed a fork, and handed the food to Lexie. "M'lady."

"Thank you, monsieur."

"Ohh, oui oui French."

Lexie began eating and noticed that Nathan was watching her eat again. She tiled her head with her brows raised. "Why do you always watch me eat?"

"I don't."

"Honey, lying won't get you anywhere."

Nathan chuckled, "I just like seeing your reaction when you eat the things I make. Your reactions are very fulfilling."

"So are your food" She said, taking another bite. "Anyway, did you get fired?"

Nathan coughed, surprised at her question. "You're very candid, you know that?" He sipped his coffee and narrowed her eyes at Lexie. "Why do you think I'm fired?"

"Well, you haven't been to work in almost 3 days, so it's either you're fired or you have a day off- 3 days off."

"I'm not fired, I asked for a one-week leave." 

"Oh? Why?"

"I uhm, I wanted to help you settle in."

Lexie paused, "You didn't have to do that."

"I know, I just wanted to."

Lexie stared at Nathan with an undecipherable look on her face for a minute, then she stood up. She grabbed her now empty plate and silently washed it on the sink. Nathan watched her with his brows furrowed, wondering if he said something wrong. 

"Are you done?" She asks, turning to him.

"Uh, yes yes. Here."

She grabbed the plate and began washing it silently again. Nathan didn't know what to do, and he found himself starting to panic. 

"Lexie?"

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?'

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Nathan stared at the back of her head, thinking. "I don't know. I thought maybe I said something wrong."

"You didn't."

"Are you sure?"

"Nathan."

He closed his mouth at her tone and nodded. He didn't want to see her angry. All he wanted to do was to see her happy, the way she was last night - hysterically laughing. He knew that he would be thinking about what happened for the rest of the day, and decided to just give Lexie some space. "Well, I'll go to Vance now. Don't want to be late."

"Okay."

With one last look, Nathan went to his room and grabbed his bag, head clouded with questions. When he left his room, Lexie wasn't in the kitchen anymore. He walked to her room and almost knocked, but stopped himself. Lexie was silent in her room, and Nathan tried his best not to open her door and constantly ask her if she's okay. He was worried, and he kept thinking that he did something wrong. 

On the other hand, Lexie started to feel guilty. She didn't know why she acted that way. Nathan's been nothing but kind and generous to her, so why the hell is she suddenly treating him like shit? She layed on her bed with her brows furrowed, thinking about Nathan. Why does he have to be so benevolent to her? She didn't know how she could repay the kindness he's been giving her, and she found herself growing more and more attached to him and his actions. She felt like she's starting to- 

The front door loudly closed, startling her. She sat up straight and looked at the clock - it was 11:30 and Nathan had a game later this afternoon. She went to the bathroom to get ready, wanting to watch him compete, and maybe apologize for her stupidity and questionable behavior. She even thought of using her period as an excuse for her behavior, but she thought that wouldn't be very honest of her. While getting ready, she started to think of what to say to Nathan - how to apologize, what to apologize for, and why she did what she did. By noon, she was fully ready, and she had her whole speech stored in her brain. She locked the front door, called a taxi, and repeated her apology in her head. Hopefully she doesn't forget.