Aimed At You

Chapter 17

Louis and Lexie waited for the rest of the boys outside Nathan and Lexie's apartment. They were going to Louis' house, which was in the richer part of the town. Apparently, Louis has his own shooting-range at home, in which Lexie could use to practice and prepare for the upcoming competition against the new champion, Luke. Nathan called Vance right after Lexie agreed to compete. They discussed the details of the competition over the phone, and Lexie refused to join the conversation despite the fact that she's the topic.

Lexie, as always, started to second guess her decision. She mentally slapped herself for agreeing and easily succumbing to Nathan's charms. At the same time, she told herself that she's only doing this for him. The competition means so much to Nathan for some unknown reason, and he really wanted that title. She sighed, catching Louis' attention.

"It's really sweet that you agreed to compete for Nathan." He said with a little hint of something in his tone.

"I'm not doing it for him." Lexie answered too quickly.

Louis smirked and shook his head, "Uh huh."

"I just also think that Luke doesn't deserve the title."

"Yeah."

Lexie kicked a pebble, growing impatient. They've been waiting for the others for about 10 minutes now, and Lexie refused to wait in the car - she's been sitting all day. Before she could storm up the stairs and scold the others for taking so long, Louis spoke.

"You know, Nathan hates being called Nate."

Lexie paused, "Oh?"

"Yeah, I think his brother's the only one who calls him that."

"So that's why he reacted that way when I called him Nate." Lexie said thoughtfully, barely audible. 

"Anyway," Louis cracked his neck. "What's up with you two?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean are you two dating now? I was just teasing you two the other day, but from what I've seen, y'all look like you're together."

"And what have you seen?"

"Oh, nothing. Just you two staring at each other every chance you get." He chuckled. "Seriously, you stare at each other like your life depends on it."

Lexie timidly smiled, then pressed her lips together, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The gate of the apartment widely opened revealing Joe, Nathan and Leo. Joe was talking to Nathan as if he was a mother telling her child how to ask a girl out. He was grinning and occasionally slapping Nathan's arm. 

"Finally!" Louis exclaimed, walking to the driver's seat.

"What took you so long?" Lexie directly asked Nathan as if he's the only one she's waiting for.

Nathan smiled at her. "Sorry, we were looking for equipment, and Joe wouldn't stop yapping about you and m-" He cuts himself off. "You. He wouldn't stop yapping about you."

Leo snickered as he got inside the car. They sat in the exact same position as earlier after putting the equipment inside the trunk. "What about me?" She asks, turning to Joe.

"Just your confidence earlier when you stood up to Luke. You really astonished us - some more than others." He said, glancing at Nathan briefly.

"He deserved it."

***

They arrived at Louis' mansion-looking house 30 minutes later. His house was surrounded by trees and gave him all the privacy he needed. Louis unlocked one of the double doors after parking in the driveway, and the others followed suit. 

"Holy shit." Lexie cursed under her breath when she saw the inside. Louis' house surprised her the most, as if she's never been in a mansion before. There were several picture frames, chandeliers, and decorations all over his house, and they were only on the first floor. It was a three-story house with a rooftop that Lexie badly wanted to explore. 

They went straight to the enormous backyard that had its own kitchen, fireplace, couches, and more. Nathan noticed Lexie's amused face and chuckled inwardly. On the far right of the backyard was Louis' shooting-range. There were several targets in sight, all in varying distances. A table was placed 5 meters before the first line of targets where the boys set all the guns and protective gear. For a second, Lexie thought she was in an action movie. 

"Okay," Leo clapped his hands together. "You and Nathan will be training here since we're useless, while we stay inside and eat. Is that okay?"

Lexie hesitated for a moment. She hasn't been alone with Nathan for a while, and they still haven't talked about what happened. She glanced at him, and he had a look on his face as if he could read her thoughts.

"Or I could force them to come help us." He shrugged and started to arrange the guns on the table, acting as nonchalant as he possible.

"It's fine," she said. "As long us you give us food."

Louis nodded and walked away with Leo. Joe lingered for just a second to not so secretly wink at Nathan. He rolled his eyes, and when they were all out of sight, Lexie bit her lip. She didn't know what to do or say, so she anxiously tapped her foot, waiting for Nathan to finish.

Neither one of them broke the silence for about 5 minutes, then they finally had enough. 

"Can we talk?" Nathan asks at the same time as Lexie said "I'm sorry."

They both chuckled and turned to face each other. 

"I'll forgive you if you tell me why you acted weird." Nathan said, running a hand through his messy hair. Her eyes followed his hands' movement and found herself wanting to fix his hair for him.

"Well," she started. "If I'm being completely honest, I have no idea why I acted the way I did. I guess I just-" She stopped herself, then shook her head. "Never mind."

"Tell me."

Lexie sighed and searched Nathan's emerald eyes for a second, as if she'll find the answer there. "No one ever did something like that for me before. Hell, no one's ever been as kind to me as you are."

She answered in the lowest volume as possible, but Nathan heard it as clear as day. He stared at her for a while, not saying anything. He was looking at her with so much curiosity, like he's puzzling her the same way he looked at her the first time they met.

"Okay, yeah, let's not be awkward please." Lexie turned her back to Nathan, trying to conceal the redness in her cheeks. Her heart was hammering against her chest, and she was cursing Nathan for always having the ability to get anything out of her. She felt like a glass whenever she's with Nathan, like he could see right through her. 

She heard footsteps and thought that Nathan walked away from her depressing self. She thought, who wouldn't? She sighed, trying not to cry for what felt like the seventieth time this day. She turned around and was startled to see that Nathan was standing 2 feet away from her. His eyes switched from her left to her right eye, as if he didn't know which one to look at. In the end, he decided to land his eyes on her perfectly red lips. 

"You deserve to be treated like a goddess, Lexie."