𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍

twenty eight

this is a long one, children. But so are the next two

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『 twenty-eight 』

MR. ALEXOPOULOS ANSWERED THE DOOR to a very tried and disgruntled Natalie at ten that same night. She had her largest purse with her, wherein which she had neatly folded up a new shirt for the next day, along with her bathroom supplies. A subtle way of spending the night at someone's house. 

"Oh- what do you want now?" Demetri's dad asked, rubbing between his eyes. 

"I need to see Demetri," Natalie answered. She didn't bother to wait for him to invite her inside. She knew Demetri was home, and she knew his mom wasn't. Tuesday was her bar night because she never worked on Wednesdays. And he also knew his dad didn't care enough to protest her being in the house. 

Big surprise, Mr. Alexopoulos put up no fight and shut the door behind her. 

"How long should we expect you for?" He asked in a monotone. He was clearly very interested in a conversation with her. Very. 

"Oh, just tonight. My problem goes back to his mom on Wednesday, and I have plans on the 18th," Natalie explained. She helped herself to a glass of water from the kitchen. 

Mr. Alexopoulos was already on his way back into the living room. His voice dissipated down the hall. "Great. Goodnight."

Demetri had the door open for her when she finally got up to his bedroom. He was used to the new routine they had found themselves in. Natalie had warned Demetri about her going there when she got in the car. He accepted her with open arms, despite how tired he was of having to open them. He was happy to help though. 

This was their new system. Demetri's mom knew about it. His dad saw her enough times in a month not to care anymore. 

If the Alexopouloses weren't available, she went to the LaRussos. They were just as welcoming and understood her need to get out. They had a very nice pull-out couch. But Natalie had only had to do that once. 

Natalie was done putting up with Hawk's nonsense. So when he got in one of his moods - while at the house - and didn't want to leave her alone for the entire night, she would simply leave the house. Just as she had done with Kate for one month, she would not live in the same environment Hawk was creating for himself. 

Leila had stopped protesting the system after November. Jackson stopped paying attention and started yelling at his kid more often. That sparked more arguments between Leila and Jackson, none of which Natalie was in the house to hear. 

"Hey," Demetri muttered when she entered the room, not looking away from his video game. 

"Yo." She threw her bag onto the carpet and flung herself onto the mattress of his bed. Something hard made contact with her back. 

"Don't break my phone. It was somewhere on there," Demetri told her as he made another kill. 

Natalie groaned and fished the phone from under her spine. "Yeah. I found it." She took one good look at it, paused, and smirked. 

"Oh! Crap! Dem, don't be mad... there's this little crack... just a little-"

"WHAT?" 

He threw away his controller and flung himself onto the bed. Natalie handed the phone to him reluctantly. Demetri examined his device up and down, side to side, practically inside out. But no damage had been done. Absolutely none. Slowly, he set it down and stared at her. Natalie couldn't contain her laughter anymore.