The Other One

Chapter 13

Hey y'all. I sincerely apologize for how late this is. A lot of things have popped up in my life recently and I've had very little time to write.

I promised I'd have it up this weekend, though, so here it is. :D I'm rather proud of myself.

I think there's only going to be two more chapters left after this one; a neat 15-part story. The Other One's almost over! I swear, I'm going to have SO much fun writing the next couple chapters. xD

Hope you guys enjoy it! READ, COMMENT, VOTE, ENJOY! :D

+Cake

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Nathan stood in his living room, staring vacantly out the window. The apartment he lived in over the garage was large, spacious, and open. Almost an entire wall was replaced by a picture window that allowed a perfect view of the nature park below.

He liked to stand and observe after he closed up. He usually enjoyed watching the people as they lived out their lives – walked their dogs, kissed, talked, joked around – and sometimes he tried sketching them (not that he was any good at it).

Lately, he’d been unable to muster the interest to look anywhere but the dark sections of the forest, where the tree canopy was too thick for light to penetrate. Every time he saw someone so much as smile on the path below, a painful ache started in his gut and slithered up to contract around his heart, reminding him of how happy his life had been just two short weeks ago, and how quickly it had been ripped away from him. Unconsciously, he rubbed the area over his heart with the heel of his hand.

The colour seemed to have leaked out of everything, and he had literally not laughed in weeks.

He called Lizzie twice a day, once at noon and the second time around five in the afternoon, but she never answered. He knew she was screening and ignoring his calls. Who wouldn’t, after being told what he’d done?

 He desperately wanted a chance to explain what had happened, but she wasn’t giving him any slack. Not that he blamed her; she’d told him everything about why she had such a hatred for cheaters, starting with her father and ending with Connor, and he’d betrayed that trust by, first of all, allowing Madi to cheat on Connor with him, and then neglecting to tell her about it.

He found it unfair and extremely frustrating that she was judging him for actions he’d taken far in the past, but he found he couldn’t remain angry at her for that, either. It had still happened, regardless of how much he wished it hadn’t, and now she knew about it. Worse, she knew he’d kept it from her.

He honestly didn’t know what to do. He moved to the desk in his office and sat down, dropping his head heavily into his hands with a groan.

When she’d shoved him out the door in tears, Nathan had stood stunned on her lawn for a long time, gazing quizzically at the door, wondering what the hell had just happened. When he realized a car was pulling up to her house, he’d dazedly made his way to a bus stop and rode home.

As soon as he had entered his bedroom, all his emotions washed over him at once, and he’d suddenly been beset with the feeling that all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. He remembered calling Lizzie at least ten times within that hour, and eventually a woman picked up who sounded like an older version of Lizzie and stiffly asked him to stop calling, or she would be forced to unplug the phone.

He hadn’t known whether to be happy or sad at hearing her mother. It meant she’d finally made up with her mom, which was wonderful.

But it also meant she was on a sadness level that surpassed that which a simple friend could help with; it meant she needed her mom, and that made him so miserable that he thanked her mother, hung up, and lay in bed for the entire night, unable to sleep.