Golden || H.S. ||

Chapter 28

Too good to be true.

I should have known from the start, he was always too good to be true.

Sniffling in the back of Nate's car, I notice his head tilt up so he can see me in the rearview mirror. I meet eyes with him and hold it for a moment, then use the heel of my hand to wipe my left eye. All stuffed up from crying, my voice sounds croaky and nasally like I've got a head cold. "Could you please not tell Harry I got off early today?"

Stopped at a red light, Nate creases his eyebrows and keeps eye contact with me. I'm a little shocked when I hear a low, tender form of compassion leave his lips. "Of course." I hadn't realized until now that I've never heard him talk before. I give him a small nod of my head before turning back towards the window and bringing my feet up to the seat so my knees are near my chest. Leaning my head against the glass and closing my eyes, I hold onto my hands with my arms wrapped around my shins. My brain is pounding against my skull, leaving a thunder of pain with each one. I'm exhausted; crying for long periods of time can really take a toll on a person.

My eyes are startled open when I hear Nate's car door close, so I look out the window and see that we're parked in the lot of the local grocery store I asked him to stop at before we go to the house. Sniffling again, I blink my eyes a few times and wipe my face to try and rid the tight feeling on my skin that my dried up tears have left behind. He opens the door for me, and I slowly make my way out of the car with the ache in my chest weighing me down. My mind feels clouded as we walk in through the automatic doors of the store and find ourselves in the pasta aisle. When he picked me up from work, I tried to tell Nate that he didn't need to come into the store with me, but he silently insisted. With his hands behind his back, he stands next to me as I stare blankly at the several different types and brands of pasta.

Engaged.

I can't get that fucking word out of my brain.

He's engaged.

Fuck.

Hunched over a little from my miserable state of mind, I leisurely roam my eyes around all of the different boxes before finally sighing a bit to myself and reaching for the cheapest box of spaghetti noodles. I mindlessly toss it into my cart, then turn and mope my way down the aisle towards the different sauces. He stays the same; quiet and close by. Part of me wonders what he's waiting on. Maybe for me to see a fucking brand of parmesan cheese that reminds me of Harry or something and makes me break down in the middle of the grocery store.

Probably a good idea... You never know with me and my obnoxious emotions.

Paused again, but this time in front of the different pasta sauces, I take a deep breath and blankly look at all of my options, but then look down at the sauces towards the bottom of the shelves in Nate's direction. Turning my head more towards him but keeping my eyes down I ask, "Did you know about Zara?" I shouldn't have to elaborate one way or the other. Though my eyes are fixed on the part of shelving in front of him, my focus is on Nate in the corner of my eye. Uncomfortably, he shifts his weight onto his other foot and places his hands on his hips before he looks down at the ground and nods his head yes. I turn my lips down into a frown from clarity, and slowly nod my head as well. Makes sense, I don't even know how long he's worked with Harry. Maybe he spends half of his day chauffeuring me around and the other half doing the same for Zara.

I can't blame him for not telling me, it's none of his business anyway.

It takes me over 20 minutes to pick out some marinara sauce and frozen garlic bread, but once I have what I need, I look up at Nate for the first time since getting out of the car. "All done." Though he doesn't say anything back, his brows twitch just enough to show his concern for me. I have to look away. "It's fine." I swallow and say more to myself than to him, "I'll be fine."