Logan

143. You're Safe

*Briar POV*

I rushed up the stairs after Natalie, the door starting close in my face but my hand caught the doorknob.

"Natalie, can I come in?"

"Yeah, whatever." She said, I opened the door to her pulling off her gloves and coat.

"Do you know what she said to Desmond, about me?" She painfully laughed, her breath hitching, she repeated Giordano's words in Italian, a mocking tone, "she said 'this is her? surely she cannot wear your sweaters' it was so funny to her. Desmond said nothing in my defense! He just looked at us, just, nothing. He just stood there." She turned to face me, shirtless, standing in her bra crying and I hated Desmond in this moment.

I pulled off my sweater and walked up to her.

"What are you doing?" She asked. We were now standing shirtless together. I got down on one knee, holding my sweater up.

"Natalie, would you wear my sweater?"

"You are a dork." She laughed, "Yes, I'll wear it." I slid the sweater over her head and it tumbled down onto her body with ease. Natalie was swimming in it, but she was smiling. Her shoulders were soft on my palms as I wrapped her in a hug. I felt her shoulders ease as I tightened my grip, she hummed and pulled me in. We stood, holding each other and I kissed her forehead. She looked up at me, her earthly brown eyes staring back at me.

I leaned in, our lips almost touching, "Can I kiss you?"

Natalie mumbled in approval and I closed the gap between us, kissing her once, twice, and then she pulled away. Part of me wanted to ask her on a date, but I know she was emotional, still reeling from Desmond's actions.

"Cake." I blurted.

"What?" She laughed.

"Oh, I got you cake. We should go down."

"What if I don't want cake?" She whispered.

"Is it because of what she said?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"Maybe a little, but what kind is it?"

"It's chocolate." She slipped out of my grasp and grabbed my hand, pulling me down the steps after her. "Wait, I should probably get a shirt on, Desmond would freak out if he saw you and I like this."

Natalie looked at me confused, "What's the point? Those guys aren't wearing shirts, come on." She found a spot at a table and grabbed our food, her immediate action was to open the cake, and she took a bite with a moan of approval. I smiled when she kicked her feet on the stool, girls doing the happy dance when eating was so cute. She leaned into me, and I put my arm around her.

I looked over to see Raleigh glaring, clenched jaw, and his dark eyes could singe a hole into my body if he wanted to. Natalie distracted me by placing her hand on my thigh, "Hey, so what do you guys do when-"

"Hey, make sure you take your meds." Raleigh said behind us, his face stoic.

A switch flipped somewhere in Natalie's disposition and she sat up, body rigid. "I really don't need you trying to look out for me now, especially after what happened at The Iris." She took her hand off my thigh and placed her hand on Raleigh's chest, pushing him back, "Please mind my personal space."

A couple of guys looked over at her, Raleigh's face was a look of surprise and he stepped back, making himself sparse at his own table. I popped open her container of fries and burger, "Is this okay? I remember you said you had a thing about cheese."

Natalie picked up the tomato, "All of this is great, except the tomato."

I picked it out of her grasp and ate it, "Taken care of, do you need some napkins?"