Taken- a Selection FanFiction

Chapter 14

"Are you crazy?" I laughed incredulously. "I can't fight!"

"Not in those clothes you can't," he partially agreed. He grabbed me by the wrists and dragged me back to the room as I struggled to keep up in my long dress and heels.

He began putting pillows and blankets on the ground. When he got done with that, he dug around in his closet until he found something to throw at me. We had now shared a closet, since the maids and servants assumed we were a happily engaged couple.

It wasn't great to have Nathan see every peace of clothing I was in somewhat possession of, and the same goes for him. I held out the clothes to spectate a black tank top and leggings. I scrunched my nose at the sight.

"I can't do this in a skirt?" I complained.

"Yeah," he laughed. "You're going to start wearing pants eventually. Might as well start now."

I grumbled muffled complaints as I went into the bathroom to change. I put the top over my torso, and it was loose and flowy. I struggled with the leggings, however. The closest I had come to pants were ballet tights, and I felt exposed in the stretchy fabric clinging to my legs.

Self-conscious and uncomfortable, I came out in the bedroom where Nathan was in a black t-shirt. I put my hair into a ponytail, tying it with a rubber band. I looked at Nathan expectantly. "Now what?" I asked.

"I'm going to show you," he smiled. "Since you're smaller, you need to know how to defend yourself. Always keep a firm stance," he explained as he moved my arms and body awkwardly. He showed me how to stand, and put my arms up to where it would block a hand-given blow.

"You can't twist like that," he picked. He put one hand on the small of my back and the other on my stomach before adjusting it, turning it at a straightforward angle. I gulped at the awkward tension and the heat his hand left. I shook off the heat rising on my neck.

For the next hour, he would tell me to practice my stance while he tried to knock me down. He used a series of drills to test my reflexes, which were pretty quick, but they weren't strong. He showed me how to use nimbleness and agility against a larger opponent.

This continued until I flopped down on the ground. "What's the point of this? I'm tired of you pushing me down, just for me to get up and do it again!" I screamed, muffled by the pillow I had driven my face in.

"We can keep on later," he said without a hint of tiredness in his breathing. He may have learned fighting or whatever when he was a kid, but I stuck to ballet and piano. They didn't involve me hurting myself, not including the occasional blisters from pointe shoes.

"What do you do for fun?" I asked, not expecting an answer. I lifted my head from the red pillow and brushed my stray hairs from my eyes. Nathan lay beside me on a blanket with his hands behind his head.

"I read, write, play, those kind of things," he responded casually.

"What do you read, write and play?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Fiction and action stories. I like writing, to be honest," he said matter-of-factly, without even glancing at me.

"What do you play?" I delved. I noticed he left that part out, and I could tell it was on purpose because he had a blush creeping up on his neck. "Tell me!"

"No," he said seriously, his eyes snapping wide open. I smiled and swung a leg over his torso, so I was sitting on top of his stomach.

"I'm not going to move until you tell me," I smiled stubbornly.

He smiled at me with a hint of mischief in his golden eyes. "That's your problem," he smirked. "It's going to increasingly awkward if somebody comes in here."

"What do you play?" I changed repeatedly, poking his chest and face. He had closed his eyes again, not bothering to listen to me. I grew impatient, so I chopped his throat. he began coughing and sputtering for oxygen.

"That was uncalled for," he said as he tried to catch his breath.

"If you tell me what you play, I won't do it again," I promised. He let out a sigh, and I smiled victoriously.

"Violin and piano," he huffed. I got off of his torso and stood up.

"Was that so hard?" I asked him. He frowned at me and pushed me back down. Using the reflexes he had taught me, I yanked his wrist so that he fell down with me.

We fell awkwardly, and I groaned at the impact he had put on me. He had fallen directly on top of me, and by the time I opened my eyes, his face was right above mine. I felt a blush rise to my cheeks. Before I could contemplate on saying something, he kissed me.

It had been so long since I had last been kissed, I forgot what it felt like. I immediately went with it, but that was before I had registered in my mind that it was Nathan, not Aaron, whose lips were on mine.

When I realized what had just taken place, I pushed him off of me and rolled out of the way. "What the hell?" I asked frantically. I was furious at him; he had no right. I didn't care what the circumstances were.

"I-I'm sorry," he stammered. He was obviously left speechless as I stood a few feet away from him, with a glare that could startle a grown man, which it was doing now. "El, I'm sorry," he choked.

"You can't just do that, Nathan!" I said in outrage. "I'm not yours to keep! You should have known how upset I was, being taken from Aaron! I loved him, and he felt the same way! You had no right!" At this point of my rant, tears flew down my cheeks.

"I don't care what this says," I said, flinging my ring on the ground. "I'm Aaron's, and it's past time you and everyone else realized that."

I stormed out of the room, and even though I could hear his footsteps chasing after me, I didn't stop until I had locked myself inside a broom closet. I heard him pass the door, and I sank to the ground in relief.

I let the silent tears flow carelessly. After all, I was going to stay in here a while.