A/N This is the cheesiest goddamn thing I think I've ever written. Omg.
Anyway, it takes place somewhere after Wish I Were Here. I made some changes to canon, and while I love the original, I made my version a bit happier. Because Natalie is my baby.
This is the first of many oneshots.
Enjoy!
-Ashley
Self loathing is a wicked habit.
Natalie supposed it's why she was here, in a club, high off whatever that guy gave her, and crying in the bathroom.
She just didn't understand why she had to ruin everything good in her life. Henry told her he wouldn't pick her up from these clubs anymore, and now she had to deal with it.
Many hysterical minutes later, she sought out the guy from earlier. Despite being the kind of guy who handed out pills to girls at clubs, he was a friendly face and she was hoping he might drive her home.
Finally she saw him, and pushed her way through a group of girls to get to him.
"Hey, do you have a car?" Her mind was foggy, from the pills and from the crying, and she knew she sounded stupid.
Luckily, he understood. "Do you need a ride home?"
She nodded. "Unless you're a serial rapist, in which case I'll walk." Henry always told her she was blunt when she was high. Guess it was true.
He didn't seem bothered by her statement though. In fact, he laughed.
"You'll meet some actual serial rapists if you walk alone. Come on, I'll drive you," he said. She followed him out the door.
"Is that your car?" She asked, pointing to an old rusted truck in the parking lot.
"Yep."
"It's really ugly."
He laughed again. "C'mon, just get in."
They both got in the truck. As he started the car, Natalie got a piece of paper and a pen from his glove department and wrote down an address. She handed it to him, then rolled the windows down and rested her head on the door, so she could feel the wind in her hair. She sighed.
"What's your name?" The guy asked.
Natalie moved her head and looked at him.
"Natalie."
"I'm James." He stuck out his hand.
She smiled wryly and shook it.
"How does a pretty girl like you end up in a place like that?" He asked.
She moved her head back to the door.
"Typical stuff. Bipolar mom. Dead brother. A boyfriend, or make that ex I guess, finally being done with my shit."
"Bipolar mom?"
"Yeah." Natalie kind of laughed. "She's all kinds of crazy. She sees and talks to my brother."
"The dead one."
"That's the one. And since she's so focused on her dead child, she has no time for her living one. And my dad! My dad is so busy trying to fix her or whatever that he doesn't have time for me either! The only person who really cared about me was Henry, and he gave up on me."
"I'm sure he didn't-"
"He did."
There was an awkward silence until James spoke again.
