i can see you - tsitp

five.

NATE IS AWOKEN the next morning by sunlight peering in through his blinds. He groans, rolling onto his stomach as he slowly wakes up.

Then everything from the night before hits him like a train, and his groans turn into whines of agony; Belly and Carlee are pissed at him and he abandoned Taylor at the party.

In fact, Nicole had been the one to take him home last night. She didn't seem mad about it, and he drunk confessed to her that he was in a relationship and Belly was not happy about it.

"What are you even saying right now, Nate?" she had asked, glancing over at him. She had claimed that she was sober because she was hosting.

"I'm dating her best friend!" he cried out, leaning against her window. "And we were just... we was just making out upstairs and she caught us and she yelled at me... and you saw Carlee yelling at me..."

"You have a girlfriend?" Nicole asked with a small frown. "I didn't... I didn't know that."

He leans up against his headboard, holding his head in his hands. He hears the door open to reveal Steven peeking in, smiling slightly.

"Headache?" the older of the two inquires, holding out one of Jeremiah's smoothies. "Here. He and Belly just left, but he had this on the counter for you."

"Yeah, thanks." mutters Nate, taking it out of Steven's hand as the boy sits on the edge of his bed. "Belly say anything to you?"

Steven shakes his head. "No. Pretty sure she's pissed though."

Nate nods. "Yeah, figures. Maybe we should've told her before we, you know."

"Yeah, maybe. You could've told me, too, man. Leaving me out. How come Jere got to know?"

"He just figured it out." scoffs Nate, shaking his head at the ceiling. "I have no idea how, that kid is... something else."

Steven laughs quietly. "Yeah, true." he notes Nate's sullen look. "Hey, listen, I don't think Belly is mad at you. I think she's just upset you guys didn't tell her first."

"Maybe." Nate buries his head in his hands. "Jesus. This sucks. I hate having Belly mad at me. She's scary."

"Oh, yeah, totally." chuckles Steven, leaning forward. "Would not have wanted to be you last night, bro."

"Absolutely fucking not."

Steven leaves a few minutes later, and Nate quickly downs the rest of the smoothie. He knows Taylor is getting ready to leave, and he already feels like a massive dick, so he heads into Belly's bedroom to apologize.

Indeed, she's packing her stuff into her suitcase. She hardly spares him a glance, continuing to shove her clothes away.

"You need something, perv?" she snaps, standing up straight when she notices he's still in the doorway, leaned up against the wall. "Heard you got a ride home from Nicole last night."

"Listen, would you, please?" he begs, and she sighs, crossing her arms bitterly and raising her brows. "I'm sorry for being a dick last night, alright? You didn't deserve that. I was just... after Belly and Carlee saw us, I just got fucking wasted-"

"Seems like that's a reoccurring pattern when you get intimate with a girl." Taylor reminds him, scoffing a little. "Maybe you need to stop drinking."

Nate grins sheepishly at her, taking a seat on Belly's bed and resting Junior Mint on his lap. His eyes don't leave Taylor's, and hers don't leave his. "That's a good idea. Think I'm gonna start doing that."

Taylor hums, turning back to her packing. "Whatever, Nathan."

"Fuck, listen," he can tell she's actually pissed at him; she's using his real name, "I didn't want to hurt you, and I didn't want to hurt Belly."