Coming Back Home

Chapter 11

"Sure," I said as I gave Trevor another look.

"Perfect, well you two enjoy," Trevor said with a cheesy smile, "I'll see you later."

I discretely rolled my eyes at him as Natalie and I walked out his front door.

We walked across the hall and I unlocked the door to my apartment with Natalie following close behind me.

"Well," I said as I held my hands up by my sides, "this is the exciting apartment."

Natalie shut the door behind her and looked around.

"That door won't lock us in, don't worry," I said with a grin.

"Good to know," she said with a slight smile as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Do you uh, want a drink or anything?" I asked.

"Sure," she responded.

I walked into the kitchen and made each of us a drink and brought them back into the living room. As I handed Natalie her drink, her fingers brushed against mine. We briefly made eye contact before quickly looking back down.

"So I'm assuming Trevor knows what's going on or he wouldn't have suggested this?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah...I mean he knows the gist of it," I said.

"Except he didn't know that I was the bitchy coworker you had told him about?" She said with a smirk as she took a sip of her drink.

My face grew red with embarrassment and I put my head down to try and hide it.

"Um...about that, I'm sorry I just - " I started quietly.

"Hey," Natalie said as she put her hand on my arm, "it's fine, I was just giving you shit...and I have been a bitch, I'm sorry for that."

I hadn't seen this side of Natalie since I'd been back, and it was a relief to know that it still existed.

"It's ok," I said, "thank you though."

Natalie dropped her hand from my arm and an awkward silence fell between us. It was blatantly obvious that we both had things that we still wanted to say.

"I'm glad that getting locked in a closet forced us to talk a little bit," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

Natalie hesitated for a moment before responding, "me too actually."

"Speaking of that, are you ever going to tell me what you meant by your little comment you made when we were in there?" I asked.

"Yeah I figured that would come up again," Natalie said as she scratched the side of her head.

"Well...?" I said hesitantly.

"Fuck," Natalie muttered under her breath, "okay, at the risk of making this even weirder, I might as well get this over with."

I watched as Natalie struggled to get her words out.

"The reason I pushed away from everyone, and you specifically, isn't because I was just trying to be part of the 'popular girls' or anything," she said.

Whatever Natalie was trying to say was very clearly making her uncomfortable, I don't think I'd ever seen her act this way before.

"Okay, then why did you?" I asked, trying to encourage her to continue.

Natalie took a deep breath and looked up at me.

"Because I started to have feelings for you, and it scared me, and I didn't want to, and I didn't know what to do," Natalie quickly got everything out before she could stop herself.

"You - what now?" I said, tripping over my words.

"It's weird, I know, I probably shouldn't have said anything but - I don't know," Natalie said nervously.

"No it just um, you really caught me off guard," I said, "I didn't mean to make you think it sounded dumb. I just had no idea."

"I should've just told you back then, it would've made things a lot easier," she said, "or maybe not, I don't know...but I should've told you."

I fidgeted with my hands as I debated how to respond to Natalie. It seemed like now was as good of a time as there'd ever be to tell her the truth about what I'd been feeling too.

"You're right," I said, "you should've told me, because then I could've told you that I was having the same thoughts as you were."

"You - you were?" Natalie said in shock.

I nodded at her in response, "I don't think I knew how to deal with it when we were younger, I'm still pretty confused honestly."

I put my hand up to my face and rubbed my eyes as I turned away from Natalie. This was a lot to take in for both of us.

I felt her hand on my wrist and she turned me around to face her. Before I knew what was happening, her other hand was on the back of my head and she pulled me in and kissed me.

I didn't even have a chance to catch my breath before her lips abruptly pulled away from mine. She kept her hand on the back of my head and her face just inches away from me.

"I'm sorry," she said as her gaze burned into mine, "I shouldn't have done that."

Her eyes put me in a trance as I quietly said, "yes you should have."

I reached up and put my hands on her neck as I returned the favor and leaned in to kiss her. I could feel the hesitation from her before we both gave in and the kiss intensified.

Natalie grasped a handful of my hair and I felt her tongue part my lips. I had no idea how badly I'd been wanting this until now, but now that I had it, there was no going back.

Our tongues tangled together as I kept one hand on the side of her neck and moved the other down to her waist. I pulled her against me and felt a rush of heat surge through my body.

I didn't want the kiss to stop, but I had a sudden realization and was pulled out of the fantasy that we were in.

"Hold on," I said quietly, my lips still close to Natalie's.

"What's wrong?" She asked me.

"You have a boyfriend Natalie," I said as I looked her in the eye.

"Fuck, I know," she leaned her forehead against mine before quickly stealing another kiss.

When the moment between us had passed, I suddenly felt uncomfortable again, and I dropped my hands down to my sides.

"Well..." I said as I stepped back, "guess that just happened."

Natalie laughed before a slight look of concern came across her face.

"Are you okay?" Natalie asked as she took in my uncomfortable stance.

"Yeah I um - well I've never done that before, and you - you have a boyfriend so - I don't know," I stammered.

"Madison, me having a boyfriend is my problem to feel bad about, not yours," she said reassuringly.

"And that was really your first time kissing another girl before, huh?" She said with a smirk.

I looked up at her and nodded.

"Wow," she said as she stepped closer to me again, "I'm honored."

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