We've Only Just Begun

Part 9 - Dionne

I huffed and put the phone back on the night stand. When I layed back down Nathan pulled me closer to him, spooning me. Even though it was none of my business, I really didn't want Nathan talking to this Dionne girl. I already didn't like her. 

I tried not to think too hard about it, he told me that he wanted nothing to do with her, so I believed him. I'm the kind of person who trusts someone until they prove that I can't, which isn't the best way to go about things, but it's who I am. 

The next morning I woke up to the doorbell ringing over and over again. I rolled over and saw that Nath wasn't in bed, he had already gotten up. 

I heard Maria answer the door. "Can I help--"

"Is Nathan here?!" A girl's voice interrupted, it wasn't anyone I recognized. It was very high pitched and shrill.

"Uhh, yeah..." Maria sounded skeptical. 

I heard Nathan then. "What the hell are you doing here?!" He asked. He sounded shocked and angry. I made my way to the top of the stairs to listen.

"I've been in town for a couple days. That's why I've been calling you. I want to see you."

Shit. It was Dionne. 

"I've told you a million times to leave me the hell alone, Dionne. I don't want anything to do with you anymore. Nothing." 

"But--" 

"But nothing. I've moved on. You should too." Nathan interrupted.

I made my way downstairs then. I was almost to the bottom when she saw me. "And who's this?!" She looked at me, then at Nathan. She looked genuinely shocked. Ha. Poor girl.

"This is Abbey. She's my girlfriend." Nathan replied sternly so she got the point. "I told you, I've moved on." 

She looked at me then. "Maybe you should leave. This is personal, between me and Nathan..." She said. It took all I had to contain my laughter. I even heard Maria laugh from the other room.

"I live here sweety." I told her condescendingly and gave her a stern look. "Looks to me like Nath doesn't want you here. Maybe you're the one that needs to leave." 

She came at me then and pushed me hard against the wall. 

I saw red. 

I pulled my right arm back and snapped it forward as hard as I could, punching her right in the jaw. I hardly remember hitting her, the adrenaline rush was unreal. A couple seconds went by and then the pain in my hand set in. Punching someone isn't as easy and tough as it looks in the movies. It hurt, a lot. 

"FUCK!" I shouted and shook my hand, trying to relieve it of the pain.

"GET THE FUCK OUT! NOW!" Nathan yelled at Dionne. 

"This isn't over." She said. I looked at her then. She was crying and holding her hand up to her jaw. Serves her right. She walked out the door, slamming it. I looked around and realized everyone had come out of their rooms to see what was happening. I didn't even realize Siva was at my side along with Nathan. 

"She just decked the shit out of her!" Tom said excitedly. He enjoyed that.

"Shut up, Tom. She's hurt." Nathan said. "Are you okay?!" He asked me, he was really concerned. 

"I think I broke my hand." I told him as I winced at the pain.

"Come on, let's get you to the hospital." 

Nathan, Seev, Steph, and Jay all came to the emergency room with me. After xrays we got into a room to see the doctor and he asked me what I did to hurt my hand.

"She punched the girl trying to steal her man." Jay laughed. I shot him an irritated look, and looked back at the doctor. 

"Well, is that true?" He asked me curiously.

I looked down. "...Yeah." I said. Nathan put his arm around me then and the doctor looked up at him. 

"So you're the one worth breaking a hand for huh?" He asked Nathan. Nath looked ashamed. 

I looked up at him then. "Hey...I'd do it again in a heartbeat. She got what was coming to her." I said.

He smiled, but he wasn't convinced. "Yeah but you're hurt." He replied. He picked up my broken hand very carefully and looked at it. I winced. It was swollen and bruised all over the knuckles.

"Well, you're going to have to wear a cast for six weeks." The doctor said. 

"Looks like I won't be taking any pictures for a while." I said, looking at Nath.

"Don't worry, love. Just focus on getting your hand better for the moment." 

"You should probably come up with a lie to tell people if they see her cast." Steph chimed in. 

"She makes a good point." Siva agreed. 

"She tripped and fell and broke her hand trying to catch herself. There. Settled." Jay smiled. He looked proud of his idea.

"Yeah." I said. "Sounds about right." 

The doctor put the cast on my hand and we headed back home. When we got back Nathan took me straight upstairs to his room. 

"I'm so sorry." I said to him. "I don't know what came over me."

"Do not apologize, Abbey. She pushed you first." He replied.

"Yeah but I've never hit anyone before. At least not out of anger. I can't believe I broke my hand." I started crying. I felt terrible.

"Hey." He wiped my tears away. "Don't worry. Seriously. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Like you said, she got what was coming to her." He bent down and kissed me. "You should rest." 

"Nath it's only noon." I said. 

"So. We have two more days before work, you should take advantage of them." He pulled the covers down and motioned for me to get under them. "Come on. In you go." He said. 

"Only if you stay with me." I said teasingly. 

"Of course." He replied, and climbed in bed with me. I started crying again. I don't know why I was crying, my hand wasn't hurting much anymore; the pain killers were taking effect. I guess I was just really ashamed of myself, even if the bitch did have it coming. 

Nath didn't say anything while I was crying. He just held me. 

A couple minutes went by. "Hey Nath?" I sniffed.

"Yeah?" 

"You told Dionne I was your girlfriend earlier..." I said. 

"Yeah. I know you're not ready for that yet. But I had to show her that I was with you some how." He replied.

"It's not that I don't want to, because I really really like you. And even though I feel like I know you so well already, I want to get to know you even more. I've only been here for three days. We can't rush this...it's too important." I said.

"I completely understand. Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere" He replied and kissed my hair. "Get some rest babe." 

I closed my eyes and fell asleep.