Please Mind The Gap #1

9: Please mind the fashion show

9: Please mind the fashion show

--- icon by @pallows- ---

Nathan had decided not to tell Teddy about the mouth-to-mouth part with him on her adventure at the beach. She was already cranky about the large bandage covering her head. He didn't want to add to her mood.

She had borrowed Natalie's I Love Kangaroos cap to hide the bandage. And that had cheered her up a bit. A tiny bit. Though it was still progress. She didn't snap at him at him as much as she did when she first met him so he was secretly happy about that.

Four days after the accident at the beach, he was preparing for the volunteering thing he was planning to do the next day. Nathan had taken a liking on volunteering after... No, he cringed, he couldn't think about it. It would rip him apart.

Right now, he was sorting out the clothes he wanted to donate to the people living under a small bridge that the volunteering organization wanted to reach out to. He was heaving a large box overflowing with his old shirts and Natalie's old fashioned dresses when Teddy passed by, headed for the kitchen. When she saw him, she paused and quickly scanned the box he was carrying.

"Hi," he grunted out of effort.

"Hi," she replied curiously. She unconsciously straightened her cap that went well with her honey strands. "What's that?" She wasn't that rude anymore. Well, she still was. But not really.

"Er," he said, lowering the box. "These are for my volunteering project."

She snorted. "You volunteer?" she asked skeptically.

He rolled his eyes. "Why do you think 'I'm so nice'?" he said, quoting what she told him in the hospital.

"Ah," she remarked. "But you're a saint."

"Why, thank you."

"Hey," she said, nearing the box. She pulled out a pretty dress of Natalie's with narrow straps and an intricate floral pattern. "My..." she winced. "My mum used to have one of these. Only in blue, not yellow."

He raised his eyebrows. "Go try it on."

"Are you out of your mind?" she stared at him. "I can't."

"Go on."

Teddy looked weirdly at him before heading off to change. She returned in the dress, her pale arms bare and the skirt swishing around her knees. "It's very pretty," she mumbled, touching the fabric. Then she grinned. "What's that you're holding?"

He was staring at her. She was very beautiful in the dress. And he noticed that. His mouth started to go dry...

She snapped her fingers sharply at him. "Hey, did you hear what I said?"

"Yo," he said stupidly. "I mean yes. No. Yes, I heard you." He shook his head then looked down at what he was holding. The corner of his mouth pulled up in a half smile. "This is my old shirt. Back when my dear old mother used to think I was gay." He swung the shirt in the air. It was neon pink with a big yellow smiley face on the front. Below read "I AM GAY" in bold neon yellow letters. There was a small text underneath that proclaimed, "gay means happy, you idiots".

Nathan snickered at Teddy's dismayed face after reading the shirt. "Oh my God," she said.

"Yes, oh my God," Nathan replied.

"Go try it on," she urged him.

He rolled his eyes but pulled the shirt over his head, on top of his current shirt. He have her a goofy smile. "Happy?"

"Why you look dashing," she scoffed, though she was smiling slightly.

He struck a pose and acted girly. "O. M. G. He is so cute!"

Teddy snorted again and played along. "OMG, girl, who?"

"That guy?" Nathan winked at her. "Nathan Wren. Cough cough. Wink wink."

Teddy laughed. It was a laugh that she disguised with a cough so now she sounded like she was choking. He grinned. He had made her laugh. Not really, but still. To make Teddy laugh was like trying to have a civil conversation with a crocodile.

"This is a very strange fashion show we're holding right now," Nathan observed.

"The only strange thing here is your shirt," Teddy pointed out. Nathan looked down and shrugged.

"True," he admitted. He yanked the shirt off and tossed it back into the box. "The guy who made it really has to reassess his life choices."

Teddy gave him a wry smile then disappeared to change out of the dress. Nathan stared after her for a moment, watching her golden-brown fire-tipped hair swish past her shoulders before disappearing behind the wall. He blinked and heaved the box down the stairs to put it at the back of the car. When he came back up, Teddy was done changing and seemed to be looking for him.

"Nathan?" she called out inquisitively. "Oh, you," she said dismissively when she saw him. "I was just looking for..."

Nathan coughed. "Me?"

"No, another Nathan," Teddy said sarcastically. "I was wondering if I could go with you to your volunteer thingy. You know, be a saint for once."

"And what are you now before you want to become a saint?"

Teddy stared at him with her bright green eyes like leaves of a tree at the beginning of spring. "I'm just Teddy."

He was slightly breathless and his heart was involuntarily slamming away in his chest. "No, you're not. You're not just Teddy. You are Teddy. And you're extraordinary, not just just." He cringed. "Did I sound like an idiot?"

Teddy was looking at him. Really looking at him. Not just a brief glance or a disgusted glare or a careless flicker of an eye. She was looking into his eyes, taking him in, digesting the sight of him. "Yes," she said automatically. She gave a small quirk of the mouth. "Actually, no. That was really something." Her smile grew into a sincere smile. She tilted her cap forward and said in a ruder, more Teddy-like tone, "I'm going with you to volunteer. You can't change that."

"Changing an Errol's decision is impossible. Like trying to cheat death. I know that," he said, his heartbeats slowly subsiding into a steadier rhythm. "I'm not stupid."

"No you're not," Teddy agreed. "You're just gay." She walked away into Enalie's bedroom then popped her head back out. "Which means happy, you idiot," she added as an afterthought and disappeared behind the bedroom door once more.

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Yasssss, people, 200 + views! I'm so happy right now, I could cry :DDD. Anyway, the usual routine: vote, comment, follow:)

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