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"Oh my God!!! Nate what are you doing here!"
I shouted, running to my much deeply missed cousin, Nate Maloley! I haven't been to see him in Nebraska for at least two years!"Hey, Nat! Long time no fûçking see!"
He gave me a warm hug after completely getting out of his car."Come in!!!" I exclaimed, leading him to my dorm.
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"So how've you been?" He asked me, once we got to Juls- a fancy Italian resteraunt downtown.
"I've been good, actually. I've finally found a group of people and I'm happy. I have an awesome boyfriend, Jack, and I really love him. I might be going crazy, I don't know." I said with a nervous chuckle.
"Well sometimes falling in love means losing your mind.." Nate said, wisely. He always has something smart and heart-felt to say- which is what I missed most.
"I really missed you!" I tell him for the 100th time.
"I missed you too, dweeb." That was the nickname he's called me since I was 5 and he was 7. "Just let me know if anything happens with this boyfriend of yours and I'll come kick his ass."
"I'll keep that in mind." I giggled as he winked.
"Let's eat!"
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁I had just finished helping Nate setup in my dorm. I was gonna let him sleep in my bed because I would probably have slept with Jack anyways.
"You all good?" I asked, plopping down on the couch next to him.
"Yeah, nice place you've got here." He examines the pictures of Jenna and I on our desk next to the TV. "Who's the hot one next to you in all these photos?" Nate smirked to himself.
"My best friend. She's my roommate. Her room is on the other side of the living room." Holy shit... I totally forgot! I'm leaving Nate in here with Jenna... all night. What the hell is wrong with me?! We have separate rooms, but I totally forgot to ask her if she was okay with that. Crap.
"Ohhhh." He smirked again. "Cool."
"Uhhh, let's go see if my friends are downstairs in the basement." I nervously changed the subject, not expecting anyone to be down there. I didn't want him to meet my friends just yet. He might be rude to Jack so one got to get him into a good friendly mood first.
"Ight."
I led him downstairs after he finished putting all his luggage up and all his toiletries in the bathroom.
Once we got down there, to my surprise, everyone was there- without me.
"We only have 2 d- Hey Natalie!!!!" Jack saw me mid-sentence talking to my friends and all eyes turned towards me.
"Holy shit! Nate!" Johnson exclaimed. They know eachother?
Sam, JJ, and Jack all got up and rushed towards him.
How do they know eachother?"Holy shit, man. It's been too long!" Jack said, bro-hugging him.
"Yeah, I know." Nate replied, sounding like a surprised little girl.
"What're you doing here, man?" Sam questioned, shaking his hand. They all came to sit down on our humongous couch to reminisce.
"Natalie's my cousin! Which of you is the Jack she's dating?" Nate chuckled.
"That would be me." Jack replied, joyfully, as he pulled me into his lap.
"That's crazy! Cousins? Oh my God!"
"Yeah... So how do y'all know eachother?" I asked curiously.
"We were all childhood friends. We were the crew when we were little. Then I moved here with Johnson in eighth grade and Sam moved here ninth. Nate never did, because he loved Nebraska. We, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. Nate Maloley.. holy shit dude. How are you!" Jack said.
It's a small world after all...
"I've been well. I'm actually considering coming here, but I didn't even realize this was the academy you guys attend."
"Yeah, man. J doesn't have a roommate so you could totally stay with him, right J?" Johnson nodded happily.
"It's a possibility, man. I don't know if I'm ready to get out of Omaha, though. Leaving home is always hard." Nate said, almost sadly.
The next thirty to forty five minutes they just caught up and Nate told them all the things he's already told me. Jack pushed me off his lap to lean in closer to the conversation. I've just been dissed by my boyfriend for my cousin. Never saw that one coming.
I had no part in the conversation and Jenna was sitting there in utter silence and boredom, so we gave eachother the "lets get outta here" look.
We both stood up to leave and the boys' eyes shot toward us.
"Babe, where are you two going?" Jack questioned.
"Netflix and chill." Jenna answered for me playfully.
"Without me?" Jack pouted. "Babe, we are gonna go out tonight just me and you. Okay?"
I blushed as Jenna pushed me up the stairs.
"Okay!" I called out from the middle of the stairs."Girl! Let me do your hair and makeup? PLEASE!"