New Beginnings (Charlie Bartlett Fanfic Starring Robert Downey Jr.)

Chapter 20 - Freedom

 Two weeks went by and February was already a couple of days old. The baby was still in the hospital and Arlen's sister had been sent to rehab. Sydney spoke with Jess on several occasions, calming him down when he became too spun up about his mother. It had started to take its toll on his relationship with Brynn - so much so that she went on a date with someone else. Arlen and David were at the hospital together daily, visiting the still unnamed baby girl, and Sydney picked up the pieces of Arlen's heart each night when he got home.

With so much going on at home, Sydney wasn't left with much time to sneak off with Nathan - no time at all, actually. Their time at school together wasn't enough for either of them and they still hadn't made it out on their first "real" date. Nathan understood and held no ill will towards any of those she was helping.

"She kissed him right in front of me, Syd!" Jess was sitting on Sydney's bed, his hair a mess and his eyes wide.

"Honey, you sort of told her to go see other people," Sydney said, cringing inside.

"Well, yeah...but, but that was because she was giving me such a hard time about..." He grunted.

"About you being so angry for the past few weeks." Sydney sighed. "I love both of you dearly, but Jess, you pushed and she did what she felt she needed to do. You don't have the right to be mad at her."

"That's kinda harsh."

Sydney smiled. "You told me not to coddle you, remember?" Jess shrugged. "You two have been together for two years and verge on disgustingly cute – I wouldn't worry too much about one kiss with one guy, okay?" Her phone rang.

Jess smiled back at her, understanding her point and knowing that she hadn't had much time for herself at all lately. "You get that. I'm gonna go check on Arlen."

Sydney groaned, frustrated on Jess' behalf despite what she told him, and answered her phone without looking to see who it was. "Hello?"

"I miss you."

Her thoughts about Jess melted away. "You just saw me a few hours ago."

"I know, but doesn't make it any less true." Nathan's voice was soft and relaxed, but Sydney couldn't help but sense something a little "off" with it.

"Everything okay, Nathan?"

"Yeah...sure." He cleared his throat. "Why?"

"I don't know, just..."

"My ex decided to stop by tonight," he interrupted, wishing to every deity he could think of that he hadn't said those words.

"Oh." Sydney wasn't sure how to react. Luckily for her, Nathan's currently uncensored words came too fast for her to need to think of any sort of follow up.

"She showed up out of nowhere screaming about some assignment of Susan's that didn't color her in the greatest light...which somehow made her circle around to my being one of the most horrible men on the planet. I'm pretty sure she compared me to Hitler at some point and there was no..."

"Nathan, was it her English paper?" she asked, stopping him. He sighed deeply, but didn't answer her. "Is Susan home?"

"No...God if she were...she's spending the night at Rodine's and..."

"I'll be over in fifteen minutes – this is all my fault." She gave Nathan no time to argue, hung up, and showed up at his door as promised.

"Break a few speed limits?" Nathan asked, trying to lighten things. He looked terribly disheveled. His eyes were tired, his hair a mess, and his clothes wrinkled. There was something else lingering in the air, but Sydney couldn't put her finger on it.