Chaos

Chapter 44: Presents- Nate

Chapter 44- Presents

Nate’s POV

“Thank you,” Nicole says, looking scared of my reaction.

“Do you know how worried I was? Gone for four hours!? What were you thinking Nicole?!” I ask, the venom slipping back into my tongue. She takes a step back from my radiating anger, looking at me like I’m the biggest jerk ever. In her eyes, I probably was.

“I didn’t know it wasn’t safe-” she started, but I held up a hand. I wanted apologies, not excuses.

“Not only did you leave the house, but you were in so much danger it’s a miracle you and Gavin survived!” I say, feeling like a dick but not caring.

“Last time I checked, I wasn’t the one who took on an entire street full of fleshers!” Nicole sounded hurt, and pissed off all at the same time, which looked cute. I maintained my anger regardless.

“Sorry? If I hadn’t done that, you would have still been there, probably dead!” I said, a little more forceful that I’d imagined.

“Why are you so mad?” asked Nicole. I cringe. I wasn’t mad before; not nearly as much as I was now.

“I’m mad that you can’t go out of the house without getting hurt and almost dying!” I admit. She glares at me.

“Is that my fault?” she asks, just as angry.

“No, it’s not. But you sure as hell aren’t helping by sneaking out for no good reason!” I yell.

Nicole throws something at my feet.

“No good reason!? Maybe you’re right, I just went out to get a birthday present for an asshole. Happy freaking birthday!” she says, and I look down as she stomps away. The sword! I thought back to the day I first saw it. I didn’t want to get it because I didn’t need it; but boy do I regret that.

I picked it up and put the sheath on my belt. It was even more beautiful than I’d imagined, with little rubies running the length of the hilt. I took it out, cleaned it with a dirty rag, which was pretty mangled, and practiced with it outside for a bit. I couldn’t believe how light it seemed to me, when before it was pretty heavy. I didn’t think much of it, because I knew throughout the days, all the training and killing had made me stronger. Before all of this, I would have let the fact that I was much stronger now go to my head; but now I would have gladly remained at the level I was, because nothing is worth the price of what we are all going through.

It was almost two in the morning by the time I stopped practicing. I was completely in love with the sword, and I felt a lot better about Nicole. I was going to apologise the moment I saw her next.

When I walked into the kitchen, I noticed Brittany sitting there with two hot chocolates. She gestured for me to take a seat. The white wooden chairs were very hard, but we often just put pillows on the seats to make our meals more enjoyable. Which reminded me to tell everyone that we were going to all eat together, like the family we had all become. I would tell them the news, and would listen to their protests.

I sat on the opposite side of Brittany, sipping the hot chocolate she pushed toward me. I took a cautious sip, and almost retched. It had way too much sugar, and she had forgotten to put milk in it. It was nowhere near the quality Nicole offered in her hot chocolate. This shouldn’t have mattered to me, but it did, because it was just another wonderful difference between Nicole and Brittany.

“I hate to say I told you so-” she started, but I cut across her.

“Then don’t.”

Brittany sighed.