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

Chapter 44 - Bedtime

With icy rain still falling, there was no leaving Nathan's and Sydney found herself thanking Mother Nature. She was on the couch leaning against his chest, his arms around her, loving and protective. They had lazed around most of the day, chatting and watching a variety of bad weekend T.V. Nathan and Susan made dinner, not letting Sydney do a thing since she made breakfast. Their body language spoke volumes; Susan had deduced that her father and his girlfriend had done more than talk earlier in the day, but she didn't say a word.

Susan was on the phone in her room talking to Charlie, which left the couple alone. The television was off now and they weren't saying a word to one another. Nathan had never been more comfortable in his life. When Sydney broke the silence, he pulled her even closer.

"Arlen's birthday is next week."

"Oh?"

"Mm hm." She shifted so she could face him. "I want to tell him at his party."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a little selfish of us?"

Sydney laughed louder than she meant to. "Are you kidding me? He sent you into the kitchen that day on purpose! He's been trying to get us together for months!" She kissed him. "Why can't I get enough of you?" Nathan only smiled in response. "Any way, his party is," she inhaled sharply, "a little unconventional."

"I was sort of expecting that," Nathan chuckled. "Does he throw his own party at Just Be?"

"Oh, no. I'm in charge of his birthday. Every. Year." She sighed, dramatically, then laughed. "There's a club downtown, a friend of ours owns it, and it's very open, so if you're uncomfortable with anything, I kinda need to know now because..."

"Is it only a certain kind of open, or can I be just as open with you?"

She understood his implication and smiled. "It's open 'open' and there's not much you won't see there. Anyway, I get there early before they," she laughed at the word now, "open and they help me decorate – they usually don't cater to individual parties like this, but Arlen's always so generous and so they..."

They'd been interrupting one another constantly and Nathan did so again, his lips pressed to hers. "You want me there with you?" She nodded. "Then I'll be there." He thought a moment. "I get the feeling you focus more on the slutty girl dancing there, don't you?" Sydney blushed. "Bonus."

She playfully hit his shoulder. "Well, now that we know we're doing that then, what do you want to do now?"

"Anything you want."

"Can we go to bed?"

"Syd," he said, disbelieving.

"No, not for that. Come on." She took his hand and they went upstairs. She slipped out of the borrowed, oversized sweats she was in and back into his pajamas. Nathan followed suit, stripping down to his boxers, then putting on a pair of pajama bottoms. She saw a book on the nightstand and picked it up. "Have you started that yet?"

Nathan shook his head. "No, I was planning on it last night, but, you know, things changed a little. Why?"

She looked at him, feeling shy. "Read to me?"

"What?"

"I know it sounds like a ridiculous, but I find your voice to be..."

"Sexy?" he asked, pursing his lips

She giggled. "Very much so, but also...soothing." She ran her finger down his chest, stopping just before his navel. "Would you?"

Nathan reached over and grabbed the book and his glasses. He saw the pleased look on Sydney's face and had yet another reason to feel lucky. He never had intimacy in his bed that didn't involve sex; this was new and, in its own way, better. He realized that he was thankful for Sydney wanting to spend their evening this way. She snuggled into his chest and he began to read to her. It was a Stephen King book, Bag of Bones, a ghost story thriller mixed with just a hint of a love story. Sydney would have been happy with the phonebook.

After a couple of hours, both had fallen asleep, happy and peaceful. Susan got up from where she sat once her father's voice stopped. She was on her way back from the bathroom when she'd heard him reading. She sat on the floor, her ear to the door, listening. He sounded happy as he read, and the sound was, as Sydney had said soothing. She went back to her room, smiling, and went to sleep.

Nathan woke, a crick in his neck. He took off his glasses and placed them, along with the novel back on the nightstand. He tried to move Sydney gently enough not to wake her, but failed. "Sorry, sweetheart," he whispered.

"Mm...don't be," she answered, her voice heavy with sleep. He reached over and turned off the light, then slid down in the bed and held her. "This has been the best weekend."

He smiled and kissed her clothed shoulder. "It has. Syd, I want more of this." He rubbed her back. "Having you here is...baby, it's perfect. You said your house was getting crowded and that you were saving up, but what if...I know we can't now, but after the school year's over. Too fast? Sydney?" She was sound asleep and Nathan found himself grateful for that. He replayed his words in his head and was realized that if she had heard them, he could have scared her off for wanting to move so fast. "I love you, baby. Sweet dreams." He pressed his body to hers and fell asleep as well, more relaxed than he'd been in years.