We've Only Just Begun

Part 44 - Good News or Bad News?

I was shaking as I held the phone up to my ear and listened to Nathan talk to me.

"Hey. Where are you?" He asked, he didn't sound happy. 

"About 10 minutes away from the house. Did you talk to Scooter?" I asked anxiously. He was silent for about five seconds. "Nathan?!" I asked.

"Yeah I talked to him...." He trailed off.

"And?"

"...I'll tell you when you get here... just... hurry." He said coldly. "See you soon."

I hung up and looked out the window in silence as tears ran down my face. I knew it. I knew Scooter was going to do this. I can't believe it. My time with Nathan and the rest of the boys was about to come to an end and there was nothing I could do about it. 

Ollie reached over and grabbed my hand. I wiped my face and looked at her before letting out a pathetic laugh. "Guess I saw it coming." I said. She shook her head. 

"Maybe there's something we can do to change his mind. You never know. You still have some time here." I nodded in agreement, but in my mind I knew that Scooter had made his decision. 

We pulled up to the house and I wiped my face one more time before heading up the sidewalk. I opened the door and all of the boys were scattered around the living room. Tom, Jay, and Max were on the couch looking down at the floor, and Siva was standing by the stairs. The girls weren't in sight. Nathan walked up to me and took my face in both of his hands before kissing my forehead. He pulled away and looked at me sadly. I felt a tear release itself from my lashes and roll over his hand, still pressed against my cheek. 

"I'm afraid I've got some bad news, love." He said. My heart sank. I looked at him and I felt defeated. I sighed and nodded in understanding. I looked around the room at Tom, Jay, Max... they looked so sad, it made my tears flow faster. Then I looked at Siva and he was standing there looking at the floor with a slight grin on his face, like he was guilty of something. I gave him a questionable look, then looked back at Nathan, who was now wearing that same grin. My eyes lit up in realization. "It looks like... you're gonna be taking care of us idiots for a little while longer." He said.

It was all one big joke they were playing on me.

I screamed and jumped into his arms as the entire room erupted in cheers. Nathan picked me up and twirled me around the room, my face buried deep into the crook of his neck. I felt my tears soak into his skin as I squeezed him tight. 

When he put me down I smacked him playfully. "YOU'RE SO MEAN. ALL OF YOU! YOU HAD ME CRYING!" I yelled with the biggest smile on my face. I looked around then and saw that all of the girls had appeared out of nowhere. 

"What the...?" I asked confused.

"We were in Seev's room..." Maria said. "We wouldn't have been able to contain our excitement if we were all out here... would've given the joke away." She explained with a mischievious grin. I rolled my eyes and smiled. 

"It was Max's idea." Tom admitted. I looked at Max.

"Guilty." He said as he walked over to me and wrapped me in his big arms. I smacked him playfully as he pulled away. I shook my head and leaned into Nathan as more tears rolled down my face, but this time they were tears of happiness. 

"When did you find out?" I asked Nathan.

"About an hour ago." He said. "And you wanna know something else? Scooter was genuinely confused when I asked him if you could come with us. He thought that was the plan all along. He said that you've been doing a fantastic job taking care of us so far and that you're more than qualified to look after us in the UK. He didn't even think twice about it, babe." He said.

My heart melted when hearing that. Not only was I going to be living in the UK with Nathan and all of my best friends, but my boss genuinely thought that I was good at my job, which was the first I had heard of in a really long time, considering all of the negative aspects Scooter could've dwelled upon when making this decision. But it looked like his decision was an easy one to make, which made me feel on top of the world... like I was finally doing something right.

I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around Nathan's waist, resting my head on his chest. His heart was beating fast with excitement. I felt his hands settle on the small of my back and his chin rest on the top of my head. I lost myself within him for a few seconds, in my own little world of happiness before snapping out of it and turning around to face the rest of the room again. I looked at Ollie.

"Did you know?!" I asked her. 

"Max sort of texted me right after Nathan got off the phone with Scooter and told me the good news, and to go along with the joke... sorry." She laughed. "It took all I had not to spill, by the way." She said to Max. I glared at her playfully.

"Seriously. All of you suck." I said, still smiling from ear to ear. 

I looked at Steph who was sitting on Jay's lap on the couch. "Sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner, I was gonna see if we were even gonna be able to move over there in the first place, then I was gonna tell you." I explained to her. She smiled and shook her head.

"Jay's been keeping me filled in. Don't worry." She said. "I've kinda been freaking out about it a little too, but I've been so cooped up with all that's happened lately that I haven't had a chance to talk to you about it yet." She explained. I nodded. "Looks like I don't need to anymore." She smiled.

"So... Europe?" I asked her. She smirked at me and nodded.

"Europe."