Grey (Now Published!)

Chapter 4

A few hours after dancing, drinking, singing and meeting stranger and stranger whose names I probably won't remember, myself and Nathan sit at one of the empty balconies on the top floor, curled up in a fluffy, white blanket that we borrowed from whoever's bedroom this is.

It's been an interesting night. A perfect night. Apart from watching Nathan having another secretive discussion with Sin just before he borrowed his car and after he returned it, I've got no complaints. I need to learn to trust, but how can I? I'm always looking for a problem, maybe it's because I'm always looking for an excuse to make myself seem like a bad person. Either that or I'm trying to find a way to provoke Nathan's true feelings out.

He never argues with me, he never expresses anger towards me. I can't help but try and search for a way to bring it out. I always manage to make my parents mad, I just assume it's a matter of time before I do the same to Nathan. I'm too damaged not to.

My head falls into his chest and I listen calmly to his heartbeats that thump against my ear in a precise, slow rhythm. He brings another bottle of beer to his lips above my head and I close my eyes, savoring this moment. 

"So, how long does this ban last for?" Nathan suddenly mumbles. 

I groan, lifting my eyes up to meet his. "A month."

"Now, I don't remember it being that long. I'm pretty sure you said tonight. Technically, the night is over."

"It's two'o'clock, that is not over," I whisper, nestling my face deeper into his chest to get comfy.

He begins playing with strands of my hair, twirling them around his giant fingers and then releasing them to fall down onto the blanket. "So, when will I see you again? Hopefully it's not another two weeks."

"Yeah, sorry," I say. "I've been busy."

"Is it something to do with your parents?"

I bring my head up, suddenly startled. "What do you mean?"

"I just find it odd that you've met my entire family and yet I've never even seen yours."

"You know how it is," I say. "They're really old-fashioned, they won't let me date until I'm eighteen."

"You're eighteen in three weeks," he says quietly. "Will I get to meet them then?"

He breaks my heart when he talks like this. I don't know why he's so determined to meet my parents, but I think it's something that people see as important in a relationship. I can't compare Nathan to anyone else because he's my first ever boyfriend, but I've read plenty of books to know that the male will always feel nervous before meeting his girlfriend's father for the first time. In most cases, it goes well. In my case, it will never go well. I can't tell him that, I can't burden him with that information. It isn't fair.

"Not straight away," I say. "Otherwise it'd be a little obvious. Maybe in a few months."

"Months?" he chokes out, biting down on the word. "How old-fashioned are these people?"

"You have no idea," I say, rolling my eyes back towards the sky. "Sometimes, it's hard to bear them."

"They sound like a ray of sunshine to meet," he says sarcastically.

I widen my eyes. "They're. . . different. I don't really know what they are. I just don't want you to meet them, ever."

"They're that bad?" he gasps. "Damn. No wonder you sneak out in the middle of the night."

"That's because you're a bad influence," I laugh. 

"I think you'll find you're the influencer, and I'm the influencee."