Back To Me

Spaghetti Mouth

Rave's POV

I rush into Kevin's house, not bothering to knock.

"Nat?" I yell.

"He's in here," Kevin says from the kitchen.

I run in to see Nat stuffing his dirty face with spaghetti. I walk up to him and he swallows the food in his mouth and wipes his face. He stands to face me.

"I'm so sorry, Rave. It just happened and I couldn't-"

I hold his face I'm between my hands and stare into his eyes. I feel tears threaten to spill.

I feel his body. He's thinned.

I look down at him. He's in the same clothes. The same damn clothes as that day in the diner and they are dirty and a little torn in places.

I meet his eyes again and smash my mouth to him. I let my tears fall, my tears of missing him.

We crash into a wall and the world dissappear now that this green haired goof is back in my arms.

I don't care that he is dirty.

I don't care that Kevin and Eddward are watching.

I don't care that his mouth tastes like spaghetti.

I pull my mouth back, our foreheads touching and huff out, "I love you so much. I didn't know where you were or even if you wanted to be found. I was so lost."

He replies by kissing me softly and cupping my face in his hands. His eyes never meeting mine.

"I'm sorry I scared you, Cutie-Pie." He kissed my nose.

I just stood there and cried in his arms and enjoy being with him again.

After I called, Nat sat down and finished his food. Eddward, Kevin, and I sit around the table and stare at him.

"What happened, Nat," Eddward whispers, being the first to dare a question.

Nat ignores the question.

"Where were you?"

Nat stops eating for a moment. "Leo's house."

The dams of my eyelids over flow.

I silently weep behind Nat, trying don't to make him feel any worse.

"I'm going to call the police." Kevin grabs the phone.

"Don't bother, I'm fine," Nat says, his voice sounding pained.

"Are you sure?" Kevin asks, phone in hand.

Nat just nods.

"How did you get out?" Eddward inquires.

"He just let me go," Nat mumbles.

After Nat finished, Kevin walks Eddward to the door and sees him out.

"Yall can stay here," Kevin says to Nat and me.

"Thank you," I mumble and Kevin nods his head.

We head upstairs and Kevin gives us each a pair of clothes and offers us the shower.

Nat heads for a shower and I sit on the bed in the guest room down the hall.

I sit, crying for a while, listening to the sound of the shower.

What did that bastard do? What could he have done to make Nat act like this? He will barely even look at me.

I wipe my eyes and storm off to the bathroom.

I don't knock and I don't  hesitate. I walk right in and start to peel off my clothes.

I step in the shower. Nat stares at me. I grab a bar of soap and a wet rag. I rub the bar until the rag is soapy.

I rub the rag over Nat's body.

If I wash him, maybe the memories will go with it. Maybe he'll be okay again.

I wash every inch of him and he just looks at me.

I put the rag down and grab a bottle of shampoo. I pop open the top and the smell of thick winter evergreens fill my nose.

It suits him.

I pour some on my hand and begin to scrub the shampoo into his hair. He tilts his head down a little bit so I can scrub better.

I then rinse his silky hair.

"There," I smile, "all clean."

"Thank you," he says, still staring.

"What's wrong?"

"I just really missed you. But I didn't want you to see me like this."

"I missed you too."

I lean forward and kiss Nat again, my fingers caught in his messy, clean hair.

"I love you," I whisper looking into his eyes.

Nat pulls me into another kiss and I go into a daze, mezorized by his spaghetti flavored mouth.