Love Bites [on hold]

☆|twenty

☆ yes, I'm back to life. Enjoy! ;)

Natalie's shoe soles scrunched the gravel that the cobblestones poked at the heels of her feet. She clutched her coat tightly around her to keep the raging wind at bay. In one hand, she carried two plastic shopping bags that had some of the stuff her mother had asked her to buy. Hannah had been ill for quite some time now and she had to do the shopping for her.

She didn't complain. At least, in a way it could take up some of her free time and distract her from the harmful thoughts. What she didn't like about it was that she had to walk in the biting cold to get through it.

Through the fog that lined her surroundings, she spotted a pair of silhouettes in the distance. One of thrm looked suspiciously familiar. She held her breath and made her way to the small crowd gathered on the sidewalk.

"Lil?" She called. A cloud of air pooled out of her mouth as she spoke. "Is that you?"

The shorter figure snapped its head up, to reveal an anxious looking redhead with bright black eyes.

"Oh, Natalie. Hey!" She chimed, her face breaking into a grin. "Didn't expect to see you there."

Natalie turned her head to the side and took a glance at the person standing next to her. The mob of delicately-styled golden hair and the green eyes flashing her way screamed of no one else but Sally Portman.

Sally was a classmate of Natalie, but they had never got along. Lilliane knew very well how much Natalie despised the girl.

She turned her eyes back to Lilliane and arched a brow. "And where are you guys heading to?"

"Downtown," Sally replied before Lilliane had a chance to open her mouth. Her voice was chirpy and laced with challenge. She glanced at her one more time only to wish she never had. Sally had a big, smug smile adorning her perfectly-made up hair. "We're going shopping for graduation. I need Lil's help picking out my dress. Right, Lil?"

She looked Lilliane's way, whose head bobbed up and down. There was no trace of guilt or regret in her eyes.

"Yep! That's just about it."

Natalie held her gaze for a moment there, hoping that her best friend's poker face would finally fall out and she would grin at her, crying out 'April's Fool', but the longer she waited, the more confident she became that Lilliane wasn't going to budge.

"I'll leave you two be, then," She said dryly as she turned on her heels and walked away. "Have a nice day."

And that was probably the first time her heart had broken, way before she had even confessed her feelings to Charles.

This time, he opened the door so slowly she could have not felt it at all if she hadn't been a light sleeper. She turned away from the door and looked up at him through heavy eyes. He was still fully clothed in his shirt and pants, but they were both crumpled beyond repair. His hair stuck out at weird angles and his eyes were swollen. When he saw her, he grimaced.

"You really did sleep here?" He asked in a way that sounded like he would give anything just to hear her say that she didn't. She didn't respond.

He took a step back and remained silent for a while. She wanted to say something to break the ice that had developed around them, but she knew whatever she said wouldn't make him feel any better about himself.

"Let's just pretend yesterday never happened, okay?" He murmured. Natalie's jaw dropped to the floor as she stared at him. "Let's go back to me hating your guts and you believing it."