s m i l e

5: well

Brendon's POV:

After a few days of lounging around, I decided to set up a doctors appointment and an orthodontist appointment for Natalie as she said she really needed braces.

I went to Natalie's room to wake her up to hear that she was up and speaking to someone, I'm assuming on the phone.

"I know that he just wants to take care of me, but Elise, do you know how much braces cost? They are really expensive! Not to mention anything else they want to do before they put braces on! It adds up quick! I feel bad for letting him spend so much on me..."

I felt bad eavesdropping on her conversation, but it did help me get some perspective.

"You still haven't told me who adopted you, ya rat!" said the other voice.

"I told you, I'm waiting until you can meet him! It's a surprise!" Natalie said. I'm assuming the person Natalie was talking to was her friend Elise, the one who was apparently obsessed with Panic!.

"Ugh, you fuckin' suck sometimes, but I love you." Elise said.

"I know you do." Natalie said.

At that point, I knocked on the door. Natalie came to the door before saying goodbye to Elise and hanging up.

"Who was that?" I asked, hoping I didn't look suspicious.

"My friend Elise. She really likes you and your band." she answered.

"Ah. Maybe you could have her over if you wanted? I don't mind if you want to invite her over." I told her.

"Okay, that would be great!" she said, grabbing her phone.

"Well get dressed, you have a doctors appointment in like two hours and after that we have to go to the orthodontist." I had told her the day before that way she was at least mentally prepared.

"Okay, I'm going to take a quick shower and I'll be downstairs." she said as she finished a text that looked like it was going to Elise.

Natalie took about an hour, but she finally came downstairs into the living room. She sat down next to me while I watched The Office, and she watched youtube videos on her phone with her headphones in. Every once in a while she giggled at something, but immediately stopped when she caught me giving her a confused look. After a while of this happening, she took her headphones out.

"Am I being too loud? I can go back to my room if I'm being too loud." she stated.

"No, it's fine. I was just wondering what was so funny." I said.

She looked down at her phone for a minute, then looked up and said "Do you want to watch this with me? It's really funny."

"Uh, sure, why not?" I said.

"Okay," she said, pulling her earbuds out of the headphone jack. "It's a youtuber called Fitz, he plays games with his friends and he is really funny."

She pressed play, and I was immediately captivated. They had a questionable sense of humor, but Nat was right. They were hilarious. As soon as the video was over, I grabbed my phone and quickly subscribed to Fitz and his friends. But time apparently had passed us by, because it was almost time for Nat's doctors appointment.

"We gotta go!" I said, jumping up from my spot on the couch.

"Okay, lets go then!" Natalie said, sounding unsure.

"Don't worry, it's just a checkup to make sure you are up to date on everything and to make sure there isn't anything new going on that we don't know about." I reassured her.

We left the house and made our way to the doctor. Her checkup went great, she didn't have anything wrong and all she had to get was a flu shot. Her orthodontist appointment however, didn't. Natalie definitely needed braces, so they did x-rays and impressions of her teeth, and put in spacers so she would be ready for the braces to be put on at her next appointment. Natalie looked concerned as I talked to the orthodontist about how much the braces would cost. I assured her that it was ok and that it really wasn't a lot after what our insurance paid.

Nat looked very tired after her appointments, which told me she probably stayed up late last night worrying about things. It hurt, knowing that she would rather suffer through possible sickness and deal with old worn down clothes that didn't fit, just so I wouldn't have to spend money on her. I didn't understand, because most kids her age would jump at the opportunity to get anything they wanted. That's when Nat pulled me out of my thoughts. She sat there, waving her hand in front of my face, a look of worry growing on her own.

"Brendon? Brendon. Helloooo? Are you okay?"

"Wha- oh yeah. I'm fine. Just got lost in thought I guess. Sorry." I apologized, looking down at my hands.

She looked up at me with a small smile, and grabbed my hand. She gave it a small squeeze, and with that we walked to my car, got in, and headed home. There was a very uncomfortable silence surrounding us, which is probably because Natalie was curious about what I was thinking about.

"You know, you don't have to worry about me spending money on you. I don't mind, it's not like I can't afford it. I will gladly spend as much as I need to on you, any day. I want to make sure you feel appriciated and loved, and I know that buying you things won't earn that from you, but I want you to feel like you are at home. I want to take care of you, because you are a wonderful person, and I'm glad that I have you in my life. I felt like something was missing before I adopted you, and now I feel whole."
I bursted out, not being able to hold it in any longer.

She gave me a look of shock, before looking down at her hands. Then, she suddely burst into tears. I pulled over to the side of the road and shut off the engine. I leaned into her and gave her a warm hug.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm not mad you, I could never be." I said to try and console her, while I rubbed circles on her back with my hand.

"It's okay. I'm not crying because I thought you were mad, I've just never had anyone care about me as much as you do. Thank you." she managed to mutter in between shaky breaths.