Nowhere But You

Chapter 8

Nathan couldn't sleep. He was sitting on his couch, with the lights off and the TV on, still running high on adrenaline after the show as well as a bit anxious hoping it had been good enough for those executives to finally sign the band. He wanted to make it so bad. To make it at anything, and this was his thing now. But mostly, he kept replaying in his mind that hug Robin gave him... and then the moment after the show when she let him know she wouldn't join him for the following morning's commute because River would drive her.

Robin was slipping through his fingers like sand and he could only let it happen.

Nathan decided to pick up the phone and call the only one person he knew who was just as much of a night owl as him. No, it wasn't Robin, but his sister Dawn. Out of all of his sisters, Dawn was the one he was the closest to, being only one year older than him. Nowadays they didn't speak much, as they were apart from each other, but she always had an ear for him and knew what to say.

"Oh, wow, someone remembered he had a sister!" Dawn protested after their respective hellos. "What's up, kitten?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Don't call me that."

"Alright." His sister cackled. "What's up, adult cat?"

"Whatever." He scoffed. "Not much, really..." He paused and breathed deeply. "No. That's a lie. There's a lot going on. Have you talked to Robin lately?"

"No... I can't say that I have."

Dawn had also been a good friend of Robin's growing up, and she was aware of her and Nathan's on-and-off situation. He proceeded to tell his sister the somehow turbulent story of the past few weeks: that Robin had quit college and moved to Newtown, and that he was full of frustration caused by his newly resurfaced feelings.

Nathan sighed. "I thought this would be my chance to make things right with her, once and for all, you know?"

"Uh, huh." Make things right? About damn time, bro.

"But like, the minute she arrived here, she began falling for one of my bandmates."

"No way..." She squinted. "What are you gonna do?"

"I have no idea." He replied. "I just want to stop feeling this way, man! It's never been like this."

"Do you feel like fighting for her?"

"No... that..." He stuttered, "She would hate me for that. I want her to be happy. She is so into him, Dawn. When they locked eyes for the first time, I was there. It was like... meant to be. It happened in an instant. It doesn't look like just a fling."

"Okay, well..." Dawn cleared her throat, "She's been in serious relationships before..."

"One." Nathan corrected his sister. "Let's not count that idiot professor."

"Alright, but you feel like this time it's different." Dawn stated, like she were inside of his mind. "For starters, it's happening in front of your eyes, and it's never been like that before."

Dawn knew her little brother well. Although they were very different, they always had this strange connection, almost as if they were twins. Surely he thought Robin was the person who knew him best, but Dawn 'got' him from a sisterly point of view. It was always something good to count on, at least in situations like this.

"It's happening in front of my eyes, and it's my bandmate." Nathan said. "As much as I wanna hate him, I can't because it wouldn't be convenient for the band and he's not a bad guy, really. He's a bit weird, but he's the best one out of that lot. And he seems to truly care about her."