Book 1: Beyond Me and You

Explanations

The car ride was silent and I was slowly beginning to regret agreeing to go to this party. But I can't deny that this awkwardness is better than having to deal with Carol for another second.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when the car comes to a complete stop and is turned off. I turn to see Nathan sitting in his seat as he stares straightforward. His simple presence makes my heart beat faster and I'm scared he can hear it. He abruptly opens his door and I watch as he gets out and makes his way to my side of the car. He opens the door for me to get out.

I look ahead at the house, it's huge and looks all too familiar. We walk through the door only to see people everywhere. It's so crowded you'd think it was the general admission area at a concert. The music is bouncing off the walls and people are dancing while drinks are being spilled all over the place.

"Hey Nathan!" We both turn to see who called out his name. I'm left in shock when I see

"Ashton?" I say in shock.

"Hey it's you" he says as he walks up to hug me. "I see you two are finally a thing." Ashton winks at me and Nathan.

"We're not-" we both begin to say but stop when we realize we're saying the exact same thing at the same time.

"It's a joke. But it's a party so just enjoy yourselves." Just like that he disappears into the crowd.

I begin to fidget with my hands as Nathan scans the room and I stand somewhat close to him. I'm too nervous to get closer but I'm scared of losing him. He begins to walk and I follow closely behind him until we reach the kitchen.

"Do you want a drink?" he asks and I nod my head up and down in response. He silently hands me the drink and leans on the counter next to me.

I notice as girls walk by and whisper while they look at him. As soon as their eyes land on me they look me up and down and roll their eyes. I unconsciously cross my arms in front of me, under the pressure of their glares.

"I'll be back" Nathan says before he walks away and disappears into the crowd. As soon as he is out of sight the girls have disappeared as well.

"Hey" a guy says as he walks up to me. "What's your name gorgeous?" the guy says as he gets closer and closer. I go to turn away from him but he traps me against the counter. His breath reeks of alcohol.

"Can you let me go?" I say as I try to push him off of me but instead he leans more of his weight on top of me. The girls from before are back but instead of helping me, they just watch and laugh.

"Oh c'mon" the guy says as tries to hug me.

I lean back against the counter and use it help me push his body off me. The guy stumbles a few steps back making me believe he'll leave. But he doesn't, instead he looks up with a crazy smile on his face. His long strides towards me leave me paralyzed and all I can do is watch as his hand reach out to me. I close my eyes in fear but his hand never reaches me.

"Back. Off." I hear Nathan's voice out of nowhere. I open my eyes to see Nathan standing in front of me. He's pushed the guy onto the floor and has gathered an audience in the process.

The guy has his head lowered but his laugh echoes throughout the kitchen. "We were just having some fun."

Nathan's hands form into fists before he walks up to the guy on the floor and grabs him by his collar, slightly lifting him off of the ground. He pulls his arm back ready to throw a punch but I manage to grab on.

"Nathan please don't" I say with a shaky voice. His muscles tense under my touch of they soon relax. But to my lucky, Nathan tries to get out of my grip to throw the punch but I hold on even tighter and try my best to pull back. "Nathan!" I yell.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry" he says as he drops his hand and lets go of the guy's collar.

"Wait. You're Nathan? The Nathan Stone?" the guy asks as he stands up. Nathan and I turn in confusion at his sudden shock. "I'm so sorry I didn't know she was your girlfriend. I promise I didn't mean it"

The guy throws himself on his knees in front of Nathan as he shakes in fear. His eyes are full of tears ready to spill. What is he doing?!

"Let's go" Nathan says low enough for only me to hear. His wraps his arm around my back and guides me through the crowd, up some stairs, and into a room. He closes the door behind us and sits on the bed. I follow and sit next to him.

His dark brown hair is slightly disheveled and his green eyes seem tired, as if he's barely gotten any sleep these past few days.

"Larkin" he says as he turns to look into my eyes.

"Yes?"

"I need to tell you something." I watch as he nervously scratches the back of his neck. His eyes for the first time ever avoid direct eye contact. "I..like you" he finally manages to say. "I like you more than a friend. You wanted to know why I act close one second and then distant the next. Although I knew you were still in love with Dean, I couldn't help but have feelings for you. I was close to you because I couldn't stay away. But I was distant because I was scared of losing you."

I hear the words but it takes a few seconds for my mind to properly process every word he just said. Before my heart was beating so fast I could hear it in my ears, but now I couldn't hear a thing. The once loud music, now sounds muffled.

"What?" Is all I manage to say in my state of confusion.

"Lark" he says as he reaches out and holds my hands in his. "Its okay, you don't have to-" he begins to say but is cut off by the door being slammed open.

"Omg Nathan Stone!" the girls from earlier yell as they walk into the room.

One sits to his right and the other one squeezes in between me and him on the bed. The room seems like it's spinning but I manage to get up and run through the door. Although everything is muffled I could slightly hear Nathan calling my name behind me. My feet carry me far from the party, until I reach a small playground. I'm barely able to sit on one of the swings. My legs feel like they're about to collapse.

I pull out my phone and dial the one person I could think of. There are a few rings before they pick up.

"Hey dad, can you come pick me up?"

Minutes pass by before dad's car pulls up to the park and I get in quietly. All you can hear is the sound of the rain falling and the windshield wipers.

"I'm glad you called me" he says as he grips onto the steering wheel even tighter.

"Thank you for coming."

"Anytime"

As soon as we walk in through the front door I am met with two pairs of hazel eyes staring right at me. Kayla and Dean look worried as they must've been waiting for us to get back.

"Are you okay?" Kayla quickly asks. "Do you need any medicine? Or maybe some tea?"

"I'll be okay. I'm just tired. I'm sorry, you should all go back to sleep"

After dad and I hang up our coats we all make our way to our rooms. I throw myself onto my bed leaving my room door wide open. Ugh! I'm too lazy.

"Good night Lark" Dean says from his room across the hall.

"Good night Dean."