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XIII. My Best Friend Natalie;

A/N: Warning—super sad moment up ahead and just want to clarify that I'm a full supporter and advocate for mental health awareness.

So please keep any hurtful comments to yourself and show support for those that struggle with mental health daily, letting them know that their story, isn't over yet.

Not to be cliche but I listened to Good Charlottes Hold On repeatedly while writing this chapter.

Also there's mention of homosexuality in this chapter and as a full supporter of the LGBTQ—please no hate comments. They will be deleted and blocked immediately.

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XIII: My Best Friend Natalie;

"First things first," I begin slowly as I collect all the courage within me to tell Jackson my story, well the story of Natalie.

"All my life I've been the rebellious, free-willed child of any group. I was a major handful and I still to this day don't know how my dad put up with it and was able to raise me as a single father, but he did and he did a damn good job at it."

"I met Natalie in preschool when I was four years old. I'd moved to Australia from America only a little over a year prior but wasn't use to the territory nor really had any friends since my dads job required him to travel a lot. When my dad had finally retired from his career and was home more often he knew I needed more than staying at home with him or being around a bunch of grown sweaty men at his business so he put me in school to be around other kids my age," Jackson's eyes squint at the mention of sweaty grown men and I laugh to myself before I explain.

"My dad runs a training center for mixed marital arts. He use to be a professional MMA fighter before he had me up until I was four years old," I smile and Jacksons eyes widen with amusement. He probably now realizes where I got my skills from when I fought Karen.

"Anyways—I met Natalie then and we hit it off right away. We were complete opposites but it worked out for us. I was the rebellious leader that got us into trouble and she was the sweet follower that would constantly remind me of how bad my idea was. It was always like that growing up. And every time I'd fall or get into trouble, she'd be right there taking the heat with me even though she didn't deserve it. She was an amazing person and a wonderful friend to not only me, but everyone else in our small group growing up."

"I spent a lot of my time over at her house while my dad was busy at the gym and we ended up being more like sisters than anything. When my dad would have to travel for work when I was younger, I'd stay with her family. When we got older and could go along with him, we'd always bring Natalie along. She got to travel all around the world with us and she loved it."

"Through every major milestone in my life, she was by my side. When I was a professional fighter, she was my biggest fan and supporter," Jackson grins down at me and bites his bottom lip at the news that I was once a professional MMA fighter.

I giggle under my breath, sure that he just got turned on by that knowledge alone and I quickly return back to my story before we get too distracted.

"When I decided I wanted to do art and was damn good at it, she bought me my supplies I needed to start my portfolio so I could one day attend one of the best art schools in the United States. She was always my model when I'd have to do portrait drawings of someone and one of them ended up winning me an award for best inspiring young artist back in Sydney. She meant the world to me and we had both planned on coming to America one day to go to college and then travel the world once we were done. However, that never ended up happening."