Give Me Back Whats Mine ➳ David Dobrik

P R O L O G U E

It all started just a few minutes before the year ended.

The house was quiet, which was rare.

There always seemed to be laughter and music and fun happening in all of its corners.

But not that night.

The impending New Year always made me a little anxious, set me on edge, and not in a good way.

A time that usually meant fresh starts and new possibilities, always to me felt a little like imminent doom.

I had everything I ever wanted, a job that I couldn't have dreamed up if I tried, friends that felt like family, and a new adventure every day. So the more time that rolled past me, the more and more it all just felt like pure luck. And luck was never forever. It had to run out at some point.

It was that thought, of all my luck just running out, that had me already in bed. As people were preparing to drink and dance and kiss, I couldn't wait to fall asleep.

It was in those moments, the ones just before I fell into a blissful sleep, that I heard the front door open and close in a hurry.

Before I even had time to panic, or even sit up in bed, Natalie had poked her head around the corner of my bedroom door.

'Oh good, you're still awake.' She said, opening the door fully and letting herself in.

'Nat, what are you doing back so early?'

She didn't say anything, instead I watched as she kicked off her shoes and made her way over to the small fridge that was in the corner of my room.

'Are you okay?' I asked her.

'Yep.' She said, pulling out a beer from the small bar fridge that sat under my TV, before settling into one of my massive bean bags. I continued to watch her as she let out a small sigh, throwing her head back against the plush seat.

'What's up with you dude, why are you back so early?' I asked again.

'You know what Dave? This has been the best year of my life.' She said happily, followed by a small hiccup.

'Are you drunk, Nat?' I asked, sitting up a little straighter, grinning right back at the weirdly smiley girl that was sitting across from me.

'Obviously.' She said, rolling her eyes at me.

We sat just looking at each other for a moment, her sipping on her beer and me trying to gauge exactly where her head was at.

Natalie was the only person I ever struggled to read. Most people were like open books to me, but she was different. It was both frustrating and fascinating all in the same breath.

'So, I need to say something.' She said finally.

'Okay.'

She quickly set her beer down and stood up, making her way towards my side of the bed.

It wasn't till she was walking towards me that I finally took note of what she was wearing. Or lack thereof. It was tight and black and very low cut, and it made my heart race ever so slightly.

Sitting down beside me, she bit her lip. 'I know we don't really, like say nice things to one another, but um, you're ...' Natalie paused for a minute. 'You're my best friend, and this life you've given me is ...' She trailed off, shaking her head. 'It's everything.'

Her words almost shocked me. She was right, we were more comfortable teasing and testing, seeing how far we could push one another, it was our main mode of communication.

This sincerity was completely foreign. But it sent an electricity through me that I couldn't quite explain.

'Natalie I ...'

'I know. That was really fucking weird.' She laughed quietly. 'But you needed to know. I needed you to know.'

We sat again, in somewhat comfortable silence, her playing with the sleeve of my sweater and me just watching her.

'There's something else.' She said after a moment. 'It's something that I need to know.'

'What is it, Nat?'

She looked at me for a moment, her eyes slowly searching mine, looking for something I couldn't quite pinpoint. She then moved impossibly closer to me, our faces separated by nothing more than just a moment and a single breath.

'I just- I just have to ...'

And just like that she was kissing me.

It started off softly and gently, like she was afraid. All I could do was sit there and let it happen, unsure of what was going on.

That was until her hands found my chest, and tugged ever so slightly on the sweater I was wearing, and then it was like my body just took over.

Closing my eyes, I wound my arms around her waist and pulled her even closer into me, deepening our kiss.

I couldn't believe this. We were kissing. Natalie and I were actually kissing. And it was good.

Her hands moved from my chest to my neck, her small fingers tugging the hair at the base of my neck, making me moan slightly into our kiss.

I could feel her mouth smile against mine at the reaction, before she slowly pulled away from me.

I was almost afraid to open my eyes, afraid of what had to come next, but also kind of afraid that I had imagined the whole thing.

When I did open my eyes, I found the silly smiling girl, still sitting there in front of me. A kind of relief washed through me, followed by some serious nervousness.

'What- What was that?' I asked gingerly, sort of struggling to look her in the eye.

'I've just wondered about that for a while.' She said, getting up and making her way to my bedroom door.

'And?' I asked.

She looked back at me than, contemplation written across her face. and something else as well, something that once again I failed to recognize.

'I think this year will be an interesting one.' She answered, still smiling. 'Happy New Year Dave.'

Looking down at my phone I saw that it was 12:04.

And for the first time in years I was kind of happy I'd seen the new year in.

Authors Note

Hi there guys, I'm back with a new story! Which is just terribly exciting! Let me know what you think of the Prologue, and watch out for Chapter One tomorrow!

Love you all forever,

Lennon xx