Give Me Back Whats Mine ➳ David Dobrik

Chapter Fifteen ➳ We're Going To Be Okay, Right?

DAVID

The rest of the evening had felt as though it had moved past me in a blur.

Like I was stuck, standing still, and the rest of the world was just going on, leaving me behind in its wake.

The feeling was so foreign. It was usually me leaving the rest of the world behind. It was usually me about ten paces in front, lighting the way, leading the charge.

The whole night was just me trying to shake myself out of it. When my friends spoke to me, congratulated me, I tried to focus in on what was going on around me. But It was like my head and my heart were existing outside of my body and completely nowhere near me.

They were wherever Natalie was.

She'd disappeared soon after we'd arrived at the bar. Which would have bothered me more accept that wherever she was, Fletcher wasn't, because I'd barely taken my eyes off him all night, worried that he was going to sneak off to meet her.

I didn't know exactly why I was so worried. Technically they were seeing each other.

The idea just made my skin crawl.

There were times of the day where I thought about that. The two of them together. I wondered if she'd kissed him yet. I wondered if it felt the same as when we kissed.

It was hard for me to imagine that anything felt quite like that, like the two of us together.

'Hey.' I said to Jason who was sitting to the right of me. 'This is really shitty, but I think I need to go back to the hotel.'

He looked surprised. 'Are you okay? The nights only getting started.'

'Yeah I know, I think I just worked myself up so much today going into Fallon and I'm just exhausted now.' I lied.

The truth was I felt terribly awake, but my mind seemed to only be able to focus in on one thing. And it wasn't this. It wasn't this bar and our friends and the celebration of this achievement.

My mind only hummed a single word, over and over again.

Natalie. Natalie. Natalie.

'It's all good buddy, you want me to go back with you?'

'Nah, the hotel is only a few blocks up. I'm going to head straight to bed. I'll catch up with you all at breakfast.'

I felt like crap leaving all my friends behind, knowing they'd all flown across the country to celebrate tonight with me. But I just couldn't bring myself to stay.

I began the short walk back to our hotel, my mind turning over the situation at hand.

What were we doing?

Everything about the last twenty four hours confused and conflicted me.

The day had begun like they all do.

Just her and I.

But then it had continued that way.

Just her and I.

And it was nice, and super comforting. Everything about how we'd spent the day felt exactly right. The lazy pace of it. Our idle exploring. The way we'd been reaching for each other's hands to hold all day. The way she'd stopped me every couple of steps on the Highline to kiss me.

It felt as though we were the only two people in our world.

And I think that's why the possibility of us being anything more than what we already were seemed reasonable. It was easy to imagine when it was just the two of us.