Chapter four - Nathan

I wake up with Leanna's head on my shoulder, my arm wrapped around her and hers draped loosely across my waist. 

It reminds me of our younger years, when we'd fall asleep in the lodge after watching films. The years when all I wanted was to be around her, it didn't matter that our siblings were there too, all that mattered was making her happy.

Then I stupidly kissed her and ruined it all, managed to break my own heart and end our friendship with one stupid act and ever since, the only way I've kept up any sort of contact is by constantly irritating her.

But with her now, sleeping in my arms, something stirs in my chest and I'm afraid the feelings that I've tried to suppress for so many years are starting to resurface.

Like a creep, I watch her sleeping until sunlight streams in through the window, the rest of the house silent and I know, if I'm going to escape unnoticed, I need to go now. 

With one last look at the beautiful girl who hates my guts, I wriggle out from underneath her, gently lowering her head onto the pillow.

"Lea, I'm going to go." I whisper. She groans and reaches out for me, almost making me climb back into bed but then she grips her quilt in her hand, settling back to a comfortable sleep. 

Picking up my shoes and grabbing my hoody, I unlock her door and step into the hallway, pulling the door slowly to close it quietly behind me.

"Nathan Graham, my sister is absolutely going to kill you, who the hell were you fucking in her room?" Kim's voice is like a foghorn in the quiet house. 

Holding a glass of water, she glares at me whilst wearing princess pajamas, oddly making her seem all the more threatening.

"No…" I grimace as three heads instantly appear behind her, all of them looking at me as though they've found new gossip and they're already taking pictures. 

Leanna's going to kill me alright. 

"Is she still in there? Get her out before my sister gets home." Kim yells, banging on the bedroom door. "Get out here now."

"Kimberley, what the fuck?" Leanna appears in her doorway, yawning, her hair messed up like perfect sex hair and by the look on their faces, I know no one is going to believe we didn't do anything.

"Leanna? I thought you hated him?" Kim gasps, looking between us as though we've grown extra heads overnight and then scowls at me. "Were you drunk? Did he take advantage of you or something?"

"What are you talking about?" Leanna looks at her sister and then follows her gaze to me. "Oh fuck off, do you really think I slept with him?"

Ouch!

Her words send a spike of pain through my chest, I stare between the sisters unable to form words.

"Why else is he sneaking out of your bedroom?" Kim puts her hands on her hips like an angry parent. 

"And she's got sex hair." Olivia Hughes, who is still taking pictures of us, pipes up.

"Oh shit, you actually do." Kim grabs her sister's tangled hair and glares at me again. "What the hell did you do?"

"Oh for god's sake, Kimberley. We fell asleep watching Netflix while he was hiding from crazy Georgie." She looks at me for support. "Tell them."

I look at her angry face, there's clear red lines from my shirt and coupled with the inexplicable pain still burning in my chest from her words earlier, I can't resist winding her up a little.

"She used me and now she wants nothing more to do with me, she's broken my heart." I grin at her and she sighs, the girls behind Kimberley giggling and taking more photos.

"Asshole." Glaring daggers at me, she turns to her sister. "I didn't, I wouldn't, you should know that. Now, I'm going back to bed."

"Leanna, wait, I love you, don't do this." I snigger as the door is slammed in my face and we hear the lock click into place from the other side. Kim stands there, staring at me in confusion.

"Ok fine, we didn't do anything, she was telling the truth. I couldn't resist though, she's too fucking easy to annoy." With that, I jog down the stairs and back to my house.

"Nathan, where've you been?" The voice from the sofa scares me half to death as soon as I walk through the door.

"Georgie, how did you get in?" I say, backing away from her.

"The window wasn't locked." She says as though it's perfectly reasonable to break into someone's house and wait for them. I look towards the window she's gesturing at but it's closed.

"Is Gemma home?" She's standing up and walking towards me, a creepy smile on her face.

"No, we're all alone, so what are you going to do with me?"

"Uh… Georgie, I want to be honest, you're a lovely girl..." 

Lies, you're a nutjob!

She beams up at me and I realise I need to be clearer.

"But, I'm interested in someone else." Her face falls and her eyes darken.

"Who is she?" She asks and something tells me I really shouldn't give her a name.

"It doesn't matter, she's not interested in me anyway, but I need time and space to get over her." I say, hoping there's part of her that's reasonable. "You deserve someone that's ready to love you."

"You're right." She throws her arms around me and kisses my cheek. "Thank you Nathan, you're so sweet."

"Uh… no problem, see you in school."

"See you." She calls back as she walks to the door and almost skips to her car.

I shudder at the thought of her being in my house all night, my thoughts drifting to the memory of Leanna in my arms. Her perfume still clings to my shirt so I strip off, jumping in the shower to scrub my confusion away.

As soon as I get out my phone vibrates and Adam's name appears on the screen in our group chat.

Adam: You banged Leanna Woodson? WTF??!! How the hell did you manage that?

Nathan: Haha, I've got mad skills! You don't even know.

Callum: You sure it wasn't Kim? Leanna would never touch you. Ever.

Adam: Kim or serious beer goggles?

Callum: Both haha!

Nathan: Fuck you both!

Nathan: Although no, you're right, I didn't shag either of them. 

Callum: Explain the walk of shame pic then…

He screenshots a photo of me and Leanna outside her room this morning. I'm grinning down at her while she looks up at me, you can't see the glare I know she's giving me but both of us look dishevelled and very much like we slept together.

Nathan: Fell asleep in her room, hiding from psycho Georgie, who was in my house when I got home btw! 

Adam: Seriously?? Did you call the police?

Callum: Leanna's going to flip when she reads the comments.

Nathan: What comments? And no, I think I managed to talk Georgie down so she'll be someone else's problem now.

Adam: Yeah right! She won't give up that easy mate!

Callum: Read them, everyone's loving you two as a couple! Oh shit mate, do you reckon Crazy G will go after you or Leanna when she sees the post?

Adam: It was nice knowing you mate, one of them's going to be gunning for you.

Nathan: FML! Women be crazy!

Callum sends me the link to Olivia Hughes' post and he's right, ninety percent of the comments are supporting us as a couple and the other ten percent are predicting this is a prank, but wishing it was true.

Callum's right, Leanna's going to flip out!

I peer out of the window just as Max Carlisle's loading Leanna's car onto his dad's recovery truck, her tyres are completely flat and briefly I wonder whether Georgie saw Olivia's post this morning and slashed her tyres, but then wonder if I'm being a little unfair to her because she seemed perfectly happy when she left this morning, even if she did break in and wait all night for me to come home.

It can't be! If she'd done it when she left they wouldn't have had time to notice and call Max in that time. It's more likely to be one of the people Leanna refused to let fuck in her room last night!