Chapter 21 - "Tomorrow's another day."

"How was Paris?"

I'd been rustling up some lunch in the kitchen, in a world of my own, and was startled by Jack's voice. He'd entered the kitchen seemingly silently, and had proceeded to open the fridge door.

"It was really nice thanks. We managed to get a lot done."

"Cool," he said, still rooting around in the fridge. "I'm really sorry about that phone call by the way."

His whole body language and casual demeanour suggested that he really didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I decided to respect his decision and move on from it. Nathan may have wanted to dissect the whole argument and apologize profusely, but all boys were different. Jack clearly just wanted to forget it all.

"It's fine," I replied, just as casually, flicking on the hob and waiting for the ring to heat up. "It was none of my business."

Jack pulled a coke out of the fridge and slowly unscrewed the top before taking a quick swig.

"It was your business, Izzy." He sighed. "You were just looking out for me. I was too proud to admit that at the time."

"Have you spoken to her?" I asked.

He shrugged, which I took as meaning yes. "I can't believe it's happened to me twice. Although I guess this time I did sort of bring it upon myself by mouthing off about what a player I am," he added, laughing bitterly.

He pushed himself up onto the table and took another sip of his coke.

"So tell me about Paris," he said with an easy smile. "And don't leave anything out."

With the argument well and truly forgotten, I launched into recounting the details of my romantic weekend away with Nathan. Jack listened politely, asking questions every now and then about various places in Paris.

"Did you exercise your linguistic abilities?" he asked during a pause.

I laughed softly. "I tried. They all spoke back to me in English."

"God, it's annoying when that happens!" Jack sympathised, nodding. "To be honest, I don't know why Nath took you to Paris instead of me. I'm the one learning French. The whole experience would have been much more beneficial to me than you."

I snorted. "Maybe because I'm the one who's sharing the anniversary with him?"

"Don't be jealous of our bromance, Izzy." Jack sighed dramatically. "You have to learn to share."

"Well he's coming to visit on Friday so you'll be reunited," I said dryly.

"Is he?" Jack's eyes lit up. "Fantastic! Then you really will have to learn to share."

I didn't doubt it for a second. That reminded me of Nathan's sleep-talking though, when I felt like I was sharing a bed with not only him but this mysterious Louisa too.

"Has Nathan ever mentioned someone called Louisa to you?" I asked him.

He frowned and tilted his head to the side as he considered it. "Louisa...? Is that his assistant?"

"Yeah," I said. "How do you know that?"

"Oh we were once playing FIFA and she sent him an email about a load of translation stuff that was overdue. The only reason I remember is that he got quite wound up about it and made a comment about how he hates that she emails him on the weekends."

"Oh," I said, thinking back to what Nathan had been murmuring in his dream. He just kept saying 'no' and then murmuring about how much he loved me. So was he saying no to all the work? What did I have to do with that?

"Why do you ask? She didn't email him in Paris, did she? Because that would be harsh, emailing him during his romantic anniversary weekend away."

"No," I said. "Nathan said her name in his sleep."

"Oh and you thought he was dreaming about another girl?" Jack chuckled, but when I shrugged, his smile fell away. "Oh, Izzy. I can assure you that I've never seen a guy look at any girl the way Nathan looks at you. And like I said, he hates that she emails him about work during his time off. He was probably dreaming about that and how work would ruin his weekend with you."

"Probably... That does make more sense now."

"Did you question him about it?" Jack then asked.

I shrugged. "Sort of. I brought it up casually and just asked who she was. He didn't seem to realise that he'd never mentioned her name before."

Jack nodded. "Well he probably didn't realise. I doubt he'd have kept it from you deliberately. That wouldn't make sense. Besides, how often do you talk about his assistant?"

"Hardly ever," I admitted.

"Well there you go then. If she hardly ever comes up in conversation, then when would you have learnt her name?"

"That's true," I agreed.

"Roll on Friday." He winked.

*

When Friday did arrive, I wished it hadn't. It was just one of those days. Straight from the beginning, things were going wrong. My alarm didn't go off and so I missed my Italian class. Perhaps I wouldn't have felt so worried about it if I'd attended last week's class, but obviously I'd missed that one too because of Paris. Two weeks in a row wouldn't look good.

By lunch time, I'd received an email from my Italian tutor, telling me that she was aware I'd now missed two Friday morning classes in a row. The wording of the email was very neutral, but she was basically saying that I should be responsible for my education and that learning comes before nights out. Clearly she assumed I was too hungover to get out of bed.

"It's ridiculous!" I complained to Shaun over lunch. "Those two Italian classes are the only classes I've missed all year so far."

"That's probably why she assumes you go out on Thursday nights," he told me.

"But I can't even email her back and explain because I don't have a good excuse," I said. "I can't say I was ill both Fridays since I've been to all my other lectures this week."

"Izzy, it's probably a generic email. None of your tutors know you well enough yet so they automatically assume that a student skiving is due to hangovers. You're at university after all."

"You're too much of a good girl," Hayley commented with a smile. "Tutors don't actually care if you miss lectures. Emails are a standard thing."

"It's different on a language course," I tried to explain. "The classes are smaller so it's obvious if you're missing."

"I don't see how this is a big deal," Jack told me, ever the blasé one. "Just don't miss any more Italian classes and everything will be dandy! I don't really know why you're stressing over this when really you should be excited about your boyfriend visiting."

"Yeah," Hayley agreed. "I think Jack is more excited at the moment."

Jack winked at me. They were right though; I immediately felt better when I started to think about Nathan's visit. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. I got the marks from my first essay back, and I was disappointed to say the least.

55% was a pass at university, a 2:2, but I felt like I should have done better. I didn't think my essay had been that bad. With my spirits lowered again, I inevitably began to doubt my academic ability. Maybe I wasn't cut out for it. Maybe I peaked at college and university was just a step too far. It happened to some people, surely?

To clear my head, I went for a walk. And that's when my day started to get even worse. With my head spinning with all my recent worries, I wasn't concentrating on where I was going. It was becoming dark and just as I began to think about turning back, I realized I was being followed.

My heart immediately jumped. I couldn't turn around now – I didn't want a confrontation and, for all I knew, it could be a coincidence. Straightaway I tried to think of different routes back to my flat, but having only been living here two months, I was struggling.

I took a few random turns, trying to lose the three boys, but I could still hear their footsteps following me. My heart was now pumping ten to the dozen. What was wrong with today? Why was everything going badly for me? Quickening my pace, I headed towards the direction of the high street. If I could get to somewhere public, then I'd be fine and hopefully they'd leave me alone.

As the high street came into sight, I began to relax. The boys seemed to have slowed down and by the time I'd dived into Superdrug, they were nowhere to be seen.

I let out a sigh of relief and browsed the shampoo section whilst I waited for my heart rate to decrease again. More than likely, they were just a group of boys messing around, who probably meant no harm. But even so, it was just the cherry on top of a generally bad day.

"Where've you been?" Jack asked when I finally made it back to the flat.

"I went for a walk," I told him, leaning in his doorway.

"Oh right," he said. "Hey, did you get your mark back from that essay?"

"I haven't checked," I lied. "What did you get?"

"Seventy-one." He punched the air in celebration. "First-class grade for a first-class guy."

I rolled my eyes, keeping my guard up. "Well done. Starting how you mean to go on, are you?"

"You know it." He winked. "Let me know what you get, won't you? No pressure."

"Sure," I said casually. "I'll look after my shower. I need to get ready for Nathan."

As soon as I was properly alone, in the privacy of my own room, the tears started to fall. I didn't even know why I was crying. It was one essay. But that one essay seemed such a big deal when I thought about all the other things that had gone wrong today too.

I hopped in the shower, and by the time I'd properly gone through my beauty routine, I was feeling better. Sometimes letting it out through tears really was the best remedy.

When I emerged from the bathroom, wrapped up in my towel, I almost jumped at the sight of Nathan lounging on my bed.

"Hey," I squeaked, before clearing my throat. "Hey," I tried again.

"Evening," he smiled, sitting up. "You okay?"

"Better now you're here," I told him honestly, taking a seat next to him on the bed. "How was work?"

He shrugged. "Average. How's your day been?"

I shrugged, mirroring his nonchalant attitude. "You know, awful."

His placid face suddenly turned concerned as a frown spread across it. "Awful? What happened?"

"Lots of little things," I murmured. "None of them particularly significant."

"But significant as a whole if they all happen at the same time," Nathan said, in such a completely understanding manner that made my heart melt.

"Mm." I rested my head on his shoulder and his arm automatically wound around my waist, his fingers gently rubbing the fabric of the towel.

"Let it all out tonight, Bella," he said quietly. "We'll have a good night out and forget about it all. Tomorrow's another day."

"Yeah," I said with a sigh, extending my hand down his thigh until it came to grip his knee. "You're right."

Nathan placed his hand on top of mine and squeezed it briefly. "You had dinner?"

"No," I said. "Do you want to get take-out?"

"Tell you what; you get yourself ready, dry your hair or whatever, and I'll see if I can rustle us something up."

"I don't think I've got much in. I just haven't built up the motivation to go shopping yet."

"Well I'll have a look and if not then we'll get pizza. Deal?"

I smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

Brushing a soft kiss against my lips, he squeezed my hand again. "Anything for you, Bella. Just relax, yeah? Take your time getting ready and let me worry about everything else."

If it were possible for Nathan to take every worry out of my head and deal with it himself, then I knew he would. He'd only been near me for less than five minutes, and I was already feeling better.

"I love you," I whispered.

And the smile he gave me as I said that lifted my spirits even more. "Love you more."

Then he planted a rough kiss on my mouth before I could argue. Dinner was one less thing for me to think about as I began to get ready. With Nathan taking care of food, I concentrated on making myself look nice. I took extra care drying my hair, so that it would straighten more easily. Then I moisturised my whole body and got to work painting my nails.

By nine o'clock, I'd sorted what dress I was wearing and was just applying the finishing touches to my make-up. I could hear loud laughter coming from Hayley's room, which suggested that she and Gemma had already started drinking.

"They sound like they're having fun," Nathan said to me.

"Hayley is such a mess sometimes. I don't think you've ever seen her when she's been properly drunk."

"Well, you did force me to take you home early last time..."

"She's much worse than that," I told him.

"Is that a tone of judgement there?" Nathan asked me, seeming amused.

"I'm not judging."

"You just don't approve?"

I topped up my mascara. "She's just a completely different person when she's drunk. It's like an excuse for her to behave however she wants."

"A lot of people use alcohol as an excuse for that."

"I guess. Are you almost ready?" I asked him, changing the subject.

"Yep. Ready to monitor your alcohol consumption."

"I've told you that was a one off," I insisted, picking up my bag and then slipping my feet into my heels. These were extra high ones. They made my feet ache after only an hour of wearing them, but I knew my legs looked good in them. And I wanted to look good for Nathan.

"Can you walk in those?" he asked, his voice laced with amusement.

"Yes," I told him pointedly, before walking over to him to demonstrate. "But we won't be doing much walking. We'll be dancing."

"You look amazing," he whispered, suddenly turning serious.

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he pulled me tightly against his body. I swallowed as I felt the hard bulge at the front of his jeans. Just from looking at me?

"I'm sure we've got another five minutes..." I quirked an eyebrow.

I expected him to shoot me down and suggest we save it for later. But, surprisingly, his mouth crashed onto mine, his tongue immediately sliding through my lips.

I couldn't hold back the moan as Nathan pushed me gently against the wall and then ground his hips into mine.

"We can't do this now," I murmured against his mouth.

"Don't think you can handle it?" He ground his pelvis against mine once more.

"You're teasing me..."

"And you're going to be teasing me all night in that outfit...fair's fair."

I groaned as he began to kiss my neck, his hips now circling against mine. My hands lazily trailed down his back as I let myself concentrate on the sensations.

"Nothing about you is fair," I whispered.

"You wouldn't want me any other way," he murmured down my ear, making me shiver.

In typical Nathan fashion, he then casually pulled away as if nothing had happened. I'd probably never get used to that. It always took me several seconds longer to gather myself.

"Ready?" he asked.

I nodded and picked up my bag, adjusting my dress so it covered more of my leg. Sure enough, Hayley and Gemma were already drunk, laughing together with their arms around each other.

For a small moment, a pang of regret tightened my chest. They were so close to each other. I was close to Jack, closer than anyone else in the flat, but there was something about female friendships. It always seemed better to be on the inside of the friendship group than the outside.

Jack was buzzing off life again as we piled into the taxi – Nathan could barely get a word in edgeways with his incessant chatting. As much as I missed him at uni, I recognised the need for him to spend time with male friends too. And since I didn't want to come across as clingy, I spent the beginning part of the night with the girls while Jack and Nathan bonded.

Once they'd joined up with a group I didn't know as well, I returned to the boys.

They seemed to be having a good night. Jack wasn't hitting on every girl in a five-metre radius this time; he was happily bobbing along to the music, drink in hand. Phil seemed to be having more luck as he locked lips with a blonde from a nearby group of girls. I didn't miss how her friends kept glancing at Nathan though, which annoyed me; if it wasn't obvious that I was his girlfriend then it should have at least been obvious that he'd already got a girl for the night, by the way that his hands were rubbing my hips, his mouth brushing my ear every now and again.

My attention was diverted by Jack grabbing my wrist.

"Where's your drink?" he asked me, nodding at my empty hand.

"I drank it," I answered smartly.

He shook his head and interlocked our fingers, pulling me away from Nathan and towards the bar.

"You're far too sober," he told me. "And, FYI, glaring at those girls isn't going to make them go away."

I frowned up at him. "What do you mean?"

He laughed as he pulled out his wallet. "Come on, Izzy, I saw the way you were scowling at them. They are allowed to look at your boyfriend, you know. It's not a crime."

"I know it's not a crime but it's obvious he's with a girl and yet they're still staring at him."

"They're probably bitter that they tried to hit on him and he sent them all away," Jack told me.

"They hit on him?" I asked, appalled.

Jack sighed. "Izzy, come on. Nathan is a good-looking guy and he was dancing by himself. Girls will hit on him if they think he's single. The point is that he sent them all away."

As comforting as that was, it didn't quash my annoyance that other girls were hitting on my boyfriend.

"I don't take you as the jealous type," Jack added, noticing a gap in the queue and subtly slipping into it before anyone else noticed.

"I'm not."

But was I? Was that what this was? Jealousy? But what exactly did I have to be jealous of? Nathan was mine. I was the one he was going home with. I should be proud that other girls wanted him.

Out of nowhere, I thought of Matt. How many times had Matt wanted to stay in instead of go out? And his reason: because he didn't like other boys looking at the girl who belonged to him. I shook my head to myself. I wasn't going to become like Matt with petty jealousies.

"Vodka lemonade?" Jack asked me.

"I'll get it," I told him, delving into my bag for change. "And you're right. I'm not that kind of girl. Today's just been a bad day."

"Alcohol makes everything better," Jack said brightly.

He ordered my drink and then we headed back to the dance floor. And that's when I saw the one thing that just topped off my awful day. Whilst we'd been queuing, Hayley and Gemma had reappeared.

Hayley was clutching her drink as she leaned into Nathan, saying something in his ear. He was replying politely, but I knew exactly what she was doing. I'd seen her do it to tons of guys before. Nathan was just too naïve to realise that my flatmate was hitting on him. And what made it even worse, was the fact she was doing it in that dress, the dress from our shopping trip that was originally meant for me.

"Uh-oh," Jack said from beside me, noticing the scene that was playing out in front of us. "Do you want me to drag her away?"

I caught his wrist, my eyes still focused on Hayley and Nathan. "No. I want to see what kind of person she really is."

As Hayley finished whatever she was saying, she turned back around so her back was pressed against Nathan's front. Her eyes were closed as she swayed to the music. Nathan took small step away from her and leant to say something to Shaun, who just nodded.

She may have been completely wasted, but Hayley somehow still seemed to have noticed that Nathan had moved away from her. Stumbling, she reached up to his ear, wrapping one arm around his neck for support as she leant into his body. Nathan's hands remained rigidly by his sides whilst Shaun placed his hand on Hayley's back, diverting her attention. Nathan took the moment to slip away.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked me.

"I'm so angry," I muttered, my voice shaking. "What the hell was she thinking?"

"She wasn't thinking; she's drunk," Jack said.

I shook my head. "No. If she was so drunk then she wouldn't have been able to hit on him like that. She knew exactly what she was doing."

"She'll feel awful tomorrow morning."

"She'll only feel awful because she's sober and alcohol acts as an excuse! I bet she wouldn't have hit on Gemma's boyfriend if she had one..."

"You can't take this personally... Nathan's a good-looking guy and Hayley always wants what she can't have."

"Or maybe she's just a bad person."

"Hey." Nathan wrapped an arm around my waist. "I'm tired. Wanna go home? It's almost one."

"It doesn't shut until two!" Jack's eyebrows shot up.

"You stay," I told Jack. "I'll go home with Nathan."

Nathan picked up on my bad mood as soon as we were in the cab.

"It's weird," he said. "Because you seem furious, but I get the impression it's not directed at me..."

"I am furious," I said through gritted teeth. "But not at you."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"I just can't believe her. I can't believe anyone could be that drunk and..."

"Hayley?" he guessed. "Bella, you know I'd never have let anything happen?"

"I know. I know you'd never cheat. But I can't help thinking that if you were Gemma's boyfriend then she wouldn't have touched you."

"You think it's because you're not as close?" he said quietly as the taxi pulled into halls. I reached into my bag but Nathan shook his head. "I'll pay."

"It's just such a typical thing for her to do," I continued as we headed up the stairs. "It's always annoyed me how drunk she gets, but everyone else just finds it funny. Everyone loves it because she's the fun-loving one who's not scared to get drunk..."

"You're fun," Nathan insisted.

I shook my head and stabbed my key into my lock. "It's not the same. Hayley will always be everyone's favourite. Even Jack was defending her actions."

"I doubt he'd have been defending her," Nathan said. "It's more likely that he'd have been trying to make you feel better."

"I just feel like I don't belong here," I murmured, collapsing on my bed and closing my eyes.

The mattress dipped as Nathan sat down on the edge, his hand resting comfortingly on my hip.

"This flat?"

"This flat, this university..."

"I think you've done well with this flat," Nathan told me, his hand still stroking my hip. "Everyone here is pleasant enough, even if you're different people."

"I just feel like the odd one out. The boring one."

"You're not, Bella. And I'm sure nobody else thinks that."

"And I got my first essay back today," I mumbled. "I was so disappointed with the mark I got."

"How much weighting was it?"

"Nothing."

"So what's the problem?" he asked.

"I thought I'd done better. I worked hard and I got a poor mark."

"You know, there's a big step between college and university. The reason your essay didn't have a weighting was probably because the tutors know that people are going to inevitably achieve poor marks. It's all about getting used to university and their way of marking."

"Jack got a first..."

"Well maybe Jack's college did things differently. You can only know what you've been taught, Bella. And, from now on, university will be teaching you how to write essays better."

"Today's just been such a bad day..."

Sighing, Nathan moved from where he was sitting so that he was lying on his side behind me. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he effortlessly pulled me back so we were spooning.

"It's over now, Bella," he whispered in my ear. "And like I said earlier, tomorrow is another day."

"Yeah," I sighed, closing my eyes.

It was hard to be sad when Nathan was so close to me. He was right; tomorrow was another day and today's incidents would begin to seem insignificant. And in the long run, I knew the things that were truly important to me. As long as nothing went wrong in that respect, then I was sure I could battle through university's obstacles.

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Thank you for reading :)xx