Chapter 3 - "I haven't tasted Italian in a while."

Three days into my first week of university, two nights out and thus far only one one-night stand. I found myself settling in a lot more and the bonding between flatmates came easier with each passing day. Even though I was happy, I was still missing Nathan like crazy. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like I'd be seeing him any time soon.

"We agreed on this," he reminded me over Skype.

"I know." I sighed. "But I think when we agreed on it, I wasn't exactly in a sane state of mind."

He grinned, knowing exactly what I was talking about. "It's not my fault that my wonderful body has the power to drive you to insanity."

I rolled my eyes. "You know that's not what I meant."

"I still think it's for the best though, Bella," he said, turning serious again. "Just the first week, yeah? You need to settle in without me. You need the time to bond properly with all your flatmates."

"I didn't realize how much I'd miss you."

"You're only missing me so much because you're not used to not seeing me every day. You'll soon grow used to it."

"Are you used to it yet?"

He laughed. "Are you asking me if I miss you?"

"Well you seem to be coping more than me."

"I'm in a familiar environment. You're not. It'll hit you harder but that doesn't mean I miss you any less. Believe me; every single part of me misses you."

I couldn't help but smirk at that. "Any part in particular?"

"Every inch of me." His eyes twinkled.

As I watched him on my laptop screen with his messy hair, I had such a strong urge to scrape my hands through it and cover his mouth with my own. I wanted to feel his lips over mine and taste his tongue. One thing was for certain. Next time I was with him, I wouldn't take anything for granted.

"Maybe we can go out for dinner on Monday night?" he suggested. "Obviously I won't be able to stop over at yours because of work the next day but we can catch up properly over a nice meal and you can tell me if university is everything it's cracked up to be."

"That sounds great. Any places in mind?"

"I'll ask around at work to see if anyone can recommend somewhere in the city. Any particular cuisine?"

"I haven't tasted Italian in a while."

"I'm sure we'll be able to sort that out." Nathan's lips tugged up.

"Please stop flirting. You're making me miss you even more."

"Stop feeding me innuendos, then, if you don't want me to pick up on them."

I laughed and was about to make a witty retort when Jack's voice rang out from the other end of the corridor.

"Goal! Amazing goal! Hit the instant replay, Phil!"

I rolled my eyes and Nathan frowned. "Who was that?"

"Jack," I explained. "He's playing FIFA with Phil. They get quite into it."

"Is your door open?"

"No, it's shut. That's how loud they get."

"You should join in."

I snorted. "No chance. I had a go yesterday, tried to tackle one of Jack's Chelsea players and ended up getting sent off."

Nathan roared with laughter. "Do you realize how difficult it is to get a straight red card on FIFA?"

"Don't rub it in."

"Oh well. At least you took out a Chelsea player."

We talked a little while longer, this time focusing on Nathan and his new job, but as seven o'clock rolled into eight, I realized that I hadn't yet had anything to eat so reluctantly said goodbye to Nathan.

"I'll ask about decent Italians," Nathan said. "Ti amo tanto, Bellissima."

My mouth formed a natural smile. "I love you too."

I ended the call and then headed into the kitchen to rustle something up for dinner. Nathan's Italian words rang through my mind and inspired me to have pasta. Admittedly, I didn't tend to need much inspiration to have pasta, and I was in need of a quick and easy meal anyway.

As I put the penne on to boil, I was still consumed with all things Italian: Nathan's family home, our regular trips to Italian restaurants, our visits to Italy together, and now my dinner.

Checking my pasta wasn't going to boil over any time soon, I headed back down the corridor and into Jack's room.

"Hey, Guapa," he greeted me from where he was lounging on his bed, lifting his eyes up from his television. "You alright?"

"Have you chosen your modules yet?"

"Shit. No. When do we have to do it by?" He sat up, eyes wide.

"Friday."

"Oh. It's only Tuesday. Plenty of time." He lay back down, relaxing instantly.

"Did you say you were gonna do beginners Spanish?"

"Yeah," he said. "Why? Fancy tutoring me?" He shot me a wink.

"No."

"Why not? I'll pay in sexual favours."

Jack's flirting was harmless and he meant nothing serious by it; it was almost like a joke between us. Yet part of me wondered what Nathan might think if he heard some of the things Jack said. Maybe he'd laugh at it and see the funny side, but then again he didn't know Jack, and might not realize he was always completely joking.

"Is your course straight French?" I checked, ignoring his remark.

"Yeah. But I have two compulsory modules and then one optional one. So I'm gonna choose Spanish as my optional module."

"Do you think it works the same with my Spanish degree?"

He shrugged. "I imagine so. Check on the website and look at your options. Why? What were you thinking of?"

"I was thinking of Italian."

"Cool. That'll go nicely with your Spanish."

I nodded. "Yeah. I already understand bits of it but I want to know more."

"I completely get that. You wanna be able to flirt with your boyfriend in Italian so none of us can understand what filth you're saying to him."

"No, but you're right, that would be useful."

He laughed. "When's he visiting? I want to meet him! Everything you tell us about him makes him seem really cool."

"Next weekend probably," I said.

"Izzy!" Shaun shouted from the bottom of the corridor. "Is this your pasta?"

"Yeah," I called back.

"It's bubbling over the pan!"

"Can you turn it down please?"

"Why don't you go down there and talk to him?" Jack suggested. "Or even better, go down there and look after your own dinner?"

"Kicking me out?"

"I'd never kick you out, babe. But I don't want you wasting away. Go and eat something." I smiled but headed out and back down to the kitchen. "But let me know if there's any going spare!" I heard Jack shout after me.

Shaun and I sat down and ate dinner together, and we somehow ended up talking about our past relationships.

"Why did you break up?" I asked him after he'd finished telling me about his ex.

He shrugged. "Long distance wouldn't have worked. We were together for three years but things had already started fizzling out. I think we outgrew each other in the end."

"My ex was planning to end things because of long distance too," I said. "But then I found out he'd cheated on me, so we broke up anyway."

Shaun's eyebrows shot up. "He cheated on you?"

"Yeah. With my best friend. Needless to say the three of us don't talk anymore."

"You've got Nathan now though."

"Yeah. And even though I was devastated at the time, I've come to realize that Matt cheating on me was probably one of the best things that have happened to me. I'd never have ended things with him, and then maybe I'd never have got together with Nathan." I shrugged. "Things have a way of working out for the better."

"One day your Matt will realize what he's lost," Shaun said. "And he'll realize what he really wants and what he carelessly threw away."

"I don't think I ever was what he truly wanted. We were best friends and that's how our relationship developed. I was a safe option. A girl he already felt comfortable with."

"He'll realize regardless. You're probably the best he's ever gonna get. Karma tends to work like that."

"I was lucky to find Nathan so quickly. And now I know things are right."

Shaun smiled. "Yeah, they say that when you find the person you're supposed to be with, you just know. You can't explain how you know, but it's an instinctual thing."

"Yeah. It definitely is."

And that's how I knew that no matter how little I saw of Nathan over my university career, it would take a hell of a lot to come between us.

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