Chapter 7 - "How's the head?"

"Morning, Sunshine." Jack grinned at me when I walked into the kitchen later on that morning. He was sitting down at the table, eating cereal.

"Morning," I replied, heading to the fridge and pulling out some sausages and bacon.

"How's the head?" he asked me, still grinning.

"Absolutely fine," I told him. "It turns out that Nathan is a pro at preventing hangovers."

Jack laughed. "What you cooking?"

"Brunch. Full English."

I turned on the hob and then tossed the sausage into the frying pan, waiting for it to heat up.

"Oh, is that your romantic touch that you were wondering about?" he asked.

"No. This is just me cooking brunch whilst he's in the shower."

"He's in the shower and you haven't joined him. Wow, you're such a poor host. And after all that he did for you last night..."

I rolled my eyes. "At least I'm cooking for him."

"True. They do say that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

"Really? I thought you said it was through sex?"

"Did that not work or something?"

I smirked. "I've already got his heart. I'm just trying to keep it now."

"I'm sure you're doing a wonderful job," he assured me, standing up and carrying his bowl over to the sink. Luckily Jack was a tidy person, and I watched him wash up his bowl and spoon before putting them neatly back into his cupboard. Then he wandered over to inspect what I was doing.

"So what are you making for brunch then?"

"Bacon, sausage and egg."

"But you're only cooking the sausage..."

"Yeah, I do it one at a time."

"Oh, Izzy..." He sighed, shaking his head. He picked up my bacon and tossed it into the pan. Immediately it sizzled, letting off smoke and curling at the edges.

"Jack!" I gasped, leaning away from the smoke.

"Life's too short," he told me. "Cook it all in one pan. It'll be fine. And much quicker."

"I prefer doing it my way. Then I'm fully in control."

"University is about stepping out of your comfort zones. With a little help from me you'll soon be on your way to becoming a top chef."

"Hmm." I rolled some of the sausages over. "We'll see about that."

"So, did you have a good night?" he asked me, pushing himself up onto a counter.

"Nathan took me home early because I was so drunk," I muttered, embarrassed.

He laughed. "And there we all were, thinking that you were going home early for a bit of sexy time."

I blushed, remembering how I'd been trying desperately to sleep with Nathan before realizing that I'd completely misunderstood his intention of coming home early.

"No," I said. "I think I pretty much passed out as soon as I got into bed." I wasn't about to mention how I'd fallen asleep on the floor whilst trying to get changed...

"You're such a lightweight," he teased. "But, don't worry; I'm sure that university will increase your alcohol tolerance levels."

"That is why I'm here, after all..."

The kitchen door swung open and seconds later I felt Nathan's familiar body pressed up against my back as he rested his hands on my hips and leant over my shoulder to kiss my cheek.

"Smells lovely," he whispered in my ear, before backing away and greeting Jack.

"Morning, mate," Jack said. "How did you find your first night out at university?"

"Everything I expected it to be," Nathan said. "Busy clubs, overpriced drinks, lethal drinking games and having to go home early to look after the more drunken members of the team."

Jack burst into laughter whilst I just scowled into my frying pan. I should have known that Jack and Nathan would hit it off...

"How long you staying for?" Jack then asked.

"Just until tomorrow night," Nathan replied, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the table. "Some of us work full time for a living rather than having three years of partying."

"Well, I feel sorry for you lot," Jack told him. "You're lucky to be able to experience some of our lifestyle."

"Yeah, cheers, Bella," Nathan said, shooting me a grin.

"You're welcome," I said lightly, transferring the sausages and bacon from the frying pan to the plates before getting to work on the eggs.

"So how come you didn't apply for university?" Jack asked, sounding genuinely curious, and I was thankful that the conversation was no longer about me.

"I decided a long time ago that university just wasn't for me," Nathan said.

"In what way?"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him shrug. "I was just fed up of education. I know Uni is supposed to be much better than school...but I wanted to do something completely different."

"What did your school think of that?" Jack asked.

"Not much," Nathan said after a slight pause. "I didn't have the best record."

"You had great grades," I disputed, dishing up the rest of the meal before carrying the plates over to the table. Nathan smiled at me in gratitude and mouthed a 'thank you'.

"Behavioural record then?" Jack asked.

"Sort of yeah," Nathan admitted. "I went to Italy in the middle of my A-levels. And I only went to college because I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't be bothered with getting a job or anything."

Jack was becoming increasingly curious. However, he still managed to cover it up and make a joke.

"Ah, Izzy changed you, did she?"

Nathan smiled and sliced a sausage in half. "Yeah. In more than one way."

Jack was definitely now battling between deciding whether more questions would be considered conversational or just plain nosey. In the end, he decided to keep his mouth shut for once and shortly afterwards he left us to eat in peace.

"You don't talk much about your life before Italy," I said to Nathan quietly.

He didn't look up from his food and suddenly became very interested in pushing a little bit of bacon, a little bit of sausage and a little bit of egg onto his fork.

"That's because my life is completely different now," he eventually answered.

Something changed in him. Tension had his shoulders locking and his knuckles whitening around his cutlery.

"It's still your life," I said carefully. "I know you've changed but I'm still curious about what the boy I love used to be like."

"Curious?" he asked, looking up at me for the first time. "You know about the girls and the drugs."

"Yes... But I don't know much else."

"There's not much to tell," he said, and his tone was firm.

It was so firm that I swiftly shut my mouth and said nothing else for the remainder of brunch. Nathan seemed to realize that he'd caused tension between the two of us and he tried his best to defuse it.

"This is great by the way, Bella."

"Thanks," I mumbled, glancing up.

I couldn't see Nathan every day anymore so I needed to find another way to connect with him. Yet when I brought up his past, in an effort to try to find out more about him, to get under the light-hearted layers, he completely shut down on me. That was never a positive thing for a relationship.

"I'll wash up," he offered quickly when I went to tidy away the plates. "You cooked. It's the least I can do."

"No, you're the guest."

"Just let me do it," he demanded softly, taking the plates from me. "I'm hardly a guest, am I?"

More tension. Hardly a guest? He didn't live here. Of course he was a guest. He was just drawing attention to that fact.

"Suit yourself," I told him. "I'll be in my room."

Away from the tense atmosphere, I sat down on my bed and sucked in a deep breath. We'd been here before, and I'd given Nathan the time and space to open up to me at his own pace. Maybe I needed to do the same again. It was just harder to accept now that we were further on in our relationship. I thought we could talk about anything.

A few minutes later, Nathan slipped through the door and shut it after himself. He leaned back against the wood, his blue eyes falling on me.

"I'm sorry." His voice was low and gruff, like the apology was physically difficult to articulate. "I just don't like bringing it up. My past is my past."

"I don't want us to have secrets or to feel like we need to hide anything from each other," I said. "If you have your reasons for not talking about it, fine. Just don't shut me down when I'm asking from a place of love."

"I didn't mean to shut you down, Bella." He pushed off the door and strode across the small space to join me on the bed. "I do want to share every part of my life with you. Just not yet."

He pressed a light kiss to my forehead and wound an arm around my shoulder. I let my own arms curl around his torso to return the embrace. Now that I wasn't seeing him as often, maybe I was over-thinking and over-analysing every aspect of our relationship.

"I just need to chill out," I said to him.

He chuckled. "You're a pretty chilled person already. I like that about you. But you do need to trust our relationship. We can get through anything, Bella."

"Yeah. We can."

He let go of my shoulder and twisted his body to face me. I copied him so we were both sitting on the bed, face to face.

"Bella," he said quietly, cupping my cheek in his hand. "You are the single, most important thing in my life. Make me a promise?"

After that declaration, I'd have promised him anything. "Anything," I whispered.

"Promise me that you'll never forget that."

"I promise," I said, smiling and placing my hand on top of his to hold it against my face.

"I'm never gonna do anything that risks losing you or losing anything that we have together."

"We're losing something."

He tilted his head to the side. "What's that? I'll do my best to get it back."

"This," I said.

And then I pulled his face to mine and crushed our mouths together. Considering that I'd taken him by surprise, Nathan reacted exceptionally quickly, and exceptionally in general. His lips caressed mine to perfection, starting off gently and then becoming more frantic, as though my lips were his oxygen supply.

Every now and then, his tongue would twist teasingly with mine. I didn't even realize I'd moved closer to him until my legs wound around his waist and Nathan's hands travelled down my body to grip my bum. My whole body yearned for him. We weren't close enough. I needed to feel him inside me. But just as I processed this thought, Nathan had to go and ruin it.

"Well there's always phone sex," he murmured in my ear. Then he grinned and fell backwards onto the bed so he was lying down, consequently pulling me down with him.

"Nathan," I moaned. "Why do you always have to ruin the moment?"

"What?" he asked, looking offended. "Don't you like the idea of phone sex?"

"I'd rather have actual sex."

"I'm flattered. But, alas, it's not always possible these days."

"Exactly," I murmured against his mouth. "So let's make the most of it now..."

He sat up, tucking my hair behind my ears. "All in good time. You promised me a day out."

"I know... I really wanted to make this weekend special but I lack imagination."

"Well I've got somewhere we can go. Let's head there first, yeah?"

"Sure."

Nathan slid off the bed and headed towards the bathroom, chuckling to himself. I scowled after his body, suspecting his amusement was at my expense.

"Why are you laughing?" I called after him.

He turned in the bathroom door and leant against it, resting his head on the doorframe as he gazed at me.

"Because there was a time, Bella, when you wouldn't even give me your number. I guess I'm still relishing the fact that that stubborn, resistant girl is now begging me for sex."

I bit back my smile. He was so right. And it was quite amusing if you thought about it like that, but I didn't think about like that. Nothing had changed for Nathan whereas my feelings for him had grown over time; I'd started off thinking he was an irritating bastard, and then he quickly became a close friend, before I admitted to myself that I did actually have feelings for him too. Maybe those feelings hadn't come around in the most natural way, but it was impossible not to fall in love with someone who would do anything in their power to make you happy.

Five minutes later, Nathan emerged from the bathroom and demanded to know why I still wasn't wearing any shoes.

"You haven't told me where we're going yet."

"It's a surprise." He tapped a finger against my nose.

"I've been thinking about what you just said," I told him, opening my wardrobe door and pulling out a pair of pumps. "The part where you mentioned how my feelings towards you have changed."

"Yep."

"Well, you're wrong. I still think you're an irritating bastard. It was pure inconvenience that I happened to fall in love with you."

He laughed at that and bounded up behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach and pulling me back against his body.

"It wasn't inconvenience, baby. It was the best thing that ever happened to you."

"Don't call me baby," I said, but I couldn't help smirking. "It's so insincere."

"Tell me I'm right though," he said, spinning me around so we were face to face.

I grinned and wound my arms around his neck, twisting my fingers through his hair.

"Admit you're right? Never."

"I guess I'll just have to live the rest of my life assuming then..."

We gazed at each other for a few moments. Nathan knew damn well that he was the best thing to happen to me. I told him enough times. After sharing a short, sweet kiss, he clapped his hands together, ushering me to hurry up.

"Come on. Let's go before everywhere gets busy."

"It's the middle of the day. Everywhere will already be busy. We're in London."

"'London Baby!'" he cried out in an American accent.

"Stop that," I said, but I collected my things together anyway, checking my pockets for my keys and phone.

"What? I'm clearly mocking. I'm practically a local. This is my hometown."

I snorted with laughter and gestured for him to leave the room. Following him out, I pulled the door shut and locked it. I couldn't risk Jack coming in and vandalising something.

We headed towards the Tube station but still Nathan didn't give me any clues as to where we were going. Our whole journey to the mystery location was taken up by continuous banter between the two of us. Nathan had set the tone now and once we started at each other, we pretty much carried on at it.

When we got off the Tube, I immediately recognised where we were and frowned. He'd taken me to the centre of London. I was even more confused when he pulled me into the queue for The London Eye.

"You've brought me to The London Eye?" I asked sceptically, craning my neck to see the top of the wheel.

"Your disappointment is hurting my feelings."

"I thought you wanted to show me something."

"I do."

"I've been on this before. Do you want to show me the view?"

"Not just the view," he said, taking hold of my hand and entwining our fingers. "You'll see."

"I'm intrigued."

"Maybe this won't be a huge surprise but it's still something I want to show you."

"You're not about to show me Arsenal's football stadium, are you?" I asked with a smile.

He squeezed my hand. "No, Bella. But that can always be arranged."

Considering it was a weekend and London was swimming with tourists, Nathan and I somehow succeeded in getting a capsule to ourselves. I didn't question this, although I didn't miss the smile that Nathan flashed at the young, female member of staff which more than likely resulted in her giving into his request.

Despite what I'd said, I did like The London Eye. The view from the top truly was amazing. Joining Nathan at the front of the capsule, I wound my arm around his waist and rested my head against his shoulder. He bent down to kiss my forehead and then draped an arm around my hips.

We stood in almost silence as our capsule climbed to the top of the wheel. I couldn't help but daydream about how romantic this was. So many people got engaged on The London Eye, but I had a feeling that wasn't the reason Nathan had brought me here.

"Look," Nathan said, breaking the silence and pointing into the distance.

"What?" I asked, failing to recognise whatever it was that Nathan was pointing at. We were so high up now that it could be anything within a five-mile radius.

Using various landmarks, Nathan directed me to where he was pointing. Gradually, I realized what it was.

"That's my university."

"Exactly." He beamed. He took my hand and pulled me to another side of the capsule. "And look at this."

Now he appeared to be pointing at a random residential area.

"What's that?"

"That's where I live."

I froze as my brain processed that thought. "That's the flat?"

I'd been to Nathan's flat a few times, but he'd only moved in there a week before I'd started university.

"Yep," he said. "Now do you understand why I've brought you up here?"

"Not exactly..." I answered honestly, giving him a sheepish smile.

He grinned and pulled me up onto the bench in the middle of the capsule. "That's where you live," he said, pointing in the direction of university. "And that's where I live." He twisted to point to the residential area again. "Look how close we are!"

I smiled, finally grasping his point. "Yeah. I guess it's not too far away if you think about it like that."

Nathan smiled down at me as he took hold of my waist and pulled me closer against him. "Same city. So close that from a certain point you can see both of our flats."

"This was so thoughtful," I told him, resting my head on his chest. "You're so thoughtful, Nathan."

"It doesn't make you less thoughtful," he assured me, knowing exactly what my thought process was. "I'm trying to comfort you."

"It's working," I told him. "I'm comforted."

I'd had some pretty romantic kisses with Nathan, but our next one probably topped the list. Sky high above London, in a glass capsule, with all the hustle and bustle of the city literally beneath our feet.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon strolling around the city together, soaking up the atmosphere and admiring what London had to offer us. After having a small snack in a quaint café by the banks of The Thames, we headed to Covent Gardens to browse the market and watch the street entertainers.

For such a spontaneous day, I enjoyed it immensely. Since Nathan arrived this weekend, I'd been obsessed with making the most of it. But as we strolled aimlessly through the streets, I realized I was appreciating this more, simply being in his company and talking about anything and everything together as we made memories that were sure to last.

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