UNEDITED CHAPTER SEVEN [2]  [EXTREME EDITING NEEDED, I'M SORRY IN ADVANCE]

even in the quietest of moments i can hear your breathing, and i started believing that you, yes, little you, could never be mine.

       Nathan sat on the log for far too long, only to realize how numb his butt was. He sat on the uncomfortable log, nevertheless, and watched as Kat swam back and forth leisurely. It would have looked a bit brighter if the sun wasn't hidden behind the gray clouds again. Instead, the water looked dark, and Kat looked pale and bare. He heard her bragging about her waterproof makeup, but still—the dim light and dark water made everything appear too... melancholic.

       Silent footsteps approached him from behind, and soon enough, Neil was sitting beside him as Bree walked past with a solemn face. She took a seat on a large rock near the water's edge and began a conversation with Kat, whom had stopped swimming to listen to her friend.

       Neil wasn't look happy either, and Nathan felt happy about that. He didn't deserve the happiness of a very wonky two years of tears and frowns. He still couldn't get over what Kat had said about him; he felt protective of Bree, now.

       "Are you and Kat a thing?" Neil asked abruptly. He turned his head sharply towards Nathan, his eyebrows knitted and his mouth turned into a very transparent frown.

       "Kat and I aren't anything," Nathan answered plainly. His eyes were following her movements as she walked in circles on the sand as she spoke to Kat. Her black hair made her skin look so white, and the fact that the sun wasn't around to brighten things up didn't help.

        "You should be. You seem more compatible with her than Bree."

        Nathan was left utterly shocked at his statement.

       "How would you know that?" he asked defensively.

       Neil's jaw clenched, and Nathan knew he was surely going to be brutally beat up; after all, the guy in front of his was the off-spring of the incredible Hulk and he was just... a twig. Even Seth, who was a pretty well-built guy, probably couldn't take a punch to the arm from Neil.

       His dark green eyes were hidden under thick, dark eyebrows. His hair line was pushing back a little, but God, was he making up for it witch his cheekbones. No matter how much Nathan wanted to deny it, Neil was way buffer than he was, and way more attractive.

       He was a stupid, and attractive King Kong.

       "Neil!" Kat called.

       "What?" His booming voice caught Nathan off-guard, causing him to flinch. Neil laughed and got up. Kat was slowly jogging over to them, her hair whipping side to side.

       "Help me collect firewood. It's getting pretty cold," she said, breathless.

       "Well, it would be warmer if you put some clothes on," he laughed.

       Maybe it wasn't meant to sound so bad. Maybe they were really good friends that always joked around with each other like that, but Nathan couldn't help but feel the need to shove his face into the sand after the noticing the uncomfortable look on Kat's face for a moment.

       It was just a millisecond before she began laughing and pushed his arm playfully.

       "Nate, you can go get a few blankets from the car," she turned to Nathan.

       "Why don't you take him with you?" Neil asked.

       "Because," she handed the car keys to Nathan, and took Neil by the collar, "he's scared I'll bite him." She smiled proudly and dragged him off to another path.

       Nathan played with the keys in his hand as his eyes wandered over to Bree playing at the water's edge.

       His mouth opened to say something, but nothing but an embarrassing croak was all he could muster, and he kicked the sand beneath him. He scratched his head and tried again.

       "Hey!" She turned around.
       "Follow me back to the car?" She nodded slowly and began walking towards me, Nathan taking a deep breath with every step she took closer to him. Without Kat or Neil around, she was awfully awkward and quiet.

       The walk back to the entrance, where their car was parked, was long and their slow pace wasn't helping.

       WILL YOU JUST SAY SOMETHING? He screamed in his mind.

       Their silent footsteps were slowly sending him on the edge; he rubbed the back of his neck as he slowly glanced over at Bree walking beside him. She had her hands behind her back, and her eyes to the ground. What was running through her mind right about now?
       Nathan wondered, and wondered, and with his eyes on her and not the rather rocky path he was on, he stumbled, and his hands latched unto her for balance.

       Instead, she fell back, because of course, although he wasn't as big as Neil, she wasn't as big as him either. In fact, she was very light-weight: Nathan pulled her up by her pinky finger (awkwardly). Then it happened: she began mumbling a multitude of 'I'm sorry's and a look of panic washed over her face.

       "I'm sorry," Nathan said loudly. Bree's mouth stayed slightly open, until Nathan reached under her chin and shut her mouth for her. It was if his hand had a mind of it's own. Bree chuckled nervously and looked back to the ground with her eyes shut.

       "I'm sorry," she mumbled once more, before realizing that she had already said over a billion times only moments before.

       "Is that your trademark line or something?" Nathan asked jokingly.

       "I'm sorr-" She slapped her forehead and laughed. "Maybe," she smiled.

       "It's a good thing it was King Kong. He would have crushed you," Nathan went on.

       "King Kong, huh?"

       Nathan shrugged.

       "Then why say it?" She walked a little further in front of Nathan.

       "Have you seen him? He could crush you like an ant!"

       Bree nodded, as if she actually understood Nathan and his crazy emotions that were eating away at him this very moment.

       "He's not that bad," she said.

       "And how's two years of "not that bad"," he held up air quotes, "working out for ya?"

        Nathan seemed to hit a soft spot, because Bree did not look at her, nor did she utter another word. Her pace quickened, and so did his, because he didn't mean to offend her. He wasn't sure what he had meant by saying all of that, or even inviting her to go back to the car with him. He could have gotten the blankets by himself and left her alone to sit in her thoughts.

       "Bree, I'm sorry," he sighed, reaching for her hand: they were soft and smooth.

       "Kat told me that you write songs," she quickly changed the subject. Nathan felt her hand slip out of his grasp, leaving a tingling sensation in the palm of his right hand.

       "Considering that she only recently found out about that. Why did she tell you?" he asked, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets, only to realize THAT HE WASN'T WEARING HIS HOODIE. It was uncomfortable for him to walk around with his hands just... dangling at his sides.

       "I kind of asked about you... and what is it that makes her like you so much," she smiled innocently.

       "Hm, so she only likes me because I may be a potential rock-star in the future. Okay. So, why do you like Neil?" Nathan had to bite his tongue to refrain from calling him King Kong; he didn't want to offend Bree again.

       He completely ignored the bit she said about Kat, simply because he wanted to GET HER OUT OF HIS HEAD.

       "He's funny..." she began.

       "I'm funny too," Nathan interjected. "Okay, why did the cookie go to the hospital?"

       "Why?" Bree asked, her gaze fixed on him.

       "Because he was feeling kinda crummy," he chuckled.

       "That's the worst joke, ever!" Bree said, but she was laughing as well.

       "What do you call a fake noodle?"

        "Please, no more horrible jokes," Bree pleaded, holding in her giggles.

       "An impasta," Nathan grinned.

       Bree pushed his arm lightly and shook her head disapprovingly.

       He went on, and on, until he had Bree on the verge of tears as they neared the car. He liked this version of her better: the version of Bree Pasko that she became when she was with him. Even if it was just the brief moments in the past, he much preferred her like this.

       He didn't want to spoil the fun by suddenly pointing out how bipolar she was, but the smiles would fade as soon as they head back to the lake, when she would be back in Neil's arms, and he'd try to steal glances at her as the sun set with his back against Kat, who would be trying to steal glances at him.

       It seemed so fucked up to him. Why couldn't he choose Kat, who was already in love with him? There would be no hassle. They could become as close as they were five years ago, and maybe even a little closer. They'd go on fun dates, and hangout almost all the time, and they'd celebrate a NORMAL two year anniversary of being together.

       He wouldn't break her heart, and she wouldn't break his. They'd be happy.

       However, it wasn't that easy. He laid eyes on Bree Pasko, and his mind turned into mush. Pink, gooey mush that you could probably make in a do-it-yourself tutorial on Pinterest or something.

       His world was broadening, and somehow, these three people would take everything that he deemed normal, and paint it black.

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HELLO, IT'S ME AGAIN! HOW ARE YOU GUYS? UGH, WRITER'S BLOCK WAS GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF ME, BUT I PULLED THROUGH! Also, so sorry for such a crappy chapter. I didn't know what to write, although the scenario was on reply in my head. If you see any grammatical errors, would kindly point them out to me in the comments below? It helps me a lot!

Please, also comment what you think of the story so far!

Remember, all my musically tallented people: INBOX ME or @morons- since we're both handling this project together! If you want, you can email me/adam ( bruisedgalaxy ) at arcticjunkee @ gmail.com . Thank you so much for reading, and have a lovely day!

p.s VOTE!