There's Things That Aren't Worth Giving Up

Natalia sat in her apartment, trying to figure out what she should do to keep her mind off of what had happened the night before with her father. She still couldn’t believe that John had thought she would break up with Marty just because he requested her to do so. She thought her father knew how much she loved Marty, and there was nothing in the world that was going to separate them, not even her father. And, if that meant that she had to give up John to stay with Marty, it was something that Natalia was prepared to do.

She grabbed her keys off of the table and her coat out of the closet and made her way out to her car, driving over to Summer and Patrick’s apartment. She thought she would surprise Summer, since no one knew that she had come home from Minnesota earlier than expected, and Summer had been calling practically every single day since she and Marty had left Chicago.

Natalia still had yet to visit Summer and Patrick’s apartment since she had been in Prague and Minnesota since they had moved in together. And, she was really interested in seeing how they were handling living together. Olivia and Jonathan had told her that they acted exactly like they had when they hadn’t been living together, fighting about anything and everything, but in the end, it was still obvious that they were in love with each other.

She pulled up in front of the apartment complex, looking up at the apartments. She could immediately recognize their apartment as they had a Blackhawks head in the window, obviously something Summer had done. There was no way Patrick would have decided to put that there. Natalia laughed to herself as she climbed the stairs, stopping in front of their apartment. She lifted her hand to ring the doorbell when she heard yelling coming from the other side.

“Why don’t you just go ahead and call her?” she heard Summer yell, and she could practically see her staring at Patrick, her hands on her hips.

“Because I don’t want her!” Patrick yelled back. It was obvious that they had been having this argument for a while, as it sounded as if Patrick was exhausted and just wanted the fight to end already.

“You have her number, Pat,” Summer pointed out.

“It’s not like I asked for it,” Patrick argued. “She just gave it to me. You know I’d never cheat on you. I don’t even know why you’d accuse me of doing that!”

“If you weren’t planning on using the number, then why did you keep it?” Summer questioned. “Why didn’t you throw it away? Why keep it?”

Natalia didn’t hear a reply from Patrick, and she decided to take the moment to try and stop the argument from developing any further. She rang the doorbell, and she heard Summer give out a small, frustrated scream, and then loud footsteps coming towards the door. “What do you want?” Summer yelled as she opened the door. As soon as she saw Natalia, a smile spread across her face, and her whole demeanor changed. “Natalia!” she exclaimed, ushering her inside.

“Hey, Sum,” Natalia smiled. She walked inside and gave Patrick a small wave. “Hey, Pat.”

“Hey,” Patrick said quietly.

“What were you guys fighting about?” Natalia asked, even though she had caught the gist of it by standing outside the door for just those few minutes. When neither of them answered, Natalia turned to look at Summer. “Sum?” she asked.

“Pat got some bitch’s number, and instead of throwing it away like any normal guy in a relationship would, he decides to keep it. And, not just keep it anywhere. No, it was in his wallet. Obviously, he was planning on calling her up. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he leaves right now and calls her up since he knows he’s not getting any from me anytime soon,” Summer said, turning around and looking at Patrick, who was sitting on the couch, his arms rested on his knees and his head in his hands.

“Summer, I have told you a million times that I was never planning on calling her. I love you. Do you hear me? I love you, and only you,” he told her.

“That may be true. But, that doesn’t mean that you won’t cheat on me. Come on, Pat. I know how guys think. All they care about is sex. And, while I thought you were getting plenty from me, maybe it’s not enough. Maybe you were just planning on calling her up for some no strings attached sex,” Summer said.

Patrick stood up, letting out a frustrated sigh. “Natalia, try to talk some sense into her,” he said, grabbing his jacket off the chair and heading towards the front door. “I’m going over to Jon’s,” he stated, walking out the door and slamming it behind him.

“You want to tell me what that was really about?” Natalia asked, looking at Summer as she sat down on the couch.

“I told you. Pat got some girl’s number, and he kept it.”

“You and I both know Pat is not going to cheat on you. He loves you. He’d never do anything to lose you,” Natalia pointed out.

“Need I remind you that he’s gone to other girls before?” Summer asked, and Natalia furrowed her eyebrows, confused. “Didn’t I tell you about when he slept with that girl at Burish’s party? If he would do it back then, then he’s capable of doing it now,” she stated.

Natalia burst out in laughter, earning a glare from Summer. “Summer, that was how long ago? And, that was before you two were even technically together! Summer, that boy is completely and totally in love with you, and there’s no way he was ever going to cheat on you. You’re being ridiculous right now, and you need to go find him and apologize.”

“I can’t believe you’re on his side!” Summer exclaimed.

“Summer, he’s not cheating on you. Let’s go over to Jon’s. You can apologize to him and fix everything, and then maybe we can go out for lunch since I don’t really know how much longer I’m going to be here before I go back to Minnesota.”

“Fine,” Summer sighed, following Natalia down to her car. As she drove towards Jonathan’s place, Summer looked over at Natalia. “I’m sorry,” she told her.

“Don’t apologize to me. Save that for Pat.”

“No, I’m sorry for not even acknowledging that you’re here in Chicago. Why are you here, by the way? Not that I don’t want you here. It’s just, I thought you were going to stay in Minnesota a little while longer. And, where’s Marty?” she asked.

“Okay, first of all, Marty’s still in Minnesota. He’ll be back here in a couple of days,” Natalia began.

“Why are you here if Marty’s in Minnesota? Did something happen between the two of you? Oh my God, we’ve been focusing on me and Pat that I haven’t even thought about you and Marty. What happened? You guys didn’t break up, did you?” Summer rambled.

“Summer!” Natalia called out, wanting her to just take a breath. Summer stopped talking and looked over at Natalia. “We didn’t break up,” she assured her.

“Then why are you here if he’s there?” Summer asked as they pulled up in front of Jonathan’s place. She saw Patrick’s SUV in the parking lot, and she sighed.

“It’s a long story that I’ll tell you about later after you and Pat have talked everything through.”

“You mean after I apologize for being crazy?” Summer asked with a laugh.

“Exactly,” Natalia said with a smile as they both got out of the car, and she turned around to lock it. “I have no idea how Liv’s put up with you and all your drama for so many years,” she joked.

“Yeah, I don’t know either,” Summer laughed as she knocked on the door. Jonathan answered it moments later, and she looked up at him. “Can I talk to my boyfriend?” she asked.

Jonathan nodded his head, stepping aside to let her walk inside. He saw Natalia standing out in the hallway, and she waved him to come outside. “Why don’t we give them a few minutes to talk everything out,” she told him, and he nodded his head, shutting the door behind him. “Sum knows she blew things way out of proportion, and she’s going to apologize to him, so it shouldn’t take too long,” she assured him.

“Great, so I’ll go in there in five minutes and they’ll be having sex on my couch,” Jonathan joked.

“Probably,” Natalia laughed. “But, I guess that’s better than in your bed,” she pointed out.

“Don’t even suggest that,” Jonathan warned her, and she smiled. “So, what are you even doing back here in Chicago? I thought you and Marty were staying out in Minnesota for a little while longer. Where is Marty, by the way?” he asked.

“Marty’s still in Minnesota. And, before you ask, no, we didn’t break up. I had to come back to Chicago a little early to take care of some business, and Marty’s coming back in a couple of days.”

“Some business?” Jonathan questioned.

Natalia shook her head. “It’s not a big deal,” she lied, not wanting to talk about what had happened with her father before she talked to Marty about it first.

A moment of silence passed between them, and neither of them heard any noise coming from inside the apartment. “Should we go in and make sure they haven’t killed each other?” Jonathan joked, looking over at Natalia.

“Maybe, just to be on the safe side,” Natalia said, and Jonathan slowly turned the doorknob, walking inside with Natalia right behind him. She immediately started laughing when she saw Summer and Patrick making out on the couch. “I guess it’s a good think we came in when we did,” she said, looking up at Jonathan. “Any later, and you would have been right,” she told him.

Summer and Patrick separated, with Summer fixing her shirt as she looked up at Jonathan and Natalia. “He would have been right about what?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Natalia said, brushing the question off. “How do you guys go from fighting to making out in five minutes? I mean, I get that Summer was going to apologize, but still!”

“Please, they’ve always been like that,” Jonathan informed her. “They’ll be in an intense argument, and then two minutes later, they’ll be making out. Sometimes I think they fight just to make up.”

“Sometimes we do,” Summer smirked, as Natalia rolled her eyes. “So, what do you say about that lunch you were talking about earlier?” she asked Natalia, standing up and walking over to her, leaving Patrick wide-eyed on the couch, surprised she was just going to leave. “I’m starving,” she added.

“Are you sure you want to go to lunch with me?” Natalia asked. “I mean, you can go back home with Pat. I won’t be offended or anything.”

“Nah,” Summer said. “I can have Pat anytime. But, you’re going back to Minnesota in a little while. Let’s go to lunch,” she said, liking arms with Natalia. “I’ll see you at home, Pat,” she smiled as the two girls walked out the door.