In My Dreams It's Me And You

Brian's POV

Everything was fine after that so I didn't think anything of it when I woke up the next morning and found that Nathalie had already gotten up, even though when I looked at the clock it had only gone 9am. I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling after I decided I couldn’t get back to sleep, but this got boring after a few minutes so I got out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans I found crumpled in the corner. The shower was running as I passed the bathroom so I guessed that Nat had gone in that one instead of the one in her room, smiling at the fact she didn’t want to wake me.

Chloe and Zacky were already sitting round the breakfast bar as I walked into the kitchen, snatching one of the waffles from the large pile stacked in front of them as I joined them.

“Morning sexy,” Zacky said, a large grin on his face.

“Shut up Zack,” I scowled as I instinctively ran a hand through my messed hair, trying to make it look at least a bit more presentable. All this did though was scatter crumbs in it, which just made him burst out laughing as I now tried to get all the waffle out.

I was just about to throw my waffle in his face as Jimmy plucked it out of my hand, eating it happily even as I glared at him. The front door slammed closed just before Matt and Johnny walked into the kitchen, each snatching one from the quickly disappearing waffle pile. Zacky and Jimmy had some sort of fight over the bar to try and win the last waffle, only to be disappointed as Chloe reached over and took it for herself with a smile.

“Where’s Nat?” Chloe asked me as she tore the waffle in half and fed a section each to the crestfallen Zacky and Jimmy, their smiles returning as they got given their part.

“The shower was going in the hall, so I guess she’s there,” I replied with a shrug, much to Zacky’s surprise.

“You mean she’s in the shower and you’re not-“ He got cut off as Chloe smacked him on the back of the head, the glare she shot him enough to stop whatever he was going to say. Not that any of us couldn’t guess what it would be.

“Baker, I don’t know why I put up with you,” she sighed while picking up the empty plate and placing it in the dishwasher.

“Because I’m awesome and you couldn’t live without me?” Zacky answered with a hopeful grin, rubbing the back of his head where she had hit him sheepishly.

We all burst out laughing as she shook her head, kissing the bridge of his nose as he crossed his arms and pouted. “Nope. It’s because I can’t get to sleep without a bit of Vengeance next to me.”

“Ugh, get a room,” Jimmy moaned as the looked as if they were going to have sex there on the bar, if the way they were looking at each other was anything to go by. He busied himself by digging around in the cupboards for what I guessed to be something else to eat, settling himself on a box of cereal from the side before leaning against the side with his prize. “Where’s that music coming from anyway?”

“Music?”

It was strange to think that all this time I hadn’t actually noticed anything since I came downstairs, but now he mentioned it I could hear a faint melody being played in the background.

“Yeah, I heard it when we walked in,” Johnny said as he joined Jimmy behind the bar, grabbing a handful of cereal out of the box despite him clearly not wanting to share.

Chloe seemed to shift uncomfortably on Zacky’s lap as I turned to look at her, her gaze not seeming to want to meet mine. I could tell she knew where it was coming from but didn’t want to tell me, so in the end I just decided to find out myself.

The beautiful melody became oddly familiar to me the closer I got; with at one point the music was driving me insane for the pure fact I couldn’t tell where I had heard it. It was only when a voice arose to harmonise with the notes that I suddenly remembered it; my heart threatening to give out as I pushed a slightly open door in the back of the house to reveal a large music room, with Nathalie playing in the centre of it.

“You've been there from the start for me.
And your loves always been true as can be.”

She was playing the first song I featured on when I joined the band years ago, but with only the piano to accompany her singing. I was completely taken back by her voice; it just sent chills down my spine. I could tell that everyone else felt the same as they joined me in the back of the room to watch her play, just standing there in silence to listen to the mesmerizing rendition.

As she carried on through the song I couldn’t help but notice the outfit she was wearing, the black lace positioned across the scarlet material wrapped around her body making her seem like an entirely different person. The corseted bodice was laced with both red and black ribbons, with the same ribbons hidden amongst the curls tumbling down her back. If I didn’t see her face every so often during her movements I would have sworn that the person playing in front of me wasn’t her.

“Did you like the waffles I made?”

None of us seemed to have realised that the song had finished until she spoke, snapping us all back to reality. Nathalie gently replaced the piano lid before walking over, leaving me only to stare uselessly at her as my words became stuck in my throat. However even when she didn’t express any sadness I could tell that something must have been wrong; her eyes didn’t hold the usual warmth they did.

“Of course we did, though I recommend making more next time,” I chuckled as I took her in my arms, running my hand gently up her back. However when I tried to kiss her on the lips she turned her head at the last moment for me to instead peck her cheek, a weak smile forming on her lips. She reached up to rest her hand on my heart for a few moments as if she were listening to it, the smile soon fading as she then removed it to curl around the large, heart-shaped ruby pendant hanging around her neck.

There was definitely something wrong.

“I’m just going out for a while,” Nathalie murmured as she pulled away, picking up an elaborate floral bouquet that seemed to be almost as tall as her. “I called the guys round so you could go do something together.” She moved through the others to the doorway where she paused and turned back, the sadness in her eyes just making me want to grab her back into my arms and ask her what was wrong. “If you don’t want to go out then you can stay here. I’ll get some pizza or something for later.”

She left without another word after that, not even giving a hint as to where she was going. It almost felt like she had abandoned me- even if it was just to go down to the shops she always told me where she was going if I wasn’t going with her. I walked back to the piano where I realised that something was leaning against the vase of roses on top, finding it to be a photo of a younger Nathalie along with Chloe and three others.

“That’s us ten years ago,” Chloe said softly as she looked at it from my side, a quiet laugh escaping her as she remembered the time. “Her family and mine were very close; Nathalie and I basically grew up together as sisters- if we weren’t playing at her house then it would be at mine. This person here-” She pointed to a slightly older male between the two girls, each of their hands clasped in one of his. “That’s my brother, Alex. He is Nathalie’s Godfather even though he’s only five years older than her. The other two are her parents, Michael and Rachel Taylor.”

By this time the others had gathered round to look at the photo themselves, listening to the conversation we were having.

“It was quite funny, when we were younger people thought that it was Alex and Nat that were related, because my brother looked so much like Michael, while she looked like her mother. I think it was that what made everything so much worse.”

Tears began to fall as she sat numbly down on the stool with Zacky joining her soon after, shooting me a confused look. I could only shrug in reply- she hadn’t yet said anything that could make me understand why she was crying.

“Six years ago, on Nat’s Sweet Sixteen, her parents were just driving home after having to go to a board meeting about their company. Normally they would have refused to go, since this was her birthday, and they wanted to be there to celebrate with her,” Chloe continued, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “That pendant that she is wearing is what they gave her for her birthday.”

“Must have been expensive,” Matt said as he glanced at me, obviously thinking about the size of the jewel. Something that big didn’t come without a hefty price tag.

“It was,” she agreed, her head now resting on Zacky’s shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her. “But that wasn’t all they got her. At that meeting they had actually signed the company over to her name- the whole business was now hers, along with all the money that was being made from it. However they never made it home to tell her that. Half way through the party there was a knock at the door and believing it to be her parents she went to open it, but instead there stood two police officers. She then just suddenly screamed for everyone to leave and ran crying up the stairs, locking herself in her room. It was only after everyone had gone that my brother told me that her parents had been involved in a road accident and had died on the scene.”

A stunned silence swept over us as Chloe finished, wrapping her arms around Zacky’s neck as he moved her onto his lap. He looked up at me as he rubbed her back to try and calm her sobs, his eyes echoing the same sorrow everyone else was feeling.

“Her parents died on her birthday? That’s rough…” Jimmy muttered, making me suddenly realise something.

“So today’s her birthday? Why didn’t she say anything?” I asked Chloe, receiving a shrug in reply.

“She doesn’t believe in celebrating it any more. Since that day she hasn’t had a birthday. When I gave her a card the following year she ripped it up in front of me and threw it in the bin. She stayed with Alex and I until she was 18 but after that she moved back here. I only came to live with her two years ago.”

“So she lived on her own for two years?” Johnny asked incredulously, saying exactly what everyone else was thinking.

“She didn’t need to do anything. Everything was left to her in her parent’s will so as long as she had a phone to order things she didn’t need anyone around,” she explained, her tears having since stopped as she turned to look at him. “Everyone was worried about her, she never came out of this house unless she had to. Alex even looked after the company for her. It was only when I moved in that she began to act like herself and go out again. But every year on this day she acts like this. It’s best to just leave her alone.”

She looked at me as she said the last bit, almost as if she expected me to go out after her. There may have been a part of me that wanted to run out after her but I knew that it was best to leave her on her own for a while. Even if there was a feeling that just kept me thinking something bad was going to happen.