Nothing in This World Can Compare to You

Eurgh, another long day at work. It’s only been a couple of days since the 10th anniversary of my dad’s death, and I’ve been completely throwing myself into the photoshoots with Ricardo and Dan. Nate’s been coming up to meet me from work a lot too, which is nice but strange, and he makes it clear to Ricardo who I’m with. I don’t see why he needs to. Ricardo’s a nice guy who needs a friend, and that’s exactly what Dan and I are to him. That’s all that Dan and I are to him.

Anyway, we’ve just finished shooting for the day and now that I’ve packed up all my equipment, I’m waiting outside for Nate to pick me up. We normally walk home, but Nate and I are meant to be going out for dinner with Sam, Misty, Dylan and Geoff, so Nate’s picking up Dylan and Geoff and then we’re going straight to the restaurant. I leant up against the wall, folding my arms over my chest as my white tank top revealed my half-sleeve tattoos. I don’t normally wear tank tops because they look like boyband outfits, but it was just too hot today.

“Hey Ashley...waiting for Nate?”

I turned my head and smiled at Ricardo.

“Yeah, he’s picking me up because we’re going out to dinner with some of our high school friends,” I nodded.

“Sounds fun! Mind if I wait for my cab with you?” Ricardo asked.

“Course not,” I smiled.

Ricardo smiled back and leant up against the wall with me, hands in his pockets.

“You did really good today. We got a lot of the outfits done,” I said randomly.

“No reshooting?” Ricardo asked hopefully.

“I don’t think we’ll need to, no,” I laughed.

“That’s good. You must be an amazing photographer if we don’t need to,” Ricardo grinned.

“Nah, it’s not the photographer, it’s the model,” I shrugged.

“Okay, I’ll rephrase. I think you’re an amazing photographer,” Ricardo smiled.

Okay, that was definitely knowingly flirting. Ricardo’s eyes sparkled and he stepped in front of me.

“I like your tattoos. When did you get them?” Ricardo asked curiously.

“I got the sleeves finished last year, and got the tribal chest one done when I was 16, I got the hearts done when I was 17 and I got my rib tattoo done when I was 17,” I listed, trying to keep our conversation neutral.

“You have a rib tattoo? Can I see?” Ricardo asked.

“I-I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said hesitantly.

It’s not a good idea because that would mean I’d have to lift my shirt and Nate will be here any minute.

“Why not? I just want to see your art. I love the look of ink on skin. It’s very attractive,” Ricardo purred.

I froze as Ricardo ran his fingers down my arms, my eyes wide in shock. I don’t like this. His fingertips continued to trace the designs, and I continued to be frozen, until someone ripped him off of me. I whimpered as I saw Nate standing there looking furious, with Dylan and Geoff behind him.

“Why the fuck are you touching my boyfriend?” Nate growled at Ricardo.

“I’m just admiring his tattoos. I don’t see the problem with that,” Ricardo said simply.

“Keep your greasy Italian hands off him, do you hear me?” Nate threatened.

I gulped as Ricardo stepped closer to Nate, smirking. Oh that was a bad idea.

“I’d like to see you stop me,” Ricardo murmured.

Nate snarled and lunged for Ricardo, but Dylan quickly grabbed him and locked his arms around Nate to stop him moving, like he’s learned to do so much over the years. Ricardo just laughed, only making Nate thrash around more. I whimpered, hating the anger in Nate’s eyes.

“Back the fuck off, foreigner,” Geoff growled, stepping in front of his infuriated friend.

“See you tomorrow, Ashley,” Ricardo grinned, opening the door of his cab as it arrived.

As Ricardo’s cab drove away, Nate threw Dylan’s arms off him and stormed off down the road. Geoff stepped in front of me and I flinched, making both him and Dylan frown.

“Go, we’ll meet you at the restaurant,” Geoff urged.

I nodded and swallowed heavily, before running after Nate, not looking over my shoulder. I can’t believe what Ricardo did, and I know Nate has every right to be pissed. Just not at me.

“Nate, wait! Please!” I called.

Nate stopped by his car but didn’t turn to face me, his fists clenching.

“Won’t you just listen to me?” I begged, stopping in front of him so he would look at me.

“Get in the car,” Nate growled.

“But...”

“GET IN THE CAR!” Nate yelled.

I flinched again but did as he said. As soon as my door was shut, Nate screamed off down the road. The entire ride back to our apartment was a horrible deathly silence. Nate parked the car in his usual parking space before getting out of the car. He slammed the door shut and started walking away, making me sigh but get out the car quickly too. Nate locked the car and headed inside the building with me right behind him. His fists were still clenched as he pressed the call button for the elevator, making me nervous. I haven’t seen Nate this mad in a while and it scares me. As soon as we were inside the elevator I turned to face him.

“Nate, don’t be angry at me – I didn’t do anything!” I exasperated.

“Exactly...you didn’t do anything. You didn’t push him away,” Nate snapped, pressing the fourth floor button.

“I was frozen in shock!” I protested.

“Yeah, right,” Nate scoffed.

Tears sprung to my eyes and I placed my hand on Nate’s shoulder, but he shook me off. Okay, that hurt.

“Don’t touch me,” Nate spat.

“W-Why?” I whimpered.

“Because he touched you,” Nate sneered.

“I didn’t want him to touch me!” I insisted.

“I don’t want him touching you either! For fuck’s sake, just get him fired!” Nate hissed.

“I want to, I really do. But he’s going to be big for the company, and everyone knows it,” I said miserably.

“So the company’s more important than you and me?” Nate asked angrily.

I looked up at Nate, my eyes shining with tears. His anger seemed to falter slightly, but he didn’t say anything.

“Nothing is more important than me and you. Nothing,” I whispered, resting my hands on his chest.

The elevator stopped at our floor and Nate hesitated, before taking my hands and guiding me over to our apartment. He unlocked the door and walked inside with me, shutting it behind us.

“I love you, Ash, but I don’t want that jerk-off anywhere near you,” Nate murmured.

“You think I want him near me either?” I scoffed.

Yeah, Nate’s not the only one that can get angry.

“How am I supposed to know? We barely spend any time together and you work a lot with this Italian asshole – how do I know what you get up to?” Nate asked through gritted teeth.

That hurt as well. He knows damn well that I’m not that’s cheated in this relationship.

“I thought you trusted me,” I choked, trying to avoid the sob crawling up my throat.

Nate seemed to get a little less angry at the emotion in my voice, but he still didn’t soften completely.

“I don’t know Ash. We’ve been going through a lot of bad shit recently and then this stunning foreign guy comes along and I always see you with him whenever I meet you at work! I-I just worry that you want him over me. And today seemed to prove that,” Nate mumbled guiltily.

It was then that I realised how insecure Nate was about us. Why should he be? He’s never been like this before. I cupped his face with my hands, bringing his eyes in link with mine.

“I love you, Nathaniel Stone. You and only you. But I can’t have you blowing up at me just because a random guy comes on to me. It isn’t fair,” I said sadly.

“I’m sorry for blowing up at you. Can’t you understand that I get angry when other guys touch what’s mine?” Nate sighed bitterly.

“Doesn’t mean you should take it out on me though,” I muttered.

“I know. I’m sorry,” Nate mumbled.

He looked and sounded like a kid who’d had their favourite toy taken away.

“So do you believe me when I say I don’t want Ricardo?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah, I do,” Nate nodded.

I smiled, relieved, and wrapped my arms round his waist in a hug. Nate didn’t hesitate to hug me back tightly, swaying us side-to-side gently.

“I love you,” Nate murmured, kissing the top of my head.

“I love you too. I just don’t like you much right now,” I sighed.

“What can I do to make it up to you?” Nate asked, holding me at arms length.

“You can start by calling my mom and telling her about how Ricardo came on to me so she has warning in case he tells a different story to her,” I smiled.

“Ooohhhhhh,” Nate whined.

I giggled and handed him my sidekick. He wasn’t getting out of this lightly after not trusting me like that. Oh no.