Mutiny Below

Natalia

I was still irritated and vey much moody when I got up for breakfast. Eric was sitting at the table eating his lucky charms and he looked sad.

I took a bowl and spoon from the cabinet and took the seat across from him, pouring myself a bowl. We ate in silence for a few minutes until Eric cleared his throat.

"So, did you hear about-"

He was interrupted by the sound of a crash coming from down the hallway in my room. When a pissed off Nick arrived at the door last night, I insisted that he try to get a good night's sleep and I'd sleep on the couch. Plus, as sick as he's been lately, he needed the rest.

Nick emerged from the hallway, running his hands through the mess that his hair had become while he was sleeping. He took a bowl and sat down beside me, pouring some lucky charms as well. Eric looked at him questioningly before glancing to me. I shrugged then looked back down at my bowl and Eric frowned.

As soon as Nick had finished eating, which he had done in a hurry, he got up from the table, leaving me to clean up his mess of course, and went back down the hallway to the bathroom to take a shower. The only noise in the entire apartment was the sound of the water running.

I ate my cereal slowly then cleaned up Nick's and my dishes before going to curl up on the couch with a new book. Pride and Prejudice this time. Eric sat down on the opposite end of the couch and turned the tv on without a word. At least there was finally some noise.

Nick came back into the living room and grabbed his cell phone from the coffee table. "I'm going out for awhile."

"Bye," I mumbled, right before he shut the door behind him.

"I think that's the first time I've heard you talk in like two days."

I glanced over and gave Eric an apologetic look before going back to my book but he just sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I thought maybe we should invite John and Jayce over for dinner tonight."

My book fell from my hands and slid into the floor and I just stared at him. "What?"

"You know, she's still all messed up and everything. I just figured we could....."

"As if any of us want to see her," I muttered to myself.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

He frowned and looked down from my face. He had this sort of worried look on his face.

"I mean, it's your apartment. If you want them to come over, then you should invite them."

He gave me a half smile and pulled out his phone, I'm assuming, to text John. I went back to reading but it wasn't two minutes before I could feel him watching me again. I turned the page and glanced over at him. That face he was making almost broke my heart. He looked so pitiful and sad.

I put my book down on the coffee table and jumped on him, throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. He seemed shocked at first but then he hugged me back, squeezing me so tight that I could barely breathe. But I wasn't concerned about that now. I couldn't bear seeing him look so sad anymore. And he was sad because I'd been such a bitch the past two days.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled into his neck. "I've been such a bitch lately."

"Whatever's bothering you- you know you can always talk to me about it, Natalia."

"I know."

After that, he let the conversation go and hugged me tighter to his body.

"Let's go somewhere."

"Where?" I asked.

"I don't know. Somewhere. I feel like we haven't spent much time together lately, just the two of us."

"We haven't."

"We can always go eat."

"We just ate breakfast."

"So? I'm gonna go take a shower," he decided, loosening his hold on me. I sat back on my knees and he got up and went down the hallway to the bathroom to shower. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Even though I was happy to be okay with Eric again, I still had to put up with Jayce tonight. And the loving looks she gets from John, and the longing looks she gets from Nick.

Once Eric got out of the shower, I got in. I got dressed and went to get some shoes before we left, not bothering to dry my hair.

After we'd finished eating, Eric decided that we should go see a movie in an actual theater. We were standing in the ticket line and he randomly threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. The line moved so he let me go but kept his arm in place as we stepped up to the window.

It turned out that the girl in the window knew Eric from high school. "Halvo, is this your girlfriend? You guys are so cute together!"

Eric smiled but shook his head. "No, we're just friends."

"But-....well anyways, here's your tickets. Enjoy the movie!"

Eric took my hand and pulled me inside the theater, chuckling but I, for one, still felt my cheeks burning. We went into room 8 and took seats in the very back corner. For some reason, the theater was extremely packed but no one sat around us. I put my feet up on the empty seat in front of me and Eric pulled my arm into his lap. When I looked over at him he shook his head and held a finger up to his lips then began running his fingertips lightly up and down my arm. It felt so good that I almost fell asleep during thee movie.

Nick was waiting for us when we got back to the apartment. Eric picked up on the fact that he was still in a mood and made an excuse to get out of there, leaving me alone with him. As soon as Eric left and I sat down on the couch with him, he shut off the tv and turned to me.

"Just so you know, Eric invited John and Jayce over for dinner tonight."

He nodded. "I know. Jayce told me."

"That's where you went? To see Jayce?"

He nodded again.

"Where's John?"

"He's been with Jared all day."

"And you've been over there with Jayce. "

"Yeah."

"Why are you even still talking to her? Nick, she told you she loved you and then she just basically told you to forget it! She's just jerking you around. I can't believe you keep walking right back into it, again and again. You just keep getting hurt."

"Natalia, she's just confused."

"Oh, so that just justifies everything she's doing?"

"Look at it from her side, Nat. She loves us both differently."

"Yeah, well she should've just stuck to one guy and she wouldn't have this problem."

"It's my fault."

"What's your fault?"

"I'm the one who started it, Nat."

"What? That's impossible. How could you have started it?"

"I met her the last time I was here. Tim was having a party and all the guys were there. When she walked in, it was like everything was in slow motion. She was the only thing I could focus on and she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen but she she just looked off limits. Later that night, I went outside and I found her crying. She and John were broken up and they got into another fight. I kissed her first. And then well-....."

I scrunched up my nose. "You don't have to tell me that part."

He chuckled. "Well, I went home the next day and didn't see her again til we came back. And of course, she's back with him. I thought she'd forgotten about me but she didn't. And then that night we all went out, I kissed her again. I'm the one who initiated it, Natalia, not her."

My mind was just blank. I couldn't believe Nick was telling me that all this was his idea. I was convinced that Jayce was just a slut who wanted to have her cake and eat it too but now Nick was telling me that it was him who had started it all. I was shocked to say the least.

"Nick, why didn't you ever tell me this?"

"Because it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that I'm in love with her. And I am, Nat. So could you try to be a little nicer to her?"

"I'm not making any promises because she's still leading you both on."

"Natalia, please, just try."

Eric burst through the door and went into the kitchen, returning to the living room with restaurant menus. He sat down on my other side and handed Nick and I each menus from different restaurants.

"They'll be over soon. We need to decide where to eat."

Nick suggested the menu he was holding, which belonged to an Italian restaurant and we both agreed with him. By the time the three of us had decided what we wanted, John and Jayce arrived. Luckily, they didn't take as long in deciding and Eric went to the kitchen to call in our order. As soon as he came back, he announced that someone needed to go and get the food. John volunteered and Nick decided to go along with him, leaving Eric, Jayce, and I.

Awkward would be the understatement of the century. We sat in silence and watched tv until John and Nick came back with the food.

When they got back, we all went to over to the table. John helped Jayce sit down before taking the chair next to her and Eric sat at the head of the table, leaving an empty space for me between him and Nick. I got forks and napkins and drinks for everyone before taking my seat and we began eating.

After we ate, I headed to the kitchen to clean up but Eric pulled me into the living room with everyone to watch the second movie of the day. Eric put his arm up on the back of the couch behind me and I sat down indian style next to him and leaned into his side. Jayce sat on my other side, but as far away from me as possible and John sat in the chair across from us while Nick sat on the floor. He kept giving Jayce these looks but either she really didn't see him, or she just pretended not to.

I finally started paying attention to the movie until I looked over at John. He was staring in my direction with this odd look on his face. I followed his eyes down to my thigh, where Eric's hand was resting, then looked back up at him. His face held a mixture of confusion and something else. Eric pulled my arm into his lap again but I retracted it and leaned in.

"I'll go to sleep if you do that again," I whispered. "I'm going to make you sit by my bed at night and rub my arm to help me go to sleep."

He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. I glanced over at Jayce and just happened to catch the look she was giving Nick. It was like she just wanted to reach out to him but was forcing herself to stay still. It was sad, but loving at the same time.

And that's the first time it even dawned on me that maybe it was hard on her. Maybe she truly did love Nick, as well as John.

Maybe I'd just found a tiny bit of sympathy for her.