You're Living a Lie, You Just Can't Hide From Me

“So, zombie movies and watermelon SourPatch kids, is this how you lure all the girls into your bed?” Natalie asked with a grin as she leaned back against the headboard.

“Do you really think I have any game, Nat?” Garrett chuckled.

“I don’t know… Rachael Roberts always seemed to fall for it-” She began before seeing the flicker of hurt in his eyes. “Gar, I-”

“S-she cheated on me.” The bassist spoke quietly. “Its her loss, right? Let me set up the movie.”

Natalie opened her mouth to apologize, but shut it before she could make another mistake. Bringing up your crush’s high school sweetheart, what an impressive move. The redhead shook her head, watching as he slid the DVD into the player before grabbing the remote and sitting down beside her.

Garrett didn’t really like talking about Rachael. He wasn’t totally over what had happened, and mentioning it usually upset him greatly. Somehow, Natalie’s little mistake hadn’t had such effect. He was too busy thinking about the girl who made the mention that the girl mentioned didn’t even bother him.

So Rachael hooked up with some dude at a party… and then another guy… Garrett didn’t deserve it, and even though he’d thought they were in love, perhaps it was just the idea of love that he’d actually fallen for. The truth was that he’d always had interest in Natalie Evers, and here she was on his bed. His mother said that everything happens for a reason, and he was starting to believe it.

“Pat’s not coming, is he?” She smiled.

Garrett shook his head before pressing ‘play.’ “Pat can’t sit through movies.”

“I believe it.”

He smiled as the girl cuddled into his side. He wrapped an arm around her gently, never touching her directly, but resting it beside him. Garrett really didn’t have much know on how to charm girls. He was a nerd who played video games and watched zombie movies. Girls weren’t really into that, or him for that matter. He was shy and awkward, but Natalie didn’t seem to mind.

He wasn’t used to being single after four years of basically worshiping the ground Rachael walked on, and now, the feelings that Natalie made him feel were ones that he didn’t recognize. Maybe they were similar to those he’d felt for Rachael, but he honestly couldn’t remember. He was still trying to forget everything he’d felt for his ex. It was just strange to him that Natalie was nothing like Rachael… that the feelings he was pondering didn’t feel like anything he’d felt before. But he didn’t mind it.

Natalie loved horror movies, ones about zombie especially, but it didn’t mean she didn’t get scared. And besides, if there’s a cute boy beside you, you should take advantage of it. So she was quick to hold onto Garrett when she jumped. The little gasps she made and how she buried her face in his chest. He chuckled softly, holding her close to him. It felt nice to hold her close to him. Especially as he hadn’t had anyone in his arms in some time. Natalie seemed to fit nicely there, and he didn’t really want to let her go. She smelt nice and felt good. He wasn’t too interested in the movie when all he could focus on was her.

Garrett smiled, stroking her hair. Natalie seemed the slightest bit embarrassed to cling to him so, but he might as well have encouraged it. Something about Garrett was so comforting to her. The way he smelt, the way he felt, the way he touched her. It was all so… careful, but loving? She couldn’t figure out what it was, but she enjoyed it, appreciated it. Something about him was comfortable. It was something that Natalie wasn’t totally used to. But she invited it. This boy was different, and while Natalie had always figured so, but she’d never taken the chance to know him before. Now, she wished she’d done so sooner, because she was certain she’d missed out.

As the credits rolled, her small body wasn’t moving. Garrett couldn’t help but smile and lay her back on the bed. She was so peaceful, barely taking up much space at all. Still, her hold on him didn’t lessen, which made him smile. He just kept her there in his arms, deciding to watch the bonus features of the DVD. This girl was making him feel things he hadn’t expected to feel. Considering he hadn’t even expected to see her after high school. They’d both done a bit of growing up and he was definitely glad. Natalie Evers probably hadn’t thought much of him in high school, but now he had her in his bed… on it… whatever.

“Gar, where did-?” John drifted off, peeking inside the room. “You wore her out?”

“She fell asleep at the end of the movie.” He spoke quietly.

The singer chuckled.

“What are you up to?”

“I was working on some new material… Alyssa and Kennedy are with Jared and Pat…”

“Alright. I don’t really want to wake Nat up.”

“Nat? You’ve already got a nickname for her?”

Garrett shrugged.

“Okay… just whenever.” John spoke, sticking his hands in his pockets.

His usually smile fell into a frown as he left. Garrett had an advantage on him, having known Natalie longer, even while they’d never been friends. And now he even had a nickname for her?! It was something that the singer couldn’t understand. Garrett wasn’t the one who had the charm. He didn’t flirt the pants off of girls… He was just shy and awkward. He was one of John’s best friends, but what was this?

John had never had to compete for the attention and affection of a girl. He and Garrett had never even been into the same types of girls. This was something he’d never even imagined to cross. John didn’t know how this was going to go, but he felt strongly for Natalie, so he was going to fight for her. Garrett may have been his friend and his bandmate, but this girl wasn’t like the others.

Garrett rolled his eyes, gently shaking Natalie’s small body.

Natalie’s body jerked against his. “I’m up. I’m up.” She spoke quietly, blinking a couple times.

He chuckled. “You didn’t even make it to the end of the movie.”

“It was the end when I dozed off!” She smiled softly. “Besides, its not like I don’t know what happens.”

“True.”

“So, should we head to where everyone else is?”

“Sure.” Garrett spoke quietly as she sat up.

“Or… we could do something else.”

“Something else?”

“We could go to the beach… a midnight swim sounds good right now.”

“Seriously?”

Natalie stood up from the bed. “Guess.”

Natalie was already out the door, her raspberry hair floating behind her. He watched her with a chuckle. She smiled back at Garrett before rushing off towards the beach.

It was so nice that the boys lived right on the water. Though she had chosen not to spend her day on the beach, a midnight swim sounded like the perfect idea. And right now, she only wanted to be with Garrett. Something about the shy boy had her reeling. All she had to do was reel him in.

“Gar, where are you going?” Pat called out.

“I’ll explain later.” The bassist called, rushing after the small redhead.

The drummer raised an eyebrow.

Alyssa grinned, shaking her head.

She knew exactly what her friend was up to. Natalie may have been shy, and quiet, but the girl knew how to have a good time. Besides, it was probably her own fault that Natalie was becoming so much more of a free spirit.

She was a little crazier than the brunette had ever seen her and it was kind of nice. She was breaking out of her shell and one of these boys was totally going to benefit from it. She just wondered which boy it was gonna be.

John looked over at the girl. “What?”

“He and Natalie are going for a midnight swim.”

“Midnight swim? They weren’t even wearing swim-“

“That’s the point.” Alyssa grinned, raising an eyebrow.

“They aren’t gonna skinny dip, are they?!” Pat shouted.

Jared chuckled at the idea of Garrett having the nerve to do that. “Not Gary.”

Alyssa just smiled, shrugging her shoulders and raising her red cup to her lips.

John sighed, taking another sip of his beer. What was happening? He didn’t really understand what Natalie was doing or what she saw in Garrett.

He couldn’t just sit back and let Natalie fall into Garrett’s lap. It wasn’t fair. It didn’t work that way. He wasn’t going to let this happen so easily, so instead, he decided it was time to do something about it.

“You’re fucking crazy!” Garrett called out to Natalie as she stripped down to her underwear.

“Maybe.” She smiled, rushing into the water.

Her clothes lay at his feet and he picked them up, unsure of what to do. But she looked so happy, just enjoying the water. She was dripping wet from the water and smiling.

He just watched her with wide eyes. This was definitely not the girl that he’d known of mere months ago. But Natalie was definitely something else.

“Gary, are you coming in?” She called out.

“I…”

“Please?” She spoke, immersing herself from the water and rushing towards him.

Garrett just chuckled as the small girl stood before him, trying to look menacing with her hands on her hips. She grinned, knowing it wasn’t working on him. Instead, she moved closer, deciding to pout.

He grinned. “Alright, alright.”

Natalie raised an eyebrow, watching as he lifted his shirt and threw it to the ground where her clothes were before taking off his shoes and his jeans. She smiled, taking him by the hand and leading him to the water. Natalie yelped as Garrett threw her over his shoulder and into the water.

She held onto him tightly, wrapping her legs around his waist. It was amazing to be so close to the girl he’d only really known for mere hours. This was not how he had expected Natalie to be like, but he wasn’t complaining. He liked being this close to her, inhaling her scent and feeling the curves of her body.

The truth was that this wasn’t what Natalie was like ever, but she had decided to leave the shy, quiet girl she’d been back in Tempe. She’d wanted to be with Garrett all throughout high school, but he was with Rachael. She’d longed for him for a distance, so now to be in his arms; it wasn’t an option to not take advantage of it.

“You make me nervous.” The boy admitted softly.

“Why’s that?”

“Y-you’re nothing like I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

“I…I don’t know.”

She smiled softly. “Gar, its okay, you make me nervous too.”

He didn’t say anything, just moved some hair from her face. Garrett wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but he wasn’t suave enough, he didn’t have the guts to do anything like that. Instead, he just held her in his arms, and smiled.

He had no idea where this was going and he didn’t know how to go about it. Besides, she didn’t totally know how to do it either. Natalie wasn’t forward about things like that. She was far too old fashioned and she’d never been kissed. All she knew was that she was glad that he was holding her because when she was around him, standing up straight became increasingly harder.