Be With Me

“What happened?”

The words slipped past my lips without my noticing, but I didn’t regret it. I wanted to know. Seeing the aftermath wasn’t enough. I wanted to know what had caused it. What had caused Natalie to become…broken.

She wasn’t the Natalie that I remembered. Her persona, her energy, it had all changed, because of the events that took place. Her eyes, usually captivating, were dull and lifeless. It was as if she was no longer present. Her body was here, but her mind…her mind was somewhere else.

Even my question didn’t faze her. She continued to blankly stare forward. Almost as if my question had fallen upon deaf ears. Only it hadn’t. She had heard me. She had heard every word.

“Isn’t it obvious,” her voice as lifeless as her eyes. “Since Maya didn’t tell you I’m sure u can guess,”

I liked my lips before looking back at her. “I would rather have you tell me…”

She rested her arms on top of her knees before she buried her head into her arms. She stayed like that for a while. Silence looming between us once more. I heard a sigh escape her lips as she rested her chin onto her arms. Her eyes slowly closed as if she was being lulled to sleep.

“Nathan and I had a fight,”

I nodded as I looked forward. “What about?”

“……Dumb stuff,”

I only nodded in response. I figured that I was beginning to tread on dangerous waters. I didn’t want to pry. We hadn’t seen each other in three years. I shouldn’t expected for her to completely open up to me.

“Justin…”

“Yeah?”

She pursed her lips to the side as a sigh escaped her lips. Her knees slowly falling until her legs were stretched out. She leaned her head back against the wall. Her eyes remained closed.

“Have you ever felt…drained?”

“Yeah,” I nodded “Everyone has Natalie. It’s nothing to worry about,”

She shook her head. “If only that were true,”

I immediately fell silent. I didn’t know what to tell her. I didn’t have the slightest idea. I wanted to help her, to cheer her up, but I didn’t know how.

This was someone who I hadn’t seen or spoken to in years, and now her happiness was in my hands. I was the one who had to keep her from doing something extreme, whatever that may be. But what was I supposed to do. Things change over the years. Things do change over the years. How was I supposed to help someone I wasn’t sure I knew anymore?

I inwardly took a deep breath before standing up. I could see her watching me from the corner of her eye. Brushing myself off, I offered her my hand. She stared at it as if it were diseased. As if by simply touching it she would become infected.

I brushed off the matter and brought my hand closer to her. She blinked her eyes before staring up at me. “W-What are you doing?”

“I’m not leaving you here like this; and I’m damn sure not leaving you in this apartment like this. So let’s go,”

“Go where?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” I couldn’t help but to send her a reassuring smile as I stared down at her. She looked so small, so fragile. I couldn’t leave her like this.

Her gaze flashed from me back down to my hand. She continued to stare at it unsure of whether or not she should go along with this, but the moment she took my hand I knew that she was sure. After pulling her up, she dusted herself off as well.

“So where are we going?” she questioned once more.

“Just go get changed and you’ll find out,”

I watched, cheerfully, as the corners of her lips began to turn upwards until a smile was formed. It was smile and not nearly as bright as it normally is, but that didn’t matter. Seeing her smile was all that mattered to me. Seeing her dimples, even ever so slightly, was enough to satisfy me.

After emerging changed and ready to go, we left the apartment. Her ponytail bounced as we walked down the stairs side by side. We were silent once more, as we exited the building, but the silence was different this time. It wasn’t awkward, it was comfortable. The way that it use to be.

It wasn’t until we reached the car that she decided to speak. “So where are we going again,”

I only smiled as I opened the door for her. She rolled her eyes playfully before climbing inside the vehicle. It was then that I remembered that Nick and Kenny were in the car. They had no idea what was going on, or why we had came her in such a hurry. Seeing Natalie enter the car only confused them even more.

After sending them a look that said I’ll explain later, I glanced over at Natalie. Her eyes were cast downwards at her hands that sat in her lap. Her body language had the word awkward written all over it.

That’s when I decided it was my turn to speak. “We’re going to a place that has the best chocolate ice cream in town,”

And just like that her energy returned to her. The warm bright smile on her face was proof of that.