Perfectly Dysfunctional

After we ate, we figured Siva and Nareesha might still not be done but we still had to go back for Nathan to pick up his stuff and for me to get my car, so we decided to head off to the beach. I’d rolled the window down, and as we got closer to the beach I started bouncing in my seat, excited to get there.

“Would you settle down?”

“No, I’ve not been to the beach in forever.”

“Jenny you came here last month,” he replied.

“Okay, fine, let me rephrase it. At home, I lived at least an hour drive from any decent kind of beach, so I never got to go that often, I adore the beach, and I’ve not been to a beach at night in a long, long time. So I can’t settle,” I grinned and looked out the window again, just managing to catch his small smile. When he pulled up to the beach, I jumped out the car and hopped from side to side waiting on Nathan to get out, “C’mon Nath,” I said as he closed the car door. He laughed and threw the hoodie over his arm before rushing to my side.

“Can we go, can we go, can we go?!” he asked like a little kid as he jumped up and down. I laughed then quickly ran far enough down the beach that I wasn’t getting wet from the water – yet at least, after all, I was with Nathan – but I was far enough away from the car. Nathan was right behind me. When I stopped running he laid the hoodie on the sand then told me to sit there.

“Uh, no, that’s your hoodie,” I laughed and sat down beside it, “You sit there.”

He rolled his eyes and sat down, “Why must you be so stubborn?” he asked, then looped his arms around me and pulled me towards him, making me sit in between his legs. I yelped out in surprise but let him move me.

“I do not know. It’s been programmed into me I guess?”

He laughed, “So, you’ve not sat on the beach at night in how long?”

“Maybe about a year now,” I replied.

“I can’t imagine why you would want to – unless you had someone to share it with,” he added on quickly.

“Nope, nothing like that,” I said, smiling, “A couple of years ago we had the hottest, most amazing summer back home, so my parents rented out a beach house for two weeks – they stayed the first week then some of my friends came down the second week when my parents left. We spent pretty much every night out there, especially when it thunder stormed and we’d run around and dance in the rain. I’d always be the last one in, and when my gran was in hospital I’d drive out to the beach every few nights and just think. I did the same when my mum died,” he gently put his left arm over my stomach and gave me a gentle squeeze, “I guess I just love how peaceful it is, I like to simply get lost in my thoughts and feelings out here,” I smiled sadly, swallowing back my tears. I refused to cry any more today.

Nathan had gone quiet and I turned to look at him. He was staring hard at the sand a few inches from where his hand was splayed out and he was pouting a little bit. I was about to ask him what was wrong when he spoke up, “I wrote Warzone on this beach,” he said quietly. The only thing I’d known about the song was that it was about someone cheating, but it obviously meant a lot to him, and that was all it took for me. I didn’t cry despite the tears that had been pricking my eyes for the last few minutes, but I turned around in between his legs, wrapped my own legs around his waist and hugged him. I rested my head on his chest and had one arm wrapped around his back whilst the other was around his neck, playing with his hair. I didn’t expect him to move, so was surprised when – after a few minutes – he wrapped his arms around me, “You’re freezing,” he commented after a few more minutes in comfortable silence.

“I don’t feel the cold,” I mumbled against his chest.

“You may not feel it when you get cold but I bet you feel it when you get tired,” he commented then chuckled, “C’mon, let’s go home.”

“You mean you’re not going to try and throw me in the water or anything?” I asked doubtfully as I pulled away and he stood up with me still wrapped around him. He placed a hand on my back then bent over and picked up his hoodie before marching away without putting me down.

“Not tonight, no,” he smiled.

“You can put me down now,” I said, thinking about the last time I said that. It was the night of the bus crash – I had fallen asleep and Nathan was carrying me to my bunk, but I had woken up. I remembered everything else that happened – or almost happened – that night, then pushed it to the back of my mind. Unlike the last time however, he refused to put me down, and instead continued walking back towards the car and wrapped his hoodie around my shoulders.

“Nope; consider it consolation for having to chip in for dinner,” he said and looked a little embarrassed. I laughed. In his rush to get out of Siva’s house he’d forgotten to pick up his card, so only had the cash he had on him. Because I’d literally got home from shopping then left again, I still had my purse and everything else, so, much to Nathan’s disappointment and my delight, I had to pay my own half of the meal – which to me is how it should work anyway.

“I told you it was fine,” I yawned as he reached the car and opened the passenger side door, “I can get in myself, y’know.”

“I know,” His cheeky grin returned to his face and I couldn’t help but smile, “But I now have to treat you like a Princess for the rest of the night and all of tomorrow to make up for not paying for your dinner,” he beamed as he leaned over me and buckled my seatbelt in. I figured it would be impossible to argue with him, so gave up as he made his way to the driver seat.

“I will never know why you do not constantly have a girlfriend if that’s how you treat every girl in your life,” I commented as he started to drive home. It was only when he’d started to drive that I realized just how tired I was. I felt my eyes begin to drop.

A slight smile reached his mouth but not his eyes as he switched his iPod on after making sure the dock was plugged in. He remained quiet and I assumed he was going to stay that way so I let my eyes close. He hit play and Passenger Seat by The Summer Set filled the car making me open my eyes for a moment and smile at him. He smiled back then waited for me to close my eyes again before speaking up, “I don’t treat every girl that way.”