What's Your Sign?

Nate leaned his shoulder against the wall near the library's main entrance. The student traffic was heavy for a few minutes but eventually died down as the buses began to leave and everyone caught their own rides home.

Ivy was fumbling with something in her bag as she zig-zagged towards him. She wasn't exactly watching the floor ahead of herself and nearly collided with the wall.

Then she walked right past him.

Nate laughed once at the incident and cleared his throat. "Miss Forbes?"

Ivy swirled her entire body around when she spun on her heels. She finally found the Smartphone she was searching for. "Oh, goodbye Nathan."

Nate grimaced when she started walking again. Goodbye? "Wait up."

"I can't." She called back to him. "Nina is waiting for me."

Nate jogged the rest of the way to reach her. "What about the library?"

Ivy sighed, a definite sound of annoyance. Nate didn't want to annoy her. "We can't keep sneaking in there to do absolutely nothing. Besides, Nina has a special doctor's appointment and she's asked me to come along, so I really need to go." 

Nate tried to prolong his time with her. "Is it about the baby?"

"Yes," She sighed again, fidgeting with the Smartphone. "I'll try to stay after with you tomorrow, alright?"

Nate didn't like this urgency fueling her at the moment. "Absolutely."

She barely kissed his cheek before she basically ran the rest of the way and out the large double doors.

~oOo~

"Is it out of pity?"

Nate's eyes followed the line of smoke that rose from Joseph's cigarette. "Is what out of pity?" He asked absently.

"The whole Ivy Forbes thing." Joseph spat her name like a curse. He tapped his cigarette on the wooden fence post. "It isn't real, is it?"

Nate turned his head away. Since Ivy was busy, he was forced to hang around with Joseph until she was free. "So what if it is?"

"Look, you can do whatever the hell you want with your life, but don't screw it up because you accidently killed her brother."

Nate dropped his head and regretted nothing but choosing to tell Joseph the truth. "It's not out of pity, and I'm not screwing it up."

"Alright, fine. But since I get peace of mind and you get the girl, can't we both agree that the world is a better place without Jackson Forbes?" Joseph wore an evil smile, encouraging Nate to wear the same.

Nate stared at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Joseph laughed a little, the smoke retreating around him. "Come on, Nate."

He decided to remove himself from the conversation.

"You can't blame me for feeling that way." Joseph called after him. "At least I have my priorities straight."

Nate put on the brakes and made another decision to give his friend a piece of his mind. "Kate killed herself, Joseph. It's my fault that Jackson is dead. Either way, you of all people should understand that Ivy feels the same way you did when your sister died."

Joseph wasn't fazed by Nate's agression. "Right, but Forbes got what he deserved." The evil smile returned. "Better watch out, Nate. You might be next."

Nate just shook his head, wondering how on earth he'd found friendship with someone like this.

"Hey, no hard feelings." Joseph pat Nate's shoulder, but he shrugged him away. "But it is out of pity, isn't it?"

Nate pressed his lip in a line, but didn't run away like a coward again.

"So Ivy Forbes, huh?" Joseph pondered the possibilities. "She'll definitely need a little breaking in."

Nate wished to defend her, but said nothing. Anything he said now would only harm her.

Joseph tossed his cigarette away. "I always knew you were a smart guy, Nate. I'd take up the challenge in a heartbeat if I had the advantage of killing two birds with one stone." He rolled into a fit of laughter.

Nate clenched his hand into a fist. His old self would be laughing alongside this idiot.

Nate didn't think when he threw the punch.

~oOo~

"You'll have to come visit me sometime, maybe over a weekend?" Nina climbed into her car as Ivy held the door open.

"Sure, just let me know when." Ivy watched Nina flip her long hair to the side and buckle her seatbelt. She closed the door and stepped back, waving as Nina drove away.

Nathan's car took Nina's place not five seconds later. Ivy smiled at the surprise, but then squinted her eyes at the dark splotches on his white shirt. Her fears were confirmed when he pulled himself out of the car and approached her.

His nose had angles in it that a nose shouldn't have, and his lip was split open, along with his right eyebrow. The splotches on his shirt were from blood. Ivy covered her mouth with her hand.

Nathan reached out to brush his fingers over her cheek like nothing was wrong. Ivy noticed the broken skin on his knuckles. Nate dropped his hand right away.

"It's not that bad." He tried to convince her. "It doesn't even hurt anymore." He purposely forgot to mention that he won the fight for her sake.

"What did you do?" She asked immediately. "Who hit you, and then who did you hit back?"

Nate cracked a healthy smile. "Actually, I hit him and then he hit me back."

Ivy didn't find it amusing. "Who was it?"

Nathan hesitated. "Joseph."

Ivy expected that to be his answer. "Haven't you ever heard that violence is not the answer?"

"I had to protect you." He responded confidently.

Ivy didn't know what else to say. "No. I don't want you to put yourself in harm's way for me, Nathan. That's stupid."

Nathan smiled again. "It isn't stupid, Ivy. You didn't hear what he said."

"What did he say?"

Nathan stayed silent, like his lips were glued shut.

Ivy held her face in her hands an started walking towards the house. "Just come inside, please."