Best Friends Forever, Chapter One
"Just go talk to her, Eric, you've got
nothing to lose!" Mike urged softly, turning back to Helen. Eric
laughed
nastily, returning to his drink with a scowl. It seemed to him that
everyone
was getting hitched these days, even Mike had gone and found himself a
lady and
a good one at that. Maybe it was his turn, but it wasn't likely that
the
flower-child across the room was going to take any notice of him. It
was also
unlikely that the keyboard player in the band was going to take any
notice of
him. So he settled down for another depressing night of watching his
friends
all enjoy their time with girlfriends and wives while he watched, as
usual.
The bartender gave him a sympathetic look and slapped
a small shot glass in front of him, filled to the top with malt liquor.
He
winked and turned to the waitress who had returned for a refill on
drinks for
another table. Eric nodded thankfully and picked up the glass, downing
it with
a grimace before stepping off to walk toward the toilet. Maybe he'd be
able to
pick up some guys tonight, that seemed easier than
women. Laughing at his own stupidity, Eric pushed into the toilet with
a snort
and leaned against the far wall, inhaling the stale smell of the
chokingly
small room. The door pushed open behind him and in walked Gray, who
paused for
a moment seeing Eric leaned up against the wall in his own private
anguish.
"You alright?" He
asked, putting a hand on Eric's shoulder. He jumped, but nodded before
smiling
weakly and exiting the room and walking back out among
the many couples dancing. A few women gave him looks, but he wasn't
quite up to
it anymore; he wasn't feeling like he was in a very articulate mood
which was
highly uncommon.
Hoping he would find anything to cheer him up, Eric
wandered aimlessly along the perimeter of the dance floor, looking for
anyone
he recognized, any ex-girlfriend that was looking for him, even if only
to
smack him or indulge in him one last time. He'd take what he could at
this
point, sadly enough.
"Hey stranger," a soft voice seemed to be
teasing him. Spinning around, Eric grimaced to recognize his latest
ex-girlfriend, Natalie Schmidt. She sneered at him with a strange
_expression
on her face, eyes glued to his face, slowly running down his entire
body as
though undressing him. He squirmed before turning only to run right
into her
cronies, a couple of overweight, underpaid whores. They sneered at him
as well,
running their hands over him.
He bared his teeth, suddenly and comically
animalistic. "Hands off ladies, I'm broke tonight," he exclaimed
snidely. All three women became half cat suddenly and began to hiss and
claw at
him until he was rescued by an old friend. She elbowed Natalie out of
the way
and pulled Eric out of the ensuing din with an almost pushy attitude.
"Damnit, Nadia, if
I've told you once I've told you twice: you deplete what little
masculinity I
have when you save my ass like that!" He cried at his old female friend
from Cambridge, picking up his drink from the bar where he'd left it.
She
rolled her eyes at him and put her elbows on the wood, her square
glasses
slipping to the end of her nose. As always, Eric absent-mindedly
reached over
and pushed them up to the bridge of her nose for her, not noticing that
Gray
and Mike were exchanging looks of knowing to each other.
Finally, the ever-quiet Nadia spoke. "It was
either let you die out there and not talk to me tonight, or let them
murder you
and laugh with them. I rather like keeping my friends." She replied
coolly, looking at him over the thick black frames.
Eric let out a sigh that resembled a man in great
dislike of something. "I can't believe it, but I, Eric Idle, have
officially decided that tonight, I'll even take Natalie back if it
means one night-"
"Don't finish that thought; you're not that
desperate." She told him with a small smile. Her short black hair was
so
short she had been able to style it on top of her head with hair spray
and gel,
making her look sort of quirky in the room full of all the long-haired
flower
children. She had always been his friend, ever since he could remember
meeting
her. It had been almost instant magic, meeting her.
He remembered walking on campus, his mother and
grandmother waving and crying hysterically as they pulled out of the
area he
was boarding in before he finally decided to go check out the main
campus area.
As soon as he saw her sitting in the water fountain with four security
guards
scrabbling to get her out of the water where she was being drenched, he
knew
he'd found a friend. Eric had helped her escape the guards then, hiding
her in
a small dorm where he knew a guy and then taking her back to his place
for a
change of clothes before the guards left, certain she was still in the
area.
They hadn't seen her go into his dorm, so it would probably be alright
if they
caught a bus over to her dorm. Ever since then they had been attached
at the
hip, never even thinking about anything other than zany antics and
other fun
things. Eric had always made fun of the fact that everyone else seemed
to be
falling all over themselves with "hidden feelings" for their best
friends, but he said that if a man and woman chose to be friends, that
marriages were practically sleepovers with your best friends and
everyone should
lighten up. Nadia had agreed, and suddenly they were like this always
dating,
never quite boyfriend/girlfriend couple. That hadn't changed at all,
only they
hardly ever saw each other what with Eric's new job and Nadia's many
boyfriends.
"So, who's the bastard you're cheating on me
with now?" Eric asked lightly.
Nadia smirked and turned to him. "I'm actually
single now; if you really are desperate, Eric, you know I've got a few
dozen
decks of cards at my house."
He smiled mischievously. "Strip poker it
is!"
They looked at each other and shook their heads.
Maybe sex hadn't swung their way yet, but they had pretty much lived
through
everything else. They had lived together, shared bank accounts for a
year, Eric
had been there when her sister had given birth, she'd been there when
Eric's
grandmother had died, it was like they were just waiting for something
romantic
to happen and they never saw it that way. Hell, other than a kiss on
the cheek
the other person was like a relative you hardly ever see but used to
love to
death. As if this option was becoming more clear to
him, Eric looked at Nadia.
She glanced up at him and cocked her head.
"Hey Nadia!" John
sidled up to her.
She turned to him and grinned broadly, looking up
into his eyes. "Hi John!"
"Gosh, how are you doing? We haven't spoken in
ages; Eric never calls you over anymore-" He was cut off when Eric
rolled
his eyes dutifully.
"For the last time, John, we haven't dated,
ever."
He scoffed out loud and waved away Eric's comment.
"You've lived together, shared money, personal, and joyful problems
together; you might as well be married."
As always, neither of the two seemed embarrassed
about everyone insisting they should date. Nadia simply shrugged.
"Nothing
we haven't heard before, John."
"I know, and as always I'm here to join up with
the rest of the world in saying, 'God damn you kids, at least go out
once!'" He grinned and bowed low before walking back over to the table
where other partying Pythons were sitting.
Eric wasn't stupid; he knew that Nadia was a
beautiful girl and anyone would be lucky to be with her, including
himself, but
he never looked at her in any other light than the friendly almost
sisterly
way. There had been nights after traumas in her life where the only
place she
could fall even into a shallow sleep had been his arms, and yet he'd
only been
there for her because he knew she needed him and he knew he loved her
enough to
be there for her. It was always this mutual friendliness that would
eventually
drive his mother insane, like everyone else. An ex-boyfriend of Nadia's
had
become drunk and tried to hurt Nadia nearly seven months after Eric's
graduation, and she'd found him way down in London and stayed with him
for
three weeks. Those three weeks had been like a class reunion. He
skipped all
sorts of things he needed to do, just to get Nadia back into the place
in her
life where she felt comfortable. She was a better person when she knew
there
was good in the world, and Eric was just the person to show her all the
bright
and shiny faces out there. Likewise to Eric, Nadia wasn't stupid. Eric
was a
great guy, but in the same way, she'd never once worried about being
alone and
having to find a potential mate. She wasn't worried about losing a
friend by
finding new "hidden feelings" for him, their friendship had always
swayed on the romantic side, but they never seemed to feel the need to
be
physical or do anything else. Lust was saved for strangers, not for
those they
didn't want to hurt or cause pain to.
Eric sighed, breaking the silence. "Well, I
suppose I should be getting home, you need a ride?" He asked, pulling a
set of keys from his pocket.
After a moment, Nadia nodded and allowed him to lead
her to his car and drive her along the deserted roads. Instead of
bothering to
ask her where she lived, he drove right up to his house, and with no
words
spoken between them, they collapsed inside together on the couch,
simply happy
to still be friends.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Just open the door, he never locks it
anyway." Terry pressed open the door and walked in, dropping his keys
on
the table. It was past noon; Eric must be awake be now. As the
others filed in, there was a soft "Oh!" to their right. Mike was
smiling gently on the couch, which he stepped aside to show, Eric and
Nadia
lying together there, faces inches apart with their breathing in sync
and
everything.
John snorted. "Friends my
ass!"
With that exclamation, Nadia sat up and pulled her
glasses onto her face, blinking rapidly as she noticed Eric's friends
standing
around her like a zoo exhibit. Eric jumped up as she clamored across
his lap
and rubbed his face heartily, trying to ignore the fact that the
clamoring across
his lap and the added fact that Nadia's shirt was falling off her
shoulders had
nearly made him squeak out loud. John's raised eyebrows made Eric want
to moan
with anguish; nobody seemed to understand that the participating
parties in any
relationship tend to know what's best for them.
He looped his arm around her waist and smiled weakly
as she leaned back into the crook of his arm, her appearance tiresome
to look
at. She was so predictable; sinking into his arms like she always did
early in
the morning. Even a few weeks after meeting her she had always seemed
to
collapse right into his arms for a daily shaking. As always, he shook
her
shoulders briskly, loving the way she flopped around until she finally
snapped
to attention and gave him a quick little hug, standing up to make tea.
"Sorry I didn't take you home last night; I
didn't feel like looking for your new house in the dark." Eric
explained
as he gestured for the others to sit. He walked into the hallway of his
house,
pulling his shirt of as he did, little or no concern there was a female
in the
house.
Pulling on her clothes a bit, Nadia straightened her
glasses again and pulled on her hair. Eric walked back into the room,
jeans and a short sleeved shirt on, tossing a plain white dress shirt
to her.
She exited to his hallway, just in his peripheral vision, before
changing out
of her short sleeved shirt and into his very loose dress shirt,
buttoning up
the front as she walked out into the kitchen again. She left most of
the
buttons undone, the bottom up far enough to reveal her navel, the top
low
enough to bare her tanned chest. She was a French beauty; all her
heritage lead to the French, and she even spoke the language
fluently, which went well with her easily tanned skin, dark black hair,
and
bright green eyes. Her bellbottom jeans were hanging helter skelter
on her hips, far too big for her. Even her feet seemed to show how
indifferent
she was to certain things. Toe rings on her toes, a tattoo covering
most of her
left foot. She exuded an anti-fashion war cry, which intrigued all the
Pythons,
though they didn't dare walk in on Eric's girl, even if he was adamant
about
his un-involvement with her. If the opportunity for him to date Nadia
ever came
around, they were not going to interfere with that.
"Where do you keep-?" She started to ask
him when he pulled a griddle out from a cabinet somewhere just below
her and
placed it on the work surface, smiling as she watched him with a smile
that
could show she was impressed he still knew that the only good meal she
could
cook was breakfast, even if it was only omelettes and
toast. He kissed her on the cheek, smacking her lightly with a spatula
before
sprawling out on the couch with Mike and Gray to work out the kinks on
a few
sketches they were working on for their new show.
The day was wasted on Nadia; she finished making the
breakfast, served it to the starving masses and herself, and then made
herself
busy picking up around the house while the men talked. She found quite
a few
things to do, including dishes, laundry, and his bathroom was filthy,
so she
cleaned that in a desperate attempt to stay busy. Every time she
surfaced in
the living area with a cleaning bottle or a laundry hamper, Eric would
grin and
say an endless thank you while she did whatever it was she was doing.
When the
guys finally did leave, it was ten o' clock at night and Nadia knew her
house
was a little over an hour away. Eric insisted on giving her a ride
anyway, and
did so willingly.
It was odd, seeing her again. She seemed to grow in a
lot of ways every time he saw her, and in a lot of ways he did feel
like he
should tell her some things, just because she had the right to know. It
was
more of a "don't ask don't tell" type thing though, telling her that
when she undressed to change in front of him, of recent, he seemed to
be short
of breath. There must have been some way he could make it
light-hearted, but he
didn't want to. He wanted her to know that whatever it was that he had
made fun
of for all those years was happening now, and he didn't seem to care at
all. In
fact, the idea of kissing her on the mouth was starting to become more
and more
appealing.
"There it is, on the left." She pointed on
her side of the car to a small brick house. He slowed to a stop and
climbed out
to see her inside, to check in on her digs to make sure she was
alright. As he
sat on the couch he felt something odd stir in the air. She stood in
the light
of the lamp, the only light on at that point, and looked absolutely
heavenly.
He grinned. "You look real good, Nadia."
She blushed lightly, which was odd for Nadia.
"Gee, thanks! I feel like I just came out of the dryer." She rubbed
her shirt with a frown. "Which isn't odd, seeing how I
did laundry all day."
Eric didn't feel odd as he thought of putting his
thought into a question, but it did feel odd for Nadia to be standing
there
with a schoolgirl's demeanor, her usually casual and friendly flair
gone and
replaced by this well-behaved, blushing little girl. She was adorable
in that way,
but it wasn't her, and he wanted it to stop.
"Do you suppose the only reason we never think
about dating is the fact we've never tried to do anything
romantically?"
He asked, catching her off guard.
She snorted, almost completely
normal again. "What do you mean? I don't know many friends out
there that have had joined checking-"
He waved his arms around, cutting her off. "I
don't mean that, Nadia, I mean we've never even had time to think about
it. I
mean, have you ever considered what it would be like if we just tried
it?"
"Tried what, Eric? Don't get me wrong, you're
one of my best friends ever, I love you, but I don't know what you
mean!"
There was a slight tremor in her voice now.
Eric smiled and sidled up next to her, feeling her
body emanate a beautiful heat over him, making him acutely aware that
he wasn't
just admiring her beautiful smile, but staring at it with a
vigor. Had it always been like this? And when had her house gotten so
bloody hot?
"What I mean, dear, is that while all those
other dumbasses are out there whining about not
wanting to spoil their friendships with people, we've sat here just
laughing at
them and never doing anything." He felt his own voice drop down to a
husky
whisper.
She squinted. "Are you insinuating
something?"
"Only that suddenly I want to know."
"Want to know WHAT, Eric?" She asked,
exasperated.
He took both sides of her head in his hands.
"Nadia, we haven't even kissed on the mouth and we act like we are
certain
we don't ever want to see each other like we're dating. I am almost one
hundred
percent certain that a kiss won't ruin anything we've built up over the
years."
She snorted again, looking away. "You don't know
what will happen but you want to try."
"Worst-case scenario: we don't like it. We are
still best friends, right?" He elbowed her weakly. "Opposite
worst-case, highly unlikely scenario: we like it and fall madly in
love. Does
that really sound like us?" He smiled weakly.
"We know more about each other than our own mothers,
Eric. We know too much! Aren't you a little bit afraid we're going to
mistake
something we know we have for something we don't have?" She asked,
looking
both ways nervously.
Realisation hit Eric
squarely, startling him. She was pushing him away because she knew she
wanted
it too. Maybe it was time they both just sucked up their fears and did
what
they had been laughing about for so many years.
He sighed and slipped his arm around her, kissing the
side of her head. "Still just friends then,"
She looked up with a slightly startled look, looking
away with a heavy blush when she saw him smirk and lift his eyebrows at
her. He
ran his hand over her shoulder a few times, smiling with a sort of
wisdom as
she tried to pretend like she hadn't just been caught in her own lie.
"I only meant that we could mistake the
friendship love we have for something else." She replied thickly.
He shrugged and started to stand up. "I guess
we'll never know, as you won't even try it."
He knew she couldn't resist a challenge, so when she
jerked him back onto the couch and gave him an evil eye, he knew he'd
won the
battle, war, and medals.
"Alright, you dolt, kiss me! Figure it out
yourself!" She opened her arms like the gate had been opened.
Even Eric was surprised at the speed in which he flew
to her, mouth moving quickly over hers, a gasp emitting from her as a
spark of
pleasure lit up between them. Not a comprehensible thought was spread
in
Nadia's head; she was utterly confused as her lips moved on their own
accord,
pressing against Eric's, flooding her nose with his cologne and his
touch.
Before they could even decide whether or not it was just a friendly
kiss,
Nadia's lips parted and Eric's tongue flitted in without a second
thought. It
was only instinct, loving the way she fit in his arms and way she went
completely docile once he took control. She flailed for a moment in the
taste
of him, putting her hand on the back of his head for support; he was
unaware of
the sounds he was making. Finally she gained half of her mind and
pressed her
tongue back into his mouth, feeling whatever confusion left in her
disappear,
covered only with a primal instinct to please him. She wanted nothing
more than
to give him what he wanted now, even if that meant sex with her best
friend. He
was her only friend at this point, and she did love him, but now it was
like
she was realising that all along she had
misinterpreted herself. Her tongue slipped back into her own mouth,
lips
closing as an emptiness flowed to her, eyes opening
slowly to see Eric's bright blue eyes staring back, wide and confused.
"Well?" He asked, hands still holding her
tight like he was afraid to drop her.
She still held onto his head and shoulder, looking
him over with a completely open mind. "Yeah, that was alright."
He smiled. "Not bad for a
first kiss, eh?"
She squirmed away from him, hiding her grin
comfortably. "I dunno,
you could've done better."
He gaped, jaw hanging open. "You think so, huh?
I'd like to see you-"
"Do better? Gladly," she grinned
mischievously at him before situating herself on his lap.
They looked at the other for a moment before she
leaned forward and ran her lips over his, teasing him. He jerked his
head
forward, trying to capture her lips with his own, but she was cunning
and
managed to keep him tortured for a few minutes before taking his head
with both
hands and kissing him defiantly. He whimpered against her, trying to
get her
even closer to himself though it was impossible. He was just starting
to feel
the slow and steady aspect of the kiss slide into gear when she moved
again,
pushing his shoulders back to the armrest, only a few inches away. He
rocked
backwards and felt his shoulders hit a soft pillow, though he was more
concerned with Nadia, who was lying over him now, her
body so unbelievably tempting. The tease was far from over, because
they both
seemed to realise that it was late and they were
alone there, and neither of them could deny that the electricity
flooding from
the other wasn't exciting.
The best part about Eric and Nadia being best friends
was the comfort between them. If she elbowed him in the stomach and
hurt him
barely, he'd just grunt and smile, Nadia giggling before the passion in
them
resituated itself and all pain was forgotten. After all that heavy
kissing, snogging almost, they pulled apart and began to kiss more
slowly, an instinct of some kind slipping in. They began to kiss slower
and
slower, building up what had been flowing like a river before, every
kiss
damming up the waters between them.
"Has it always been like this, Nadia?"
Eric's rushed and breathy voice echoed into Nadia's ear faintly.
She sighed against him and hugged him tight, putting
her head on his shoulder. "I don't know, I'm just
enjoying the moment."
His arms crept up to hold her tighter, a smile on his
face. "Me too, dear, me too. I'm thinking I
should stay tonight, couch or no?" He asked, running a hand over her
back
slowly, feeling at the clasps of her bra.
She squirmed away from him, eyes dancing playfully.
"You can stay in a bed tonight, but if I wake up bra-less, I'm going to
give you a swirlie, and you can count on that."
She warned. He linked his hand into hers, laughing in a relieved way as
she
lead him into her room. The bed was unmade as they talked and climbed
in
together, curling up like they always did.
"See? We didn't ruin anything, now did we?"
Eric asked, yawning slightly.
Nadia sighed. "I'm still confused."
He nuzzled her weakly, only sure that whenever he was
this close to her he felt the strangest need to touch her. "We can
figure
it out later, when we're more awake."
"What if we can't?"
"Then we move on like it's all the same."
He answered.
She sighed, exasperated again. "What's moving
on, Eric?"
"Whatever we want,"
He kissed her cheek again before falling into a heavy
sleep with her wrapped up in his embrace.
!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
"So, Eric, where were you last night and half of
today?" Mike asked, eyebrows lifted. Eric
shrugged indifferently, feeling completely normal.
"I had to drop Nadia off at her new house; it
was farther away than I expected." He replied evenly, wondering if they
would believe him or not.
John nodded, his smile not hidden very well. "So
I suppose you stayed the night, eh Idle?"
Without _expression, Eric nodded. "Yup,"
Trying not to sound like he was doing what he was
doing, Mike asked, "So, do you think you'll be getting together any
time
soon?"
Eric shrugged, drinking out of a tea cup deeply.
"Maybe; we didn't talk about that."
He had a brief flashback to that morning. It wasn't
anything special, except when he had left he had kissed her on the
mouth and
had felt an extreme reluctance to leave her at that point. The only
exceptional
thing he could remember was the kiss itself, which never ceased to
amaze him.
"What did you talk about, then?" Mike
frowned earnestly.
Eric sighed, wondering if he should be honest or not.
John's face emitted honest surprise. "You talked
to her about dating, didn't you?"
Shrugging with an uncomfortable feeling, he decided
that he might as well tell them what happened. "Sorta kinda? I
mentioned
that we always said we would never date because we didn't like each
other that
way, but I also said that we never give ourselves the chance to prove
we don't
like each other that way."
Gray smiled slightly. "And?"
"And we kissed and it was the best fucking kiss
in my entire life," Eric spat, standing up. His heart was pounding
hard,
and not because he gave a damn about the cheering guys behind him, but
because
every time he heard or said the word "kiss" now he could only picture
Nadia's sweet face blushing to him. He abandoned his tea cup and
retrieved a
beer from Terry's fridge.
Mike cleared his throat. "The
best?"
With a hearty glare, Eric lifted the bottle to his
lips and raised his eyebrows. "Yes,"
"You sure?" Terry
asked, remembering clearly times when Eric would flip out simply
because a
woman was kissing him on the cheek, and she was supposed to be his best
friend!
Eric rolled his eyes and took Terry's hand, putting
it on his chest, though his heart had steadied by now. He gave silent
instructions. "Nadia Smart kissed me." He said shortly, his heart
jumping up into his throat to shut him up. His throat felt painfully
crushed;
he knew he wouldn't be able to talk. Terry's eyes did widen a bit when
he felt
Eric's heart go racing, but even Terry Gilliam, who probably knew Eric
the
least was looking skeptical.
"You sure you're not in it for the sex?"
Gray asked, tilting his head.
"We didn't have sex, Gray, we just kissed. I'm
over-reacting with a kiss; you'll know if anything else happens." He
muttered, rubbing the nape of his neck. "Besides, I knew her before
now,
I've lived with her. It's like now that I know how she operates outside
of
school and polite banter-the formalities gone-I can skip right to the
rest of
it. She was nervous just about kissing me, though..." He had to stop,
his
heart pounding again.
Mike shook his head with a low whistle. "And you
made her do it?"
Shifting his weight conspiratorially, Eric nodded.
"More or less; I kind of tricked her into it, you know? Made her think
she
was the one with all the say."
"Quite the pickle you're in, Eric, really. In
love with your best friend and neither of you can do anything about it.
Tsk tsk."
John shook his head thoughtfully.
"Now now!"
Eric retorted, smiling nervously. "I didn't say I was in love, guys. I
just said that when she kisses me-" His voice cracked.
Mike chuckled, standing up. "You've got it bad,
mate, real bad."
"Well, whatever I've got it can stop right
now." He spat, folding his arms with a scowl.
Nadia walked along the city streets, eyes glued to
her feet as she walked, gaze drifting over her class ring everyone and
a while.
It was a behemoth of a ring, just like a college or high school to make
them
gaudy and expensive, but the dark green jewel was beautiful; it matched
her eyes.
She had only graduated one year short of Eric, so she had gotten her
ring
early, with a little lie and some help with her application from her
friend.
They had, as promised, gotten them engraved and now, as she slipped the
ring
off her finger and peered at the inside circle, she felt a smile lift
up on her
face.
"Look! An Engraving!"
She snorted heavily before slipping the ring on
again, shaking her head with a smile that could only be put there by a
crazy
man. As she situated her easel in her bag again so it wouldn't dig into
her
side, she could only wonder if her collection would be big enough for
her to
put on that show the art collector had promised. She couldn't only
paint and
find out, so she sat down in the park, staring at the playing children.
She
pulled out a small pencil and roughly sketched the trees and buildings,
a few
fountains that she remembered seeing when she looked up. In fact, when
she
closed her eyes, it was like a picture of what she had only glimpsed at
was
there, sitting there to be nit-picked and taken apart. She had a
photographic
memory, which right now was proving to be her most helpful asset.
"Nadia Smart! I haven't seen you in years!"
A perky voice came over her shoulder. Knowing the picture would be
there when
she closed her eyes again, Nadia opened her eyes and
grinned broadly, also knowing she'd seen this person a little over a
week ago.
She leapt up and hugged the woman behind her,
surprised to see her old elementary school friend back in town. "Lexi
Bishop; who would have guessed
to see you back in Burton?"
She laughed lightly, looking at the obscure shapes on
Nadia's watercolor paper. "Not me, but I'm here now, working for a law
firm."
"Excellent," Nadia replied, putting paint
on a small pallet, eyeing the brightly colored shirts the children wore
and the
dull gray and chipped brick parts of the buildings and swing sets. She
began to
paint as she and Lexi caught up, completely unaware
that the sun was starting to set and another day had gone by. Lexi and
Nadia were as close as two girls got, and not in a
feminine way. Both had been pegged out as strange all through school,
mostly
because of their clothes and hair. As eighth formers both had worn
short hair
like Nadia's now, only changed once for a protest in which Nadia
appeared in
her maths with a short spiked hair style with bright
blue tips poking out. She was also pegged strange when she wrote the
poem about
what it was like to be dead, but she had written it like a sort of
prose, a
poem with no stanza, rhyme, or shape. Only Lexi had
seen the shape in her poem, and she was supposedly a vampire. They
seemed to be
close in their difference, but they were so alike in every way that
Nadia liked
to pretend that when people mistook them for sisters, they shouldn't
correct
them.
"It's getting late," Lexi
noted dryly, then cursing. "Damnit!
I was supposed to look for a flat today-"
Nadia stood up, holding her half-done painting out
before her. "Stay with me, then, I've got room if you don't mind the
couch."
The other woman grinned happily. "Thanks,"
"In fact, I've got an extra room; Tommy moved
out." She grinned.
Lexi did a little dance as
they walked down the streets together. "I'm so glad to hear that!
Speaking
of boyfriends, how's Eric doing?"
Nadia's breath caught slightly, making Lexi's eyes widen a bit with
awe. "He's alright, I just talked to him yesterday and today a bit,
actually."
"Something wrong, Naddy?" She asked, using Nadia's nickname.
Laughing nervously, Nadia shook her head. "No,
everything's alright, trust me. Just let me clear one thing up," she
started, smiling in her friendly way, "when you said 'speaking of
boyfriends, how's Eric?' did you mean when he was your boyfriend or
were you
teasing me?"
Lexi smirked. "A little of both, actually."
Nadia rolled her eyes and pulled her keys from her
pocket, looking at her small brick house. "Alright, just
wondering."
"Well, what did you two talk about?" Lexi pressed, gratefully dropping
her things around Nadia's
feet, running a hand through her own short black hair.
She smiled suddenly. "All sorts of things, I
can't believe I ran into him down in London-"
"Oh! So you actually ran into him, not just
talked to him, huh?" Lexi asked as they sat down
on the very couch where Eric had kissed Nadia.
Nadia nodded, unconcerned. "Yeah, anyway, I
saved his ass from Natalie and company, so we talked for a while. He
offered me
a ride home, but we decided it would be too hard for him to find my
house in
the dark, so we went back to his place. The next morning his friends
came over
so he couldn't give me a ride and we're both sticklers for cash, you
know." Lexi smiled with a roll of her eyes.
"After I spent the day keeping busy playing housewife, he drove me home
and-" She cut herself off, standing up.
"And what, Nadia?"
Her friend asked, standing up. Sometimes Lexi and
Nadia tended to act more male-like on the spectrum, mostly on Nadia's
part in
her fervent secrecy and the many things she chose to hide from Lexi
most of the time, whereas any normal woman would be
screaming and shatting themselves in order to tell
their best friends that they had just kissed another guy.
She squirmed. "I dunno,
we talked some more, about some things I never talk about with him, you
know?
It made me feel weird, but not because it was him, it was just things
you don't
talk about with anyone for whatever reason."
"It probably was because it was him, Naddy, you know that. You and I
talk about necrophilia like
it's no big deal, so what made you shy away from Eric, your good buddy
of whom
you have spent so many years with?" Lexi asked,
pulling Nadia back down to the couch as she rose to get them some
drinks;
they'd need them.
Nadia squirmed when Lexi
placed a Cosmopolitan in her hands, knowing if she told Lexi
that she'd be full of good advice that she didn't want to hear, but if
she
didn't she knew that Lexi could figure it out. She
was a criminal lawyer and could read any emotion on your face, and
could also
test you by saying things that'll get you to make those faces that she
could
read like a book. It was risky business knowing Lexi,
but she knew if she didn't tell somebody other than Eric about what
happened
she be dead meat. Her older brother was a little bit on the jock side,
and her
younger sister was a little bit on the ditzy side; together they made
her
parents look like a pair of crazies.
"Shall I interrogate, or would you feel more
comfortable telling me on your own accord?" Lexi's
tone was business-like, never a good sign.
Managing not to show very much _expression, Nadia
rolled her eyes. "We talking about having REALLY WILD SEX, AND THEN WE
DID." She said in a loud, sarcastic voice.
With a small smile, Lexi
rubbed her chin. "I'm thinking he brought up something along those
lines
and you were uncomfortable. You were uncomfortable because you had been
thinking the same thing and didn't want it to get out of control; am I
right?"
Nadia took a deep draw from the glass in her hand,
scowling at Lexi and her damnable ability. "I think
his friends made him feel like he had to talk to me about dating,
because after
we left the club where he and his friends-all of whom have their little
significant others but him-he was very nice to me. I'm not saying he's
not
normally nice, but this was strange. We fell aslee-"
"Girl, if I wanted to know what happened the day
before yesterday, I would've asked. Now, can you please tell me what
happened
last night?" She put her arm across Nadia's shoulders, soothing Nadia
slightly.
"He wanted to know if I thought the reason we
never see ourselves as a possible couple is because we've never given
it a
shot. So he asked if I wanted to 'try it' just to see if anything
happened. I
didn't want to become that thing I hated-you know, what with all the
'I'm
afraid if I date Jim our friendship will suffer' crap, but as soon as
he
started talking about that, I started freaking out-" Nadia shook her
head
slowly.
Lexi waved her to a stop.
"So, he mentioned trying to date you?"
Nadia groaned, putting her head back. "I don't
know what he meant, all I know is he tricked me into telling him to
kiss
me."
The other woman squealed. "Oh
my God! Did he?"
With a bitter sneer, Nadia nodded. "Hell
yeah!"
"And did you like it, Nadia?" She asked
quietly.
Nadia's brain kicked into overdrive, but she caught
herself and put on a stony face. "No,"
"You didn't?" Lexi
frowned.
It was a filthy lie, but Nadia stood by it. "I
hated it; I felt like I was only there because he wanted to try it.
Afterwards
didn't feel normal, it felt like nothing had happened and we were still
just
friends!"
"Nadia, that's a good thing, you know. If you
can still be comfortable around him after that you should be happy.
Besides, it
doesn't mean anything; if you didn't like it it's no big deal. You're
still
friends, right?"
She nodded slowly. "Now he kisses me on the
mouth when he leaves, and I don't know what to do-"
"Move your head just a little so he only gets
the corner of your mouth; it'll be alright." She paused, scrunching up
her
nose. "I can't believe you don't like him! He's such a great guy,
Nadia!"
Nadia sighed and swirled the ice in her glass.
"I guess I needed to get that off my chest; thanks Lexi."
"Hey, no problem! That
was just about the best gossip I've heard in months!" She teased.
"Eric 'I'm Never Going To Get Married' Idle and
Nadia 'My Best Friend and I Have Joined Checking' Smart have finally
kissed
each other."
Nadia smacked Lexi with a
blush, which made Lexi gasp out loud. "You're
lying, Nadia! You liked it!"
"No!" Nadia buried her face in her hands,
standing up.
Lexi caught her arm anyway.
"You did! You're embarrassed-why the hell are you
embarrassed? Do you know if he liked it?"
"No!" Nadia wailed, falling to her knees.
She felt like, for the first time in a very long time, she was going to
cry.
"I didn't like it, and I know he didn't-"
"You don't know that." Lexi's
voice was far too calm.
Nadia stood up and slapped her legs hard, face
contorted into a very upset _expression. "Those people are right, Lexi.
For once we were wrong; if you try something you're
not used to with someone you're close to, it can change things."
Lexi shook her head,
putting her hand on Nadia's shoulder gently. "You said you acted like
just
friends afterwards, right? Unless you were lying there too, I think
you'll be
fine. Why are you lying about liking it, though? Do you think I'm going
to tell
him?"
"No, I don't know why I lied. It seems to me
that if I admit that it was the most awe-inspiring kiss in my entire
life, that
I wouldn't act the same around him-" She started off, shaking her head
slowly.
Fighting the smile, Lexi
replied. "You acted the same right after, right? You're going to be
fine.
As my mother said; 'Marriage is like spending the night at your best
friend's
house every night.' Lucky you that your best friend is a good
kisser." She smirked, causing Nadia to smile.
"Come on then," Lexi
tugged Nadia's arm, "you can talk to him tomorrow, go see if he's not
busy
on a Saturday, be normal again. See a movie, do
something with him and act normal. It's easy, Nadia, you just need to
stop
lying to yourself."
"Alright, maybe. Maybe
he'll let me paint him this time..." It seemed like everything would be
alright now, but maybe she was going to have to act differently. Until
tomorrow, she wasn't sure she'd know.