Best
Amigos Forever, Chapter Cinco (My Spanish is a little rusty...)
Eric
looked at Nadia strangely as she sat on the couch inside, looking
sheepishly at
her feet.
"I
feel just a little schizophrenic," she said quietly, almost shy.
Smiling
appreciatively, Eric sat next to her. "You are, I'm afraid. You went
from
pissed off to self-mutilation to physical absurdity straight on into
collapse
and costume parties only to pass out from exhaustion and insist we go
dancing.
Nadia, you must be the craziest person I know next to myself."
She
smiled broadly. "It felt good to go out again and forget about all the
stupid, trivial things."
"It's
always nice to see you," he said with a grin, then, more seriously,
"and a pretty you at that."
Nadia
hugged him tightly, hardly afraid of his reaction as she crushed him in
the
process. He didn't seem to be in any pain, so she didn't let off until
he moved
his arms to slip around her shoulders. It felt as though some forbidden
crying
spell was about to start up again, which frightened Nadia to some
extent, so
she had to latch onto something.
She
began to speak in French. "Not crazy, not yet. Not quite yet, anyway.
Family reunion, family killing spree, random speaking patterns. If only
I could
play guitar, that would probably solve a lot of my problems-"
"Naddy,
what are you talking about? Or are you just rambling on for the sake of
it?" Eric asked in his own French. She made a face at him before
continuing, muttering quickly and efficiently as she stood and paced,
falling
off into an English voice again, laced with a heavy French accent, the
way she
had been to everyone on campus. "That artsy foreign chick" was her
official title, just like Eric was "that cheeky kid that can't act
serious." Together they earned the title, "Oh, they aren't dating?
Huh." In public they received the well-deserved title of, "College
aged kids trying to be different and not quite pulling it off." Nadia
knew
she was different, and had always tried to set herself apart from
others, but
college had probably been the worst shock. Everyone in England was
shocked at her appearance, and
she still got a few questions about her "fashion," which irked her
just a bit in that people could never seem to look past it.
She
sat down again and waited for him to ask her another stupid question,
but he
only stared at her, his face blank and ready. She could hear his
thoughts
whirring around, almost as a psychic does, and she knew that he was
trying to
figure her out again. Trying to figure out if she really wanted to
leave him
there while she lived far away, being happy alone. Another thing she
could see
on his face was a slight grimace at himself that he was being so
selfish as to
beg what powers that be she not get her dream-job for the sole reason
she be
closer for his watching, his care, his compassion. She wasn't fragile,
but she
was his to some extent, like a sister in some ways.
"Would
you call me schizophrenic if I wanted to kiss you?" She asked suddenly,
the words trickling out of her like a dam slowly eroding away.
Eric's
face didn't change. "Yeah,"
"Would
that be a bad thing?" She questioned, staring at him.
"No,"
"Would
you mad at me?"
"Hell
no,"
Once
again it felt like two magnets had attached themselves inside the
others mouth;
they flew together and felt a raw power build up between them. It was
another
one of those times that Eric felt frantic, he felt like he couldn't get
close
enough to her, and yet she was pressed up against him in the closest
way
possible, her hands holding his shoulders tightly, his hands flying all
over.
They were glued together, inseparable to some degree, a cascade of
pent-up
feelings surging around them. Though neither of them said it, they both
thought
it; they both thought they were content. Nadia could have lived the
rest of her
life knowing she didn't get that job she'd gone an extra year at
Cambridge for, and Eric could overlook the
fact that Nadia had taken so long to finally allow him this pleasure.
He
leveled with her silently, pushing her shoulders back as she had done
to him,
pausing only to flick the lights off, knowing Nadia would start
laughing
instantly as the moon crept in through the window. She giggled, a
stifled
noise, and allowed herself to be spread out on the couch, Eric's own
body over
hers. Both sighed with content, a noise welcomed by the other
instantly. Every
sound one made, the other had to make one, which only continued the
cycle until
Nadia was whimpering in delight every few seconds, waiting to hear a
similar
noise from Eric.
The
normal whispers were gone, replaced with happiness in being quiet, and
when
morning came, the two were silent, asleep. Eric stretched his shoulders
as noon rolled around, but refused to move
again until he saw Nadia move. She looked sort of unhappy, her face not
peaceful but not in turmoil, in a state of in-between that puzzled him.
Instead
of her usual serene face, she looked mildly distressed, her hand under
her own
face. Eric lifted his hand and smiled to see her hand fall from it,
knowing
they must have been that way through the night. It was a Monday
morning, which
meant any second now someone would show up or call him, reprimanding
him for
being late. He almost thought he heard footsteps pounding up his cement
walkway, guns clicking as they were locked and loaded, cocking the
barrels as
they stalked around his yard.
Nadia
woke with a start, rubbing her face with a little groan. She rolled
straight
off the couch, sitting up with a pitiful look on her face, rubbing both
her
back and her face. Eric clucked his tongue in a childish way, pulling
her from
the floor to his lap, fighting the urge to kiss her again as she
struggled to
wake up. Neither of them were morning people, but together they
respected the
need for sleep, and Eric remained silent for a while as Nadia blinked
blearily
around the room, her lips pouting as she tried to focus on something.
Eric had
always teased her about the blinking, the way her eyelashes seemed to
start up
a gust of wind as she fluttered them, whether it be in annoyance,
flirtation,
or a method of seeing better. She shifted now, so her chin was on his
shoulder,
sitting like a small child, her arms up around his shoulders, chin on
his shoulder,
trying to feel safe. It was true, she did feel safe when he embraced
her, but
now it felt different. She cursed herself for making it so apparent to
herself
that she liked him, not afraid of what people generally thought, but
afraid
that she wouldn't like what she would become if they dated, and not be
able to
act differently. She kissed the side of his head before standing up and
walking
to the kitchen sink, where upon she stuck her head under the faucet and
turned
on the cold water. She shrieked loudly, not hearing Terry and Mike
burst into
the house with their bullets flying.
"You're
awake, even! Come on, then!" Terry cried, reaching over to tug Eric's
arm.
"Dressed even!" He remarked, pulling on his shirt.
Eric
yanked his arm silently from Terry's grip before walking over to catch
Nadia's
attention. He stood behind her as she scrubbed her head with long,
black
fingernails, trying to wake herself up. She turned around, shaking her
head
briskly, startling Terry and Mike as she straightened up and revealed
the new
her to the world.
"You
sticking around?" Eric asked immediately.
Nada
glanced at the other two men before fixing Eric with a stare. "I think
so."
"You
know where the BBC building is if you need me," he said, much in the
way
they would in college before splitting for their various engagements.
As
he pulled on his shoes and started out the door, Nadia pouted her lip.
"Hey, wait-"
He
stopped and turned around, bending quickly to peck her on the cheek
with a wink
before walking off his car, ignoring the hoots Mike was throwing into
the air.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It
had been two weeks since Nadia had even been in her own home, and she
had only
called Lexi yesterday, the poor woman convinced she had been kidnapped
or
something like it. Nadia hushed her fears and resumed living peacefully
with
Eric. They never seemed to bring up the day she would eventually have
to leave,
and every single day when he got home, or she returned from somewhere,
it was like
they had been separated for months. Today was no different as Eric
stepped
inside and kicked his bag over the couch where it smacked Nadia in the
back,
she overreacting and falling to the ground with a small screech.
He
ran over, concern on his face only to be squashed when she grabbed the
back of
his neck and pulled him over her, all bonds lost. She was convinced if
she did
go home she'd end up driving back to his place to sleep every night,
even if
she moved to be closer to Cambridge. Nothing seemed quite right
anymore, and it was only fixed when he was holding her, kissing her,
touching
her. Two weeks of treating her like royalty yet still treating her like
she was
a friend. Maybe it was supposed to be like that, but she was still a
little
irked he would throw something over her head just to annoy her.
Now
he held her, back against the wall, Nadia curled up on his lap. "You
wanna
go out somewhere tonight?"
She
smiled. "Aww, I was going to make omelettes for dinner, seeing how
that's
the only bloody thing I make-"
"Hence
my question, Darling."
"You're
paying," she pointed a finger at him.
He
smirked. "Eat and run, damn you."
Nadia
flailed as Eric stood, carrying her over to the kitchen. "What are we
doing?"
"Well,
you're flailing around helplessly while I carry you into the kitchen."
He
replied, eyes sparkling.
Nadia
shook her head. "No, I mean-are we dating? Or did I move in? Or what
the
hell is going on? What are we doing?"
Eric
made a face. "You had to bring it up. Well, I'm going to argue that we
are
so unique we don't have a label, how's that?"
Shrugging
amiably, Nadia slipped her shoes on and allowed Eric to carry her
outside,
dumping her into his car like a heavy load of groceries. She sat upside
down in
the seat and buckled up, giggling as Eric feigned putting his arms
around her
shoulders and instead finding a set of knees. Off they drove into the
evening,
laughing and talking quietly, finally stopping at a small restaurant.
Eric
checked the money in his pocket before letting his upside down friend
out of
the car, catching her before she could tumble into a puddle from the
afternoon
rain.
Once
inside the couple seated themselves and started talking. Nadia, purely
to spite
Eric, begged the waiter to have an omelette made for her, but he told
her
breakfast ended at a specific time, and unless she was a very special
person
she had no business asking him. Eric had half a mind to tell the waiter
he was
on the television, but in so many words Nadia told him that it wasn't
important, she was just teasing him.
Sometimes
Eric thought that he took Nadia out because he wanted to be with her
and keep
some sort of interesting thing happening, sometimes he thought he was
showing
her off even though nobody ever looked at him with jealousy, but
tonight he
realized he was taking her out for the ride home. He might as well
break out
into goose bumps now to save himself the trouble.
They
delayed as long as they could, wandering around the block, jumping in
puddles,
just about anything that was legal was used to delay until midnight
rolled around and the roads became
nearly empty on the way home. It was now that the final red light
before the
empty, streetlight-less streets started and stared back at Eric. His
heart was
already pounding.
Nadia
smiled as she saw him anxiously start into the dark streets. He could
never
tell when she would start her little tease, and he could never tell
which
street she'd choose, the first time had been the first dark street, the
first
stop sign, and it had been such a welcome surprise he almost always
felt that
he had to stop longer than necessary at the first street. In the dark
she
hummed, face turned away from him. He sped down the next street, taking
a left
and stopping again. He mentally cursed himself for taking a slight
shortcut.
Calculating silently he decided Nadia had eight stop signs left in the
complete
darkness before they reached the neighborhoods where every porch had an
automatic light on all night to keep their kids from being scared out
of their
minds.
Knowing
how much time she had left, Nadia pulled her knees up to her chest,
pretending
she was going to sleep, ignoring Eric. Just as number six was rolling
to a
stop, Eric felt her slide onto his lap and he put the car in park,
pushing her
against the steering wheel as he kissed her urgently, pulling on her
shirt,
running his hands along her back slowly, feeling her wriggle lightly on
his
lap. He groaned, hardly caring what she heard and what she didn't. The
horn
honked once as he shoved her against it; they laughed for a moment
before Nadia
reached under the seat and slid the seat all the way back, reaching
over to let
it fall back as well. Eric held her close the entire time, feeling her
hold him
tightly, seeking comfort through it all. She had buried her hands in
his hair
and was giggling as he threw his head to the side and smiled. Her
shorts left a
lot of her legs to be explored, and suddenly there wasn't enough. They
continued to touch, explore, kiss, and touch more as the night wore on,
a full
ten minutes before Nadia was convinced a bobby was going to knock on
the window
and insist, "You crazy kids get off the shoulder" for the second
time.
"Nooo-"
"Drive,
or I'm kicking you out," she whispered dangerously, squirming into her
own
seat. Eric sat himself up, shaking his head briskly. He slid up again,
wiping
his face off extravagantly before throwing the car into gear and
peeling out of
the abandoned four-way intersection and taking a left at the next
street. His
expectations had lowered themselves, and he counted himself lucky if he
ever
got her to do that for him, but as he rolled to a stop at the final
street, he
was shocked to feel her lean over and kiss him again. She slid onto his
lap
with a lot of help from him, and stayed there for a good fifteen
minutes,
letting him kiss her as she lay there, weak and helpless. In her
position she
was helpless, but even she knew she could drive him crazy from there. A
car
roared around them, parked in the middle of the road at a stop sign,
but they
ignored it. As another car peeled by, Nadia scrunched herself down, and
Eric
started off into the dark street beyond, breath hitching wildly. He
glanced
down to see Nadia splayed across his lap, her grin bright in the dark.
He
laughed and parked outside his house, hauling her shoulders up so he
could get
out of the car.
Once
inside it was inevitable what happened. He followed her eagerly,
putting his
hands on her hips instantly.
"I
picked that up today," she said calmly, pointing to a record on his
phonograph. Eric kicked the stand it was on, the only way he knew how
to turn
it on since he had dropped it moving into the house. Slowly he heard a
very
shoddy recording of the song he'd heard in the club with Nadia start.
She
grooved for a moment before Eric turned, shook his head and pulled her
into a
tight hug, grunting as she danced anyway, seemingly not noticing how
she was
grinding right into him.
He
never really thought about it, but somehow before they fell asleep
every night,
they stopped kissing and just fell into a deep sleep. He could never
really see
at the time how they could be tired, but exhaustion caught up with
Nadia first
and even though she was on top of him, she kissed his cheek and slipped
to his
side where Eric yawned and kissed her cheek in return. Sleep came and
left them
both together, shaking its head with a small smile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Eric
sat up, a pillow falling from his head. Turning to his side he cursed;
Nadia
was gone. He jumped up and changed while he had the privacy and walked
out into
the hallway, squinting suspiciously. She was on the phone with Lexi
again, and
Lexi said that Cambridge had called and said they made
their decision and had sent a letter to all the applicants.
"So,
it'll be at the house in three days? Alright, I'll come pick it up on
Thursday.
Yeah, I can stick around for a while; whose shoulder would I rather cry
on?
Eric made a rule I can't ruin another one of his shirts..." She smiled
and
laughed before her smile fell. "I don't know; we're free of labels.
Yes,
Lexi. No, Lexi. Shut up, Lexi. Goodbye," she rolled her eyes and hung
up.
The
radio was on, and the song playing caused Nadia to laugh out loud with
glee.
She jumped up and did a small dance as the lyrics started up, Jon's
voice
echoing into the house.
"She
was a girl and I was a guy, but now that it's over, could I have been
so
wrong?" She laughed again, pointing hysterically at the set. The chorus
was some equivalent of how it had begun very innocently, and now they
were
enemies more at odds than Lucifer and God. Nadia howled with delight,
dancing
alone in the kitchen, not seeing Eric. He actually used her first name
in the
song, but then corrected himself, calling her the Devil. Nadia said, in
so many
words, "Got that right."
It
was then that there was a knock on the door and John Cleese walked in,
a scowl
on his face. Eric's face lit up as he walked towards him.
"Glad
to see you look happier than normal, Cleesey. I thought for sure you'd
have a
smile on your face today, but boy am I glad to see you scowling like
that-" He cocked his head as John gave a bemused smile to Nadia, who
was
sitting with a cup of tea over the paper.
"Sure
have made yourself comfortable, Naddy, how long you been here?"
She
shrugged. "A few days, give or take a month."
John
snorted, looking at Eric, who was politely trying to avoid cussing him
out the
door. "Fun,"
"A
lot of fun,"
John
smiled, looking at Nadia again. "Is this the reason you've been leaving
on
time every night and not going straight to the bar?"
Eric
nodded, eyebrows raised. "I have to let her out, she gets cranky and
claws
the couch apart if I don't."
"I
probably should have told you, I ate the goldfish." She muttered,
getting
up to rinse her teacup out. Why was it he was embarrassed of her in
front of
his friends? Not that she was complaining...yet.
Eric
hurled the rolled up newspaper at her. "Bad!"
Nadia
hurled it back twice as hard, laughing as crumpled to the floor with a
well-deserved,
"Oof!"
"Be
gone, foul man, I wish to see you no more until tonight." She waved as
he
exited. Once he was gone, however, she sighed dreamily, wondering just
what
she'd do today. She got into his cupboards and looked in a few
cookbooks lying
around, only stopping once to wonder why he had six cookbooks. All of
them had
his mother's name in them, and since she was a walking, talking recipe
maker,
Nadia guessed she no longer needed them. Those and the glass figurines,
apparently.
She
was going through a few things, wondering if it was possible for her to
try
something along the lines of the stuffed pastas. She loved the stuffed
raviolis, and with the right choices she could make a fairly decent
meal. She
scribbled down the things Eric didn't have handy, and rifled through
his sock
drawer until she found a few twenty pound notes. Pocketing these she
stalked
off to the store on foot, whistling Jon's latest hit under her breath
with a
grin.
At
the store she caught a few curious looks, and even as she stood in the
check-out line, she could feel eyes roving all over her body,
especially her
face. She stood in her basketball shorts, tank top, and a black dress
shirt
unbuttoned over that. She had buttoned the sleeves up so they were out
of her
way, and if she could say so safely, she didn't look half-bad, but the
sneakers
didn't help. Once again she had unintentionally wandered into the big
bad world
wearing all black. Her black and white high-tops matched her black
shorts,
black tank top, black dress shirt, which only accented her black framed
glasses
and her jet black hair, which had been frayed out like a small
explosion had
taken place on the back of her head, the rest of it just sort of mussed
up. She
grinned exuberantly at the cashier, handing her both the twenty pound
notes and
receiving a few coins in change. Nadia thanked the woman with a strange
look
before gathering her bags and walking back home, catching even more
strange
looks as she wandered, a housewife of sorts. Once inside she unpacked
all the
groceries, feeling guilty about stealing some of Eric's money. She
gathered up
a few charcoal pencils from Eric's tiny stash and took a notebook of
plain
paper with her to the street. She walked thirteen blocks to a small
park, where
she set up a small stand and sat, smiling.
Eric
walked inside, freezing as he smelled something in his house. He lifted
his
eyebrows and jetted into the kitchen where Nadia was draining pasta
with
another pot on the stove, the lid clanking as it's contents boiled. She
put the
drained pasta in the empty pot, and checking a cookbook, turned the
burner off
for the boiling pot, pulling some bread from the oven. She counted the
steps in
the book and whooped, clapping happily. The next thing she had to do
was set it
all up on the table, and then she was done. Having already set the
table
(however crudely) she started by turning around to survey what space
she had
left, blushing to see Eric standing there, jaw open. He gestured at the
table,
at the stove, and then at her with disbelief on his face.
She
barely had time to nod before he crushed her to the nearest set of
cabinets,
kissing her hard. Nadia laughed and shoved him away, insisting she had
to serve
up before things got cold.
"You
don't even know if it'll taste good, Eric! Sit down," she pointed.
Eric
obeyed, sitting down quietly and waiting eagerly for her to take her
seat next
to him. She slapped a plate in front of him, setting one down for
herself,
handing him a bottle of beer, an unopened one already at her place. He
shook
his head with a huge grin before leaning over and hugging her again,
jaw
working soundlessly. The small ringlets of pasta had been stuffed with
cheese
and mushroom, the marinara sauce also meatless. Nadia was a sort of
die-hard
vegetarian, but what she managed to make was always good (omelettes,
yay!).
Eric always complained that picky eaters had to be good cooks, but
Nadia argued
back that picky eaters can't be cooks because they couldn't stick to a
recipe.
Cautiously
Nadia tried a bite of her own concoction, lifting her eyebrows with
surprise.
She clapped again and looked at Eric again, wondering what he was
thinking. It
was only women's intuition, she told herself defensively, to wonder
what a man
was thinking.
"Did
you get the money out of my drawer?" He asked suddenly. Nadia nodded,
and
looked away, knowing he was going to get up and check. There was a
gentle clink
of silverware as he stood and checked his drawer confused as he noticed
that
not a single bill was out of place. When he returned, he was frowning
and Nadia
was smiling just barely.
"I
felt bad about taking the money without asking, so I sat myself out in
Pinegrove park for seven hours doing caricatures of people for one
pound until
I had enough money." She pulled a few twenties from her own pocket.
"And then I kept going. Until I ran out of charcoal and-"
Eric
crouched next to her, cutting her off with a startling kiss. Why was it
everything she did today was so cute to him?
"Hey,
at least tell me if what I made agrees with you." She whined, kissing
him.
He
snickered, kissing her once more. "I can taste it on you, don't worry.
That's what microwaves are for, aren't they? Reheating things?"
Nadia
lifted her eyebrows. "Oh no you don't; eat first. I have a feeling you
don't eat all day anyway, you weirdo."
"Says
the girl who weighs about twenty pounds herself." Eric replied, rolling
his eyes as he sat down and ate, giving her a few compliments as she
whined at
him that she had finally broken a hundred pounds over the last year or
so. She
wasn't very tall, so her weight wasn't supposed to be a whole lot more
than she
was, but she was still about thirty pounds short of healthy, which
puzzled her
doctors. She ate like a pig, but was probably the single most healthy
person in
England. She watched what she ate, drank, and seemed to calculate just
how much
exercise she needed to do to burn off what she ate. Five foot three, a
hundred
ten pounds. She planned to stay there for as long as she stayed five
three,
which was going to be the rest of her life.
As
soon as dishes were washed and leftovers put away, Eric insisted he
thank her.
Nadia gestured towards her ear, and still she wanted him to kiss her.
It was
still only ten o' clock when they sat down together in front of the
television
set, satiated and sort of energized. Thinking hard, Eric began to plot
how to
turn the night into something romantic, knowing if he played his cards
right
she might not leave him. Now that there was a limit on how many hours,
seconds,
nanoseconds she would be there, he felt rushed and Nadia felt like she
was
slipping away.
The
next day was a free-day, an editing day. Eric awoke late again,
relieved to
remember he didn't have to be anywhere. Nadia wasn't at his side once
again,
only irritating him slightly. Nearly a month of living there and
suddenly she
couldn't sleep past nine o' clock? He trotted carefully, making little
noise as
he walked into the living area, Nadia lying on her stomach, the only
table
there moved. She was scribbling on a paper, the scratching noises
revealing
what she was drawing. She blew on the paper gently, using her fingers
to smear
the charcoal. Irritated with the horrible way it was shaping, she
rubbed her
face on her hands, knowing she would look like a living hell when she
stood up.
A thought struck her, and the expressionless woman she had sketched and
later
filled was suddenly crying, her tears dripping down her shaded face,
her
eyebrows in a pleasant arc that indicated she was trying to fight more
tears. By
adding a rose to her hand, the whole thing took on a fantasy-like aura,
and she
added stars, two moons, one much larger than another, and quickly
sketched an
unearthly backdrop, adding a halo of sorts around the woman's head, a
star
shape on her forehead. Once the long-haired space-alien was complete,
she tore
it from the book and wiped her face again, blowing the last of the dust
from
it.
She
turned and jumped. "Ah! Eric! Stop sneaking up on me!"
"I
can't help it, you put your back to the only entrance I have, and
generally
you're absorbed in what you're doing. If I called out before I entered
a room
you'd still jump!" He replied, smiling. He smiled wider as she stood up
and gave him a clear view of her face, streaked with dusty
fingerprints, and even
her forehead had suffered. She knew he was looking at it, and turned
away to
wash her face, leaving her sketch on the floor. He picked it up and
stared at
the fantasy world, completely absorbed in it.
They
spent the entire day together, a first for them since they had been
forced to
move apart after Eric graduated. It seemed that instead of friends that
get on
each other's nerves if they spend too much time together, Nadia and
Eric simply
resituated their bonds. The only difference was now Eric would be
unable to
help himself from touching her, kissing her, hugging her. Not that
Nadia
minded, but it was an immense change. Leftovers for dinner, day came to
a
close. Eric felt they had to make some serious progress or they'd be
starting
over every time he saw her from that day forward. Lucky for him, Nadia
gave him
the perfect chance.
"Another
free-day, huh? What am I supposed to do with you?" Nadia pretended to
pet
Eric's head. "You wanna go to the park and chase some squirrels, Rex?
Huh?
Sound good to you?"
Eric
panted, shaking his head.
Nadia
laughed and kissed his cheek, squeaking as he pulled her onto his lap
as he sat
on the couch. "Let's go out somewhere."
She
snorted. "Give me all you got, charm the pants off me."
"Let's
pretend you didn't just say that," he wagged his eyebrows as he tugged
her
shorts comically. She squealed again and jumped up, laughing.
"Socks,
then."
"You
don't wear socks hardly ever, Naddy..." He retorted, eyes sparkling.
She
rolled her eyes. "Glasses, Christ!"
Eric
nodded. "Glasses it is."
The
rest of the afternoon was probably the best Nadia had experienced in a
long
time. She was taken to the beach where they were supposed to walk along
the
edge to the small set of villas where Jake and Marcia lived, but the
water had
called to Nadia, and she jumped in the tiny lake, screaming with
delight as the
cold water sunk into her clothes. Her all-black attire had started
soaking up
the heat, causing her to go a little crazy. When they showed up at Jake
and Marcia's
Nadia was forced to stay outside on the porch, waiting for Eric and
Jake to
reappear out the other side to unlock the fence. They let her through,
and yet
she had no regrets about not being able to take the five-minutes tour
inside
the house. Marcia was a picture-perfect wife, not a pound gained from
her three
pregnancies, and yet she had a small bulge in her stomach. She blushed
wildly
when Nadia gave her a quick hug, popping her eyebrows as the woman
whispered
the word of kid number four into her ear, explaining that if she played
HER
cards right, she could tell Jake later that night.
"We'll
make sure we're out of here so we don't spoil your plans." Nadia
assured
her, winking her own green eyes with a grin as water ran into her face
again.
They
spoke for about an hour and a half before Nadia insisted she had to get
going,
and she forced Eric to admit it as well, seeing how she had to leave in
the
morning and it was already four thirty. The walk back to the car was
slow
enough, a good twenty minute walk of silence with hands clasped. For
whatever
reason, Nadia had reached out and touched his hand to show him the
flock of
birds that were diving into the water for fish, and he had grabbed her
fingers,
looking at the birds and then her with a small smile. She hadn't argued
with
the feeling since then. A few people had passed them on the way into
the water,
both with kids and without, smiling gently as they walked together, a
very
unlikely looking couple. And yet Nadia still didn't look at him and
register
"BOYFRIEND" or even "GUYFRIEND." He was "ERIC" in
all capital letters, maybe an imaginary star next to his name. It was
fine with
her, she didn't mind at all, but she could almost tell that Eric looked
at her
and registered, "NADIA, OH MY GOD."
When
they stepped inside the house after a wonderful afternoon out, Eric sat
down
and sighed loftily. He looked at Nadia with a heavy pout. "Do you
really
need to go back tomorrow?"
She
nodded, an incredulous look on her face. "Yeah, my letter came today
and I
need to know what it says."
Eric
pouted further. "You could let Lexi open it and call you-"
"No,
Eric, I've been here almost a month, I'm not going to live here and
leech off
you anymore! Sheesh! You'd think I'd be kicked out but I have to run!"
She
smiled at him.
There
was a good ten minute pause in conversation before Eric said, "So, what
did Jon lie to you about that annoyed you so much?"
She
shrugged, sitting down. "First it was that he liked me, second was that
he
said he'd take care of me, third was the stupid art project he said he
made.
Lexi says that Jake dropped it off for an anonymous friend, he never
would say
who."
Eric's
heart pounded hysterically. "And," his voice cracked, "what did
this project look like?"
Nadia
smiled in a dreamy way. "It was a collage of Polaroid photographs.
Everyone was in black and white, and they all looked sad, but then
there was a
color photo of myself in the middle, laughing. Jon used my
art-intuition to
pretend that he had done that and lost his nerve to tell me, the
bastard."
"That
bastard," Eric muttered, not quite on the same page as Nadia.
"I
know! I-" She started to insult him more, but Eric had continued,
standing
up quickly to pace.
"He
said he was going to drop it off at the dump for the burning, he
PROMISED he
wasn't going to give it to the art teacher, damnit!" He reached up and
tugged his hair. "Damn Jake!"
Nadia
stood up and grabbed Eric's shoulders, eyeing his flaming cheeks. "YOU
made the collage, Eric? YOU made that?"
He
averted his eyes quickly. "Uh, no, I didn't mean it-"
"Stupid!"
She laughed and shook him. "Embarrassed about it! Stupid! I liked that,
Eric, why are you so embarrassed?"
He
shrugged quickly and walked away from her to his bedroom, making to
close the
door, but she had snaked in just as he thought he was in the clear.
She
flopped onto the bed, opting to ignore the fact he was so nervous
again. He sat
down on the corner, groaning as Nadia sat up and scooted over to him.
"I
loved it, Eric. I make no joke now." She kissed his cheek, pleased to
feel
him turn over and shove her to the mattress. She was smiling at him,
and he was
smiling weakly at her...
"I
leave tomorrow, what do you want to do?" She asked him, kissing his
cheek
again.
He
turned a very different shade of red. "That's not important, it's your
last day, you pick what we do for the next twelve hours."
"Why
the blush?"
"No
reason,"
"Riiiight,"
He
shut her up with a quick kiss, sighing with content as she pulled him
closer to
her.
She
held his head to her shoulder with a small sigh. "I repeat, what do you
want to do?"
Eric
sat up, kissed her, and sighed nervously. "I love you, Nadia."
Nadia's
mouth flapped for a moment at the earnest way he'd said it before he
continued.
"And
if you really want to know what I want to do," he gulped, glancing
away,
"I want to make love to you."
She
gulped and made a choking noise as Eric hovered over her, face red and
yet very
anxious. She finally found her voice. "I love you too, Eric-"
He
kissed her gently, not a hint of pressure in it, but she still felt
herself let
go of all inhibitions and flail back into the sheets.
For
whatever reason, she felt like she was making a good choice this time,
even if
she wasn't married and hadn't really thought about it. She really did
love him,
it was never a question in her mind, but she was questioning whether or
not she
wanted to let him take the final step, possibly ruining whatever
friendship she
had left. Very slowly, Eric moved her so she was propped up just barely
by the
pillows on his bed, fingers shaking as he helped her from the dress
shirt,
helped her from the tight-fitting tank top, and held her hips as she
slid from
the shorts, smiling with laughter in their eyes as the raw uncertainty
in their
bodies mingled. He pulled her from her underclothes, eyes jumping over
her
eagerly, making him go wild with lust. He had never thought of her body
in this
way before, and now that he was, he felt a disturbing change overtake
him. He
was fully clothed and she was fully disrobed. With another nervous
smile, Eric
began to run his hands over her body, feeling her skin slip through his
fingers
smoothly, pausing now and again to kiss a part of her he had yet to
explore.
Nadia refrained from making any noise at first, wondering if he would
continue
with no prodding, and he did.
"I
do love you, Eric, I want you to know that." She said, grabbing his
shoulders.
His
face remained serious. "Love you too, Naddy."
She
pulled on his shirt, waiting eagerly as he pulled it off over his head,
her
hands already assisting him with his belt. Once that was undone, Nadia
slipped
under the sheets, waiting for Eric to slide under after her. There was
a
welcome warmth at her side which quickly floated over top of her, a
small gasp
coming from both of them as their bodies touched. Eric, ever-conscious
of how
Nadia was reacting to things, began to "warm her up," so to speak.
God, what it was like to hear her making noises at him, arms holding
his neck
close to her as his hands and mouth did all the work on her neck and
other
parts. She hadn't ever had a guy quite like him, and yet she felt like
she had
known it would be like this for a very long time, which prompted her to
think
to herself that she had actually thought about this moment before now.
She
could feel heat rising up all around her, and the room was getting
smaller as
Eric kissed her over and over again, a sweat starting to shine out on
Nadia's
forehead as she was repeatedly thrown into a world unfamiliar to her.
She began
to murmur in French, the only thing she could think of doing at that
point, and
she could hear Eric laughing at her quietly, holding her tighter as she
muttered under her breath.
After
what seemed like forever, Eric stopped whatever it was he was doing,
anxiety
stopping him as the moment came. He felt a good shiver about to race
through
him, but instead he broke into goose bumps as Nadia's legs parted and
his hips
slipped in between them. She put her head back, eyes shut behind the
skewed
frames, biting her lip excitedly. Hardly able to wait, Eric muttered
something
he couldn't even make out among the groan coming out of him before
slipping
inside her with an almighty gasp. Nadia cried out, grabbing his
shoulders
again, feeling like if she didn't grab onto something she would fly off
into
the air with nothing holding her down. He had pulled away, shoulders
miles
away, face sweet in its surprised _expression, stopping only to kiss
her now
and again, all movement below the waist pausing as well. He moved
slowly,
savoring every second she was there, savoring every taste, smell,
touch, sight,
and sound he received from her or gave her. As the pleasure mounted,
Nadia's
head began to turn back and forth, little sighs emitting now and again,
causing
Eric to groan in response, wanting to hear her again.
He
slowed down more, prompting Nadia to speak. "Eric-"
"Hush,
Love, it's alright." He whispered, huskiness there that Nadia flailed
in,
letting her shoulders drop to the cool, damp sheets.
As
he slowed more and more, Nadia began to take deeper and deeper breaths.
Every
muscle in her body was tightening slowly, making her toes curl, her
throat
seizing up, making her sound weak as she let out a few more small sighs
and
groans, her mouth covered by Eric's. As he lowered his chest down to
lay across
her, the angle seemed to enhance everything all over, Nadia crying out
all over
again. By now they were both moving so slow that no song in history
could
accompany them, and yet Eric slowed more, begging Nadia to stop moving
against
him; he knew what he was doing to her.
Exterior
and interior muscles were screaming out in a sort of pleasant agony as
they
continued to contract until Eric once more insisted he loved her and
the
emotional side of all sex seized Nadia. She felt like a hand had
grabbed her
and suddenly she was shouting all over again and Eric was breathing
hard,
shuddering just as she was. She was groaning softly, her body clenching
and
unclenching, letting all her tense muscles loosen slowly as she sunk
into a
dreamy cloud. As the moment finally passed her, leaving her gasping for
breath,
on the brink of tears, she felt Eric's head rest on her shoulder. She
reached
up blindly and ran a hand over his back, feeling his skin gently.
Goosebumps
broke out over his skin in response, and the cycle began all over again
all
through the night.