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That tuesday morning was even more tedious than usual for Nathaniel. He was trying to pay attention to History class, but Faraize wasn’t making it any easier for him, deviating from the subject every five minutes. The chapter they were supposed to cover that day was German unification, a theme that was capable of holding his attention for a long time if the class wasn’t so interested in asking the teacher every detail about his past relationships. Nath didn’t understand why his classmates were so eager to talk about anything but stuff that was actually going to be covered in their exams.
Either way, that day Nathaniel wasn’t as irritated by his friends’ efforts to dodge lectures as he normally would be. After all, he was barely listening to Faraize telling the entire class how miserable his own love life was. His mind was elsewhere, more specifically, on a girl that has been occupying his thoughts so frequently that he might have begun to charge rent.
If she was present that morning, Candy would’ve been sitting close to Rosa and Alexy, exchanging short looks and whispers that, although little, were everything they needed to communicate. He smiled, thinking of how much trouble the trio has been into thanks to their habit of knowing what’s up with everyone. Even though it bothered him sometimes, he would always remember how it was Candy and her will to help everyone that saved him from his father and be grateful for that.
The bell rang and his classmates started to gather their things. It was time to go home. In the corridor, Nathaniel approached Rosa and Alexy, who were chatting next to the lockers.
“Hi Nath!” Greeted Rosalya, with a smile on her face.
“Hey, guys. How are you doing?”
“We’re good. So, what did you think of today’s class?”
“It was fine” Seeing how Alexy raised his brows in disbelief, he completed. “I didn’t pay much attention. I wish you guys just let him give his lecture in peace instead of asking so many personal questions, though. Unfortunately, the next exam won’t cover Sabrine and her addiction to putting ketchup on every dish.”
Alexy laughed loudly and Rosalya rolled her eyes, smiling. “You have to admit that his love failures are way more interesting to hear about than German Unification. And I’ll read the textbook later so it’s alright.”
“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, do you have news from Candy? Is she recovering from her flu?”
“She’s getting better, in a few days she’ll come back to school.” Alexy said
Nathaniel smiled. That was good. “Okay. Well, see you, then.”He made a move to leave, but Rosa’s voice stopped him.
“You should visit her, Nath. We already did yesterday and she said what she got isn’t super contagious. She’d love to see another familiar face.”
“Yeah! I mean, we know we are amazing friends, but I have to admit we can be a tiny bit annoying sometimes…” added Alexy “Just a bit, okay?”
“You say? I never noticed that! After all, you two are so reserved…” Nath answered in a playful tone.
“Hey!”
Rosa giggled at the boys’s banter and slapped Nathaniel’s arm. “You better stop with that, mister. We’re trying to help you out.”
“Help me out? What do you mean?”
Rosa and Alexy threw a meaningful glance at each other, which made Nath feel a hint of suspicion. What were those two up to? Anyway, he let the subject go and said goodbye to his classmates.
Just as he was leaving the building, the suggestion his friends made crossed his mind. He would love to visit Candy, sure, but wouldn’t he be too pushy if he did that? Their recent “date” to the vet had been his idea and, even though she seemed to have a lot of fun, usual etiquette would tell him to wait for any indication of her wanting to do something again. On the other side, it wasn’t like she showed him signals of not being interested. It was quite the opposite, every day he was more convinced he should do something about his crush and ask her out on a proper date.
With all these thoughts roaming over his head, Nathaniel sat on a bench at the entrance of the park. As his eyes focused on the backpack resting over his knees, a thought occurred. He could tell Candy that the purpose of visiting her was lending her his notes from the missed days of school. What a great idea!
Before getting to her apartment, Nath went to the market and bought some treats to cheer her up. Though he wasn’t a fan of sweets, he knew it was a good gift for a girl. He was glad that he already knew her favorite types of candy due to her habit of always eating something with sugar before an exam (her justification was that the human brain functions in base of glucose, therefore she needed to get the calories she was going to burn).
Half an hour later, Nathaniel was at Candy’s doorstep, notebook in hands. He pressed the bell and waited for an answer. A moment later, the front door opened. It was her mother.
“Hello, Mrs Darcy.”
“Nathaniel! You must have come to see Candy, haven’t you? Come in!”
Candy’s mom was very nice to him. She brought him with a smile on her face, asking if he wanted something to drink. He replied politely that he wasn’t thirsty.
“Please don’t mind the mess, we weren’t expecting any visits today.” Lucia grabbed a blanket that was scattered across the couch. “Have a seat, I’ll go and fetch her.
Before he could answer anything, a groan interrupted their conversation.
“Mooooooooooom, who are you talking to? Don’t tell me it’s Rosa and Alexy again!”
He barely had time to process the thump of footsteps going down the stairs when he heard her voice again, clearer this time.
“Guys, you know I love you, but if I can’t take another day of you two poking at me. You know those visits are just an excuse to tease me all day about my thing with-”
He laughed internally as he saw Candy freeze as soon as she noticed the person sitting in the middle of her living room wasn’t who she was expecting. Her face was so cute like that, eyes wide open and face growing redder by the second. However, his amusement vanished as soon as he noticed how she was dressed.
He didn’t know what he was expecting her to be wearing, but it sure wasn't a tiny pajama set that, although seeming comfortable, wasn’t fitting to receive visits from a guy. He looked at his hands, unable to glance any more at her underdressed figure.
As quickly as Candy appeared she vanished, running up the stairs and slamming the door to her room. Worried, Nath stood up and slowly walked the same path she had just done, not before throwing a glance at Lucia and receiving an encouraging nod.
From the outside of the bedroom, Nath heard a muffled cry as if she had just screamed with her head buried in a pillow. Not wasting any time, he knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
“It's me. Nath.”
He waited patiently through the ruffling noises. A few moments later, she answered.
“Come in!”
He opened the door slowly and sighed in relief. Thankfully, she had put on a pair of shorts and a plain t-shirt. He watched as she sat on the bed, looking as pretty as ever even though her hair was messy and her clothes rumpled.
“Hi.” He said.
“Hi… gosh, that was so embarrassing. I’m so sorry, I just wasn’t expecting you and-”
“Don’t worry. Actually, it was cute seeing you like that.” If this situation had happened a few weeks ago, he probably would have been mortified. Now, he was even able to make fun of it at her expense. Who would say, huh. He was enjoying the new confidence that was starting to bloom.
“Seeing me in my pajamas? Wow, I didn’t know you were a pervert, Nath.”
“W-What?”
His face instantly turned red. He was about to start explaining himself before he noticed the cocky smile on her face, finding his reaction very amusing. Some things never change, huh.
-x-
Candy adjusted herself in her bed and tapped the spot at her side, motioning for him to come sit beside her. “So… what brings you here?”
She was trying not to show it too much, but she was very happy that he came. The only people that went to see her were Rosa and Alexy and, with all the love that she had for them, she had been wondering whether any of the boys was going to come. It was such a pleasant surprise to see Nathaniel there.
“Well.” He made himself comfortable beside her and showed her the notebook in his hand. “You missed a lot of classes, so I brought the annotations I made this past few days.”
“Oh.”
Candy did her best to hide her disappointment. Even though she was happy that he cared for her learning, she was hoping that he came because he wanted to see her. She wished he felt the same rumbling in his chest as she did when she remembered their recent encounters and missed his presence. However, it made sense. He was the responsible president of the school union, it was like him to care for a classmate and friend. Still…
“Do you want me to go through my notes with you? Some of them are kinda messy, so it would be good if I explained them to you.”
She nodded, longing to talk about anything other than school. “I’m a bit hungry, so do you mind before we study if I go downstairs and get us something to eat?”
“Oh, shoot! I had forgotten!” Nath opened his backpack and started rummaging through it. Everytime their shoulders bumped with the motion of his arms, a tingle ran through her body. Being near him felt so good.
“Here it is.” Nathaniel retrieved a bag and emptied it all over the bed, revealing a mix of sweets. There were two chocolate bars, a few caramel lumps and a lot of sorted candies. Those were her favorite kinds of sugary food. How did he know?
“I’m not a fan of sweets myself, but I figured it would cheer you up.”
“Thank you, Nath. It was really kind of you. How did you know exactly which ones I loved?”
“Come on, you’re always eating those before any exam. I alway notice these details about people I care about.”
Candy didn’t fail to notice the sub intended message behind his words, and that almost made her choke on the chocolate she had already started chewing. After she recovered from the surprise, her eyes locked with Nath’s.
She liked his company and how he cared about her. They had gone through a lot together. Plus, watching him free himself and be more open was pleasing. She liked every new layer of him he showed her. She liked him. All of him.
“So, how has it been at school? I feel for you, having to put up with Rosa and Alexy without me to control their craziness must be hard.”
“Control, you say? I think it’s more of you engaging with all of their madness.”
“Hmm, maybe. Why? Do you have a problem with it?”
Nath laughed and put his hand over her thigh. Candy tried to ignore the rush that gesture sent through her body. They looked at each other in silence for a long time before his hand squeezed lightly her flesh in an intimate gesture.
“I don’t mind. I like it, actually.”
They did end up studying, after all. However, it wasn’t productive at all because all Candy could think of for the rest of the evening was his hand on her thigh and his eyes on her. Nath blamed her distraction on her fever coming back. She let him believe that.