Imdiately I got to class, Tasha was already waiting for .
"You’re early, that’s surprising," I said, sitting beside her.
"Was bored. I thought I would et you in class," she replied.
"Yeah, the bakery was a bit busy today. We had pre-orders," I explained casually.
"Are you working in the evening also?"
"Um. No, I’m not," I replied.
"Ok, cool. Do you want to, like, co over to my apartnt? I’m throwing a sleepover," she asked.
"Um. No, my friend is visiting , so I have to be around," I lied. I can’t really expose myself to her yet, right? Besides, it wasn’t entirely a lie. I just omitted the fact that my _friend_ was actually a boy.
"Okay, cool. So did your one-night stand guy reach out to you?"
"One-night—?" I stopped, as it all ca rushing back to . I had cheated on Nathan.
"Hey!! Why are you blanking out?" Tasha snapped her fingers at .
"Please, Tasha, it’s embarrassing enough to sleep with a stranger. Can we skip that?"
The professor suddenly walked in, and everywhere quieted down.
Class dragged on endlessly—or maybe it just felt that way because my mind was a thousand miles away. Tasha’s words kept echoing in my head: _one-night stand guy._
I scribbled random notes in my notebook, pretending to pay attention, but all I could think about was Nathan. The way he looked at last night, the way he talked about love like it was sothing we could just figure out if we tried hard enough.
And then there was the stranger.
What if Nathan finds out?
I felt a wave of nausea roll over . My stomach churned at the thought of hurting him.
No, no, no. Focus, Fiona.
I forced myself to look at the board, but the professor’s voice was just noise in the background.
"Hey," Tasha whispered, leaning closer. "You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."
"I’m fine," I whispered back.
Tasha gave a look but didn’t push further.
When class finally ended, I stuffed my notebook into my bag and bolted for the door, but Tasha caught up with in the hallway.
"Hey, wait up!" she called, jogging to my side.
I sighed, slowing down. "What is it, Tasha?" I asked, trying to make my voice as neutral as possible.
"You’re acting weird," she said, narrowing her eyes at . "Like, weirder than usual. Do you have a boyfriend or sothing?"
I paused mid-step, my heart skipping a beat. "What? No! Why would you think that?"
Tasha raised an eyebrow. "Because you’ve been all moody and distracted ever since I ntioned the one-night stand guy. Did you guys et or sothing?"
"No," I said quickly, shaking my head. "Look, I’m fine. Totally fine."
"Uh-huh," she said, clearly not buying it. "Well, if you need to talk, you know where to find ."
I nodded, giving her a weak smile. "Thanks, Tasha."
She gave one last skeptical look before walking off, leaving alone with my thoughts.
I spent all evening waiting for Nathan, but he didn’t show up. I was beginning to think he’d changed his mind or sothing. Did he find out about sothing?
Oh well, he returned to my apartnt late that evening, his face as unreadable as ever.
I was sitting in the living room, flipping through a book, clearly bored. The mont I heard the doorbell, I glanced up. I closed the book imdiately, standing up to get the door.
"You’re late," I said, resting lazily on the doorfra.
"Had things to take care of," he replied simply, entering as I closed the door behind him.
He took off his jacket.
I frowned. "You could’ve at least texted . I was worried."
Nathan’s gaze softened slightly as he looked at . "I told you I’d be back tonight, didn’t I?"
I sighed, shaking my head. "That’s not the point."
He smirked, stepping closer. "You worry too much."
I crossed my arms. "And you’re too reckless."
Nathan chuckled, brushing past as he headed toward the kitchen. I followed him, still annoyed.
"Did sothing happen today?" I asked, watching him pour himself a glass of water.
"Nothing I couldn’t handle," he replied, taking a sip.
Should I just co clean? I can’t hide the truth forever.
"I need to tell you sothing," I said slowly.
"Alright, cupcake. Go on. What’s it?" he asked casually.
"I got drunk one night—and I..." I paused, hesitating. Should I just cover it with a lie?
"I slept with soone!" I rushed out the words, closing my eyes.
"Oh. Who’s he?"
I snapped my eyes open. Why was he being calm about this?
I had just dropped the biggest confession of my life, and he wasn’t yelling, wasn’t walking out, wasn’t even mad. Instead, he just stood there, calm as ever, like I hadn’t just told him I’d cheated.
"Why are you being so... chill about this?" I finally asked, my voice wavering.
Nathan tilted his head, a small, unreadable smile playing at his lips. "What reaction were you expecting?"
"I don’t know!" I blurted out. "Anger? Disappointnt? Sothing! But you’re just standing there like this is no big deal."
He stepped closer, and I instinctively took a step back, my heart pounding.
"Would it make you feel better if I yelled?" he asked, his voice low and steady.
"I..." I faltered, my back pressing against the counter. "No, I just... I don’t get it. Why aren’t you upset?"
Nathan leaned in slightly, his gray eyes locking onto mine. "Because I know you, Fiona. And I know there’s more to this than what you’re telling ."
Is he being serious right now? The Nathan I know is overly jealous and protective.
"I told you everything," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Did you?" he asked, his gaze never leaving mine.
I swallowed hard, my palms damp with sweat. "Yes."
Nathan studied for a long mont, his expression impossible to read. Then, to my utter confusion, he smiled.
"Alright," he said simply, stepping back.
"Alright?" I echoed, blinking at him.
"Yeah," he said, walking casually to the couch. "I trust you, Fiona. And if you say it was a mistake, then that’s all it was."
I stared at him, completely thrown.
"That’s it? You’re just... letting it go?"
"Yeah. You were drunk, almost got harassed by so n, and I protected what was mine."
"What do you an?" I asked, more confused than ever.
"It was , okay! You were just too drunk to—you know—rember. And before you start screaming, I swear I didn’t want to touch you, but you—you teased ."
"Tease you how?" I asked.
"Trust , you don’t wanna know what you did!"
"Co on Nathan! Tell already."
"Oh well, you kissed first even though I didn’t want to and then you teased .
"Tease you how?" I asked again, narrowing my eyes at him. My heart was pounding, and my face was burning, but I needed to know.
Nathan ran a hand through his hair, looking almost... embarrassed? That was new.
"Fiona," he said, his voice low, "you were drunk, okay? You don’t need to know every little detail."
"Yes, I do," I said firmly, stepping closer. "You can’t just drop sothing like that and then brush it off. What did I do, Nathan?"
He let out a long sigh, leaning back against the couch and looking up at the ceiling, like he was searching for strength.
"You were... all over ," he admitted finally, his gaze dropping to et mine. "You were laughing, touching , pulling closer. You kept doing all manner of things—" He stopped, shaking his head.
"Like what?" I pressed, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Like for example, undressing yourself and touching yourself right in front of ," he said, his voice rough.
I stared at him in disbelief, I wouldn’t do that! Would I?. Besides, I had no mory of this. None. But the way he was looking at now, like he was reliving every second of that night, made my stomach twist.
"Why didn’t you stop ?" I asked, my voice shaking.
Nathan’s jaw tightened, and he stood up, towering over . "I tried," he said, his voice firm. "But you wouldn’t let . You... you kissed , Fiona. You literally spread your legs in front of , do you know how tempting that is?."
My breath hitched. I felt like the ground was falling out from under .
"I would never—"
"You did," he said, cutting off. "And I’m not blaming you. You were drunk, and I should have walked away. But you..." He trailed off, his hand running through his hair again. "You made it impossible."
I didn’t even know what to say, at least I was grateful it was with him and not a total stranger. This couldn’t be real.
"So... we..." I couldn’t even finish the sentence.
"Yeah," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
I sank down onto the couch. This changed everything.
"Why didn’t you tell ?" I asked after a long silence, my voice breaking.
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