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Chapter 30: Factors

By the time I got home, I was a bundle of nerves. I couldn't stop wondering if I would be single by the end of the week. I used the time I had when I got home to clean my room, put my clothes back in the dresser, clean the glass, and put a new lamp up. And then, after prodding from my eldest sibling, I put a new bulb in the ceiling light.

Now I stand in the kitchen, still in my clothes from work, more stressed than I think I've ever been. All my messages to Odette have been ignored and I'm ready to get drunk to get rid of my worries.

"I'm sure she's going to answer you." Julian says.

"She will probably and text me to tell me I'm single." I mutter, glaring at my phone. I hit the home button, scowling when I find there's still not messages. "I mean, this is-"

"How about you rant while we get food." Jackson cuts me off with a clap the shoulder. "Come on cuz, I'm starved."

"You just ate three packs of chicken ramen."

"Yeah, that was, like, a half hour ago." He says.

"I don't want pizza." Mason adds before I can suggest it. "We have pizza four times a week."

"Let's go out to dinner." Peyton says.

"But like to Applebees." Julian cuts in.

"Uh, we're not going anywhere until Harper gets here." Gabe says.

"Do you like her?" I question.

"Who?" He asks innocently.

"Harper." I say.

"Yes." He says. "I'm going to marry that girl."

"I'm going to die alone." Mason grumbles.

"Whatever, I'm so happy Brenda is gone. She was so annoying." Julian says.

"You got that right." Peyton says. Somebody knocks on the door. Gabe immediately darts across the apartment to get the door.

"Who it is?" I shout, hopeful that it might be my girlfriend.

And then Harper walks in.

I groan loudly. "Gee, it's great to see you too Nathan." She mutters.

"Can I use your phone?" I question.

"Sure." She hands it to me when she reaches the kitchen

"What are you doing?" Julian narrows his eyes at me.

"Testing a theory." I say, scrolling through her contacts until I find my girlfriend.

"Get ready to leave." Jackson orders basically everyone.

I look down at my maroon button down and my black slacks and black dress shoes.

Running my fingers through my hair a few times, I hit the phone icon, putting it to my ear.

It rings twice, and then stops.

"Hello?"

I narrow my eyes when she answers the phone, and then I hang up on her.

"She's fucking ignoring me!" I exclaim. "We can go to dinner, but we're making a stop."

_____

We took two cars and one of them was mine. I drove straight to Odeletta's, making everyone wait in the car as I marched to her door.

Her apartment is weird and her door faces the parking lot, so you can see everything from the parking lot. I walk straight up to her door, raise my fist, and knock.

After a moment, she doesn't come to the door.

I knock again, and again, and again.

After the fifth attempt, I just open the door and walk into the apartment, shutting the door behind me.

There's a tub of ice cream sitting on the coffe table. When I glance into the tub, it's empty, and the container is still cold. The TV is on the Netflix guide, and I can hear water running. It's already around seven. I wander down the hall to the bathroom, listening.

She's in the shower.

I push the door open.

"You are avoiding me." I say.

I hear a gasp, a thud, a groan, and then she sticks her head out of the curtain, her brown hair covered in soap.

"How did you get in?" She asks.

"I walked in." I say. "You're avoiding me! You opened answered for Harper! What have you been doing?"

"Erm...binging Parks and Rec." she mumbles. The shampoo on her head is almost to her eyes, so I reach out and swipe it away with my hand.

I notice her eyes are red.

"Have you been crying?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Why?"

She bites her lip and then hides back in the curtain.

"Odeletta!" I exclaim.

"I am just...um, waiting for you to break up with me." She admits.

"So am I."

"You are waiting for you to break up with me?" She asks. I hear her sniffle.

"No, I'm waiting for you to break up with me." I explain.

"But..." she hesitates. "You are not going to leave me?"

I pull the curtain aside. She's soaping up her body. She looks at me with raised eyebrows.

"I'm not going to leave you, Odeletta, but I can't be with you if you don't talk to me."

She sighs, rinsing the soap off, wets her hair again, and then shuts off the water.

She gets out, wrapping a towel around her body, and then one in her hair, brushing past me to her bedroom. I follow her.

"Why are you avoiding me?" I press.

"I'm..." she sighs, looking down. "I'm just scared, Nathan. I love you now and we got into a fight."

"Amour, we are in a relationship. We're going to fight."

She looks at me, letting out a small sigh.

"I know."

"This is going to happen. For the rest of our lives, we're going to fight."

She drops her towel and starts drying off, and I look anywhere but at her because if I look at her I'm going to get hard.

"I know." She mumbles. She puts on her bra and underwear.

"Come out to dinner." I plead. "Please Mon Amour? I'm going to dinner with everyone. Please come. Did you eat? I will pay for you."

She looks at me, hesitating, and then she nods.

"Are we going somewhere fancy?"

"No." I frown.

"Why are you still in work clothes? You got out hours ago."

"I just never changed." I say, watching at she pulls a pair of light blue skinny jeans over her legs. I hear horn honking outside. "That's probably Mason." I say quietly. She nods, pulling on a loose maroon t-shirt, brushing past me to the bathroom.

"I will come." She says.

"Sweetie." I say as she brushes her hair. "Fighting comes with the territory. I love you, darling, but we are going to fight."

"I know. I know, I am just being stupid."

She hangs both of her towels and puts on mascara and eyeshadow and blow dries her hair. She brushes her teeth and then rinses her mouth with mouthwash, and then with water, and then she turns to me.

"I love you." She says seriously.

"I love you too, Amour."

I wrap my arms around her. She hugs me back, sighing against my shoulder.

_____

By the time we got to the car, it was dark and everyone was bitching as us for taking so long. We got to the restaurant and got served quickly, and as promised, I paid for Odette.

Now we're all talking because it's Friday and none of us have to work tomorrow.

Surprisingly though, we're not at Mason and I's, we're at Odette's. We had to drop her off but I didn't want to leave so we all decided to stick around.

"That sounds exhilarating." Odeletta says.

"See?" Julian exclaims. "She's going to be my sister-in-law, just you watch!"

"I don't know..." Peyton hesitates. "If Mom found out," she starts.

"Oh come on!" Mason says. "You pussy!"

"Mace, shut the fuck up, Mr. Only Leave My Girlfriend If She Tries To Fuck My Best Friend." Peyton snaps.

"Whoa, that's a line." Gabe says.

"We're going." Jackson says.

"Nathan, what do you think? You're the deciding factor."

Everyone looks at me expectantly.

Cliff jumping. They want me to run up to a cliff and launch myself off the ledge.

I hesitate for a second, and then I nod.

"Yeah, what the hell, right?"

_____

So we went to a place called Paradise Cove and there's a ton of caves and a place to jump, and so we all jumped into the water and swam around the caves, and now we're sitting on a picnic bench in our bathing suits, eating the subs we got on the way here.

"So seriously, what's happening after college?" Mason asks.

"I'm getting a place in New York City. I just told you guys this. You said you were too."

"I know, but I'm talking about Nathan."

Everyone looks at me expectantly. I glance at Odeletta, hesitating.

I don't know what I'm doing. I could see myself living in New York City until I'm ready to marry, but now I have Odeletta. I'm going to avoid it.

I look at Peyton. "Where's Matthew?"

"He's home." She says.

Matthew is Peyton's fiancé. She's due to get married to him in a month or so. She's been engaged for four or so years and dating since she was sixteen. He was in the army but he finished and now he's a detective. He's a great guy.

"Why didn't he come?" Mason asks.

"Work." She says. "Why did you change the subject?"

I sigh.

"I don't know what I'm doing." I say.

"What are you doing, Harper?" Gabe asks.

She just shrugs.

"And Odeletta?" He presses.

"I do not know." She says. "That's..." she presses her lips together. "My mother said that because of the President of France's guilt, he is going to get me a job in France."

Every pair of eyes snaps onto her.

"What?" I ask.

"I do not want to go though. I know my Papa doesn't want me to go...and you." She looks at me. "Mother said she would respect whatever decision I make, but he told me that if I go to France, I will go alone. She does not want me to live there because she does not want what happened to me to happen to her grandchildren."

Kids.

Odeletta and I never even discussed having kids before. Is she talking about grandkids with me as the father, or am I just a college fling?

I hear everyone talking, but I can't hear them.

France? She wants to go back to France? France is over four thousand miles away. Tickets to fly there are expensive. She wants to move there? I can't go to France! That's too far! I have a young brother! A sister who is going to get married and grace my family with more members. I have Mason, and my parents, and Gabe and Jackson and Aunt Clara and Uncle Ryan! I can't go to France, but she can! Will she really leave-

"Nathan!" Odeletta says loudly. My eyes snap up to hers. "I am not moving to France." She says.

"You just said-" I start to argue.

"I said that the president would get me a job there but I don't want to go. I like America, Nathan. I don't want to move back to France. My parents are here, Aunt Rosalie...you."

I'm a part of the decision? She cares about me enough to not go to France?

"I don't want you to not go if you want to go just because of me. If you want to go-"

"I don't want to go. Even if I never met you and I found my parents without you, I still would not go back."

"Why?" I press.

"Nathan." She whispers. "My Dad grew up thirty minutes from where you grew up. He grew up down the street from where your cousins lived. That has to be fate. You are a part of my decision. You will always be a part of my decision. I do not care where we go after college. As long as there is still a we to go somewhere."

My eyes study hers for a long time.

"Okay." I say quietly. "I um...we can go to New York?"

"We can go to New York." She nods.

And then the conversation continues like normal, as if she didn't basically admit to wanting to spend the rest of her life with me.

I watch as she talks to my sister about how she does her hair, and all I can think about is that that I'm a factor in her life decisions.

I'm not alone anymore, and it's a damn good feeling.

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