Firefly

53: tink to my peter

Chapter 53: tink to my peter.

Elena

Even if an earthquake hit us at this moment, I knew I'd defiantly die in Nate's arms. I wasn't letting him go again. Not today. Not ever. 

He felt warmer, tougher, and physically stronger. Chiseled muscles greeted me from under his sweatshirt. He'd either been working out or I'd never noticed his physique.

"How are you here?" I ask him while I still cling to him. 

Today was probably one of the lowest points in my life. I've never felt this lonely. I didn't just want Nate today, I needed him. 

"Someone told me they needed me to come and stop your tear tap." He pulled away from the hug and kissed me on the tip of my nose. Has he done that before too? My memory seems so clogged up. 

"Who?" I laugh. My head snaps in the direction of a fake cough. My brother walks out of his car and gives me a wink. I gasp, "What? How did you get to him when I've continuously failed at it for six months?" 

Nate scrunches his nose. "He called Natalie." 

Why didn't that occur to me? 

"You called your ex-girlfriend for my sake?" I coo at my brother as I hug Nate tighter.

Nate laughs before his lips greet my forehead for another prolonged kiss. Was he always this physically mushy with me or has the six months of silence and distance turned him into a cringe addict? I definitely remember his response not being this corny.

"Good I found you all in one place. Dylan, Ace, did you both get the--Hi." Eden stops talking when her eyes fall on Nate. The girl beside her, who I'm assuming is Iris, because of her similarity with Holden Baxter, gives me a careless look before she focuses on Eden's abrupt silence.

"Hello," Nate says as he takes one arm off my shoulders and reaches out to her. "Nate Turner." 

"Oh," Eden shakes his hand two times before pulling away. 

She's too dumbfound to introduce herself so I do it for her after I chuckle. "That's Eden Castor. The world-class--"

"Baker?" Nate frowns at me. She blushes and I gasp. "It was a six-hour flight. I kept up with the diary entries." Nate says in his defense. 

I gesture to Iris, Holden, Dallas, Ace, Caleb, and Spencer to which Nate perfectly names them with the taglines I'd given in my messages. He definitely kept up with my rants. 

My eyes fall on Justin and both of us look away. Justin doesn't even attempt to hold his hand out so I don't bother introducing him. No one gets to be rude to my best friend. "Hmm," Nate licks his lips. "Justin Castor." He states it himself. "The farther we are the better it is."

Justin shoves both his hands inside the pockets of his pants and gives a coy smile as he nods. "Absolutely." 

Oh, god. This is beyond awkward. 

I get why Nate is being shady to him. But the other way around definitely was unnecessary. But who better than me knows Justin's big ass ego won't take shit from anyone, much less from my best friend? 

"You should come to our Christmas brunch party." Either Eden didn't get the memo of how her brother just addressed Nate or she chose to ignore it because Justin definitely looks displeased. "It'll be nice to get to know you. And no one carries grudges on Christmas right? Bygones are bygones." 

I glance at Dylan who clearly doesn't approve of it. The same disapproval is seen in Justin's and Nate's faces. But I'm grateful neither of them voices it out and upset Eden's innocence.