19. One Day

                                    

                                          
Adapted from author David Nicholls' critically acclaimed novel of the same name, director Lone Scherfig's One Day stars Anne Hathaway as a principled working-class girl who forges a unique bond with a wealthy jet-setter that spans two decades. [ Source: IMDb] 
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FFANC: One day Nathan Callahan might have to tell the truth.
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Chapter nineteen : One day
Ever since I was a kid, my mother had been busy. She was the only source of income in our house. Though we were only two people, it didn't mean we were doing well financially. So she needed her job. It was important to her to get as good at it as possible.
She would leave at irregular hours. She'd tutor people. She'd take classes anywhere she could. She was good at chemistry. So anywhere there was a chance for her to apply it, she'd. Because I was a kid, I couldn't tell you the details. But all I knew was she would leave me at home every day for her job.
The only few days she'd stay at home were over the weekends and holidays.
So, I soon figured out another thing that would keep her at home. It was if only I were sick.
And now I was. I was sick, and instead of my mother, there was this guy sitting on my couch pretending to read a book he would never even look at if it wasn't there. I wondered why.
So I asked him.
“Nathan.”
He didn't meet my eyes. He acted like he didn't hear me.
“If this was about the project, you could have just texted. I could pick up the scrunchie any time I went over to your house.”
There was a bit of silence before he replied, “I thought you'd never come back again.”
Nathan whispered while keeping his eyes trained on the writing. It almost felt like he was using the book as an excuse so he wouldn't have to meet my eyes.
I swallowed. 
I would have gone back to his house. Because I was that sort of loser.
I gulped down my emotions. I thought back to everything he did for me today. It was making my heart press on my ribcage, an uncomfortable weight making its existence known. Even though I was acting like a bitch, every time he turned away from me, my eyes welled up.
I was weak, vulnerable, and literally at my worst, and he was taking care of me. The sentiment wasn't lost on me.
Oh no, the sentiment was turned tenfold because of my raging hormones.
“You could have just asked,” I said, my voice breaking.
Nathan finally looked at me, “I know I told you to stay that night. But I didn't expect to…expect to wake up right next to you like that.”
I remembered the way we were holding each other. 
“I guess you were startled,” I shrugged, trying to joke, “Guess you got offended seeing my face first thing in the morning.”
“Emi-” Nathan stopped and corrected himself, and I winced, recalling I had told him not to call me by my name, “Kingsley, I’m sorry. That's not it at all. That's not why I-” 
“It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I'll be there next Friday,” I shrugged. “I guess you got used to having a study partner, right?”
Nathan kept staring at me. I wanted to make this easy for him. He didn't need to lie to nurse my feelings.