Princess Charming

Twenty Six||Cheers and Advices

I laugh despite my wince. Nathaniel Smith loves giving hugs, and most people love receiving them from him. When we get to his spacious room, I'm greeted by Spartan cheers and Viking cries as about eight people hoot and shout.

Seriously, I think, why does Lucy being my girlfriend make them so happy?

"Parks got a girlfriend!" someone shouts and I shit you not, everyone starts clapping.

Is this some sort of prank? Are there cameras? 

"What's the big deal?" I raise an eyebrow, sitting myself down on the bed. 

"They never thought you would." Jason points out. He looks ticked-off. I raise both my eyebrows at him questioningly. He looks away.

I'm about to ask exactly why this is such a surprise when I realize the answer myself. 

People think I'm some sort of whore.

Right.

That's when Asher, Nathan's older brother, appears. "What the fuck are you assholes doing here?"

"Celebrating." a guy named Deon answers. 

"Celebrating what?" Asher crosses his arms below his chest. His dark hair looks disheveled, and his expression does not look impressed. The boys probably woke him up.

"Parks got a girlfriend." 

"No way." his eyes widen, annoying me. I don't say anything, though. "Who is it?"

"Jason's sister." someone snickers, and Jason's scowl deepens. I glare.

Asher raises his eyebrows, as if asking for elaboration. Guess he doesn't know Lucy. I'm not surprised, though. She's more low-key when it comes to socializing. Deon unlocks Nathan's phone (his passcode is 1234, so that's not much of a shock) and opens a picture of Lucy and Nate. The latter is taking a selfie, with Lucy in the background, oblivious.

She looks adorable.

"Hey, she came by a few days ago!" his eyes brighten with recognition. "She's gorgeous, Matt, great going."

The grin returns on my face as I nod in acknowledgement before he leaves. 

She is gorgeous.

Nathan walks in, scowling, with a mountain of snacks in his arms. 

"What did he want?"

He isn't much of a fan of his brother. They've always been unhealthily competitive, and Nathan probably feels overshadowed by Asher, so he isn't the friendliest when it comes to him.

"We were making too much noise." Amani shrugs.

"Right." He chucks the packets of snacks randomly towards people. I receive a pack of pretzel sticks.

♔♚♔

After half an hour, most of the guys have left. Deon and Amani are playing something on the Play Station with Nathan watching excitedly. I turn my attention to Jason.

"What's wrong?"

He sighs. "Some of the guys were just riling me up, saying shit about Lucy." 

Anger begins building up within me as I ask, "What did they say?"

Jason guesses my implication because he shakes his head. "They didn't insult her or anything. You'd be met with dead bodies if that were the case , trust me. Just stuff about you being an ass to her. If you know what i mean." he shoot me a pointed look, "They were just fucking around, but the thought of it just pissed me off, you know? I trust you and all, but imagining Lucy going through any sort of shit, even if it's hypothetical, just angers me."

"Oh." is my reply. My anger dies down, being replaced by a heavy feeling in my throat. I hate that there are some people who expect me to mess up this relationship, just because I'm presumably a 'player'. 

The air feels nauseating around me. After Amani and Deon take their leave, I lie back on the bed, closing my eyes.

"I don't know how to be a boyfriend." I admit, sliding my hands down my face.

Whom better to take help from than Lucy's brother and her best friend who's also the most affectionate person I know?

"I mean, it's just being a friend she can kiss." I hear Nathan reply

"It better be just kissing," Jason says threateningly.

I smile.

"That shouldn't be up to you." Nathan retorts, making Jason groan.

"I don't think that should be the focus of this discussion." I state.

"Oh, yeah," Nathan clears his throat, "When it comes to Megan, I just smother her in affection, if that makes sense. But not all the time. There's time she'd rather just talk or, uh, yaknow?" he finishes with a cough.

"Being a boyfriend to Megan is probably the opposite to being a boyfriend to Lucy, though." Jason adds, looking slightly grim. "I mean, sure, you can be all affectionate or whatever, but I don't think you should just copy someone. You're her boyfriend, not Nathan. So just do what you feel like doing." he recites, basically telling me what Lucy did earlier.

"Go with the flow."

"If there's anything I can tell you about Lucy, it's that she won't really ask for much, if anything at all. She'll probably feel like she's on cloud 9 if you give her a toothpick. So you won't have to worry about disappointing her. That doesn't mean you can treat her like shit, either, I will rip your throat out if you do that." Jason warns seriously. "I mean, it hasn't even been a day. Why don't you just try and see how things go before deciding whether or not you need help? Dating is only a challenge if you stress out about it. You probably don't even have a reason to."

"He's right. You're dating a really chill girl. Just don't wake her up early and you should be fine." Nathan concludes.

I take their words in, embedding them onto my brain. I don't want to upset Lucy in any way, so I'll follow their tips religiously.

"Okay, yeah, I can do that."

Jason nods as Nathan claps my back.

"Look at my baby, all grown up. Worrying about impressing his girl."

My girl

My stomach does weird flips.

"I wonder how much Lucy is getting interrogated right now." Nathan utters, eyes on his phone. He's scrolling through pictures of corgis.

I chortle. Megan's probably drilling her right now. 

"I'm surprised no one asked you why you're wearing pajamas." says Jason.

"Or why your hair looks so un-styled. I almost had a heart attack when I saw how natural your hair looks."

"Holy shit, you're right." Jason runs a hand through my hair. "It's so soft!"

"Really?" Nathan remarks, joining in as well. "You should definitely take up this non-product-covered look."

It worries me that I'm not even weirded out by the behavior of these two.

♔♚♔

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Updated: 1/12/17