Once I had cooked Nathan up a delectable poison, whoops, I mean soup, I marched my way proudly to his bedroom.

 I kicked the door open with my foot and approached him with a bright warm smile. Nathan, who looked all comfy tucked under his covers, lifted his head up in surprise as I entered the room. 

"Hey, look what I made you," I called out chirpily as I came to the stop at the end of his bed.

Nathan gave me a weird look, his eyes dipping to look at the bowl of soup in my hands with visible caution. 

"Should I be concerned that you look so happy to see me," he asked slowly, his eyes narrowing into suspicious slits.

"No, of course not," I smiled as I flopped down onto the end of his bed. "I'm just excited to share my new soup with you," I chuckled as I started to stir the soup around with my spoon. 

To give him a little preview of what I had in store for him, I shoveled up a large spoonful and held it high up in the air for him to see. I smirked as I saw a little bit of sardine floating at the top.

Nathan froze as he stared at the spoon. "No offense, Sophie, but what the fuck is that?" he spat, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

"It's my soup, silly. My mum used to make it for me all the time," I lied.

"And...and...you're still alive?" Nathan question slowly, still eyeing the spoon as though he expected it to jump out at him and kill him.

I slammed the spoon back into the bow, causing a few little gross splashes to fly out of the bowl. I pretended to set my eyes on him furiously. 

"Of course, I'm still alive. Are you trying to accuse my mother of trying to poison me?" I cried out in fake offense.

His eyes widened in panic. "No, no, of course not," he explained quickly. "I just, I..er-"

I pretended to sniffle. "If you don't want to eat my soup, I guess there's no point me being here," I said. Then standing up, I turned as though I was about to leave.

And now in 3...2...1.

"Wait!" Nathan yelled out. I came to a halt and then slowly turned around to face him once more. It took everything in me not to let my smile slip out. 

His eyes softened, and he scratched the back of his neck with a heavy sigh. "I'll...er...eat your stupid soup, give it here," he mumbled as he nodded me over with his head.

In victory, I skipped my way back over to him and settled myself into a seated position at the end of the bed.

I snickered as I saw how green Nathan's face was starting to become. It made me smile a little that he was so desperate to spend time with me that he would do all this.

It was kinda cute, in a weird way...

Shaking that thought away, I remembered my plan, and with a smirk, I shovelled a rather generous portion of the shit that I called soup onto the spoon. 

"Open wide, Natalie," I cooed. "Choo, choo," I said, making little whizzing sounds as I drove the spoon in a little airplane motion towards the direction of his lips.

"Hmm," he grimaced as he turned his head away in disgust. 

I tutted as the spoon hit his cheek. "Oh, come on baby, Natalie. You've got to eat this up if you want to be a big strong girl," I lectured as I drove the end of the spoon into his cheek in encouragement. 

Nathan gave me a spirited glare, clearly not all that happy at being referred to as a girl.

"Yummy, yummy, in your tummy," I continued to coo as I prodded and pocked at his face with the spoon.

After Nathan dodged my spoon for the third time, I let out a frustrated huff. "Oh, come on, Nathan, I thought we had a deal. You do whatever I say, remember?" I said, batting my eyes lashes innocently.

His eyes flickered back and forth between mine, with visible conflict shining through them. Giving in, he let out a long-frustrated groan before shyly opening his mouth. 

I smiled triumphantly. "That's a good girl. Chugga-chugga chugga choo cho," I said before ramming the spoon into his awaiting mouth.

Once I'd tipped the contents of the spoon into his mouth, I pulled back with a happy smile.

 Nathan barely had to let it rest in his mouth for a second before his eyes shot open, and he started to make little gagging and retching sounds. He raised a hand over his mouth and shook his head frantically. "Nope, no, uh-uh, this is nope," Nathan mumbled frantically before kicking back the covers, and making a run for the bathroom.

 No longer able to help myself, I burst into giggles and let the sound of his over-dramatic fake retching sounds play like music to my ears.

I dumped the rest of the soup down onto his bedside table before following him over to the bathroom. Leaning my shoulder against the wooden doorframe, I smiled down at his figure, which was hunched over the toilet.

"Did you enjoy your soup?" I teased.

Nathan turned around swiftly and threw me a nasty glare. "Of course, I didn't. It tasted like shit. What on earth did you put in it?" he grumbled as he angrily wiped at his mouth. 

I tapped my chin in fake thought. "Hmm, let me see, I put ketchup, pickled onion, sardines..erm..a little dash of marmalade and-"

"God, Why? Why would you put any of that shit in a soup?" he interrupted. 

Suddenly he paused, and his eyes narrowed. "You did this on purpose, didn't you," he said slowly.

I nodded my head proudly. "Yup," I snorted.

Nathan's eyes narrowed into even tinier slits, and then rising to his feet, he stalked closer to me. "Why would you do that?"

I reached out and gave his cheeks a double slap. "Simple - to warn you not to fuck with me. Next time don't pretend to be sick," I spat sassily. Then like that, I turned on my heels to leave.

Nathan quickly jogged around me and blocked my way. "Hold on, don't leave yet. I do feel ill, I swear," he protested. "Here, look," he said. Suddenly without warning, he grabbed my wrist and placed it gently against his forehead. I was about to rip my hand away, but then I paused.

 "Oh my god, you are actually hot.." I trailed off as my eyes widened in panic. Fully worried now, I frantically moved my hand to his cheeks, and then his neck horrified to find that they were also quite hot.

Guilt twisted through my gut as I realized that he really was sick. Shit.

"Why didn't you tell me you were actually ill, you idiot? I literally gave you poison," I cried as I whacked him in the chest in annoyance. 

"Ouch, easy," Nathan laughed lightly as he rubbed his chest. "And Sophie, I literally texted you that I was sick and-"

"Shh, just shh, don't even talk. You need to rest," I snapped. Then grabbing his elbow, I steered him back into the bedroom.

I stopped at his bed. "Under the covers now," I snapped as I ripped open the covers and pushed him onto it. Nathan eyed me with amusement, but compliantly did what I ordered and climbed in. Then like an anxious mother, I pulled the covers up to his neck and whacked at his cushion in an attempt to fluff it up. 

Nathan watched my every move with a more than happy smile on his face as though he took great pride in watching me fuss over him.

"I like it when you play, nurse," Nathan said lowly as he watched me tuck in the last of his covers.

 Ignoring the way his eyes were starting to make my heart elevate, I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well, I like it when you go to sleep," I said flatly.

I was about to move back from the bed when Nathan suddenly cleared his throat. "Sophie?" he said abruptly. 

"Hmm," I answered as I looked back down at him. 

"I'd feel better if you slept here beside me..," he drawled suggestively as he slyly dropped his eyes down to the spot on the bed beside him. Those captivating eyes of his held my capture for a handful of seconds, but then I slowly shook my head and backed away.

"Nice, try, Nathan but go to sleep," I said drily. Nathan rolled his eyes at me but then reluctantly turned to one side to go to sleep.

I was about to go take a seat at his desk, but then I paused. 

Nathan had my bra somewhere in here..

Slowly and quietly, I wandered my way over to his chest of drawers, making sure to step softly as not to alert Nathan. As gently as I could, I coaxed the draw open inch by inch.

Someone cleared their throat. "Erm...what are you doing?"

I jumped a little in surprise and snapped my head back around to face, Nathan. He was lazily rested on an elbow and was watching me with a singularly raised brow. 

"Pft, nothing," I lied, trying to give off an air of nonchalance.

"You're looking for your bra, aren't you?" he said bluntly.

I stilled, realizing I'd been caught out. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, fine, whatever, maybe I was looking for it," I admitted.

"Well, nice guess, but I didn't put it in there," he said, his eyes dancing with mischief. 

I narrowed my eyes on him. "Then, where did you put it then?" I asked slowly.

The corner of his lips twitched upward. "Under my pillow," he winked.

"What!" I yelled, my eyes widening to ten times their size. "Why the fuck is it under there, you weirdo? Get it out!" I cried as I marched over to the bed.

He didn't even flinch and remained exactly where he was. "No," he snorted. "I need it to assist with my personal needs. You know, since you're still persisting in playing this little game of denial," he said as he shot me a pointed look.

"I'm not playing shit with you now give it back," I hissed while stomping my foot down like a child.

 He stared back at me with that cocky little grin of his. "If you want it, come get it," he said, his voice holding an air of challenge. My eyes narrowed.

"Or...I guess you could leave it here, and I can have all the fun I want with it," he drawled cockily.

That's all it took for me to snap. "Fine," I laughed. "If you want me to fight you for it, then that's fine by me," I bit back before catapulting myself off of my feet and onto the bed. I landed on the lower half of his body heavily.

"Humph," Nathan let out in surprise, clearly not expecting such a sudden attack. 

Any memory of him once being sick was instantly lost, and all I saw was red. Swinging my other leg around to staddle him, I clambered on top of him before trying to rip his pillow from under his head.

He tried to restrain me by my hips. "Wow, you really want it, don't you," he said in between chuckles.

His fingers suddenly dug into my side, and I jumped. "Eep, Nathan, stop," I squealed out in a laugh as I rapidly shifted to avoid his fingers. 

His laughter, low and rich, continued to rumble out beneath me. Then shocking me all together he looped an arm around my waist and flipped us around sharply.

The action took my breath away, and I had to take several breaths before I could fully process what had happened. Nathan's face hovered over mine as our two chests rose and fell against one another. Those beautiful eyes of his fanned over mine gently. "Sophie?" he breathed softly.

 "Hmm?" I replied, too dazzled to say anything else.

"I lied. Your bra's not under my pillow," he whispered. I

 blinked, then blinked again before realization struck me. He had tricked me...

 "You dick," I yelled out as I pushed him back by his chest roughly. 

"Shit," he swore, as he fell right off me and onto his back.

I scrambled into a seated position before turning to face him in fury. "You did all that, so I'd crawl on top of you, didn't you?" I spat out in accusation. 

An amused smile played to Nathan's face, and he sat up a little on his forearms, so he could see me better. "Yes, and it worked brilliantly," he shrugged.

Feeling helpless, I let out a long groan before collapsing onto my back. Several seconds ticked by before I spoke. "Why do you keep doing this, Nathan?" I whispered as I stared aimlessly up at the ceiling.

"What? Being distractingly sexy?" he joked.

Well, yes, there was that.

"No," I groaned as I rolled to the side to face him. "I mean this. Why do you keep being all flirty and seductive? And...and you know doing all this," I said as I waved a loose hand over his entire figure as though this would miraculously explain how he made me feel.

His eyes softened, and his eyes flickered between the two of mine. "Well, that's because I like you," he said softly. The feel of his eyes on mine as well as his words, sent a strange kind of fluttering feeling straight from my heart to my toes.

 I swallowed back the feeling as best as I could. "Then stop liking me. I'm not good for you," I groaned in frustration.

His eyes narrowed. "Why? Tell me one good reason?" he laughed as though the idea was ridiculous to him. 

"I...just...I'm...just..Look just trust me. I'm not," I stammered out in frustration.

He let out a stressed sigh. "No, I'm not going to trust you if that means staying away from you. I don't know why you left Greece in a rush or why you've been acting so weird and distant. But whatever the reason is, I don't care, and I'm not going to judge you for it. You were there for me when I needed it, and I want to be there for you. You can trust me, I promise," he whispered, his voice honest and open.

I looked at him carefully and took in everything from the softness of his gaze to his deeply furrowed brows. 

Finally, I let my gaze drift away. "I...I don't want to talk about it," I mumbled. My mind was screaming at me that it was the perfect moment to tell him, but I just couldn't. How do you even put what I did into words?

Oh hey, not to bum you out or anything, but I've been casually trying to gold-dig you for the last four months. Hope we can still be friends?

Yeah, something told me that wasn't going to cut it...

The only thing that gave me slight peace of mind was that it would soon be Christmas, meaning an excellent opportunity to go home and run away from my problems.

But until then, I was well and truly fucked because Nathan seemed far from giving up. 

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Author's note:

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. 

Just out of curiosity, how and when do you think Nathan's going to find out? If he finds out?

Next Update: Wednesday (6-8 PM -UK time)