clever titles are for the weak.

He sat down quietly at the roots of one of the many forest trees, taking small solace in the peace and quiet that the area had brought along with it. Admittedly, some private time was needed, mostly to get away from the rest of the school and clear his own head. The courtyard and library were always busy at this time, and every pairing from hither and yond had somehow found out about the lounge him and Melody had stayed in. Damn, hipsters. And so, Nathaniel sat there, feeling a little bitter about what had been going on lately. You see, my good people, there was a gathering among students recently. It was admitted there that someone who had always seemed to find a way to get under his skin had admitted he had a liking for his girlfriend.

Now, he was just sitting here, trying to convince himself it was no big deal. After all, it hadn't been hard to pick up on the many reactions, such as Michaelangelo Sharp's. [lawl|D] So he tried to look the other way, though there were several grudges that kept him tugged backwards. Like how this kid had nearly had him beaten half to death on a whim. It wasn't something he exactly found easy to let go. Yet, somehow Mel had found it in her to forgive and forget the whole thing. She went off with him and Nate tried his best to act like he didn't care. After all, he couldn't just choose who could and couldn't be her friends, but he still felt... betrayed, maybe?

Or was he being over-reactive? He was making a big deal over nothing? Well, it really didn't seem like nothing to him. That kid, Happy, he could tell... he was far from stable. In all honesty, he was threw with putting up with their run-ins, and he didn't feel comfortable with Melody near him either. She could understand that, right?
The young man groaned, running a hand through his hair irritably. He really didn't know.

She walked through the forest, absentmindedly kicking up leaves, taking this quiet moment to think. She'd have chosen a closer place to go, but the people at the school weren't exactly calm, and her roommates weren't what you would call quiet. She couldn't think there. And to be honest, she felt claustrophobic in that place. Though these woods weren't the same, the reminded her a lot of the woods in Texas. Surprisingly, the thought of home calmed her a lot.
Her hair was up in a lazy pony tail, the brown in her hair showing easily. She wore a old tee of her's tied in a ponytail at the bottom, just because she hated her shirts being to loss fitting. she wore denim jeans and for once, her favorite cowboy boots from home. Because you feel a lot cooler walking around in boots.
She had taken a quick reprieve from the normal life at Beata Academy, just to sit back and observe through a calmer perspective. And boy, did she have a lot to observe.
It all revolved around two boys. She felt like she was in some crappy soap opera at the moment. Things had been going extremely well with both- her and Happy had put his past... debacles with Nathaniel behind them, and been able to easily become friends again. Her relationship with Nate was going well, and it was almost like a dream to her. Sadly, it was the fact that these to relationships had been going so well that fucked everything up. Along with the fact that Happy had admitted to liking her. In front of everybody. That didn't help matters.
Nate didn't exactly enjoy her friendship with Happy, but... He couldn't decided who her friends were! She reminded herself stubbornly. Happy liking her sooo didn't help with anything. Especially the truck load of confusion, emotions and thoughts that came along with it.
Throw in some random sister drama and normal school work, and you had one hell of a week for Melody Delangelo.

And until she could figure out what the heck was going on in her mind, how she would handle all this Happy business, she had been trying to distance herself from Nate, just a little. Which didn't exactly do much, what, with that stupid mental connection junk floating around. She wasn't the biggest fan of that either.
She had been so consumed in her thoughts that she almost didn't hear the groan coming from not to far off. When she did register it in her mind, she thought for a moment how familiar it sounded. Yep, she'd heard that before. Confused and surprised, Melody slowly looked around for the owner of that noise.

Ah, just the person she didn't want to see.

Haha, is the sound really that familiar to her? ;D /shot. lolsorry.ichatwithpineytoomuch. ;_;

Honestly, the young man hadn't noticed her heading his way until the last few moments. At this point, he had gotten so used to the connection, he hardly felt a thing from her if she were too far away unless the girl was on the forefront of his mind, or if something seriously spiked up. Even though in this case, she was, he had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts; expecting to be alone in this huge forest, Nate didn't expect a single person to pass by. He did hear the strange sound of the leaves being thrown around and realized what was going on. Quick, turn around, gurl! Run! Aww- too late.
He kept his head rested in his hand as he looked aside to see her. Odd as it was for the norm, he wasn't exactly all that thrilled to see her either. The auburn-haired boy supposed he should just go ahead and say something. "Oh, hey, Mel..." His smile was forced, not all that enthusiastic, but she didn't seem in the right kinda mood for that either.

Nathaniel frowned and looked the other way for a moment. Well, she was here, and the two of them had some privacy, which was something they had been short on lately for reasons here and there. Might as well as use this time to try and talk, maybe work a few things out... Hopefully. "If you aren't doing anything right now," He scolded himself for a moment. She was just walking around through the forest randomly, what else could she be trying to do? "Actually... I think we need to talk." He moved then to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. Nate was terrible with these kinda things.

I'm ashamed, Ebs. xD loljkilu. ;w;

She'd have loved to run away, and for a moment, seriously contemplated just walking away without him seeing. Of course, that only worked if he didn't see her. Daaaammmittttt. She just stood there awkwardly for a moment. Just as thrilled as he was. "Hey Nate." She said in a casual, perky tone, even with her emotions telling a different story. She desperately wanted nothing more than to walk past him and save some more time to think this all over. But that wasn't an option, and she automatically felt guilty for thinking up escape plans.

Seriously Nate? D: They had privacy and you want to talk?! Where is the Nathaniel Wright ol' Frosty knows and loves? ;_; *shot*
Melody looked around with a blank expression, as if to say, What could I be doing that was so important? sarcastically. Though now wasn't exactly the right time for her normal smart ass self... Daaangittt.
As soon as he uttered those words, Melody's gaze sharpened, and she was completely serious at the moment. Why was it when she heard those words, something bad ended up happening? What could he want to talk about? Catiously, Melody nodded. "Yeah sure. About what?" She questioned, trying to keep her composure.

I regret nothing. ;w; cxlolilu2.

Oh, dear. As much as he would have loved to take the private moment sweep her off her feet and sing Parachute or pick up where they had left off in the lounge |D, how did he know when she kissed him, she wasn't thinking of Happy? HOW DID HE KNOW?! ;AAA; Alright, maybe he was overreacting to the situation in some measures, but really. This whole ordeal was majorly weighing him down. This busy little bee was just trying to be a good boyfriend in his right mind. Kay? Kay. With all that derpfulness aside, ...

Nathaniel let out a small scoff at himself. Yeah, it was a pretty dumb suggestion, but that wasn't the real deal here. "Well," he started out a little awkwardly. He realized that while he wanted to get the conversation over and done with, he himself had not a clue of what he even wanted to say. Should he just outright say it, he didn't like her being around the younger boy? Or should he try and ease into it? ... But then again, you couldn't very well just sink into something like that without some sort of confrontation. Nate let out a small sigh. Screw it. He'd wing it. "You and that Happy - guy, actually..." The topic had come up now and then, but then was always passively - or not so - dismissed. It couldn't just be hung up there and put off forever.

Well, this pretty little flower wasn't exactly attempting to be the best girlfriend, though. What, with doing her best to high tail it in the other direction whenever she saw him and all... It was weighing her down just as much- I mean, how do you think she felt? Scroll up a little and you'll see, you lazy bish. jkilu.
But um.. She felt really confused.

She almost smiled as he awkwardly stumbled into the dreaded conversation. Though, Mel bit her lip when he finally brought it up, but acted as casual as possible. "Mhm. What about him?" She almost said us, but didn't want Nate thinking into a 'us' that wasn't there. She walked around, looking down at the toe of her boots and wandered to a tree in the clearing, plucking a leaf from a low hanging branch to find something to do. She kept her head down to observe it closely, avoiding the boy's gaze.

Alright, here went nothing. "I just..." Nathaniel tried to start again, still finding himself at a loss of words. He watched her thought as she walked around, though, lightly avoiding him. The young man frowned. Come on, Mel. It didn't seem like it, but he was being serious now. He'd at least like it if she could manage to look his way. Nate let out a slow sigh, crossing his arms. His voice this time around was a little more self-assured, "I don't like you two being around each other so much." He just threw it out there. "Or at all." And it totally wasn't because of some personal grudge he had over Happy... Nope... Okay, who the hell was he kidding? Yeah. That was half of it, but the half he could of manned up and just gotten over. Maybe.
Okay. There was NOTHING he liked about that kid. n o t h i n g. I don't even think I can stress it enough and you'll probably hear it a million times over during the span of this topic. D;
He stayed quiet for a bit after that, his golden eyes searching for any sort of obvious reaction from her. Times like these, it'd have been helpful to be a mind-reader instead.

She was taking things seriously. In her own way. She was trying to distract herself for a moment, and by doing that, calming herself down. She wasn't a face-your-problems-head-on kind of girl. More of the run away and hide until it's solved itself type. Which, it usually never did. But bad habits were often hard to break, and she wasn't about to change now.
Slowly, she looked up from the leaf, her bangs falling in her face. It toke her a moment to register this.
Mel bit her lip, and let the leaf fall to the ground. "You- ah- you don't think I know this already?" She questioned rhetorically, finally meeting his serious gaze. "Why not? I know you don't like him, but I think he's nice." She retorted, fighting back her annoyance. "I know that you guys had a... rough past, but.. um... I think... you should give him a chance." She finally said. After all, hadn't Melody and Nathaniel had a hard time themselves? What, with sharpie staches, broken bones, and some extreme jealous on Melody's part, they didn't exactly seem like a fit couple. But they were because of that. So why couldn't Nate and Happy try and be friends? That would have made Melody so happy! Then she didn't have to feel torn between them anymore. Just the thought brightened her spirits just a little.

Normally, he'd be quite passive himself, trying to keep himself in a calm state - near emotionless if called for; but damn, did he really want some answers right now.

"I wasn't sure if you actually knew or if you just really didn't care." He muttered a little crossly, finally catching her eye. Nathaniel held his hand out, only to emphasize his next point. "A rough past? Mel, I don't know what the hell you see in him. He's nuts!" He didn't exactly see it as a little patch the two of them needed to get over, more like a giant leap the size of the Grand Canyon. To him, those things were so much more innocent; The whole thing with them in the library, he had gotten over that a while ago. That fell under what kinda things him and Mel had gotten into. What he saw though, and could not just simply forget, was the sight of him holding his sword over an already bloody Lena - with the entire class watching still yet. He saw someone who watched their hit-man bring out their weapon and use it, smiling near half the entire time, and then have the audacity to say it was planned to be nothing more than child's play. Yeah. He had heard that all Happy wanted was his shoelaces to be tied together. Complete bullshit.

Well, and then there was that motive of jealousy, he'd really rather not get into that... "I'm worried when you're around him, alright?" He kept himself in that stubborn-looking position, hoping she'd at least see the reason in what he was saying, but in the back of his mind he knew it wouldn't be at all that easy.

Honestly, she didn't really care if Nate didn't want her hanging out with Happy. She knew that he wasn't dangerous or anything- the fight was all an accident, after all. Well, kinda. It wasn't suppose to happen, is what she was getting at. Happy had meant no harm. How was he suppose to know that his cousin was a little on the rough side? Melody leaned back on one foot, crossing her arms over her chest. "He's not like you think he is. Happy is really sweet, Nate! And he isn't nuts." Sure, Happy wasn't what you'd consider normal, but he wasn't the worst person at Beata by far.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Not with Mel! It hadn't occured to her that that Nate was jealous until... well, now.. Despite the situation, Melody let out a laugh. "Nate... You can't possibly be jealous of Happy. Are you?" She shook her head, at least attempting to take this serious enough. "You don't need to be worried. I know Happy isn't as nuts as you think." She said with a nod, as if finalizing things. Though, she knew that it wouldn't be that easy either. They were both so stubborn, that this argument... probably wouldn't end in agreement.

'A little on the rough side.' Dear lord, wasn't that the understatement of the year? Well, for one thing, by the way that Steve had treated Happy it had looked like the two of them had been close for a real long time; but then again, maybe Melody hadn't noticed that. Either way, he looked back at her, clearly not believing her. "I beg to differ." Nathaniel looked down and muttered under his breathe. Honestly. If she hung out with him so much, you'd think she'd be the first one to catch the darker side Piney loved to throw in there. Calling Happy 'sweet' irritated him a bit, but he said nothing about it.

Now, that caught him a little off guard. Nate straightened up immediately, "O-Of course not!" He answered Melody a tad too quickly, his voice caught for a moment. Hiding his embarrassment from her laughter, he frowned again. "Why on earth would I be jealous of him?" There was no reason for that at all! How did she even come to that conclusion, aside from Ebony slipping it in there for her?
Nate did feel defensive now, though. "I think you're only seeing what you want too - seriously, you need to stay away from him!"

Maybe Melody didn't notice the bad traits in people right away? It was one of her strengths- and weaknesses. She just liked to see the best in those around her. "Yeah, well I don't care." She said, rather sharply, and automatically regretting it. It was her stubborn personality speaking up, but she felt horrible for implying that she didn't give a crap about what her own boyfriend thought. Mel just bit her lip.

He answered a bit to awkwardly for her liking, giving her the impression that she was right. "Mhm." Was all she murmured, her eyes narrowed just a bit.
Whenever he uttered those last words, her anger went up a notch. Not like she was particularly angry before, but at least she was now. "So what if I'm seeing what I want? You are too! Jeez!" She growled back, meeting his eyes with a scowl. "Don't tell me what to do!" She hissed, trying to hold back an aggravated scream and keep herself calm enough to not to say something she'd regret later on.

Nathaniel almost flinched at her words, but he didn't, and muttered back instead. "Clearly." His eyes slit a little as he glanced back up at her, not willing to go further into that conversation anymore. He realized that it was simply the way she was, otherwise how on earth did we put up with him for so long in the beginning? - but he figured there were just some factors that couldn't be ignored, and in his opinion, Happy had pleantyful of those.

As soon as he had finished with his little demand, his stomach tied itself into a knot, not having a take a single moment to realize that he had easily picked the wrong thing to say. He ran a few fingers through his hair again, taking her scolding and easily picking up on her anger, though it didn't at all help any. Nate got unto his feet, if only to get a better look at Melody. "So that's just it, then?" He spat back, "You're going to completely ignore what I'm saying and run off with him anyways?" Once again, worded perfectly. /sarcasm.

And wrong it was, Nate. Melody had always been defensive of herself, not very willing to say she was ever wrong. It was just who she was. Melody and her mother often fought, and Melody didn't normally lose. She could make a great lawyer, if she was interested- which she wasn't.
She bit back at her short temper, calming herself enough not to yell or at least let to much emotion out in her voice. Even though it was useless, with this Empathic. That really bugged her.
"It's not that I'm ignoring you, it's just that I know you're wrong." You know, Melody always had a way with words. |D "And that I'm right." She said, childishly and stubbornly, though her voice was calm and let out little feeling.
And besides, he could hang out with who ever he wanted- tons of girls, Mel was sure, and she couldn't give a crap. Seriously. She didn't care if he was being flirted with left and righ-

Okay, so maybe a little.

The young man leaned back against the tree and looked down, pinching his temples, as if it to stop an oncoming headache. "You know," he started to say, "Sometimes, you can be so..." Stubborn was the obvious word too use, yet he still didn't exactly feel like it fit. He held back the urge to roll his eyes and let out a short breathe, giving up on trying to find the right term to suit her.
"You think I haven't noticed you trying to avoid me?" Nathaniel asked her. Although it hadn't happened often (and once again, he was probably making a far bigger deal out of it than it really was), it still went on, and he had felt her urge to run the moment she had walked in. She still had no problem being with Happy. "No, you're not." He said quickly, hoping it wouldn't roll into a back and forth thing. "yes, i am" "no, you're not! >:U" "yes-huh!" "uh-uh! DX" /shot. "If that's how you really feel, then just go with him. Whatever." His golden eyes darted the other way. Fine. If she really didn't care, then he wouldn't either. But she shouldn't expect him to just stand by and watch... Right? ;3; 'dat stubborness.

Melody narrowed her eyes. Well, what? She wanted to know what he thought of her, because it obviously wasn't good. "No, go ahead. What am I?" She asked, her gaze just daring him to answer.
The next sentence caught her by surprise a bit, but it wasn't like she hadn't made it obvious enough that she had tried to avoid him. For a moment, her anger dimmed, and she looked down at her hands. "I just.. had to figure out what was going on." She said quietly. Then she caught his eye again, the sharpness returning. "Alright?" She snapped once again.
She had the strong urge to go, Yes, I am! But stopped herself from making it a back and forth thing.
She let her eyes roll again, shaking her head slowly. Did he really not care? He really didn't care what she chose. She noticed that now. It hurt her just a bit, and she clenched her fist. "Fine. Maybe I will. She shouted, speaking in the heat of the moment. She didn't think about what this answer would cause.

He shook his head, waving away the subject away with the flick of his wrist. "Forget it." Nathaniel muttered, still unable to think of the right word and not willing to try and end up saying something hurtful and stupid.
For a few moments, his gaze softened slightly. It started to click together in his mind that this was her just dealing with the situation like she did everything else, as much as he completely hated the method, it was the most likely explanation. He thought for a moment about walking over and trying to calm the waters a bit, but it left the moment he caught her look; the sharp defense thrown up again, and so he kept his steady. "Actually, no. It's not alright." He ended up looking at the ground for a bit of time.
In reality, he did care. He cared a lot. Otherwise he wouldn't be bothered to stand here and have this argument with her, but he wasn't about to take the bullet in this stand off by admitting that. What was the point of caring if it didn't do any good? He'd just go on feeling like crap while she went on with what she wanted to do. And while her words were obviously to be expected of the moment, it doesn't mean it left any less of an impact on him. Nathan blinked real hard for a moment before walking forward, passing the young woman by, heading out of the clearing. "Fine." he growled, "I hope you're happy." Nate really didn't see a reason to stay any longer, hating the anger and tension in the clearing, and their little talk appeared to be over anyways.

She didn't exactly want to forget it, but wasn't going to push things when there was more important things to think about.
She didn't know that she had probably just ruined any chance of calming things a bit by her rising temper. We could of had it aaaaall, if it wasn't for my character's stupiditttty. |D *Shotlolwutidonteven*
She chewed on the inside of her cheek nervously, looking away when his gaze shot to the ground. It hurt her whenever she saw him start to walk away, and she wanted to reach for him, but... It may have been extremely stupid, but at the time she didn't know that her need to not lose this argument was the reason she didn't reach out for his hand as he passed by. So she stood there, not saying a word in reply. Couldn't Nate see it wasn't like she was choosing between them? It wasn't as if she was completely ignoring his opinion. She was just... completely ignoring his opinion. Bad Melody. As soon as he left the clearing, she stood there a moment, unsure of what to do. Finally she backed up against a tree and slid to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest and hiding her face. She didn't know what to think now, wasn't sure about what just happened. Were... were they over? Was it all through? Surely they could work this out... Surely.
Normally, she'd go talk to someone close, but there was no one she felt like talking to at the moment. So she attempted to think things through herself.