Chapter 7: Clark Kent

*Natalia's POV*

I swayed to the music, a few drinks already in that loosened my body, as my left-handed fingers tapped on one of the billiard tables. My right hand was occupied on clutching onto my cue stick, waiting for Jules to return from the bathroom to take her turn.

"Nat!" I twirled around as Jules' hand grabbed my arm in a fluster, one that was a mix between nervousness and excitement, "You're never going to guess who I just ran into."

My stomach dropped with a pounding heart, praying he didn't follow us. He never would've forgiven me if he knew I lied. I already felt guilty enough with this whole situation.

"Joe fucking Jonas," she answered before I could even ask.

I raised an eyebrow, exhaling a breath I hadn't realized I was holding in, "Who?"

"Right. Of course you have no idea who he is," she sighed, pulling her phone out of her back pocket, "I forgot you just learned who Justin Bieber was last week when I played you his new album."

"Okay, that's not completely true!" I countered, "I recognized a few of his songs! I just didn't know who sung them, okay? I'm shit at knowing the artists to songs."

"Yeah, well, you still didn't know who he was regardless," she retorted, vigorously tapping on the screen of her phone, "The music you listened to only consisted of songs your coach picked for your routines or what you'd hear the DJ play whenever you had the time to go out with me. You know how sad that is?"

I set the cue stick to the side, letting it lean against the table as I gazed away to absolutely nothing, "The competitions were important. I had to know those songs by heart to time everything right. And Noah played his music playlists all the time in our apartment. He sung his favorites on repeat."

"That's actually more sad. He had terrible taste in music, and he also couldn't sing for shit," she said, turning her phone slightly towards me, "Here. Look. I know you've heard this song a few times in the clubs. This is one of his band's songs. It's a party classic."

When she pressed play on the music video, my face fell at the sight of Joe. My Joe. His hair was longer and he had less facial hair, but he was still easily recognizable. It wasn't like I could forget him even if I tried. He was somehow everywhere I was.

"Oh my god. Nat!" she exclaimed, pausing the music video before taking it out of my view, "We have to find him! There's no way he left already, right? We should make a bet. See who can flirt with him better. Hey, maybe even one of us could get lucky."

"Jules, no," I stuttered as she pulled at my wrist to try to guide me towards the common area, away from the billiard tables that partially hid on the right side of the bar, "I can't do that."

"Why not?" she attested, "Let this be a redo of your creepy one-night stand. That dude shouldn't be your last sexual memory. I'm making you have fun tonight."

"No, I really can't," I fought back on her pull, using my feet to halt us from moving forward any further.

"Why not?" she said back once facing me as we stood in a corner near the bar, "You're fucking gorgeous. He'd be the lucky one to get any chance with you. It's not like it'll be something serious if that's what you're worried about. I'm sure he has a girl in every zip code anyways—"

"I'm back with Noah," I abruptly blurted out,cutting off any words from spewing out of her mouth for at least half a minute.

Her lips slightly parted before they closed back up, then a disbelieved laugh opened them up again, "You're joking, right?"

I bit the inside of my cheek, glancing downwards as I shook my head.

Her stare was full of disappointment, something that was felt without directly looking at her, "Question. Where exactly are we supposed to be?"

"Having a movie marathon at your apartment," I murmured, fidgeting with the strap of my crossbody bag.

"Is that why you begged me not to post our selfies tonight? Because you lied to him?" she frowned, "Wait, is that why I barely heard from you the past few weeks? It is, huh? That makes so much sense now. He sucked you back in where it's all about him. Or is that your choice for your world to be living in his? God, Nat. I just got you back. Before, it was your competitions and training taking up your time. Then it was a mix between that and Noah. Is it just going to be Noah now?"

My eyes immediately welled up, "I loved my life back then. You have no idea how fucking hard it is to accept letting go of my dream."

"Actually, I do," she argued, "Who's been here for you this past year? Certainly not Noah!"

"He is now though!" I raised my voice, "It wasn't his choice to leave. I told him to while I was high on pain killers while recovering. I wasn't thinking when I called it off. He wanted to be there helping me, but I didn't let him."

"So you want to be with someone that talked to you like you were his fucking dog?" she scoffed, "Yeah, as your best friend, I can't accept that. I will never accept him."

"Then you're not my best friend if you can't accept the person I love," I spat out before I could think.

She pressed her lips together while nodding her head, "Guess we're back to not speaking, or not having a friendship at all for that matter."

"Jules," I gulped, blinking out a single tear.

"I'm gonna go have that movie marathon by myself," she started to walk away, her eyes focused on her phone, most likely ordering an Uber, "Don't worry. I won't post our selfies out of spite. Talk to you next year."

I didn't go after her like I probably should've, but it didn't feel right. All my brain could think of was finding a place for me to stay tonight.

I couldn't go back to my apartment, Noah partially taking it over as his space as well already. If I came home in the middle of the night, he'd know I lied. It would only have caused a fight to ensue. And I certainly couldn't go to Jules' apartment, joining her on this movie marathon that definitely wasn't happening.

When I glanced up, beginning to scan the bar, my lips curled up. I was glad Jules was right about one thing. That he'd still be here.

I made my way to the counter of the bar and swiftly sat on the stool next to him without him taking notice until I spoke, "Do you think you're Clark Kent or something?"

He turned towards me, a smile creeping up on his face, "What are you talking about?"

I touched his darkened sunglasses with my finger with a double tap, "Glasses didn't cover up your identity this time."

He cocked his head as his arm that held his beer leaned on the counter.

"You ran into my—" I paused, gazing away from his eyes that could barely be seen underneath the blackened tint, "Hang on."

I reached for my bag that crossed my body, opening it up to reach my hand in. After rummaging through, relying only on my sense of touch, I grabbed ahold of the plastic temples and pulled it out.

I slid my black sunglasses on to match him with a smirk, "Bet you have no idea who I am now, huh?"

He set his beer down and softened his smile, "Now that you know who I am, does this change anything, Natalia?"

He didn't make my heart race like Noah did. Instead, he calmed my nervous system down just by the way he said my name, "Actually, yes. Now that I know you're rich as fuck, although I kind of already knew that by your apartment, how about you buy me a beer?"

His left eyebrow raised, "Your boyfriend won't be mad?"

"It's just a beer," I replied matter-of-factly.

"Okay," he let out a breath, turning to get the bartender's attention, "One beer for my stalker? It's okay. Our stalking is a mutual respect."

I held in a laugh as Joe playfully winked in my direction after temporarily lowering his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose.

The bartender placed a bottle of beer in front of me, the same one that Joe was holding in his hand. A hand that wore a flashy silver ring on it, clearly not a simple wedding band.

I wrapped my fingers around the cold glass and lifted it up after twisting my body all the way to the side of the stool to face Joe, "Cheers."

"Cheers," he clanked his bottle against mine gently before raising it to his lips.

Our faces were about a foot apart, our bodies angled close in a natural tease, as the rim of my bottle hit my lips. I took a small sip the same time as Joe, our eye contact locked together.

Even after lowering our bottles, we stared behind our reflections in each other's glasses. Unlike Jules, he didn't judge who I chose to be with or care about how I spent my time. He witnessed me play out my dream one last time, something no one had seen in a year now. Not even a small spin. My embarrassing fall didn't even give him something to make fun of me for, somehow still impressing him in the process. He saw me for me. The person I lost years ago.

"I have one more favor," I hesitated, but I was desperate, "Can I spend the night at your fancy apartment?"

Author's Note: Sorry the chapters aren't as frequent as usual lately! I'm working on publishing a book and writing this one simultaneously. I also have been trying to make the majority of the chapters a bit longer to give you guys the best content. I hope you've been enjoying this story though, it being a bit more of a slow burner than my other storyline. All your feedback is greatly appreciated and heard! 🫶