The Atwood DITFT: Generation 1, Chapter 7
Author's Note: Hi guys! Yay, I have another Atwood chapter! :3 According to that poll I posted, 13 out of 25 of you count the Atwoods as your favorite of my legacies... I'm so glad you enjoy them as much as I do haha xD Anyway, I can't wait to really get started on this generation, and every chapter helps! Lol, I don't think I've ever had this many chapters in a generation before a baby was born... that's drama for you, I guess xD
The Atwood DITFT: Generation 1, Chapter 7
Nick stood staring at the door that Marigold had just closed in his face for only a moment before he began to follow her. He would not lose another person he cared for so deeply. Not without telling her how he felt. Not like last time.
“Marigold, please wait!” he called. He was relieved-if not thrilled-to see that Marigold was walking home. He supposed it was all right, since Appaloosa Plains was extremely safe, even at night; and it helped him out greatly, as he did not have a car.
She glanced over her shoulder and sped up her pace. Nick sighed and did the same. His legs were much longer than hers, so it did not take him long to catch up with her. Beneath a streetlight he tapped her shoulder. “Marigold, please. I have something really important to tell you. I need you to please listen to me.”
Marigold glared at him, but finally seemed to decide it wasn’t worth the fight. “Fine. Make it quick.”
“I know you don’t believe me, but I truly did not do any harm to your sister. No, listen, it’s true!” he said quickly as she started to argue. “Yes, we did go to the steakhouse together. You remember I brought that up when you invited me to the beach. And we did go back to my place after, but only because she asked me multiple times. There’s a reason you’ve never been to my house-it’s tiny, and I’m not really proud of it.”
“And I’ll admit, I was trying to impress Susanna; but the last thing I’d do to accomplish that would be to show her my little farm. She made it pretty clear when we met that she didn’t think farming was anything special at all.” He remembered her words: “You and everyone else in this town”-hardly a thrilled response.
“And when we got to my house, she was evidently disappointed. I’m poor, and it’s pretty obvious. But Susanna tried to pretend it didn’t matter to her. She started the flirting, Marigold. Not me.”
“Yeah. Right.”
Nick had no idea how he was going to prove this to Marigold, so he just kept talking. “I did respond, at first. I’ll admit that. If you want to know the truth, your sister… she has the same hair as Julie did. Exactly the same.” His voice broke; tears were threatening to spill over. Dammit, I can’t cry, not now, Nick thought angrily. “It… it really got to me, that night. She started kissing me, and my eyes were mostly closed, so she… she looked just like Julie. She felt like Julie, too, for a moment. Having someone in my arms like that, a red-haired female someone… It just…”
Marigold’s eyes had softened, but Nick did not notice. He was busy trying to hide from Marigold the fact that he was crying.
He couldn’t believe this. Here he was, over a year after Julie and his parents’ death, crying over them like he did the day it happened. He’d thought moving here would make him stronger. He’d thought time would heal his wounds. But apparently they were just as raw as the day his life had been ripped apart.
Suddenly there were arms around him. “Nick…”
“I’m sorry,” Nick said quickly, wiping his eyes. “I don’t know what my problem is, really.”
“There’s not a problem,” Marigold said firmly. “There is nothing wrong with grieving over lost loved ones, Nick.”
He looked at her then. She was still hugging him, and he was surprised to find he was hugging her back. “I…”
“I should have guessed my sister would do this.” Marigold pulled away from Nick and shook her head ruefully. “She’s always been a bit… manipulative. She stole my cat, in fact. That’s why he ran away-he didn’t like living with her. Let me start at the beginning. See, at first, I didn’t believe the story she told me about you. The story that, coincidentally, she didn’t tell me until the day after you and I hung out. You’d think, since we were roommates at the time, not to mention sisters, she would have brought it up sooner.”
Was she saying…?
“When I didn’t immediately rush to pity her and murder you, she got very mad at me. We had a big fight that evening… I defended you. I told her a man like you would never treat a woman that way. She told me I was stupid and blind, and that if I wanted to get myself hurt like she had been, it was none of her business. She packed a bag and left. I didn’t realize til the next morning that she’d taken Neville with her.
“I guess… I guess since Susanna got so upset and angry, I thought this time she was being serious. And if her story was true, then you were a man I did not want to associate with. I started believing you had deliberately deceived me, that you were acting like a good person and trying to get close to me as a way to get into my pants as well as my sister’s.” She paused and looked at Nick intently. He looked right back.
“Mar,” he said. “If you want to know the truth, it was your sister that was trying to get into my pants. It was late, and we had some wine at the steakhouse, and she looked so much like Julie… I wasn’t thinking clearly at all, or I wouldn’t have let things get even as far as they did. Things started to get… pretty intense, and we somehow ended up on my bed. I was not the one to initiate that decision, by the way. Anyway, she started trying to undress me, and that really snapped me out of it. All of a sudden reality came crashing back, and I stopped her. I told her what I’ve told you: I believe in waiting until marriage to have sex.”
“She was extremely offended. She took it way too personally, I think. Probably I didn’t, ah, phrase things quite the way I should have-it was almost 2 a.m. at this point, in my defense-but still. She was furious, and that’s when she threatened me. She told me I was treading dangerous ground by making enemies so soon after moving to town, and she implied that she was going to make the whole town hate me.”
Marigold rolled her eyes. “She likes dramatics, my sister.”
“No kidding.”
“She probably wouldn’t have acted on that threat at all, to be honest, if she hadn’t found out that you were directing your affections toward me.”
“Hey! It was just as friends, remember? How could she be jealous-?”
“Oh, she could be. And she was. I should have seen it at the time. When I told her my plans to show you the sunrise-this was before I knew she’d had a ‘date’ with you the day before-she got very quiet. I figured she was just grouchy, because she’s like that a lot. But I guess she was actually starting to concoct her ridiculous plan.”
“So you believe me, then? That I did not do what she accused me of doing?”
“Nick. Of course I believe you. I’d have to be an idiot to trust my sister over what you just told me.”
Relief washed over Nick. She believed him. She did not hate him. Susanna hadn’t ruined everything.
“Besides,” Marigold added. “I don’t think someone in your position would be seducing lots of women. I can see that you still have feelings for Julie.” Was it Nick’s imagination, or was there regret in Marigold’s voice?
“Mar, I-”
“No, you don’t have to explain it to me,” she said. Yes, that was definitely sadness in her voice. “I understand, Nick. I do. I’d never expect someone to move on from the love of his life after such a short time.”
“But I-”
“Please don’t make excuses. You don’t have to. I understand. We… we’re friends, after all. Right?” Friends. What an emphasis she’d put on that word.
“We… yes, of course we’re friends.” And I want us to be more than that.
“Well, then. Let’s keep it that way, okay?” What? he thought, startled. Did I say that last part out loud or not? What’s she referring to? “I don’t want us to be fighting over something my stupid sister said. And the last thing you need is to lose another friend.”
Friend. Oh. So he didn’t say it out loud.
“The only friend I have left,” he murmured, almost inaudibly.
“But you do have me,” she replied. “Let’s not be fighting anymore, okay? I’m sorry I acted the way I did.”
“No, I understand! If Susanna really were telling the truth, I wouldn’t blame you if you never spoke to me again in your life. I’m the one that should be sorry. I shouldn’t have done what I did. I shouldn’t have… gotten myself in a situation that could have ended that badly.”
“Maybe we’re both at fault, or neither of us are. But why don’t we agree to put it behind us, hmm?” She smiled, and Nick couldn’t help noticing for what felt like the millionth time how beautiful she was. The moonlight made her hair and skin shine in a breathtaking way. Nick glanced away.
“Good idea,” he mumbled.
“Great. So listen, I really have to get going. It’s a bit of a walk, and Neville and I are both tired. I’ve got a lot going on this weekend, but do you think we could spend some time together again? I want to make it up to you for ignoring you so much.”
“I’d like that.”
“But remember, Nick-we don’t have to take this any further. I know you’re still grieving, and I don’t want to ask for more than you’re ready to give. We’re just friends, okay?”
Those words had been so comforting that day at the pier… Why did they now make him ache?
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The end! For now ;) Haha, well, we're getting closer to a happy chapter... right? xD I hope you enjoyed this :3 Let me know what you thought! I'd love to hear from you :) Thanks for reading, and happy simming!