“Did you even need me?” Her words came out clumsy and angry at you, she was drunk, not 'cause of you, exactly, but there were many reasons for her to want to forget everything and use alcohol to do so. Shitty family, shitty mental health, nothing that couldn't get worse.

Being on the same soccer team definitely didn't make you two alike, and deep down, Natalie wished she was just like you—it'd make everything easier, it'd make it easier for you to be with her. Love wasn't enough when your family made you believe that the best thing for you was a perfect, rich man, not a girl like her.

But still, you were secretly in her sheets on the weekends. Anything was worth it if she could just spend time clinging to you, even if that perfect man was screaming in your mind.

She was in a different place in life than you, you already had the next ten years planned out to the millimeter 'cause it needed to be how you wanted it, while she barely knew what she'd do the next day. You didn't need her, did you? Why were you still here?

“You need to stop drinking, for real.” It wasn't the first time, and it probably wouldn't be the last, but you'd still save her when you felt like it—or when she simply called you and said she hated you. She didn't really mean it, but the drinking wasn't helping.

She clung to you and got up from the ground with your help, your scent making her feel good again, as if you were the drug she needed and wanted so much. “Be my girlfriend and I'll stop drinking.” She snapped, glaring at you like a pouting child.

It was simple, so simple. You liked her hair, her ripped-up jeans, the bad girl she had in her, you liked her, but your mind always held you back and she couldn't understand it, couldn't hide what she thought of it even beneath her tough facade. Frustrating as hell.

“Oh, yeah, nice... Are you really gonna ask me to be your girlfriend when you're drunk? That's very Natalie Scatorccio of you.” Just as she felt frustrated, you felt stressed, maybe you just weren't meant to be together—though you liked her more than you could ever admit, even good girls bleed.