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David had recently split with Liza and had hired his hometown friend Natalie. He’d gotten her settled into his house, gotten her his own room, and was glad to have someone around after his very depressing breakup. He was so happy that she was in his life, now more than ever.
Except that Natalie had a boyfriend. A boyfriend that was a complete dickhead, but a boyfriend nonetheless. Out of all the people in the world, David wasn’t one to hate anyone, but this guy was different. He was always making snide comments towards her; a comment about her weight, how she’d changed, or something alike. Either way, David wasn’t a fan.
Shawn comes out of Natalie’s bedroom, wearing a robe and grinning. He sees David hanging out on the couch and grins. “Sup, dude. Hope you didn’t hear anything.” He laughs. “Amirite?” He tries to fist bump David.
David blinks as he eats his milk and cereal. “Uh… No thanks.” He gives him a thumbs up instead and goes back to eating his cereal. Gross.
Natalie comes out after, wearing a t-shirt and shorts. She looks surprised that David was awake, but it was noon, so… She supposed it was normal. “Hi, David.” She goes and gets an Oreo from the kitchen, leaning against the counter.
Shawn drinks his water. “How many of those are you gonna be eating?” he points to the Oreos. “You ate like twenty yesterday.”
Natalie frowns. “I ate like, four, so relax. If I want an Oreo I’m allowed to.”
Shawn just snorts. “Whatever. That’s why you’ve been getting so fat.” He walks back to Natalie’s room to shower.
David openly gawks at Shawn. What the FUCK? He looks at Natalie, who’d tossed the Oreo by that point. She goes outside to the barren lawn, trying to even her breathing. She was trying to not cry. She’d been doing a lot of that lately.
Dave abandons his food and walks after her. “Nat. What the fuck was that? You let him talk to you like that?”
Natalie shrugs and says nothing.
David grabs her shoulders. “Dude, you can’t let him say shit like that to you. He’s your boyfriend, he should be obsessed with you, not calling you fat, what the fuck? You’re not even fat.” Well, she’d definitely put on some weight since moving to Los Angeles, but he’d never go as far to claim she was fat. And he’d most definitely never tell her that.
Natalie looks away. “David, just… Stay out of it. It’s my relationship.”
David scowls and lets her go. “He’s a dick, Natalie. Boyfriends shouldn’t be calling their girlfriends fat, that’s all I’m saying.” He goes back inside and eats his now soggy cereal. Damn. He tosses the food and grabs his vlog camera. “Natalie! I’m going to Alex’s to film. Get ready, let’s go.”
Natalie comes back inside. “But what about Shawn?”
He sighs deeply. “He can come. But you’re on the job now, okay? I’ll meet you there.” He heads over to his Tesla and leaves.
Natalie goes back to her room and sees Shawn. “Hey baby, we gotta go over to Alex’s. Dave’s going there to film.” She takes off her shirt shyly and gets ready to shower.
Shawn makes a face while looking at her body. “Sure. It’ll be good to see Alex. Let’s go to the gym after, okay? Your birthday is next week and I’m sure you wanna look good.”
Natalie just sighs and showers. Once they’re both ready and nearly at Alex’s, she gets a text from David for a Chipotle order. “Shawn, we gotta go to Chipotle. David’s hungry.”
Shawn turns and says, “But we’re literally here. We’re literally up the street from Alex’s place.”
Natalie shrugs and smiles. “Welcome to the glamorous life of being an assistant?”
“Okay, fine. I’m gonna go to Alex’s and you can do that. I don’t feel like driving around for another two hours.” He’d rather hang out with his friends.
Natalie looks at him. “But you’d be with me.”
“Yeah, but I never see Alex.”
Natalie furrows her brows. “And you never see me.” What the fuck?
Shawn pulls up to the apartment and sees the crew. “Yeah, but you’re working anyways. It’s not as fun.” He parks and pecks Natalie’s cheek. “Anyways, see you later. Love you.” He smiles and gets out.
David films Shawn and Natalie. “Natalie! You got my Chipotle already? Were you already there????” He laughs and walks over.
Natalie switches seats awkwardly to the driver’s seat. “Uh, no. I’m going now. I’ll be back soon. Text me if the guys want anything too. They can Venmo me.”
David nods. “Cool. I’ll let them know.” He goes back to his friends. “Okay so guys, you know how Nat’s birthday is next week? I have a brand deal with Seat Geek and I was thinking of giving Nat the literal best present ever.” He derps.
Shawn perks a brow. “What are you going to give her?” He was curious now.
“A car!!!” he grins. “It’s gonna get SO many views AND she’s going to love it. She deserves it for all the shit she does. What do you guys think I should get her? Wanna go to some dealerships while she’s out? She’s probably going to be gone for like three hours at least.” LA traffic was going to be a literal bitch right now, since the nearest Chipotle was in the neighborhood next door, but there were a couple dealerships right in the area so they could probably do that within the time frame.
Soon, they’re at the Range Rover dealership. Shawn shakes his head. “No way. She wouldn’t ever ride around in this. She’s too low key.”
David looks around the different SUVs. “Yeah, I guess you got a point.”
Alex was sitting in the driver’s seat. “This car’s bitchin’, dude. Nat would love this.”
Shawn shakes his head. “No way, guys. I know her best. She definitely wouldn’t like it. Let’s look at the Mercedes or something.”
David sighs. “Alright, let’s go. Shawn said Nat won’t like it, so he probably knows best.”
“Damn straight,” he jokes and they go to the other dealership. It takes not even an hour for them to find the perfect car for her. It was a nice white Mercedes, simple but classic, just like Natalie.
David beams as he checks out the car. “This is going to make her cry. Anyone wanna bet if she gives us a reaction?”
“No reaction,” Shawn says instantly. “She’s not going to say a peep. She fucking hates your LA friends, so you know she’s not gonna say anything, especially if you do it in front of them.”
“Well, that’s pretty rude,” Alex replies casually as he gets into the car.
David scowls. “Just cause she doesn’t talk to my friends doesn’t mean she hates them.” Right? Natalie never talked, but that didn’t mean she hated his LA friends. “You hate them, don’t put words in her mouth.”
“I’ll put something else in her mouth, amirite?” Shawn jokes and tries to fist bump the guys, but absolutely no one goes for it.
David cringes. “Ew, dude. Gross. Don’t talk about my assistant like that.”
Shawn rolls his eyes and by the time they’re back to the apartment, Natalie was just pulling in. She had a couple bags of Chipotle, including one for herself. “Alex, David, here. Shawn, you never texted me if you wanted anything, so I didn’t get anything.” She creeps into the elevator and when they’re inside, she gives Dom his Chipotle as well. She sits on the couch and quietly opens her bag and eats her lunch. She was starving!
Shawn holds his tongue as he sits, but does have a couple bites of her food.
-
Natalie’s birthday arrives in fashion. The entire day, David was stressing out to get the car, they had a live show, there was so much to do. He doesn’t wish Nat a happy birthday or even really see her for most of the morning. Shawn would be there to keep her company, so hopefully that’d be okay.
By the time David gets the car delivered to the house, they were already running late to the live show. But he manages to gift Natalie the car, and it definitely was the underwhelming response he was expecting, but he couldn’t care less. Natalie was one of the hardest working individuals he’d ever met, and even if her reaction wasn’t over the top crazy, she absolutely deserved it.
As the live show starts, Natalie sits down to finally relax and take in the day. “Wow,” she tells Shawn as he sits next to her. “I cant BELIEVE Dave did that. I think it’s like, the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
Shawn snorts. “Well, I helped pick out the car, so I definitely had some part in it. And don’t say that when you’re talking to your boyfriend… He’s just your boss.”
“And my best friend,” she tells Shawn instantly. Duh.
Shawn rolls his eyes. “Whatever, Nat.” She was getting on his last nerve and he couldn’t take it anymore. “I have to talk to you about something.”
Natalie gets a bad feeling, but ignores it. “Yeah?”
Shawn says, “I think we need to take a break. It’s been a long time coming and you know it. You’ve really let yourself go here, and LA’s changed you. I don’t like this new… you.” He gestures around her. “This new vibe. I liked the old you, the cute you, the shy you. The hot you.”
Natalie gapes, too shocked to even say anything. Tears well up in her eyes. “Are you really breaking up with me because I put on weight??” She couldn’t believe it.
“No! Not just because of that. The distance is awful, too. I can’t just wait for you to move back to Chicago and I’m not moving to Los Angeles, so…”
Natalie was crying. “So four years… just like that? Done?” She wipes her eyes. She’d cried earlier, but that was out of happiness. This was the exact opposite. “And you choose to do it today, on my birthday?”
Shawn kisses her forehead. “I’m sorry… But it’s not fair to either of us. Plus, David is still obsessed with you. He can’t get enough of you and I don’t like that either. He’s always texting you, always asking for you.”
She snaps, “He’s my BOSS! Of course he’s going to!”
Scott rolls in with his wheelchair, sees the two fighting, and turns right back around onto the stage. He could wait to pee.
“Look, I love you. But I can’t do this anymore. I’ll wait until after.” He pulls her close and rubs her back. “Don’t cry, baby. Sorry, I really should’ve waited till after the show.”
Natalie shoves him away. “Shut up! Fucking prick. Just leave now.”
David walks off stage for a moment to get some water and let the other guys do their bit. He turns off his microphone and says, “Yo Nat, can you—are you okay?” he was startled. “Why are you crying? Dude, what did you say to her?”
Shawn holds up his arms innocently. “Nothing! Mind your own business.”
David was seeing red. “Dude what the FUCK did you say to Natalie? Nat? Someone tell me what’s going on right now!”
Natalie didn’t like the attention. She wipes her eyes, but couldn’t stop the tears. “Shawn just broke up with me because he said the distance was too much and cause I gained weight.”
David doesn’t even take a second to react before he launches his fist right into Shawn’s face. Except, he was picking a fight with the wrong guy. Even if he was athletic, he was still a skinny squirt compared to Shawn, who played both hockey and soccer religiously.
“SHAWN!” Nat shrieks. “DAVID! STOP IT!’ She tries to break them up, but fists were flying and it wasn’t a two way fight anymore. David had tried to throw a couple punches, but he’d been easily over powered and was now curled into a ball, protecting his head from the punches.
Zane and Heath hear the screaming from the side of the stage and immediately stop their rap. “Yo, Dave?” They both rush off and start throwing punches when they see what was going on.
They manage to pry Shawn off David, who had a bloody lip and a bruised jaw. Zane all but tackles Shawn. “Yo, get the FUCK OUT. LEAVE!” they bark at him.
Everyone else on stage stops when they hear the screaming and soon everyone was off stage. The fans are screaming and confused.
David was trembling, but gets himself up as Shawn is all but dragged out by security. He spits out some blood and grins. “That sucked.” But he was smiling.
Everyone in the crew looks at David and Natalie. “What the FUCK happened?” Heath demands.
Mariah pulls Natalie into a big bear hug and rubs her back. She kisses her forehead. “Natalie, baby, is everything okay?” she strokes the poor girl’s tear stroked face. “You can talk to us.”
Natalie didn’t like everyone’s eyes on her. She didn’t like all of this attention. “Me and Shawn uh… we broke up.”
Everyone was even more confused. “So you...” Heath looks at David, “Beat Shawn up?”
David shrugs. “Whatever. Guys, we got a show to do. Go back on stage, c’mon. Everyone out there is fucking freaking out.”
Zane looks incredulous. “Are you SERIOUS? Dude, you were getting your ass HANDED to you just now! Show’s over, my guy. You’re fucking bleeding. Are you sure that guy didn’t give you a concussion?”
David shrugs. “Nah. I’ll be fine. I’m probably going to have to sit out, but I’ll be fine. Just GO, okay? I’ll be fine.” He cringes as he grins, blood dripping down his chin.
Natalie holds Dave’s arm. “I’ll help clean you up.” She sniffles.
Dave looks at the vlog squad. “See? She’s gonna make me look less like a serial killer. Go back on stage.” He walks out with Natalie, limping a little.
Natalie finds a first aid kit and gets some of the hydrogen peroxide. “David… What the hell was that?”
David’s brain melts while she dabs his lip with hydrogen peroxide. He could hear the sizzle and tries to power through it because he definitely wasn’t a little bitch. “Because a guy can’t be saying that to his girlfriend, even if he’s breaking up with her.” He gives up and balls his fists as he serenades a string of ‘ow ow ow ow ows.’
Natalie touches his face softly, stroking his jaw. “David…” She hugs him tightly and immediately pulls back when David flinches. “Did your ribs get broken?”
David shrugs. “Uhhh maybe…. I don’t know. Maybe we should go to the hospital.” Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he was definitely in a lot more pain than he initially thought. “But first, can you take a video of this? It’s gonna be great vlog footage.”
“Seriously.” But she does as she’s told. “This is ridiculous.”
David grins and more blood pools from his mouth. He throws up a peace sign. “Yo, just got into a fight! You should see the other guy! He’s basically unharmed. I probably knocked his- okay my ribs really hurt Natalie I think we should go.” He lightly touches his ribs and whimpers. “Fuck me, that hurts.” He touches it again and grins at the camera.
Natalie ushers David out of the building, and as they approach the car they see Shawn. “Oh fuck,” David freaks right as Shawn rushes over to them.
Shawn shoves Natalie forcefully and sucker punches David right in the face, knocking him out cold. “That’s what you get for intervening.”
Natalie falls hard on the concrete, gashing her elbows and jaw. “OW! SHAWN! WHAT THE FUCK!” She was shaking violently, scared beyond words. Who was this?!
Shawn blinks and seems to realize what he’d done. He kneels down, but when Natalie screams, terrified, he bolts off.
Natalie manages to call 911 and crawls over to David. “Oh my god, David.” She slaps his cheeks. “Wake up!”
David stirs a little and groans. He was in an unbelievable amount of pain.
Once they’re in the hospital, David gets treated for a fractured rib, broken nose, and a severely bruised jaw. David was in good spirits when Natalie was finally allowed to visit.
She comes in, arms bandaged and a small bandaid on her chin. She sits next to David and spurts out, “I’m so sorry.” She starts crying all over.
David smiles softly. He looked like a literal wreck, but man, the morphine was really nice. Morphine was AWESOME. “Nat, don’t worry about it. I would’ve done this a million times over for you.” Maybe he was a little high too. “I love you, I’d do anything for you.”
Natalie sniffles. “Thanks, Dave. I was… I am… so scared. I’ve never seen Shawn act like that. He’s never been so violent.” She was absolutely terrified of him now. “That was so scary.”
David flails out a hand and holds her hand, then wipes away a tear. “Shhhhhh,” he murmurs. “Don’t cry for that prick. You’re the most amazing girl I’ve ever met, Nat. I’ll always protect you.”
Natalie smiles through her tears and grabs his hand. She kisses his knuckles. “Thank you, David.” She twines their hands together.
David derps. “Anything for the girl of my dreams,” he sings. “Anyone have my camera? Where is everyone? We gotta get everyone’s reaction when they see me. Get my camera!” he looks around for it.
“I don’t have it. I think Jason said he did. I’ll uh… I’ll ask for it.” She kisses his cheek. “Again, David… Thank you.”
David was too high to react to the kiss. Wait, no he wasn’t. “Bow chicka wow wow. Gimme more sugar, sugar.” He laughs. “What a way to end your birthday, huh?”
Natalie rolls her eyes and heads out. Take it upon David to turn a terrifying, scarring event into a light joke. She walks out and sees the crew all camped out in the waiting area.
Todd is the first to stand. “How is he? What the fuck happened?”
Natalie crosses her arms. “Um… David will tell you. The doctor said everyone can visit. He’s going to be discharged probably in the next hour or two.” She continues, “He uh… wants you all to have your cameras out so he can get the vlog footage. Who has David’s camera? I need to film.”
Jason hands Natalie the camera and watches her go. Soon, everyone sees David and everyone is in shock, even as he’s discharged.
David hangs onto Nat. “Morphine is honestly awesome. Guys, I totally recommend this over alcohol.” He laughs and films everyone. Anything for the vlog.
Jason laughs. “If we didn’t know better, we’d think that YOU were the boyfriend.”
Natalie says nothing, even when David claims excitedly, “I wanna be soon! I love Nat!” He hugs her tightly. “Ow. My rib.”
Natalie shakes her head. “You’re high, David. You’re talking nonsense.”
Dave gets into the backseat of Jason’s car and leans on her. “No. I punched him because he’s a dick and you deserve so much better. You deserve someone that treats you properly, someone that respects you…” He yawns and pats her thigh. “I’m gonna need those pain meds real real soon.”
Natalie smiles softly. “Thanks, David.” She kisses his cheek softly. “Truly. You’re an amazing friend.”
David snores softly. The tape fixing his broken nose was making him snore a little. At home, he wakes up long enough to get into bed and is back asleep.
Natalie locks the doors, terrified that Shawn had somehow gotten into the house. She closes all of the curtains and makes sure everything was locked, then quietly creeps into David’s room. “Dave?”
David snores softly under the covers.
“Dave?”
No response.
She lays down on the beanbag and curls into a ball, feeling safer. Just being in the same room as David made her feel better. She still couldn’t believe how her birthday had started as being the best she’d ever had, to hands down the worst. She hadn’t ever felt so terrified before, but she couldn’t imagine David would do such a stupid, noble, heroic, macho thing for her as to protect her honor. She sleeps soundly that night.
Tomorrow was a new day.