*Blue Cheeze* Pamela - My Friend and Me

"This is so frustrating!" Natalie exclaimed. "I don't want to wear a dress!" Duncan smirked down at her.

"Well, I'm just glad I'm a guy," he snickered. Natalie scowled and shoved him in the shoulder.

"Very funny," she retorted angrily. "But it's prom.and Jo will be pretty hurt if I don't wear what she picked out. She spent ages looking for it.

"Ages looking for a DRESS?"

"Yeah. Pitiful, isn't it? Wasting 2 hours just buying a piece of cloth. How about you?"

"Me what?"

"Wearing, what are you wearing?"

Duncan got off his bed, and, with a flourish, flung open his cupboard door grandly.

"Okay, so I know it's a bit weird, but Granny did help me pick it out," he admitted.

Natalie couldn't contain a guffaw.

"Dunk, you'll look like a stiff-necked penguin!" she cackled, rolling on the floor in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" he asked, frowning.

"There's a bowtie, for god's sake," she laughed, "A bowtie? I though only Frank Sinatra wore a bow!"

Duncan sighed and took the bow off the suit.

"Fine. Does this look better?"

Natalie clutched her stomach and gradually calmed down.

"Yeah, it looks much better."

"Thanks a lot," he said sarcastically.

"My pleasure," she said smugly.

"Will you stop being so all-knowing and wipe that grin off your face?" he demanded angrily.

"Me? All-knowing? Oh, you flatter me," she teased.

Duncan tried to rein in his temper, but the sight of Natalie's taunting face broke the thin thread holding him back and he lunged forward.

* * * * * *

"Duncan, is everything okay?" called his mother as she heard the crash of glass in his bedroom.

"I'm fine, mum!" he yelled. "It's okay, I accidentally dropped something, I'll clean it up myself!"

"Okay, be careful!" she shouted.

Natalie growled furiously.

"Get off me, you ass," she said through clenched teeth.

"Why?" he demanded. He was lying on top of her, and her hands were sandwiched between them, unable to move.

She managed to roll over, so that he was under her, and he grabbed her around the waist to prevent her from escaping.

"Ow. Damn it, Nat, I think I'm lying on the glass," he grunted.

"And who cares?" she grunted back, trying to free her hands.

"Listen, you broke that mug."

"Your point is?" she panted.

"Oh, forget it."

"Let go of my hands," she insisted.

"Why?" he teased, taking advantage of the situation.

She tried to move, to kick, but she had no more energy. She dropped her head onto his shoulder.

"You're giving up?" Duncan asked wondrously.

"Mmft," she mumbled. He tightened his grip around her.

"It's a trick, right? You pretend to give up, I let go, you hit me?" he tried.

"No, I'm just sick of fighting with you. It's no fun, I don't win anymore," Natalie grumbled into his shirt.

Duncan suddenly felt uncomfortable on the floor, with his best friend sprawled on him. He released her waist, fully expecting her to punch him.

"Uh, Nat? Can you get off me now?' he asked tentatively, bracing himself for a blow.

Natalie rolled lazily off him so she was lying by his side.

"So you're just giving up the fight like that?" Duncan suddenly realized after a minute.

"Like what?"

"You're just giving up! You never give up!" he exclaimed.

Natalie turned her head to face him.

"You know, Duncan dear, you're right," she said. "I never give up a fight."

She swiftly elbowed him in the stomach.

"Oof!" The breath whooshed out of Duncan. "I should have seen that! I was right all along!"

Natalie grinned and stood up, brushing the dust and bits of glass off her clothes.

"You should have seen that," she repeated, holding out a hand to haul Duncan up. He made a face at her and pulled himself up.

"You look so cute when you're angry," Natalie cooed. "You hardly get angry but when you do, you're so cute!"

She reached up to pat his cheek. When her hand touched his skin, she pulled it back immediately.

"What?" he asked, running his hand over his cheeks.

"You're just - well, you've got - stubble," she stumbled.

Duncan rolled his eyes.

"I'm sixteen, Nat. What did you expect?"

Natalie tilted her head and reached up to his cheeks again.

"I'm just not used to you growing up, I guess," she finally said. "I mean, you're bigger than me and all that, and I just feel strange."

Duncan lifted his hand to hers and brought it down.

"We're growing up together," he comforted. "And whatever it is, we'll always be best friends."

Natalie looked down at their linked fingers.

"Yeah." She turned their joined hands over and unconsciously rubbed the small scar he had on his thumb, nearly identical to hers. She remembered a day, many years ago, when they had solemnly cut their thumbs and mixed their blood in her garden.

Duncan surprised himself by pulling her close for a short hug. Natalie tensed a little, then leaned into the hug, savouring the moment.

"Best friends," she whispered.

Natalie pressed her face a little deeper into Duncan�s shirt, trying to let the soft material soak up the slight dampness from her eyes. When she was sure her eyes were dry, she cautiously let go of him.

Duncan held her at arms� length.

�A little soppy now, huh,� he mumbled self-consciously.

�Yeah,� she hurried, hoping her eyes weren�t too red from the few tears.

�Are � why are your eyes red?� Duncan asked curiously.

�They aren�t,� she snapped crossly. �I guess it�s just your shirt � scratchy thing.�

�Right�� he murmured.

�Yes,� she reaffirmed. �It�s your shirt.�

* * * * * * * * * *

�Sleeping over again tonight, Nat?� Duncan�s mother asked her as she dished out the potatoes during dinner.

�Yeah,� Natalie grinned energetically. �Wow, that looks�� she groped for an appropriate word to describe the sensuous-smelling steam rising from the pot ��good!�

Duncan�s mother smiled affectionately down at the young lady she had come to regard as her own daughter.

�Dunk�s Gram made it. It IS good, isn�t it!�

Natalie looked down the table to where her best friend�s grandparents were sitting.

�Good?� she breathed in deeply. �It�s fantastic! Wonderful� Gramma, how do you do it?!�

The gentle old lady nodded smilingly. �It�s all � �

�In the hands!� finished Duncan. �We know, Gramma! Ooh, it smells fantastic.�

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Natalie scampered out of Duncan�s bathroom, and leapt with a sigh onto the bed.

�Your turn to shower,� she mumbled, burying her face luxuriously into the soft down pillows.

�Mmpht,� Duncan spat as he rolled of the bed, plodding laboriously to the bathroom. �Fine, fine. If I stink you can just tell me, you know.�

Natalie sniggered as he slammed the door shut. 5 quiet minutes passed as Natalie, her head still deep in the pillow, listened to the sound of the shower being switched on and the water beating steadily down.

�Peanut, can you get me a shirt?� Duncan yelled after a while.

�What shirt?� she yelled back.

�My sleeping shirt, what else?�

�All right!�

She reluctantly removed her face from the pillows, and peeled her body off the bed to find a shirt in his messed-up drawers.

The bathroom door opened and Duncan came out, his hair dripping wet. He grabbed the shirt from Natalie and started punching his arms through the sleeves.

�Thanks.�

�Hey, you�re not going to let your hair drip over your shirt are you?� Natalie asked, horrified.

�Why not?� Duncan paused, his arms halfway through the sleeves, standing in front of Natalie in a pair of shorts.

�The shirt will get wet and you�ll sleep on we hair�aren�t you smart enough to know you shouldn�t sleep on wet hair?�

�You sound like Mum,� he said, surprised.

Natalie blushed slightly, but sat back down on the bed where she had stood up from and pushed him rather roughly onto the floor. She reached over for the discarded towel Duncan had tossed on his desk and began toweling his wet hair.

�I don�t want to sleep on the same bed as you if you�re going to wet the bed,� she said by way of an explanation.

�I�m not going to wet the bed!�

�With your hair!�

�Oh.� He settled more comfortably between Natalie�s legs, and pulled off his shirt. Natalie shivered slightly as her knees came into contact with Duncan�s bare sides but carried on drying his hair.

�I feel like I�m five and Gramma is giving me a bath,� he joked. �Man, Peanut, you�ll be a great mom � your maternal instincts are coming out young!�

Natalie scowled a little, and pressed her knees harder into his sides.

�How come we have to share the bed anyway?� she grumbled.

�I told you, the spare mattress is being used to pad Grampa�s bed, his is sort of lumpy and Mum needs to save up more to buy another mattress.� Duncan had no qualms about talking to Natalie about his lower-than-average financial status.

�Oh. Well, I guess it�s fine as long as you don�t hog the duvet!� she knocked her knuckled against his stubbly chin playfully.

�Yeah, I won�t,� he assured.

There was a short pause.

�Nat?� he asked suddenly. He leant his head back and looked at her upside down.

�Hmm?� she put the towel down and tilted her head down to look at him.

�Nothing.�

�Ummm�right. Well, I�m going to sleep now.� Natalie�s inner thighs brushed his ribs as she got up and she unconsciously whispered a soft kiss over his forehead.

Duncan sat leaning against the side of the bed silently, while Natalie crawled into bed, tucking the covers around herself. He heard the soft click of the desk lamp being switched off, listened to the soft steady breathing of the teenage girl lying in his bed, as he stared straight ahead in the dark.

He heaved himself off the floor, and looked down at Natalie. He bent down, brushed her fringe off her forehead and returned the kiss. Natalie continued to sleep, undisturbed.

Feeling a little silly and uncomfortable, he slid under the covers with Natalie and lay awake for the next few hours, tossing and turning, trying to figure out a good way to tell her the two things that would turn their lives upside down for a long time.