He explained that when he got that way, drunk and tired, he felt nothing, not even pain. This is why when Nathan returned home to Collette that night he’d told her to ‘hit him.’  “Hit me. Hit me.  Come on.”  Supposedly Nathan had recently read Fight Club, which is why the idea had struck him as funny that night.  He said they were always fighting with words, so why not try fists.  If Collette really wanted to hurt him, why not just throw a punch?  Collette didn’t see the humor in Nathan’s laughing as she punched him once, and punched him again, as he continued to laugh unphased, no feeling at all.  Catherine thought that Collette must have been determined to make him feel pain at that point, because that’s when she grabbed the knives, chasing Nathan around the apartment, out the door, and down the street, which ended the year they’d spent together.  This happened on a Friday, and he was moved into a new place Monday. 

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