A/N: This is the Natella companion for a Jaitlyn I wrote a while back. You should definitely check it out if you haven't already. And if you have, well, this should fill in some blanks for you.

Happy reading!

angellwings

The Summer I Was a Chump: Nate's Tale

By angellwings

My summer was extremely uneventful and wonderfully peaceful until Jason asked me for a favor. I knew it was coming. He'd been acting like a caged hyper terrier since the minute we arrived at Camp. Everyone knew the lack of Caitlyn-time was driving him insane. So, to say I was blindsided by his request would be a lie.

But, at the same time, I was determined to spend this summer working on my music. And nothing else.

"I need your help with something, little brother."

"I'm almost afraid to ask," I said with a sigh.

"Could you watch the Junior Rockers for me tonight?"

I blinked at him for several minutes. He did not just ask me that. I imagined it. I had to.

"What?"

"I'm supposed to meet Caity tonight by the camp fire, but if I have to wait for the JRs to fall asleep then I'll never get there. So, I was hoping you'd cover for me."

"Dude, I would love to cover for you," I lied. That was the last thing I wanted to do. Anyone below the age of fourteen hated me. There's a reason I only teach the more advanced drum classes. I cannot deal with children. "But I can't."

"Come on," Jason whined. "Please? I haven't had a chance to talk to Caity since we got here last week!"

"Think about what you're asking me, Jase," I said with a sigh. I was desperately hoping he'd reconsider this request. I couldn't refuse doing my oldest brother a favor. "You want me to watch a cabin full of nine year old boys? You can't be serious because that situation would not end well."

"It wouldn't be for the whole night," Jason said pleadingly. "Just a couple of hours. I promise. If it'll make you feel any better you can bring someone with you as back up." He paused thoughtfully and then lit up suddenly. "Oh! Ella! Get Ella to help you! The JRs love her!"

"Surprise, surprise," I spoke up dryly and scoffed. Of course they would love her. Ella was a child. Not that there was anything wrong with that, I just…never know how to act around her. "A group of nine year old boys love an attractive teenage girl."

"Come on!" Jason begged in exasperation. "Please?"

"Fine," I said with a reluctant huff. This was so far from where I saw my night going. "But you owe me big time. Not only do I have to watch the JRs but I have to keep an eye on Ella too."

Jason rolled his eyes at me. "You underestimate Ella."

So, we headed toward the wardrobe cabin to find Ella. Jason knocked on the door and she yelled from behind it.

"Come on in!"

We stepped inside to find Ella sewing up a frenzy on something dreadfully sparkly. She paused and smiled up at us. I watched as she and Jason exchanged a friendly hug. "What's up guys?"

"We need your help," Jason said quickly.

"Both of you?" Ella asked as she gave me a strange look. It was almost like I was the last person she expected to see.

"Well, I need Nate to cover for me with the JRs tonight and—"

Ella smirked at me and then chuckled. "And he doesn't want to do that alone?" She turned to me and smiled. "Right, Nate?"

I resisted the urge to grumble under my breath and smiled weakly. "Right."

"I wish I could help, but I've actually got plans to hang out with Sander toni—"

"It's so I can spend time with Caitlyn," Jason said quickly.

Ella's eyes widened and she smiled brightly. "Oh my god! Really?"

I was still stuck on her previous plans. "You had plans to hang out with Sander?"

"I'm supposed to meet her by the campfire tonight," Jason said as he ignored my question. "And I haven't been able to see her in weeks so I would really appreciate it if you would help me out. I'm going to go insane if I can't talk to her soon."

Ella smiled excitedly. "I bet. You've had a crush on her forever."

"I know," Jason admitted. "I've been trying to spend time with her all summer."

I smiled in amusement as Ella placed a hand on her hip and quirked a scolding eye brow at him. She waved her finger as she spoke up again, "If you don't tell her about this tonight I will not be doing you any more favors, Jason Gray. Okay?"

Jason smiled gratefully and nodded. "Deal."

I suddenly remembered my earlier unanswered question. "So, are you and Sander…a thing or something?"

Ella gave me a strange look. "What?"

"Earlier, you said you had plans to hang out with Sander."

"So?" Ella asked with a furrowed brow.

"Well, what does that mean exactly?" I asked. I could hear the irritation in my own voice, and I honestly didn't know why this was bothering me.

Jason cleared his throat and lightly pushed me toward the door. "We'll let you get back to work. Thanks, Ella. We really appreciate this."

"No problem guys," Ella said happily. "I'll see you both tonight."

Jason shook his head at me once we were outside. "What was that?"

"What?" I asked.

"Things were going pretty well until you got all snippy about Sander," Jason said with a sigh. "Be nice to her tonight, okay? She's helping us both out."

I huffed. "I wasn't being snippy. Don't make me sound like a twelve year old girl, dude."

"I'm not making you sound like anything. You're doing that all on your own," Jason said as he rolled his eyes and walked away from me.

The rest of the day was spent teaching classes just like any other day only Ella's comment about hanging out with Sander kept replaying in my head and I kept noticing them both around camp. They were together an awful lot. At lunch, in between their classes, during their break, all the time. And it bothered me. I grew more and more irritated each time I noticed them together. It was ridiculous.

I also didn't understand it. This morning I'd just been referring to Ella as a child, and now it was almost as if I were…jealous. My irritation was started to turn away from Ella and toward myself. Why was I being so weird? This was how I was when I arrived at the Junior Rocker's cabin that night. Ella was already inside with Jason. Apparently Ella was playing a game of "Red Light, Green Light" with them inside the cabin. I walked in and Jason immediately laid out the schedule for the rest of the night.

Ella wished him good luck as he walked out the door and then had the boys all line up at the door for me to walk them to the bath house.

"And exactly what am I supposed to do while they're taking showers?" I asked Ella cluelessly.

She chuckled at me. "Do you not remember being a Junior Rocker at all, Nathaniel? Time their showers. No longer than five minutes. Then you need to make sure they brush their teeth and then send them back here as they each finish up for lights out. I'll stay here and then get them to calm down for bed time. Alright?"

I nodded slowly. "Right, got it."

I walked them to the bathhouse and did the things I was told to do. I received a lot of scoffing, eye rolling, and I'm pretty sure they were mocking me behind my back. I did say that kids don't like me, right? Because it's true.

When the last JR was finally done getting ready for bed I followed him back to the cabin and I could clearly hear loud laughter coming from the cabin. Was that what she called "calming the down"? Because that is not what it sounded like to me.

The lights were off in the front of the cabin but not the back, and I could see Ella sitting on top of the counter on the far wall. As I walked in I could hear her singing something. It wasn't a song I knew, but it clearly wasn't meant to be anything serious. From what I could tell it was about toast.

"All around the country coast to coast,
people always say what do you like most,
I don't wanna brag I don't wanna boast,
I always tell 'em I like toast.
Yeah, TOAST! Yeah, TOAST!"

Ella screamed the word "Toast" at the top of her lungs and I quirked a brow at her as the boys laughed loudly from their beds.

"I get up in the mornin' bout six AM,
have a little jelly have a little jam,
take a piece of bread put it in the slot,
push down the lever and the wires gets hot,
I get toast.
Yeah, TOAST! Yeah, TOAST!

I'm sitting in the class room adding up the sums
think'n bout toast think'n yum yum yum
and when the bell rings you grab your back pack
and make some toast for an afternoon snack
Yeah, TOAST! Yeah, TOAST!

Now there's no secret to toasting perfection,
there's a dial on the side and you make your selection,
push to the dark or the light and then,
if it pops too soon press down again,
make toast.

Yeah, TOAST! Yeah, TOAST!

Oui monsieur bonjour coquette,
uh huh croissante, et vous Yvette?
Maurice Chevalier Eiffel Tower,
oui marie baggette bon soir.

FRENCH TOAST! FRENCH TOAST!"

With each verse the boys laughed louder and harder at Ella's near screeching while I just stared dumbfounded. I didn't see how this was helping. In fact, it appeared to be making things worse. I huffed and tapped my foot impatiently as Ella took a deep breath for the song's finale. She screamed the ending at least ten times louder than the rest of the song.

"YEAH TOAST!"

The boys all clapped and cheered while Ella curtsied and grinned at them. "Thank you, thank you. You're too kind."

"Okay, I think that's enough. Lights out was nearly ten minutes ago," I said sternly.

Ella turned and gave me a blank look. "A little fun never hurt anyone, Nate. They promised me they would go to sleep grumble-free if I entertained them for a bit. Which I have done, and now it's their turn to live up to the deal."

"Because it's just that easy," I muttered under my breath. "It's bad enough I have to babysit them and now I have to babysit you too."

If I thought Ella couldn't hear me then I was very wrong.

"Excuse me?" Ella asked me with a glare. "What was that?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Fine," Ella said angrily. "Then I guess I'm done here. Good luck, Nate. I'm sure they'll just fall right to sleep."

"What?" I asked.

"You're on your own, buddy. I wouldn't want you to have to babysit me," Ella said as she hopped off the counter and briskly walked to the door. She turned as she reached the door. "G'night, JRs. It was fun while it lasted."

Their little eyes all turned to glare at me as they said good night to Ella. There was a pregnant pause as the door slammed and then suddenly they were all up and running around. They were literally swinging from their bunks. Yelling and screaming broke out and I quickly covered my ears with the palms of my hands. I tried yelling as well and telling them to shut up and sit down, but that was like yelling at a brick wall. I might as well have been invisible and mute for all they cared.

I finally turned and ran from the cabin. I was starting to feel claustrophobic. I rubbed a hand across my forehead and then hit it repeatedly against one of the support beams for the porch. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

"You could say that again."

I froze and glanced over at Ella as she smirked knowingly up at me from her seat on one of the front steps.

"You're still here," I said in shock.

"I wanted to be here to gloat whenever you crashed and burned," She said coldly.

I groaned and sat down next to her. "Gloat away because I give up. I can't do this. They all hate me, and I bet you hate me too. I wouldn't blame you if you did. I've been a complete jerk to you lately."

Ella smiled weakly and bumped my shoulder. "No one hates you. True, some people don't exactly like you very much right now, but no one hates you."

"How did you get them to like you?" I asked.

"You make it sound like I had to trick them into it or something," Ella said. "I just…treated them like people. Just because they're younger than us doesn't mean we can expect them to do everything we say without question. They need reasons to do things just like we do."

I blinked at her. "I've never thought about that."

"I know, you're not exactly comfortable with younger kids, but they're really not that much different from anyone else you interact with. Although, given what I've seen from you lately…"

I chuckled at her thinly veiled insult and ran a hand through my curls nervously. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry about what I said to you in there, I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you, and I'm just…sorry."

Ella bit her bottom lip and smiled softly. "Apology accepted. Now, would you like some help?"

"Oh God, yes please," I begged.

Ella chuckled and stood up first. She held out a hand to help me up and we both walked into the cabin together. She slammed the door behind us and then knocked on the wall with great force. All the JRs turned to face her instantly.

"Guys, I thought we had a deal?" Ella asked sternly.

"We did," Trevor said before he turned to glare at Nate. "With you. Not him."

"I see," Ella said as she tried not to smile victoriously at me. "Well, I'm back now so our deal is back on. In your beds. Now."

Ella and I waited patiently as they all hesitantly dragged themselves back to bed and once they were there Trevor spoke up again. "Can we have another song before—"

Ella chuckled. "No. Nice try though, Trevor. But it's time for bed, okay? Maybe tomorrow if you behave."

"Promise?" Trevor asked skeptically.

Ella nodded. "Promise."

Trevor nodded at us before he finally lay down and closed his eyes. The others quickly followed his lead. We turned the lights off and stayed in the room for a few minutes longer to make sure they actually stayed in their beds. I nodded to the door and motioned for her to follow me, and we carefully went outside and sat down on the front steps.

"Jason was right," I blurted out as we sat down.

"About what?" Ella asked.

"I underestimated you," I said quietly. I hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"I don't know if I should be touched by that or offended," Ella said with a furrowed brow.

"A little of both probably," I admitted. "I've actually been impressed with you so far tonight. The way you've been with those kids…you're much better at this camp counselor thing than I am."

Ella chuckled. "That much is obvious."

I smirked and chuckled lightly. "I deserved that. I really am sorry about…well, all of today. I haven't been very pleasant to you at all."

"It's alright, Nate. Really. I'm used to being underestimated. I mean, I know I don't talk like the most intelligent person on the planet and I say things that seem silly and that I'm not exactly the most talented person at camp so I totally get why people don't expect much from me. Really, it's not a big deal. I just didn't like that you thought of me as an obligation or…an annoyance or something and it made me mad. I shouldn't have bailed on you like that," Ella said with an apologetic smile. "But it's alright. We're good."

My brow furrowed and I shook my head at her. "It is a big deal, Ella. No one, including myself, should make you feel unimportant. You are talented. Even I know that. Those outfits you made for Camp Wars last summer were amazing and you didn't have very much time to put it all together. Honestly, I think everyone is impressed with your talent. It's just that no one really knows how to respond to it…or you. But you know what I'm even more confused by?"

Ella looked away and didn't answer me so I continued with a thought that had been bothering me all night. "You haven't said a single 'Ella-like' thing tonight. I've heard nothing about nail polish, mis-spelled words, or any regrettably bad ideas. I mean no offense, but I'm curious. Is that really you or is that just…an act?"

Ella blushed and ran a hand through her hair. "People don't exactly listen when I talk, Nate. Not only that, but I'm the last person they think will come up with a legitimate idea. So, I just…I give them what they've come to expect from me. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I have some truly ditzy thoughts but I don't usually say them aloud…"

"Unless you're here," I said in understanding.

"It started out as a way to stay under the radar with Tess, you know? I didn't want to be a threat, but…people think of that as me now. So, I'm stuck," She said with a sigh and a shrug. She turned a soft smile on me and chuckled. "But it could be worse, I guess. People could completely shun me and look at me like I'm a giant freak."

"I don't think anyone would mind if you started acting more like yourself, you know," I told her as I smiled softly.

She bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. "You think?"

"It's worth a shot," I told her.

"Thanks, Nate. I appreciate that," Ella said with a sigh and a smile.

"So," I said hesitantly. "What's going on with you and Sander?"

Ella smirked at me and laughed lightly. "Why do you care, Nathaniel?"

"I—I don't," I said as I gulped nervously. That felt like a lie, but I'm not sure why. Did I care? Was I interested in Ella?

"Then it doesn't really matter what's going on with me and Sander, does it?" Ella asked as she continued to smirk.

I bit back a groan as she dodged my question. It did matter. For some reason, it definitely did matter. I gulped and tried again. "You have been hanging out with him an awful lot lately, though."

Ella shrugged. "He's a good guy." She turned and caught my eye before she continued. "Like you."

My head instinctively snapped in her direction. "What?"

She chuckled. "I called you a good guy. It's a compliment, Nate. You know, it's an expression of esteem, respect, affection, or admiration."

I gulped and looked at her expectantly. "Which one were you expressing?"

She suddenly looked nervous and focused on the ground in front of her. "Um, all of them?"

I couldn't help but smirk at that. "Is that so?"

She rolled her eyes and glared at me playfully. "Shut up."

I smiled and scooted closer to her. "Then I guess I should return the niceity."

She chuckled. "You? Nice?"

I grimaced and feigned hurt. "Ouch, Ells."

"Oh, please. You're totally fine," Ella said with a dismissive chuckle.

I grinned at her in amusement. "For the record, Ella, I like you and that includes the real you. I know I haven't always acted that way, but…you're pretty awesome."

Ella blushed and smiled brightly. "Thank you."

"So," I said with a chuckle. "You know a whole song about toast, huh?"

Ella laughed lightly. "My brother taught it to me. I don't know where he learned it, but it never failed to make me laugh."

"The French Toast verse was pretty brilliant, I have to say," I admitted with a small laugh.

"If you think the French Toast verse was good then just wait until you hear the Waffle verse," Ella said with a grin and a wink.

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. It wasn't just the joke. It was also the smug look on her face like she knew she was funny. It was very cute. Ella looked up and her eyes widened excitedly. She hopped up from the front step, and I looked up to find out why. Jason was back.

"You're early! How'd it go?" Ella asked.

Jason looked utterly dejected. I'd never seen him look that miserable. Ever.

"It didn't," He said with a sad sigh.

"What do you mean, bro?" I asked as I stood up as well.

"We ended up fighting and she told me not to talk to her, instead."

Ella smacked his arm and glared at him. "What did you do?"

"Why does it have to be my fault?" Jason asked with a scowl.

"Because you're a boy and boys are dumb," Ella said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Aren't they, Nate?"

I blushed and cleared my throat. She had to bring that up. "Yes, yes we are."

Jason gave me a strange look. He seemed very confused, and who could blame him? I'd made it clear what I thought about my plans for tonight.

"Okay, what happened between the two of you tonight?" He asked.

"Not what we're talking about right now, Gray," Ella said sternly. "What did you do?"

"I don't want to talk about it," He said before he motioned to the cabin. "Are they asleep?"

"Yes," I said with a tired sigh. I nodded before I continued. "They're asleep. How do you deal with them every night?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't talk down to them, I guess. That's what you did, isn't it? You know, that's why I told you to ask Ella for help, right?"

Ella smirked triumphantly at me. "He knows now."

Why did Jason ask me if he knew I would screw it up? Also, I realized I was never going to live this down.

"I just want to go inside and crash," He told us tiredly. "I'll see you both in the morning. Thanks for your help."

"G'night," I said as I patted Jason's shoulder comfortingly and started to walk away. I paused when Ella didn't move. She was just standing there staring at Jason. What was she doing? "Ells, you coming?"

She nodded and then turned back to Jason. She seemed awfully interested in this whole situation. "You're going to fix this, right? I mean whatever it is you did…you'll fix it, won't you?"

"I—I don't know," he answered. "I'm too tired to think about that at the moment."

She bit her bottom lip and then hugged Jason tightly. I knew that Ella and Jason were both huggers, but did she really have to hug Jason? She didn't appear to be letting go anytime soon. Finally Jason smiled weakly and hugged her in return. "Don't give up, Jase. Be honest with her and make it right, okay? Promise?"

He sighed and nodded as he released her. "Promise."

"Good," Ella said brightly. "I'll see you at breakfast."

"Sleep tight, Ella," Jason said with a wink. "Thanks for keeping Nate in line tonight."

Ella blushed and chuckled. "No worries. It was fun."

He winked at her? And she was blushing? Were they actually flirting in front of me? I just spent the whole night covering for Jason as he made a move on Caitlyn and he was flirting with Ella? At least that's what it looked like to me, and I didn't like it one bit.

"Ells," I said as I huffed impatiently and glared at Jason. "Come on."

She didn't turn to face me and had some sort of silent exchange with Jason before she responded. It bugged me. A lot.

"I'm coming, dude. Keep your shirt on." She paused and then turned to face me. "Actually, I take that back."

My eyes widened and I blushed furiously. She smirked with pride and then skipped over to me triumphantly. She appeared to be enjoying my reaction quite a bit. I didn't say anything as we started walking again. I honestly didn't know what to say.

"Nate?" She asked after a minute. She smiled at me. "I was expecting you to laugh or throw some sarcastic remark at me. That comment was totally cute, right?"

"Yeah, cute," I muttered.

Her brow furrowed. "Are you okay?"

"Do you just like to flirt? Cause you seem to flirt with a lot of guys," I snapped. I regretted it immediately.

She flinched and then glared at me. "Well, I know one guy I won't be flirting with anymore."

She briskly walked ahead of me and didn't once look back. I groaned and chased after her. "Ella. Ella, wait."

"God, Nate," She said as she turned to face me. "What suddenly crawled up your butt and died? We were having a pretty good time until just now."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. No over thinking this time. I should just say whatever crosses my mind. That might be the only way to fix this. "You have a sort-of thing with Sander. You were flirting with my brother. And…I thought you were flirting with me. But now, I don't know what you think is flirting and what you think is just…friendly."

"Okay, first of all, since when are you interested?" Ella asked. "Second of all, I do not have a 'sort-of' thing with Sander. He's trying to make a move on Lola and I've been helping him make her jealous. Third, there are different levels of flirting. What I was doing with Jase was technically flirting, but it was harmless. It's the sort of flirting girls do when they know a guy friend has had a bad day. It helps. Mitchie's done that to you. I've seen it. And fourth, I was flirting with you, Nate, and it wasn't harmless."

"It wasn't?" I asked after a moment of confused silence.

She sighed and glared at me. "No, it wasn't, but I'm not sure I actually want to flirt with you anymore. You're awfully moody."

She started to walk away and I did the first thing that came to mind. I grabbed her arm. "Stop. Don't leave."

She slowly turned to face me. "What?"

"I didn't answer your question."

"My question?" She asked in confusion.

"The whole 'since when are you interested' thing," I repeated.

"Nate—"

"Since today, apparently," I interrupted her. "Maybe before. It's hard to tell when you're as much of an idiot as I am."

She cracked a small smile at that. "You're not an idiot. You're just…a boy."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I feel like that's all I've said tonight."

Ella laughed softly. "You are starting to sound like a bit of a broken record."

"Was that flirting?" I asked cautiously.

This time she laughed loudly and stepped closer to me. "Yes, Nate. It was."

"The harmless kind?" I asked worriedly.

She took another step closer and grinned at me. "No."

We exchanged goofy smiles for a long moment before she held out her hand to me and winked.

"Walk me to my cabin, Apology Boy?"

I chuckled and slipped my hand into hers. "I'd be happy to."

She blushed as I laced my fingers through hers and I couldn't help but think she looked absolutely beautiful. We slowly made our way down the path to her cabin. Neither of us said very much. We just kept exchanging smiles.

"Nate?" Ella asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"If I'd started acting like, well, me earlier than tonight do you think…do you think this would have happened a lot sooner?"

She looked very curious and sort of sad so I knew I had to answer truthfully. I took a deep breath and squeezed her hand. "Honestly? I think this would have happened a lot sooner if I'd tried a little harder to get to know you."

Ella smiled softly at me and shrugged. "I guess the important thing is that…tonight happened at all."

The steps of the cabin she shared with the girls came into view and a sinking feeling suddenly appeared in my chest. This night was going to be over soon. That was the last thing I wanted.

"Wait," I said as I stopped walking. The force of me not walking pulled Ella backwards and into my chest.

"Oh," She said as we lightly collided. "Sorry."

"My fault," I said with a small smile.

Ella gulped before looking shyly up at me. "Hi."

I smiled at her in amusement and hesitantly wrapped my arms around her waist. "Hi."

"You wanted me to wait on something?" Ella asked softly as she slowly wrapped her arms around my neck.

I nodded and leaned toward her. "I need to ask you something."

"Yes?" Ella asked.

"I was wondering if we could have lunch alone together tomorrow," I said as I took a fortifying breath.

She smiled brightly at me. "As in a date?"

I nodded. "Yes, as in a date."

"I would love to," Ella said eagerly. "Yes."

I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at her. "Good. I was hoping that would be your answer."

"Now," Ella said with a grin. "I need to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"Are you gonna kiss me or not?" Ella asked expectantly.

I chuckled at her, but I was actually sort of terrified. I wanted to kiss her, but that would be a definite game changer for both of us. "I—Ella…"

"Yes?" She asked as she nervously bit her bottom lip.

I smiled softly at her. I would bet anything that biting her bottom lip was her nervous habit. She'd done that several times that night. I already found it adorable, but in that moment it reminded me of why I was taking a chance on Ella to begin with. There was so much more to her than I'd realized, and I wanted to learn everything I could about her. At this moment, I felt like I couldn't get enough. At some point during this realization I'd leaned closer to her. My lips were hovering just over hers. My eyes connected with hers and she smirked before she fisted my shirt collar in her hands and pulled me the rest of the way. I made a surprised noise as the distance between us was closed, and Ella pulled back to smirk at me.

"There," She said. "Was that so bad?"

I quirked a brow at her. That could not be the end of that kiss. It had barely started. "Oh, we're not finished yet."

Before she could say anything else I leaned toward her and kissed her lips. My hands tightened around her waist as she started to respond. This was a chance that was going to be well worth it if this kiss was any indication. Her hands tightened around my collar and she pulled me as close as she could. I smiled against her lips before I deepened the kiss. At least I knew she was enjoying this as well.

"Hey!" A voice called from the doorway of the girls' cabin. We stopped kissing but I didn't want to turn to face the voice, and apparently neither did Ella. She huffed and gave me an apologetic look. The voice continued. "Okay, lovebirds, you've had your fun. Nate, can I please borrow Ella? I need her more than you do right now."

Ella reluctantly turned to face the voice and shook her. "Good lord, Caitlyn. What happened? Jason was so miserable that he didn't even have the energy to tell us, and you sound like you're about to murder someone."

"I am about to murder someone," Caitlyn said angrily. "Jason. God, Nate, why is your brother such an idiot?"

My eyes widened when Caitlyn acknowledged me. I had no idea how to respond to that and I really didn't want to. "Um, I'm not sure, but I think it runs in the family."

Ella smirked at me and nudged my side. "Sad, but true."

I rolled my eyes at her and grinned. "Funny."

She laughed and reached for my hand again. "I thought so."

"Yes," Caitlyn said as she rolled her eyes. "You're both adorable but seriously, Ella, I need to talk."

Ella nodded and sighed. "Okay, I'm coming. I'll be there in a minute. Promise."

"Good," Caitlyn said as she turned and went back inside the cabin.

Ella turned back to me and smiled softly. "Sorry about that."

I shrugged. It really wasn't that big of a deal. "It's alright. Believe me, I understand."

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Ella said as she squeezed my hand.

"Definitely," I said with a nod. "Good night, Ells."

"Good night, Nate," She said with a grin as she leaned up on her tip toes and kissed me quickly. She winked at me as she pulled away. "Thank you. Tonight was wonderful."

She ran back to her cabin before I could respond and then turned when she reached the door to wave at me. Peaceful and uneventful seemed like the sort of summer I wanted, but I was beginning to think I was wrong. Getting to know Ella would be anything but peaceful and uneventful and the more I thought about it the more I realized…

I was completely okay with that. I had a feeling I was in for an awfully big adventure, and I couldn't wait.