A/N: For LaPaige's prompt challenge; #81: New Year.

The Morning After

By angellwings

Ella slowly opened her eyes. She had no idea where she was. She'd never seen this room before. She glanced around curiously. It was mostly neat with the exception of a few items of clothing that were scattered around the floor. There was a gray suit jacket, a pair of black pumps, a black belt, something that resembled an untied bow tie, and a pair of men's dress shoes. The only thing she recognized as hers were the pumps.

She placed her head back on the pillows and looked up at the ceiling. She suddenly recognized that something heavy was lying across her stomach. She looked down at her stomach to find a very obviously male arm resting there. It was lazily stretched across her, almost possessively.

She bit her bottom lip and took a calming breath. This was not good. Did she do something really stupid last night? She couldn't exactly remember. Everything was fuzzy. She remembered being at Nate's New Year's Eve party. He had the biggest home of all of them so he'd offered to host a party. Though she had a feeling he regretted it. Everything had started to go crazy very early on in the evening. She blamed the alcohol.

Everyone except Nate and Jason had at least been tipsy last night. Well, Nate might have gotten slightly inebriated once they reached his home, but still she remembered him being the second most sober person at the party. She tried very hard to remember where she was. She remembered Tess and Luke screaming at each other and Jason cutting Caitlyn off from the champagne, but other than that she couldn't recall much.

She exhaled again and looked down at the bed. She was under the covers. That could be bad. Although, she was pretty sure she still had her party dress on. She stuck a hand under the covers and felt her waist just to make sure.

Yes, she still had on her dress. Okay, that was good. That was very good. More than likely nothing had happened that was half as bad as what she'd feared at first. It served Ella right for letting herself get carried away with the alcohol. Champagne always hit her hard, and she knew she'd had way too much of it last night.

If she hadn't had too much of it then she wouldn't be in a strange bed with a strange man. She fearfully slid her gaze to the person resting next to her and her eyes widened.

Or maybe not so strange.

Nate. She was in bed next to Nate. And this was probably his room which meant this was his bed. She was lying next to Nate in his bed. This was bad. This had to be bad, right? He stirred and extended his arm even further across her body. His hand wrapped around her and pulled her closer. She let out a soft squeak as she was forced onto her side and pressed against his chest. His shirtless chest.

Why wasn't Nate wearing a shirt?

Her arms were crushed between herself and his bare chest. She couldn't seem to make herself move or even blink. Heck, she was having a hard time breathing too. Oh, God, he smelled really good. His cologne was all she could smell. The longer he held her there the more she felt herself relax. She snuggled into him a bit. He was warm and being close to him made her feel…safe and comforted. She carefully slid her arms around his chest. She felt her eyes begin to drift closed and she sighed contentedly.

Maybe this wasn't so bad. It was actually kind of nice…

"Ella?" Nate asked in a soft groggy tone.

"H—hey Nate," She said as her face flushed. Of course, he would wake up just as she was getting cuddly and comfortable. "I don't know how I ended up in here."

He yawned and rubbed her back lightly. "You passed out."

"I did?"

"Well, first, you nearly made out with Luke Williams then you passed out."

"What?"

"He and Tess had a fight—"

"Yeah, that I remember."

"And then he, sort of, cornered you in the kitchen and you know how you get when you've had large quantities of champagne—"

"Giggly and stupid?"

He gave her a stern glare, "Ella."

"What? I didn't say I was stupid all the time. Just after a lot of champagne," Ella said with a huff.

He sighed. "Anyway, you didn't quite realize what he was trying to do and I found you just as Luke started to kiss you."

She grimaced. "Ew."

Nate laughed lightly at that. "My sentiments exactly. I pulled him off of you and then dragged you upstairs to get you as far away from him as I could and then—"

"And then I passed out?" She said as she cut him off.

He hesitated and looked away from her before he spoke up quietly. "…yeah, then you passed out."

He untangled himself from her arms and sat up in the bed. She frowned as he put several inches in between them. She sighed and sat up, and instantly regretted it. She groaned and winced in pain.

"Headache?" Nate asked.

She whined pathetically as she nodded. She rested her head on his shoulder and he almost immediately pulled away. He quickly stood from the bed and grabbed his white t-shirt off the floor.

"I'll get you coffee and some aspirin. Then we'll see what we can do about breakfast," Nate told her as he slid the shirt over his head.

He sounded…off. Rushed, frantic, scared, and…guilty. None of the things Nate normally was. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," He said too quickly.

"Nate…"

"Really, I'm okay. Don't worry, Ella."

"But…you don't sound fine. You sound—Nate, are you not telling me something? Did something happen last night that you're leaving out?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "Ella, let it be."

"No!" She exclaimed. She grimaced afterward and rubbed her temples. The next time she spoke her voice was much softer. "Something happened, and it's bothering you."

"There are a lot of things about last night that are bothering me," He muttered remorsefully.

She opened her mouth to speak but he held up a hand to stop her.

"Later, Ella. We'll talk about this later. Right now, we both need coffee and aspirin."

She placed one foot on the floor and Nate immediately knelt beside of her and placed a hand on her knee to stop her. She gave him a questioning look. He gently wrapped his other hand around her ankle and lifted her leg back onto the bed and tucked it back under the covers. Ella gasped at the feeling of his callused hands on her leg and the way his fingers accidently skimmed her calf as he pulled away. Their gazed locked for a long moment before Nate spoke.

"No, stay in the bed. I'll bring them to you," Nate whispered hoarsely.

She bit her bottom lip and nodded mutely. He cast one more glance at her before he left the bedroom. Ella released a slow quivering breath.

"What was that?" She mumbled to herself with a gulp.

Nate couldn't stop slamming things around as he prepared the coffee. He slammed the mugs as he set them down on the counter, he slammed the lid closed on the top of the coffee maker, he slammed the refrigerator door closed as he pulled out the creamer…he just couldn't stop.

He was mad. He was mad at Luke. He was mad at Ella. He was mad at Jason. He was mad at himself. He was mad at Luke for trying to use Ella to get back at Tess. He was mad at Ella for letting herself get carried away with the champagne. He was made at Jason for not stopping Nate from having a little too much champagne himself.

And he was mad at himself for lying to Ella. For taking advantage of her the night before. For being stupid and believing that maybe she'd remembered some of the things they'd confessed. He was mad that he let himself believe it was real.

The reality of the situation was quite clear to him now.

Ella had been drunk. She said a lot of things she didn't really mean, and he'd taken them seriously. How had he been that naïve?

Even worse than Ella saying things she didn't mean…was how he'd reacted to her words. He felt as if he'd taken advantage of her in her weakened state. She'd had no idea what she was doing…

Even if she did kiss him back. He'd put a stop to things just before they went too far, but still…things had gotten pretty intimate. He felt like a jackass. He'd stopped because he knew Ella was too drunk to properly think about her actions, and he was grateful for that. But the fact that he'd let things go as far as they did made him feel like scum. He blamed it on his own champagne overload. Granted he wasn't as wasted as Ella, but he'd be lying if he said the alcohol didn't influence his actions just a little.

"Nate?"

He spun around to find Ella standing in the kitchen doorway. He shook his head at her. "I thought I told you to stay in the bed."

"You did."

"And?"

She shrugged. "I didn't."

He rolled his eyes. "I see that."

"And I saw you slamming things. Nate, what is wrong?" Ella asked in concern. "You're awfully angry right now."

"It's nothing—"

"Stop lying to me. It is not nothing. You don't get upset over nothing. I know you, Nate."

"You don't want to know," He said sadly as he scooted her coffee toward her.

"Yes, I do," She said as she picked up the mug and took a sip.

"You'll hate me the way I hate myself right now," He admitted sullenly.

"Nate," She said softly as she put a hand on his arm. "I could never hate you. I hope you know that."

"I don't know, El. This is pretty bad."

Her eyes widened. "Nate…did we…I mean I know I woke up next to you and all, but I was still in my dress. I just assumed that we didn't, but…did we?"

"No, no we didn't, but…"

"But what? You're freaking me out right now."

He let out a nervous breath. "We came close."

Her breath caught in her throat. "We—we did?"

"Yeah, I lied to you before. You did pass out but not until after we had a bit of a talk and then…well, you know."

Her brow furrowed. "What did we talk about?"

"Us, we talked about us."

She gasped and brought a hand to her mouth. "Oh, God. What did I say? Was it humiliating? Did I tell you about the time I watched you sleep in your dressing room? Because I swear I'm usually not a creeper, but you just looked so adorable and I couldn't help it."

His eyes widened and he smirked a little. "No, no you didn't mention that. You did mention that you're the one responsible for stealing my Yankees cap though."

She blushed. "Yeah, I should probably give that back."

He took a deep breath. "We said a lot of things last night, and now…now I don't know what was real and what was…"

"The alcohol?" Ella asked sadly.

He nodded. "I know I meant what I said. But you were a little further gone than me and I can't be sure that everything you said was completely accurate"

She cursed under her breath. "Nate?"

"Yeah?"

"Do me a favor and keep me away from champagne from now on, okay?"

"Okay."

She stepped closer to him and put down her coffee. His breathing sped up as she brought a hand to his cheek and caressed it softly. "I hate that I did this to you. You're all twisted up in knots and it's my fault."

"It's not your fault—"

"Yes, it is. I shouldn't have needed alcohol to tell you how I feel. If I'd been brave enough to tell you while I was sober you wouldn't me torturing yourself right now."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"I—I'm positive that whatever I said to you last night was completely true. I wish I'd said it while I was sober so I could remember. I can't say I've ever fantasized about saying those things to you while I was drunk. I, sort of, hoped that when ever I finally worked up the nerve to tell you I loved you I'd remember it, you know?" She said sadly as her thumb lightly traced back and forth across his cheek.

He smiled brightly at her. "Ella—"

"No, really, I hate myself for this Nate. I lost a really amazing moment, and now…now you think I don't actually feel any of what I said. Which couldn't be further from the truth—"

"Ella," He said in a firm tone as he grinned at her.

"What?"

He chuckled. "You said a lot of things last night, but not once did you say you loved me."

"I—I…what?"

He laughed softly and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You said you had feelings for me, you said you'd had these feelings for years, and that you wanted nothing more than to be with me, but you never said you loved me."

"I didn't? But…but—really?"

"Really."

"So, then I just said that for the first time?"

He nodded. "And you're sober."

She blushed. "Oh."

He pried her hand from his cheek and kissed her palm gently. "I love you too."

She beamed at him. "You do?"

"I really do."

Nate's back hit the counter behind him as Ella jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. Before he could really react her lips were on his and she was kissing him eagerly. He tightened his arms around her and pulled her as close as he could. Ella's tongue pressed against his teeth and he groaned softly before he deepened the kiss. She let out a light happy hum as they pulled apart.

"I think my headache is gone," She said as her fingers slipped into his hair.

"Oh yeah? I wonder why that is," He said with as he grinned coyly at her.

"This might be the best hangover ever," Ella said with a quiet giggle.

He laughed. "I don't think that's a difficult thing to accomplish, Ella. Hangover's aren't usually pleasant."

She smacked his arm playfully. "Oh, shut up and kiss me again."

"If you insist."

She pulled his face close to hers and her lips hovered above his. "I insist."