A/N: The finalists for the Indie CR Awards were announced yesterday! Thank you to everyone who voted! I'm a finalist in several categories! The categories I'm a finalist in are:

Best Nate/Ella

Best Jason/Ella

Best Nate

Best Ella

Best Jason

Best Romance

Best Drama

Best Friendship

Best Adventure

Best Full Story

Best One Shot

Count On Me is nominated in a few of those categories! So please go vote! Here's the link:

ow(dot)ly/5wIre

You'll also be able to find it on my profile!

Also a big thanks to Poet on the Run (Beth) for helping me out with this! She really got me majorly unstuck at the end of this story!

Happy Reading!

Angellwings

Worst Day Ever

By angellwings

"I just don't understand you, Ella."

"Clearly," Ella responded in a biting tone.

"Eleanor Billie Pador, you watch your tone."

Ella bit back a groan and rolled her eyes. She hunched down in her chair and put her phone on speaker. Her ear was starting to hurt from the pressure of the phone. She'd only been arguing with her mother for the last half hour.

"Mom, it's not that I don't want to come home for the weekend. I just can't," Ella said with a huff.

"Why not?"

"I told you. I have events all weekend. My schedule is packed."

"I will never forgive these rock stars for monopolizing your time. I swear, since you've started working for them I haven't seen you."

"I'm sorry, mother, but I don't make my own schedule. And it's not just the rock stars that are taking up my time. I'm working with other clients now too. I've got actresses and musicians and authors. My career is finally starting to take off. I'd think you'd be happy for me. Considering how eager you were for me to actually use my degree," Ella told her. "I've got a salary. A real salary. I thought this was what you wanted?"

"I want to actually have a daughter," her mother answered. "And right now, I don't."

"Excuse me?" Ella asked angrily. "God! You are driving me crazy. If I'm not working then I should be. If I am working then I shouldn't be. What the hell do you want from me?"

"Ella! Language!"

Ella let out a frustrated growl. "I'm hanging up now, mother. I'll call you…sometime."

"Don't you dare hang up until we've talked this out."

"I have a meeting! You know, work? I have responsibilities and I have to go," Ella snapped. "Please, don't call me for the rest of the day."

Ella hung up her phone and then angrily knocked a stack of folders off of her desk. She walked over to one of her chairs, picked up the pink flowery accent pillow that was resting in it, and buried her face in it to let out a long frustrated scream. She groaned and threw the pillow across the room. She was having a terrible day. She'd been late to work, lost all of her measurements for her new clients, and missed her lunch because of a ridiculous argument with her mother. Now she was starving, but couldn't do anything about it because she had a meeting with Connect Three about their upcoming tour.

There was a knock on her office door and Ella stomped to the door and ripped it open. "What?"

"Whoa, Ells, should I come back later?"

Ella winced and sighed. "Sorry, I'm sorry, Nate."

"Are you okay?"

"My mother called. Again." Ella said with a huff as she grabbed her purse. "Am I late for the meeting?"

Nate gave her a sympathetic glance. "Just a little bit. But Lexa's covering for us. She's asking lots of questions she already knows the answers to."

Ella gave him a strained smile. "Lexa…your new song writing partner. Right?"

"And our opening act for the tour."

"Oh. So, you'll be spending three months straight with her then?" Ella asked as she nervously cleared her throat.

"Yes, and it's going to be great. It will give us plenty of time to finish all the songs for her album," Nate said with an excited nod.

"Good," Ella said with a sigh before she forced a smile. "So, I'll finally get to meet her then?"

"Sure, I was actually thinking we could all go out to dinner after work," Nate said brightly. "The guys, Caitllyn, Mitchie, Lexa, and you. Are you up for it?"

Ella smiled and nodded. "And you." He mentioned her last. Like she was an afterthought. For the past two weeks all Nate had wanted to talk about was this Lexa person, and on top of that he'd actually been cheerful the last couple of weeks. He'd never been cheerful because of her. She'd thought she was getting somewhere with Nate, but apparently this Lexa person had beaten her to the punch.

"Um, sure. I mean I don't want to intrude or anything, though."

Nate's brow furrowed as they reached the conference room and he gave her an odd look. "Intrude? What are you talking about? Ells, you could never intrude."

"It's just, you and Lexa seem awfully close, you know?" Ella said hesitantly as Nate reached for the door knob.

"We're friends, Ella. We work well together, that's all," He said as he gave her a thoughtful look. "Now, come on, let's go to this meeting."

"Right," Ella said with a nod. "The meeting."

"I do want to finish this conversation later, though," Nate said with a small smile. "Okay?"

Ella gulped nervously. "Um, okay."

Nate opened the door and led Ella to their seats quietly. A tall, slender blonde woman sat on Nate's other side. She looked like a super model. Ella would know since she used to work with them frequently, but on top of that she was graceful and beautiful. That had to be Lexa. It was just Ella's luck.

"Don't you think the schedule would become slightly obstreperous if we did meet and greets before every show?"

Ella's eyes widened and she glanced across the table at Caitlyn. Caitlyn smirked and mouthed the word "obstreperous" and then grimaced. Ella held back a laugh, but quickly silenced it at the disappointed look Nate threw her way. She mouthed an apology at him.

So, Lexa had a rather large vocabulary too. And Nate was disappointed in her for making fun of that. Perfect.

Today was one of those days where she couldn't seem to do anything right. The meeting finally ended and Nate wasted no time introducing Lexa.

"Lexa, this is my friend Ella and Ella this is my new song writing partner, Lexa," Nate said with a smile.

"Hi," Ella said as she forced a bright smile and stuck her hand out for Lexa to shake. "Nate's told me a lot about you."

Lexa smiled and nodded. "He's told me an awful lot about you too."

"I hope it was all good," Ella said with a chuckle.

"Trust me, it's all been very good," Lexa said as she gave Nate a knowing look.

"Okay," Nate said quickly. "I think that's enough girl talk for now. Save something to talk about over dinner."

"Speaking of," Caitlyn said. "I'm starving. Where are we eating?"

"Lexa's choice," Nate said as he turned and smiled at the blonde. "Where do you want to go?"

"My choice?" Lexa asked in surprise. "Why me?"

"You're the guest of honor, Lex," Nate told her.

"Well, there's a sushi place down the street that I really like," Lexa said excitedly.

Ella tried very hard not to react. She hated sushi. She would never understand how raw fish could be appetizing. Caitlyn gave Ella an apologetic glance as everyone else agreed. Ella pasted on a pleasant smile and waited for Nate to say something. He knew Ella hated sushi. Surely he would suggest something else.

"Okay, sushi it is, I guess," Nate said as he held open the conference room door for Lexa. He smiled warmly at the girl and then turned a regretful one on Ella. As she walked through the door in front of him he whispered, "Sorry, I know you don't like sushi, but…its Lexa's favorite."

Ella sighed and shrugged. "It's okay, really. I'll just fill up on tea and soup and then pick something up on my way home."

When they arrived at the restaurant somehow Lexa ended up sitting in between Nate and Ella. She didn't get to eat, she didn't get to go home, and she didn't get to sit next to Nate. She really just wanted to go home, forget about Nate and Lexa and take a hot bath. But if she went home Nate would think she didn't like Lexa, and he would lecture her tomorrow about how rude she was to his new friend. So, Ella stayed. She had hot tea and soup and tried to keep up with the conversation, but Nate and Lexa were talking about complicated melodies, perfectly tuned guitars, and what key they each sounded best singing in. These were things Ella knew very little about. She hadn't really played around with music or musical instruments since their Camp Rock days.

Eventually she gave up and slumped back in her chair. She honestly felt like crying. It had been a long rough day, and this wasn't helping. Instead she jumped into Caitlyn and Shane's argument over Vans verses Converses. It was clothing related. She could handle that. Plus, it did manage to distract her from Nate and Lexa for a bit.

But only for a bit.

Lexa announced that she just had to go home. She had an early morning the next day and needed her sleep. She moved to stand from the table and Nate pulled out Lexa's chair for her and then walked her out to her car. Ella huffed and buried her face in her hands once they were gone.

"Ella?" Caitlyn asked. "You okay?"

Ella shook her head. "No, I…I think I'm getting a head ache. I should probably go home. I'll see you guys later."

She waved goodbye to everyone else and left the restaurant. Was this going to be the trend now? Nate ignoring her for Lexa? If tonight was any indication then the answer was yes.

She wasn't normally a jealous person. She just wasn't possessive by nature. She liked to share.

But she certainly didn't want to share Nate. She didn't mind him having fans. His fans didn't really know him personally. And she didn't mind him having friends that were girls. He usually treated them differently than her. But Lexa…

He was acting a lot like a boyfriend for the two of them to truly just be friends like he claimed. He was being too much of a gentleman. He didn't treat Caitlyn or Mitchie like that. Hell, he barely even treated her like that. So why was Lexa so different?

"Ella!" A voice suddenly called. She turned to find Nate and Lexa both beaming at her from the driver side door of Lexa's car.

"Are you leaving already?" Nate asked curiously as she hesitantly approached them.

Ella nodded. "Yeah, it's been a rough day."

Nate's brow furrowed. "Rough day? What do you mean?"

Ella massaged both of her temples before she answered him in a waspish tone. "What do I mean? God, Nate…let's see, shall we? My mother thinks I'm the worst daughter on the planet, I didn't get to eat lunch, work did not go my way today, I was forced to come out with all of you to a sushi restaurant, and on top of that you've practically ignored me all night long…for her." Ella winced and then turned to Lexa. "No offense. I'm sure you're a lovely person."

Lexa's eyes widened and she gave Ella a kind smile. "None taken."

"I just…I want to go home where I don't have to watch you fall all over yourself for someone else," Ella snapped as she quickly walked past the couple to her car. "Good night. I will see you both tomorrow."

She fumbled through her purse until she found her keys. Just as she pulled her keys out of her purse the strap of her bag slipped off her shoulder and the contents of her purse spilled onto the road beside her car. She let out her second frustrated scream of the day before crouching down to pick everything up. She made a disgusted face as she realized everything had fallen into a puddle of murky grey water. Once again, she was suddenly hit with the urge to break down and cry.

"Worst. Day. Ever," She mumbled to herself with a sniffle. She salvaged what she could from her bag and threw it into the backseat of her car. She crouched down again to pick up her actual purse, but another pair of hands got to it first. She stood up slowly and looked up to find Nate brushing off the leather tote bag as best he could.

"So," He said as he handed her the bag. "You're having a bad day?"

There was a teasing smirk on his lips and the minute she saw it she felt a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She sniffled and chuckled before wiping the unshed tears out of her eyes. "Shut up."

His face suddenly grew serious as he looked her in the eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," She said before she covered her face with her hands. She could feel more tears coming and she wasn't sure she'd be able to stop them this time. Her shoulders began to shake with silent sobs and she let out a low whine. God, why couldn't she have made it into the safety of her car before this happened?

Before she really knew what she was doing she had wrapped her arms tightly around Nate. It took Nate a minute or two before he realized what was happening. He returned the embrace and Ella felt one of his hands on the back of her head and the other on her lower back. He was stroking her hair with one hand and rubbing soft soothing circles on her back with the other while she cried into his chest.

"Hey," Nate whispered as she cried. "Ells? It's okay. The day's over. You can start a new one tomorrow."

That did her in even more. Now she wasn't just crying over her bad day. Nate was letting her cry all over him, and he didn't seem bothered in the least. He was holding her in the middle of the sidewalk while she sobbed. She was sure that someone somewhere could see them, but he didn't appear to care about that. Lexa better know just how lucky she was. She was getting a truly amazing guy. Breathing suddenly became more difficult as one single thought struck her.

She was going to lose him. He was going to go away on tour with Lexa and her blonde hair and long legs and they were going to spend hours alone together writing amazing hit songs and using obnoxiously big words. He was going to fall in love with Lexa and leave her behind. He would never stop to do this for her ever again. She could hear herself muttering fragments of words that even she didn't understand. But breathing was nearly impossible now. She was making horribly unattractive gasping noises as she cried. Nate continued to rub soothing circles on her lower back.

"Ella," He said softly. "Please breathe. It's going to be okay. I promise."

She forced herself to take one big breath and then exhale slowly. "Y—you can't."

"Can't what?" He asked. She felt every one of his muscles relax as her breathing evened out.

"You can't promise that," Ella said as tears continued to fall.

"Why not?" He asked.

She sniffled as the tears began to slow down. "Because you can't stop things from changing, Nate. Sooner or later something will change between us or between you and someone else and then when that does…you're not going to need me anymore. "

Nate's brow furrowed and he shook his head. "Wait, Ella, what's going to change? What are you talking about?"

"You and Lexa," Ella said as if it were obvious. "I mean she's perfect. It makes sense. I'm so far from perfect that it's not even funny. I can't plan my time as well as I should, I don't make a habit of reading the dictionary, my mother thinks I'm inconsiderate and selfish, I don't look like some sort of Amazon princess, and if you tried to talk to me about how to tune a guitar you'd lose me in two seconds flat. I have no focus and when I do have focus apparently I don't focus on the right things. She's just…so much better than me."

"Ella, I—"

"No, really, I…I should have seen this coming, you know? I'll be fine. Just please promise me you won't forget about me when you fall in love with Lexa and have two-point-five kids and a dog and a cat and a picket fence. I'm not picky. A text message every couple weeks is fine," Ella said as she looked down at Nate's shirt and avoided his eyes. "That's all I ask."

Ella's brow furrowed when she noticed Nate's chest shaking. She slowly glanced up at his face and was shocked and confused to see him laughing harder than she'd ever seen him laugh before. As she watched him the laughter grew louder. He shook his head at her and pulled her to him as he continued to laugh. He held her tightly against him and leaned against the side of her car. She stood there in total confusion for several minutes as he laughed hysterically.

"Nate?" She asked sheepishly. "What's so funny?"

He stopped and smiled brightly at her. "You."

"Me? I don't really think I said anything amusing," Ella said thoughtfully.

He laughed softly again. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"I guess not," She said with a shrug. "I'm totally lost."

"For someone as talented as you are you can be a real idiot sometimes, do you know that?" Nate asked as he tightened his arms around her once again.

"I—what?" Ella asked in confusion.

Instead of answering her Nate suddenly lowered his lips to hers. Ella let out a surprised noise that was muffled against Nate's mouth. He pressed her against the side of her car as he deepened the kiss. Ella let out whimper as she parted her lips. Her hands made their way up his arms, over his shoulders, and then dove into his curls. It was an instinctual reaction that she couldn't have stopped even if she'd wanted to. He was kissing her so deeply and with so much passion that Ella knew this was the kiss. It was the kiss she would remember for the rest of her life. It certainly beat any other kiss she'd had before this one. She knew that much for sure. She felt Nate's tongue run across her bottom lip and sighed happily. This was definitely the best kiss she'd ever experienced.

They pulled apart and Nate hugged her to him and placed one light kiss on her neck just below her jawline. "If anything changes, Ells, it won't have anything to do with Lexa. That I can promise."