Disclaimer: I own nothing but my inspiration.
An Advisement: This is a sequel to my story "He Tried" and it might be a good idea to read it first, but I think this one can stand alone. Those of yall who haven't read HT, though, do need to know this: HT takes place during the wedding and the reception of Eric and Calleigh. In HT, Ryan is upset because he's in love with Calleigh. He winds up at the open bar with a visibly upset Natalia at the end of the night. This one takes place the morning after.
Author Note: This is for the awesome Lisa for helping me with HT and other stories. You are my hero, girlie!

Ryan rolled over and groaned as the sun hit his eyes.

The pounding in his head grew worse as the night before came back to him in flashes.

The church.

The reception.

Beer.

Lots of beer.

Natalia.

Natalia, crying.

Natalia, crying on his shoulder.

Natalia, crying on his shoulder, him walking her to her hotel room.

A kiss.

Shit.

Ryan sat up and ran a hand through his hair. He started to work up a good panic before he spotted Natalia sitting out on the balcony.

He took a big breath and forgot about panicking. This was Natalia - his friend. She'd understand, right? If anyone could, it'd be her, right? He sighed and watched her take a sip from a coffee mug, not completely reassured, but it wasn't like there was anything he could do about it from here.

Ryan stood slowly; his hangover was still affecting his balance. He found the bathroom and retrieved some sweatpants from the closet. They were too big, but better than nothing. He found his undershirt on the couch and pulled it over his head as he walked out on the balcony.

If Natalia had noticed him moving around she didn't say anything. She kept staring out on the ocean even as Ryan sat down in the chair beside her.

"Natalia -"

"You'll want to take those aspirin first," she interrupted, nodding towards two pills on the table next to another mug. "I got you some coffee, but it's probably cool by now."

"That's okay," he said before taking the pills.

Hungover and tired, Ryan wasn't eager to discuss the night before, but, as his father had told him more than once, sometimes you just gotta suck it up.

"Natalia," he started again and then stopped, testing to see if she'd let him go on this time. She remained still. "About last night…," he paused for a second not really sure where to go from here.

A second was long enough. "Ryan," she said, shaking her head, "just don't." She turned and gave him an attempted smile that came out more like a grimace. "Just don't."

They sat there for a while, watching the waves crashing onto the beach. It was almost midday, yet the beach was nearly empty.

Ryan finished his coffee and watched her. She looked so… defeated. He wasn't sure if it was due to him or the wedding or something else entirely.

She sighed. "It's okay, you know. We both just, we had too much to drink at the bar and with what happened… who could blame us? We both just needed human contact or something, or maybe we were both just too wasted to know what we wanted. But whatever it was, it's okay; it didn't mean anything."

Ryan took all this in before replying. "Natalia, I don't know how you expect me to respond to that, 'cause it did mean something. You're one of my best friends and what happened last night, it meant something to me. Now, I don't know where that leaves us or where we go from here. But you're my friend and I can see that you're hurting. I'd like to be there for you, if you'll let me."

"Ryan, it's not your fault. You weren't the one who… And what if you can't, Ryan? What then? Where does that leave us?" she replied, shaking her head.

"I don't know, but I know I'll never forgive myself if I don't try. You've been a good friend to me through some really rough months and I was an idiot not to see you were hurting too. I owe you the try."

Ryan watched Natalia turn back to the ocean, he could almost see her brain turning over and over what he said, trying to figure out if he was serious, and what if he was?

There was a moment there where she turned back to look at him and he was looking at her and there was something behind her eyes, something that was there and like a flash it was gone with something else returning, something more bright and not near so guarded. He could tell it scared her, what was bright and what was gone, but slowly she said, "Okay."

Looking closer, he could see what was bright in her eyes – hope.

He smiled. "Okay."

fin.