Dianna and Dan sat on a table alone, Dianna playing with the ribbon of the table pieces out of boredom, Dan starring at her hands conjuring something, anything up to say. Dianna's eyes were not on him, they were across the room in the other corner. Natalie and Henry sat close together, talking so close they were almost forehead to forehead. Dianna smiles sadly at them and turns to Dan.

"They love each other so much." Dan can't smile at this. It's hard to see love in others when he has lost his own. He sighs looking at them.

"I sometimes forget to worry about her" He says simply. "i know that sounds awful, but its true."

"No." Dianna says giving him a small smile. "I get it. We get so caught up in our own lives, our own issues, we forget about her."

Dan looks down at his hands in guilt, then back towards Henry. "I should watch him more. I don't know anything about him. Not really. He seems like a nice kid, but…. I should protect her more then i…"

"He loves her" Dianna says, placing her hand on top of Dans. "I can tell. He's been there when she's cried and i'm too distracted with…." She pauses and takes a deep breath. Moments like these make Gabe come back to her, but not Gabe as a baby. Gabe as the teenager she had created in her mind.

"…He acknowledges her emotions before any of us see it." Dianna smiles.

"But how do you know. Really?"

"I haven't been much of a mother to her….But its mothers instinct. He's good for her." Dianna takes her hands off Dans and goes back to stare at Henry and Natalie who have disappeared from their table.

"Did you mean what you said?"

"What?" Henry says standing at Natalie's bedroom door as she sits on her bed ad takes off her heels. They had sneaked away early from the wedding.

"About leaving?" It wasn't some impulse thing was it?

Henry takes a deep breath and sits down next to Natalie.

"No. But… we should be rational about this." Natalie laughs at this.

"I don't think there is anyway to do it rationally Henry!" He smiles and takes her hands.

"Maybe…Maybe we should wait until you go back to college and if you still think you don't want to go, then we can leave. I don't want you to throw away what little we have left…"

Henry could see Natalie was starting to get frustrated. Her face was going red and she was becoming fidgety. He squeezed her hands tighter, letting her know that he is their to support her.

"I have nothing to throw away Henry! You are all i have left!" She was beginning to get teary. She takes her hands from Henry's and walks to the window, starring out at the night. She turns and faces Henry who is watching her, still sat on the bed.

"It's so lonely when you leave. Do you know that my dad hasn't asked about one of my grades. My mother couldn't even tell you what course i am doing. Do you know she sent me a happy graduation card this year?A year too late"

"Natalie i know. I know its hard for you but lets just try and focus on…"

"Henry please!" She sits on the bed and holds his face in her hands. "Don't!"

A few weeks go by and Henry and Natalie don't talk much about leaving. Henry tries to avoid the subject as much as possible, but it becomes hard when Natalie keeps hinting in every conversation. Natalie's anxiety is on the rise at this. Thoughts kept running through her head. Does he not want me? Does he not want to live with me? Is he fed up with me? These thoughts would usually go away as soon as she saw him again. There was no way he didn't want her. His face lit up every time he saw Natalie , as well as leaving her little notes and late night text messages telling her to stop studying or reading and to get some rest, followed by the usual 'I love you's'

Henry felt bad about avoiding the subject, but he was worried about Natalie. He was 100 percent sure that this was what he wanted and he knew it was what Nat wanted as well, but he wasn't sure if this was the best for her. Henry knew that Natalie could be just as amazing and strong without him and he knew that maybe she didn't really need him. She was strong and independent and he didn't want to hold her back from accomplishing all that she could. Despite this, Henry worked every hour he could at the small coffee shop in town. He wanted to make sure that if they did end up leaving, that he could support Natalie in every way. Natalie did the same. She took up two jobs, one at a restaurant and the other at a juice bar. Natalie knew that Henry would be all about her and she wanted to pull her weight. She felt awful every time he tried to pay for every meal or every outing. She knew he didn't mind, he always insisted, but it made her uncomfortable at times. She didn't want to be one of those girls. Henry knew that she wasn't, but that wasn't the point. With the both of them working, they rarely saw each other lately and usually ended up hanging out late at night.

One night, they were both lying on Henrys bed, music unreasonably loud for 2am in the morning, but not even this could drown out the sounds of Henrys parents arguing and by the time they had stopped arguing, they were both too exhausted to yell at Henry for having his girlfriend in his room at this time of the night. Most times they forgot they were there anyway. Nat sat on her front typing away on Henrys computer, both of them sat in silence together.

"So, i have just emailed my tutor and i have to confirm by next week if i am dropping out or not." Natalie says pleasantly, turning to Henry. Henry slowly lowered the book he was reading and looked over at her computer and then back to Nat.

"Ok." He said unsure. "I want the best for you. But only you know what that is. Just please think about it Nat."

Natalie closes the laptop and hands it to Henry. She gets into his bed while he just sits there waiting for her to reply.

"I'm emailing her tomorrow telling her i'm dropping out for good" She sits up and attempts a smile at Henry. She can see the worry on his face. "I am positive Henry. If this isn't what you want, i understand. I don't want to go anywhere without you. But even if we don't leave, i'm not going back." She lies back and climbs under the covers.

"Ok." Henry sighs. "Goodnight Nat." He kisses her head and lies next to her. A few hours pass by, the arguing has stopped, the music has been turned off and all Henry can hear is the light breathing of Natalie asleep next to him. He still has the laptop clutched in his hand. He slowly opens it to find the email still up from Nat's tutor. He opens the form Natalie is meant to fill out and starts filling it in himself. If Natalie wasn't going to go back, he could't make her, but he could protect her in case everything went wrong. He started typing;

I have decided that i will not be carrying on with my studies this september, instead i intend to return in January to start my second year of college. This will give me time to prepare for my studies.

He pauses and hovers over the send button. He closes his eyes and clicks and opens them to find the green little tick, informing him that the message has been sent. He turns off the laptop and sets it down, then climbs back in the bed next to Natalie. She fidgets next to him and lays her head on top of Henrys chest. He attempts to sleep, but sleep doesn't come. The guilt of going behind Natalie's back keeping him awake. He tries to relax knowing that he has done what he thinks is best for her, but he knows she will eventually find out when she goes to send an email to her tutor and the thought of Natalie being upset with him is too much.

Natalie is sat at the kitchen table. It was a day past the dead line date that she was supposed to inform her tutor of not returning, and she had not replied. Henry never told her that he had replied for her, and the guilt was eating away at him. Dan and Dianna walk down the stairs and into the kitchen. They walk to the fridge together and kiss, giggling like kids. Natalie drops her spoon in her cereal and looks up at them both. " What the fuck is going on?" She chokes.

They both look at her, arms around each other.

"Natalie" Dan smiles, looking at Dianna and back to Natalie. "Your mother is moving back in with us"

They both grin at her as if it is the most exciting news Nat has ever heard. Nats face goes red and she gets up, her appetite gone from the news.

"So i haven't seen my mom since the wedding, i didn't know you two were speaking, i didn't even know you were here last night, but now we are supposed to act like everything is fucking fine?"

The smirk disappears of their face, a linger of happiness on Dianna's as memories start to come flooding back to her.

"We are going to give it another try, but we were talking about what is best for you and we think maybe you should think about…."

Henry is sat in his room, lying on his bed listening to the arguments coming from his parents bedroom. His mothers cries make him cringe and all he wants to do is stop his dad from shoving her around, but he had tried this many times before and he usually ended up getting hit and thrown out for weeks on end. He could hear his dad screaming at his mother to get out of "His" house. He could hear his mother sobbing as she emptied all her belongings into black trash bags. He heard his dads angry footsteps come across the hall and burst into his room, making him jump.

"You as well" He screamed at him. Shock ran though Henry. He had not said anything to his dad in months, not interfered in any arguments, he had only comforted his mother when his dad wasn't around, tried to stop her crying, tried to get her to eat something. His mother nervously and timidly walked into his room, her face blotchy and red from crying.

"Come on sweetheart." She said taking his hand as if he was four years old and hugging him. She held his face and said " I'm going to stay in your grandparents summer house in Tampa. I'll be near my sister and my family. Your brothers will come and visit us. We can get a late night flight tonight sweetheart" She kisses his head and pulls away to see the shock on his face. His father is shoving piles of his stuff into bags and throwing them down, then storms out the room and slams the door shut.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but we have to leave, Your dad won't let us stay here anymore and i have to be around my family."

"Mom" Henry chokes in shock. "I can't."

She takes a deep breath, knowing that this was coming. "Sweetheart, we need to leave. You can't stay here. He won't let you. You can come and visit Natalie any time…"

"Mom, i can't leave! She needs me here."

"Where will you g…"

"I promise i will come see you soon mom. I swear, just give me a few weeks here." Henry takes a deep breath.." To say goodbye to Natalie and i will…"

"Where will you stay"

"Don't worry mom" She kisses his forehead and they both grab their stuff as fast as they can. Henrys mother gets in her car before kissing his cheek and telling him she loves him and to call her twice every day and leaves. Henry gets in his car, throwing in his key board, guitar, his books, his bags and bags of belongings and drives.

Natalie shoves everything she can find into trash bags angrily, as Dan and Dianna stand outside her locked door.

"Natalie you are over reacting, be mature about this." Dan yells from outside the door.

"This is bullshit" Natalie shouts angrily.

"We didn't mean to upset you, it was just a thought, we feel it might help things get back on track…"

Natalie shoves open her door and faces Dianna and Dan with bags in her hand.

"You don't give a fuck about me" She cries barging past them.

"We don't mean now. We just think you should think about it. Stop Natalie"

"You come back here after being together for a week, both of you don't speak to me for months, even after i have seen you, dad, on a daily basis and now you ask me to move out because it might help your relationship. Fuck this!"

"It was just something for you to consider" Dianna tries to say soothingly.

"Did any of you give a thought to how this effects me?" Natalie turns to them. They both look at each other and look down in guilt. The truth is, they rarely think about Natalie in any of their decisions.

Henry pulled up to Natalie's house as she runs in the car and throws all her stuff in the back. Dan and Dianna watch them drive away. Natalie looks at Henry. She can see that he had been crying slightly and strokes his face lightly for a second, as he carries on driving. Henry looks at her and sadly smiles, he can see the tears in her eyes as well. They both sit there in silence, knowing that they have all the time in the world to speak now and that silence is the best for both of them at this point. Henry takes a hand off the wheel and reaches for Natalie's. Henry drives and drives, until 2 hours go by.

"Where are we going?" Natalie speaks, breaking the silence. They have both calmed down and just feel happy to be beside the one they love the most.

Henry gives a nervous laugh.

"No idea!"