Okay so hi again! Thank you so much for the reviews, alerts and favorites I got for the first chapter, it made me really happy, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now, I don't personally like this chapter at all, I feel like it's too rushed and all over the place (especially the end), but it was essential for it to happen. It also is short, but I promise the next one and the rest of the story will be longer.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot of this story. The credit of the characters' names and songs used to tell this story goes to whoever was smart enough to create them, hoping they're doing well in their lives tonight.

CHAPTER II: Nate Gray

If there's anything you need to know about Nate Gray is that, even though he seems really tough and annoying, –this attitude taken once he became the captain of our school's baseball team– he is one of the most sensitive guys I have ever met in my life. Ever since I can remember, Nate could make anyone tell them their deepest secrets, because he could make them feel understood, make them feel important, and most of it, he could make anyone feel confident about themselves. I suppose that was the reason I decided to go to him, instead of going to my best friend: because I needed the confidence I had been lacking all this time. Maybe that way, I could take myself out of this sad and lonely state I'm in and move forward.

When I walked inside the Gray's Music Shop, I couldn't help but smile at the familiar smell of new musical instruments, smell that could bring back to me a million memories. All the guitars positioned in the same angle, cymbals of all sizes in the exact same wall, posters of legendary bands all over the place, the guitar strings section, etc. everything looked just the same, maybe just for the exception of seeing Jason Gray, Nate's oldest brother, behind the counter instead of Mr. Gray, playing the electric guitar with his eyes closed, feeling every note that his fingers made and probably imagining a whole different scenario of the one he was in.

"Well, that was impressive, Jay." I said, once the 22 year old finished playing, making him jump and almost drop the guitar. I giggled.

"Alex! You scared me!"

"And that just tell us how your conscience has a lot to hide."

"You never change, Little Lexy, do you?" He said, smiling and putting the guitar in a wall hanger, walking from behind the counter and giving me a hug. "It's so nice to see you here!"

"It has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Like forever. What's wrong with us for you to not come anymore?" He asked laughing as he pulled away, making me roll my eyes.

"Nothing, Jay, I love you all" I shrugged. "You could almost say the wind brought me here."

"Well, I thank the wind from bringing back my favorite little sister to her home!" Jason exclaimed, giving me another but quicker hug. "Now, I assume you're looking for my little brother, am I right?"

"Why do you know me so well?"

"It's the years, Lex, just the years of knowing you." He smiled. "He is in the back, let me go get him."

I nodded and he left, as the anxiety started rising up all my body. Could I really trust Nate Gray would keep my best hidden secret? Was he still that kind of guy or did the baseball team finally make him one of them? I sighed. Why was I even doubting of him? I would see him every day at school and he still was as nice to everybody as he was before becoming the captain of my school's baseball team and leading them to a championship. I smiled at the thought, remembering how happy he was the day he got into the baseball team, back in freshman year.

"Oh my god, Alexandra Russo, you are in so much trouble!" I heard a very familiar voice calling me to be soon after held into the arms I needed in that exact moment, the protective arms of Nate Gray. "I thought you had forgotten of my existence!"

"What did I do?!" I asked, hugging back, tightly. "It's impossible to find you!" He pulled away and looked at me with a bright smile in his face, not letting go of my hands.

"Are you sure you've been looking in the right places, though?" I raised an eyebrow at his question. "Because you will always find me in the baseball field, my home and this music shop." He chuckled. "I really am so glad to see you."

"Me too, Nate." I sighed. "Do you have time to go for a walk and talk, maybe a coffee and catch up?"

"I always have time for you, little Lexy." He answered, nodding.

"Little?" I raised an eyebrow, slapping his arm playfully. "I'm older than you, dumbass!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's get going" He said, laughing, placing his hands on my shoulders and making me turn around, as he made me walk to the door once again.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

To be quite honest, talking to Nate about a relationship I had with a girl had me feeling uneasy, most of all, because if my memory doesn't fail, back when we were children and I would spend the afternoon at the Gray's house, playing baseball, video games and learning to play popular songs on the guitar or piano, our parents were convinced that one day in the future, this guy I can't see as more than a brother would end up becoming my husband. Until this date, the simple thought of that makes both us shiver, but I still couldn't stop feeling like I was betraying our imaginary future by telling him this. I'm weird though, so don't take me too seriously.

"So let me get this straight." Nate said after I told him the entire story of what was keeping me shut from everything and everyone else around, since he wanted me to go straight to the point, like in the old times. "My best friend and supposed future wife… hooked up with a girl?"

"I wouldn't properly call it 'hook up', because we never went that far, I mean, a week doesn't give you too much time to…"

"Save the details, thank you very much." I giggled, sipping the coffee we were drinking. "Then what happened?"

I shrugged. "You know, what always happens in long distance relationships."

"Did you guys break up?"

"Two months ago."

"Then why is it this haunting you so much, Alex? I mean, for what you've told me, you probably dated her for like 2 months!" He exclaimed. "You should be able to move on by now!"

"You're an insensible bastard, you know?"

"You love me, though."

"Shut it." He smiled, pleased. "And I don't know, Nate." I looked at the ground, the sadness becoming way too overwhelming for me. "I just… I don't know." I looked back at him. "I keep asking myself what I did wrong, you know. Didn't I try hard enough? Did she realize I wasn't worth all the waiting? I just… " I sighed. "I thought we would make it to winter break and I'm kind of disappointed in myself because we didn't."

He placed his right arm around me and pulled me to him, trying to give a comforting one arm hug. "Listen up, Lex, this wasn't your fault. I know you, you're a fighter and if this girl was what you wanted, I'm pretty sure you did everything in your hands to keep her by your side and if she didn't want to stay, it was her loss, not yours."

"I guess…"

"No, don't give your 'I guess' you're worth much more than that girl, Alex." He let go of me. "Did she ever give you reasonable reason to break up with you?"

I scratched the back of my neck, nervous. So here goes the part when I have to be honest. "Well, she didn't break up with me, I broke up with her."

Nate stopped in his tracks and looked at me with questioning eyes, holding his cup near to his lips.

"Alexandra Russo." He said, dangerously low. "Did that girl cheat on you?" I sighed, being that the only thing he needed to know the answer. "Oh my god, if she wasn't a girl I would kill her!"

My plan to keep a long distance relationship with Mitchie worked all through August and September, but by the start of October, Mitchie started acting really cold to me. Suddenly, she stopped answering to my letters, ignoring my texts, being online for everyone but me; wouldn't pick up the phone, creating lame excuses in the rare emails she'd answer as to why she wouldn't attend me at all and so on. At first, I thought this, what we had, was being too much for her and decided to let her be, trusting it would just be a while, but as the days were passing I couldn't help but get more and more impatient. In the other hand, Tess, Mitchie's best friend, would text me every day and talk to me on the internet when Mitchie wouldn't, make it look like Tess was my girlfriend instead of her. Soon enough, the situation started affecting me so much that I would get really moody, taking all my frustrations and anger on innocent people that didn't deserve it.

"How did you know what she was doing?" Nate asked when we sat on a bench, coffees still in our hands.

"Her best friend sent me a picture of her kissing some guy." I answered, holding the coffee with both of my hands. "And I'm not gonna lie to you, I was denial the first time I saw that picture." I sighed. "I thought about it being old, but I stared at that it so many times that I found so many details on it. I knew it was recent because of what the people in the background were wearing, the color of the trees, the length of her hair and most of it; I knew it was a recent picture because she was wearing this bracelet that used to be mine."

"Holy shit…"

"It all pointed to it to be truth, so I started to ignore her as well. Once she stopped receiving my phone calls, letters or whatever, she started worrying and looking for me." I smiled, bitterly. "She would send texts and emails nonstop; she even asked my grandma if she didn't know anything about me. Her voice would sound desperate in the voicemails she'd left and that I would only listen to get rid of the little icon that appeared on the screen of my phone every time she'd leave one." Nate chuckled.

"Those are annoying, I agree."

"It was being difficult for me to keep it as a secret like that because of how much she'd send that one day I just got tired and decided to answer the phone."

"And what did she say?"

FLASH BACK

12 AM.

There was only one person that would decide to call me at this hour. I took my phone, looking at the picture showing up in the screen and sighing. I don't think there's much I can do anymore to ignore her, so in a moment of courage, I pressed the green button on the screen and answered.

"Hello?"

"Oh my god, Lexy! I have been looking for you like crazy! Why don't you answer your phone, love?"

"I've been busy, Michelle." I answered, as cold as I could and trying to ignore my heartbeat.

"You have no idea of how much I have missed you, popcorn." Her words never stung as much at that moment, because I was well aware that she hadn't.

"Well, it didn't seem like it, did it?" I said, without even thinking. I was just too upset to do that.

"What are you talking about, sweetheart? I have been looking for you everywhere! I even called your grandmother to check if you were alright!" I scoffed.

"Yeah, I heard about that." I closed my eyes, knowing I wouldn't be able to hold it much longer and prepare myself for what was coming. "But if you had missed me, Mitch, you would have answered when it was me who was looking for you."

She stayed quiet for a moment, being her breathing the only way to know she still was on the phone."You have every right to be mad at me, Alex." I looked up at the ceiling, trying not to give in. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? For ignoring me for so long or for cheating on me?" Straight to the point as always, Alex, good.

Her breathing stopped being audible as soon as those words were heard on the other side of the phone."Who told you?" was what she said in barely a whisper.

"I don't think that really matters, Michelle."

"I was going to tell you I just…" Her voice cracked. "I'm so sorry."

"Well, they all say that." I said, bitterly.

"I swear to you I really am sorry, it was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life and I hope you can forgive me…" She said, talking as fast as the day when she kissed me for the first time, making it sting a little bit more.

"Well, even if you are, it doesn't change anything." I sighed.

"I would have told you sooner but I couldn't bright myself to talk to you after what I had done and…" don't let the crying distract you, Alex, be strong. "Y-you m-mean a lo-lot to m-me, Lex, I-I r-really d-don't wa-want to l-lose you, so p-please he-hear m-me out…"

"It's a little too late for that, don't you think?" Her sobs were more audible now. "I'm sorry; Michelle, but you know what comes after it."

"Le-Lex, p-please d-don't…"

"This is It, Michelle."

"A-Alex… p-please… just l-let m-me..."

"Why? There's no need for you to explain, Mitch, really. I know how this stuff works, I have seen it before, so don't worry. Now you're free to go to whoever you please, love."

"B-but… Alex…"

"And with nothing else to say, I retire. Goodbye, Michelle. "

"ALEXANDRA, I LOVE YOU."

My breath got stuck in my throat. How dare she to say such thing for the first time at this moment?

"I am an idiot that lets her friends get to me, but Alex, I swear to god I love you. Please, just let me expl-"

"If you really loved me, Michelle." I interrupted her, voice shaking in anger and frustration. "You wouldn't have cheated on me."

"I promise it won't happen again, just-"

"I know it won't happen again, Michelle, because I'm breaking up with you."

"Alex…"

"Bye, Michelle."

FLASH BACK END

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Dropping the L bomb after she cheated on you? That's fucked up, dude." He placed his hand on my knee. "I'm glad you dumped her, Lex. You do deserve so much better than that."

"I might, but you know what's the worst thing about it, Nate?"

"What is it?"

"That even though I deserve better, I don't want anyone else. I don't know why and I don't how, but she got deep inside my skin and…" I whipped the single tear that escaped my eyes. "I can't stop questioning myself if I did right breaking up with her."

"Oh, Lex…" He said, holding me in his arms, as I let my tears finally be released. "Let it out, Lexy, god knows you need it."

"It's so absurd to be crying for someone I met 4 months ago, isn't it?" I whispered, letting out a soft laugh. "But you know, it goes deeper than the two months I got to know her, it's more about losing someone I had a deep connection with, you know? I really don't think I will ever have that connection with anyone again, I really don't, Nate."

"I know, Alex, I know." He was well aware that I didn't need anything else in that moment that his company. He let me cry in his arms, let out all of my hurting, anger and frustrations in the form of tears, not caring if I would ruin his coat or not. Nate just knew I needed someone to share my pain with, and not comforting words that at the end would be useless.

Words weren't going to fix my heart.

"I actually have an idea of what you could do, Lex." He said, a few minutes later, when the crying had calmed down. "To forget, you know."

"I'm all ears, Nate" I said, unsure, probably knowing what that would be.

"Why don't you start dating again?"

I scoffed. "Yeah, right, like that's going to happen." I whipped the few tears left. "Nobody wants to date me, Nate, so why do I even bother trying?"

"Whoa, there!" He said, looking at me, questioning look. "Why are you saying that? You're very pretty, Lexy! Any guy or girl, I don't know which one you prefer, would be extremely lucky to have you by their side."

"And this is coming from someone who is supposed to say that, so no, thank you, Nate, I'm fine."

He sighed. "You should at least give it a try."

I stayed quiet, so I guess he decided to go for it again when he said "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Why that girl, Alex?" the question caught me off guard.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, what's so special about her that you seem to be unable to let go of her even after what she did to you?"

"I… don't really know." I answered, honestly. "I guess it was because she actually took the time to try to take my walls down and nobody ever tried to do that."

"Well then, okay." He said and I rolled my eyes. "It's not like I'm here right now or anything…"

"You know what I mean, Nate. I let my walls come down to you because you've been through almost everything with me but with her it's different because she had to do the effort for me to trust her, and not a lot of people do that anymore." I smiled, sadly. "Like it's probably only Mitchie and you that know who Alex Russo really is." I sighed. "I don't know, I just thought it was the right thing at the moment."

"I see." He said, staying quiet again to then smile. "You know what we should do right now?" The way his face lightened up was kind of cute.

"What?"

"Write a song about this." He said, and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "About the break up and how it does make you feel."

"Who are we, Taylor Swift or?" He chuckled.

"If it works for her, why won't it work for us?" Nate shrugged. "We could give it a try."

I sighed. "Why the hell not? Let's do it."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

You know, I think I have come to terms with the fact that the universe fucking hates me.

Why do I think that, you might ask? Well, it's very simple.

After Nate and I had that talk about my feelings and tried to write a song about it –key word is tried, because nothing came out of it–, he and I started hanging out a lot more, like we used to do when we were children. At first, everybody found it very random and strange –after all, he was the captain the school's baseball team and I was just another girl of the school– but didn't give too much attention to that. Then, when Nate started cancelling plans with his friends or teammates just to hang out with me, everybody thought the worst: that Nate and I were dating. At first, it was bearable but now it was just getting ridiculous: being the center of attention had never and will never be something I can handle, and all the dirty looks I was getting from a few girls in the school were driving me nuts.

"Ignore them, Alex." Nate said one day. We were at the baseball field, he was lying in the grass, eyes closed and still wearing his uniform, while I was sitting next to him.

"I would if it was easy, but it isn't, dude." I said, pulling some grass.

"It's just a couple of days, Alex, and you won't hear of them for like 3 weeks and by the time we go back to school, the rumor will be forgotten."

"I hope so, because I don't think I could actually handle to be your girlfriend."

"You wish, woman."

"Not in a million years, Gray." I said giggling, when my phone went off, making jump the both of us.

"Hello?" I said, after I finally found it in the deepest of my back pack.

"Alex, your dad and I are going to the airport right now, if you need anything, your brothers are at home, just letting you know." My mom said, without even asking how I was or anything.

"The airport? Why?" I asked, confused. "Are you guys going somewhere or anything?"

"Do you remember Connie Torres, grandma's friend Rose's daughter?" oh boy.

"Yes…"

"Well, Rose asked us to pick her up from the airport because they'll spend holidays here! She's coming with her daughter and the other girl, do you remember them? Isn't it wonderful?"

"Oh lord…" You see? Another proof that the universe hates me.

"What is it, Alex?" Nate asked, confused, probably for the tone of my voice. I brought my index finger to my lips, telling him to be quiet.

"Anyway, we'll stay for dinner at your grandma's, so don't arrive home late!"

"Yes, mom, bye." And hung up. "Oh my dear fucking lord."

"Alex, what is it? Why do you have that face?!"

"She's coming, Nate. She's coming."

"Who?"

"Mitchie."

I think now you share the same opinion as me about this chapter, don't you? lol but don't lose hope in me! I'll make up for you for this :P

Anyway, let me know what you honestly think! All comments are well appreciated, so review and stuff.

Have a nice week :D