Here's chapter 2! Again R&R! Characters belong to Rachel Vincent! Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Dad, I'm home!" I called as I kicked off my shoes and hung my jacket up.

He poked his head out of the kitchen. "You hungry?"

I put my hand over my stomach. Not really. "Yeah, a little bit," I lied.

"I made Caesar salad for you," he told me.

I nodded and walked into kitchen. "Thanks."

"Where did you go?"

I didn't really want to tell him my encounter with Nash, but I knew I probably should. "At first, I didn't pay attention. But then I wound up by Nash's house," I admitted.

My father's irises churned fiercely. "What happened there?" he asked, clearly trying to hide anger from his voice. But I knew it was there.

I raised one shoulder. "He came out right as I found myself there and saw me." I poked at my salad, and then took a bite. It tasted sort of good going down my throat.

"Anything else?"

I sighed. "I'm not entirely sure about this, but I think him and Sophie are together," I told him. I watched as my father's face flushed.

"What makes you think that?"

"His phone rang and he answered. After he hung up, he told me he was meeting Sophie somewhere. But it's just a theory."

"Does Brendan know?"

Brendan is my uncle, Sophie's dad. "I don't think so. If he did, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't allow it to happen. So it might be going on behind his back."

My dad shoved the rest of his dinner down his throat. "Well I'm going to over there anyway."

My eyes widened and my stomach churned with mortification. "Dad, no. You can't do that. If Uncle Brendan yells at Sophie about it, she'll blame me, tell Nash, and then everything will be my fault."

He kissed my forehead. "I'll tell him what you said. But I'll make it sound as though it came from me, not you, okay?"

I sighed, not feeling any better. "Okay." I followed him out of the kitchen and he pulled on his jacket.

"I'll be back soon. Will you be okay until I get back?"

I nodded solemnly. "Yeah."

"Love you, Kaylee."

"You, too. Bye, Dad." Once he left, I sank back into the kitchen chair and stared at my salad, knowing I had to eat it. I took a bite, then another, and soon, the whole bowl was empty. I rinsed my dishes out and was unbuttoning my jeans to go change when there was a rapid knock on the door. I froze and buttoned my jeans again.

I opened it and, in the fading daylight, I saw Nash standing in the doorway. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Kaylee," he breezed. Tod suddenly appeared beside his brother.

I raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"Nash has something to tell you," Tod said and shrugged.

Nash looked over her shoulder at his brother and then back at me. "What he's trying to say is-"

"Kaylee, he's still in love with you. He came here to beg for your forgiveness and so you guys can go back to making out. My benefit is being able to interrupt that again," Tod cut off.

My cheeks flushed and I turned back to Nash. "Is this true?" I asked.

Nash was silent for a moment, then he raised his eyes to meet mine. They were swirling mischievously. "In a way, yes, it is."

I was startled by the churning of his irises. Ever since he made that exchange with Avari, they were almost always still. I rubbed my hands over my arms and stepped out of the way. "Come in. I'm freezing."

They both made themselves at home, and I sat criss-cross on the floor. "What about Sophie?" I said.

"You mean your cousin he was just making out with half an hour ago? It's no fun to mess around with Sophie," Tod beamed.

"Damn it, Tod. Can you just shut up for a minute?" Nash snapped, then looked at me with flushed cheeks.

I looked between the two brothers uncertainly. "My dad's going to be home any minute, so you guys better wrap it up."

Tod held up a finger. "Correction: Nash has to wrap it up."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Tod. I know. Nash, did you come straight from being with Sophie here to apologize?"

"Well, yeah but-"

"Why the hell would you go make out with my cousin and then come here and try to make things up to me again?" I demanded.

"I…" he started. "I don't know. After you showed up by my house today-"

"Whoa," Tod said, holding his hands up. "You were at our house today?"

I raised my eyebrows. "No. I was walking and wasn't paying any attention to where I was going and then I heard a door slam and looked up and there was Nash."

"As I was saying," Nash started up again. "I couldn't stop thinking about you. Some part of me was telling me that I shouldn't be going to meet up with Sophie. I should have listened to that part of me because after only a few minutes, I had to leave because you were on my mind."

I sighed. "Why were you even going to go meet up with her?"

Nash shrugged. "I don't really know. But I do know she was just asking me if she wanted to meet up, and I just said sure. I'm positive she was just doing that to piss you off, Kaylee."

There was a slam of a car door outside and all three of us froze. "Did you guys walk here?" I whispered frantically.

Nash nodded. "Yeah, wh-"

I pulled him to his feet and dragged him to my room. I was shocked when his skin was warm. I shoved him into my closet and swallowed. Was it possible Nash was cured? My heart accelerated and I walked back out to the living room as my dad walked in.

"Did you talk to him?" I asked, speaking quietly so Nash wouldn't hear that much. Tod would definitely hear everything though.

My dad fell into his arm chair. "Yeah, I did. He knew she was dating someone, just not knowing it was Nash," he replied, a bit too loudly.

I flinched. "Oh… well… I don't know then. I'm going to go to bed, okay?" I said.

He glanced at the clock on the DVD player and raised an eyebrow. "It's only nine. Rough day?"

I half-smiled. "Yeah. But I'm getting better. I ate all of my dinner tonight."

My dad grinned. "I knew you would get better. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad. Goodnight." I kissed his cheek.

"G'night."

I walked to my room and, when I opened my door, Tod was sitting backwards in my desk chair, Nash on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest. I rolled my eyes as I heard my dad turn on the TV.

"You don't really get the point of hiding, do you Nash?" I snapped, being careful to be quiet.

He raised an eyebrow. "What were you and your dad talking about?"

"Sophie," Tod chimed in.

I threw Tod a dirty look. "You really like butting in tonight, don't you?"

He grinned and shrugged. "I haven't seen you guys in the same room for a while. I can't help it."

"Why were you guys talking about Sophie?" Nash said.

"It doesn't matter," I said.

Nash and Tod both grinned, which revealed irresistible sets of dimples on both of them. I leaned back against my door.

"Does your dad know about me and her?" Nash asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I feel guilty so I tell him everything. Well, mostly everything."

"And what was that about you getting better and you eating?" Tod said.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I don't eat very much because I've been sick. But I'm getting better. I ate breakfast and dinner today."

Nash raised his eyebrows and gave me a concerned look. "Why haven't you been eating?"

I sighed. "That doesn't matter either."

"Well it's concerning your health, so, yes, it does matter."

"You're always worried about the littlest things," I said.

He grinned, flashing a set of perfect white teeth. "So you forgive me?"

"Ten seconds ago you were concerned about my health, now you're focused on whether or not I've forgiven you?"

Tod sucked in a breath. "If you'd kept going a little longer, I'm pretty sure she would've given in and forgiven you." Nash and I both looked at him. "What?"

Nash glanced at me. "Right now, you're my only focus."

I exhaled sharply. "Tod, shouldn't you be at work?"

"Nah, someone's filling in for me tonight," he replied.

I was about to say something when I heard the TV turn off and my father's heavy footsteps. I reached out and turned my light off. He would come in here if it was on. As soon as his bedroom door shut, I turned my light back on, and I had to blink in the sudden brightness of it.

"Tod, have you seen Addy lately?" I asked in a hushed tone.

He groaned. "No. It's torture, though."

"Why haven't you been able to go see her?"

He shrugged. "I can't find her. Plus, Avari has had no jobs for me lately, so I can't really see her unless I do one for him."

I locked gazes with Nash's hazel eyes. I found desperation and sadness swirling in them. His face said it all: he was sorry and would do anything to get me back. Tod did not miss this exchange. He stood up.

"I will let you two lovebirds sort this out and I will see you guys later," he said, and then disappeared. It was weird, seeing Tod disappear after all this time, but then again, it was weird for him to just leave Nash and I alone just like that.

As I was pondering this, Nash spoke first. "Kaylee, I'm so sorry," he whispered.

They were dancing across my vision again. Every thing that had happened, now flashing before my eyes. Nash Influencing me, out biggest fight ever, him confessing to me… Nash was a bean sidhe, just like me. I didn't even know I was that species up until we started dating a couple of months ago. I bit my lip. Hard.

"I know you are Nash," I replied.

"Then why won't you forgive me?"

I slid down my door and hugged my knees to my chest. "It's complicated."

"We have time," he said, still in a whisper.

I was just trying to help you relax, he'd told me one morning when I woke him up personally. He had been Influencing me to do things I didn't want to do.

"Nash, it's not that I don't eat because I'm sick, it's because I'm guilty, and every little thing that happened between you and I, as well as every thing else, with Addy, Tod, Ragan… I feel guilty about it all. And all of those memories come rushing back, getting me sick to my stomach, making it almost impossible to eat," I admitted. As I said this, my heartbeat began to pound in my head, throbbing until it hurt to breathe. I don't know why this was happening to me. It definitely didn't have anything to do with bean sidhes. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths until the pain slowly subsided. It was worse at school, which I had to endure with all of this happening to me.

Nash studied me carefully. "What were you doing right there?"

I looked at him, puzzled. "Doing what?"

"You closed your eyes and took deep breaths. Why?"

I sighed. "My heartbeat creates a throbbing in my head, and the pain is unbearable. I… I don't know what to do about it."

He sighed.

End of chapter 2. Please R&R any comments would help with my future writing! Thanks. (: