"You did WHAT?!" I tried my best to remain calm, but this was a little too much!! My ex-boyfriend was coming to have dinner with me and my kinda-not-so-official boyfriend (I don't think that he knows we're "going out")?! The worst part was, Shane didn't know about Nate and me. Maybe that's why Nate would only kiss me on the forehead. Nate was a very cliché person, but I noticed that he was never intimate unless I began to get emotional. For example: the movie that we watched. Yeah, we snuggled, but I had to snuggle up to him! Shouldn't it be the other way around? He never really pushed me away or rejected me, but he would never really make an effort. Sometimes, he acted as if he wasn't even there. He would always be staring into space, as if he wanted to be somewhere else at the time. Anyway, back to the real problem…

"Shane is coming…f-f-for DINNER?!"

"Mitchie, clam down. He knows about…us," as always, Nate's response comes quickly, quietly, and soothingly. "All we can really do is prepare for tonight, okay?" I listened to him, as always. It was the least I could do. But as the day went on, I got more and more nervous. The anticipation and suspense almost killed me throughout the day. I spent most of the day trying to distract myself. I ended up leaving Nate to do all of the work. Apparently, it didn't work very well, because when the doorbell rang, I ran. Nate dragged me back as he opened the door.

Outside, was Shane…in a tuxedo. There was a large hand imprint on his cheek though. Somehow, I had a feeling that it was from the she-witch that stole Shane away from me, and showed me the real him. We stood there for a moment, as if we were frozen in time. I'm not sure for exactly how long we stood there, because it felt like eternity. After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Nate had the sense the break the silence. "Would you…like to sit down?"

We made our way towards the dining room, to find a very exquisite feast. Nate had outdone himself once again, but…why for Shane? I couldn't help but feel a little guilty though. I always sit around the house, thinking about my own problems, leaving him to do all the work. I didn't have much time to reminisce about it, because before I knew it, dinner was over, and Shane walked…over…to me. "Mitchie, can I talk to you?" It didn't seem as much of a question, can a command. As I started walking away with Shane, I glance at Nate, who gave me a discreet nod. If I had been look at him for a moment longer, I would have seen tears streaming down his face.

As Shane pulled me aside, he asked me a question I had wanted to hear since the disaster. "Mitchie…will – will you come back to me?" I never knew that the question I had been dreaming of would be so painful. Shane had just taken one of my most wonderful dreams, and turned it into a horrible, wretched nightmare. What was I supposed to say? I had millions of questions racing through my mind.

Why is he asking me this?

What will Nate say?

Why did he break up with me in the first place?

How am I supposed to answer this?

Is he staring at me?

Shoot! I better answer his question!

"C-can you give me a couple of days to think about it?" This time, his emotions were readable. I saw disappointment, sadness, grief, and…hope? I honestly didn't know what to do.

I still loved Shane, I really did, but should I really do this? He's broken me once; who said he wouldn't hesitate to do it again? What if Nate didn't rescue me a second time?

I decided to confront Nate about it once Shane was gone. Them, I remembered the message in the locket. Is that why he invited Shane? Did that mean that he actually loved me? I simply asked him that day, when we went to bed.

"What do you think I should do?" This time, his reply didn't come quite so fast.

"Just do…do what your heart tells you what to do." His voice sounded so…exasperated. But that didn't matter, because when I woke up the next morning, I didn't remember the last thing that he said… "Okay…" I replied as I drifted off to sleep. The next day went by like any other. Nate stayed home with me…as always.

For the next week, we never slept in the same bed. It was the first time that I had slept in my own bed in months! That very first night, when we didn't sleep together, I had nightmares. It was the first nightmare I had had in….a few months. Just as long as I had been sleeping with Nate… My nightmare was absolutely horrible. It wasn't a normal nightmare though. It was like flashbacks of my life, one after the other. Everything that had to do with Shane or Nate that had ever happened in my life flashed before me. The tears, the agony, and the small drops of love, scattered across the nightmare. But it wasn't the fluffy love that you see in fairytales. It was the kind of love that you always want to keep, the kind of love that is cherished beyond anything else. The little love that I saw though…it was all crushed. I saw my heart being broken, killed, and burned. The horror that was my life continued to flash before my eyes that night.

Tears started streaming down my face as I recalled the many broken memories that I had. I was crying my eyes out by the time I noticed a strange, crumpled piece of paper in the trash can beside my nightstand. I reached for the paper, feeling strangely drawn to it. I opened it to find a very…unexpected note.

If I had the letters "h", "r", and "t", I could add

"u" and get hurt, or I can add "ea" and get heart.

I would rather have you and get hurt that have a heart without you.

The only person that could have written this was Nate… That is what made it so painful... I couldn't believe that this was happening. Not that he wrote the note, but that he threw it away, and I found it. This note was making it harder and harder on my heart, yet I just couldn't seem to ask for help. Sure, I would accept it, but I would never find myself asking for it…

This note also had one, very unnecessary effect: it made it harder to choose between Nate and Shane.

If I picked Shane, I would be taking a gigantic risk. I loved Shane more than anything in the world, and I would die for him in less than an instant. But the same thought kept on coming to my mind. Everyone always says that you shouldn't get stuck in the past, but I seemed to be TRAPPED in the past. I couldn't help but think that Shane would abandon me again.

On the other hand, if I picked Nate, I would know that I was being cared for, and loved. I could have someone who would actually comfort me when I'm sad, and help me up when I'm down. But I would have to live in wonder, and regret. I would have to live wondering if my life would have worked out with Shane. And in all of my regret, I wouldn't really be loving Nate. I cared for Nate very much, and I know from experience, that unrequited love was the absolute QUICKEST way to a heavy heart. The WORST thing that I could ever do to Nate was to NOT return his love.

I slowly made my way to the kitchen to find breakfast on the table. I tasted it, and could instantly tell that Nate made it.