The Way Back to You

Chapter 9

Fiona slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was laying on a couch and, while she'd seen this living room before, couldn't place it. She sat up quickly, a searing pain shooting to the back of her head. She groaned, blinking in the bright light from the window.

"Look, who's awake." She blinked again and looked up as Nate walked from the kitchen of the apartment to the couch, carrying a plate of toast and a glass of water. He sat down next to her legs.

"You're not wearing a shirt," she mumbled.

He laughed. "You're observant." For a moment, she looked horrified as she tried to sort out the events of the previous night in her pounding head. "Don't worry. Nothing happened," he told her. He put the toast and water on the table before going into his bedroom.

After a moment, he returned wearing a ribbed tank top. "Better?"

"I feel like shit," she responded. She couldn't believe how bad her hangover was.

"Not surprising. You should eat. And take these." He pulled three aspirin out of his pocket and put them next to the water.

"What happened?"

He sighed and sat next to her again. "You got a voicemail from Adam after class. I'm not gonna repeat it right now, but it wasn't good. Next thing I know, you were dragging me to every bar in a twenty mile radius. You have a very impressive fake ID, by the way."

She looked down at her hand, realizing her engagement ring was gone.

"You took it off," he told her. He reached into his pocket again and handed her ring back to her.

She looked at the ring in the palm of her hand. "So it's…. it's over."

Nate reached over to rub her back softly. "Sorry, Fi."

"Nate, where'd you go?" Fiona looked up to find Brandon, who she recognized as a friend of Nate's, walking out of Nate's room. Brandon looked at Fiona and blinked. "Oh. Um… I didn't realize… I'll leave."

"Wait," Nate said quickly as Brandon left. Nate swung the door closed as they walked into the hallway, but it didn't click shut. From where she sat, she would make out their shadows.

"Don't leave," Nate's voice whispered. "She's upset. She just broke up with her fiancée. She needs someone to talk to. Just for a couple more hours."

"Alright," Brandon sighed.

She watched as Nate leaned toward Brandon and quickly dropped her head to look at the food on the table as the boys kissed.

"Sorry about that," Nate said, walking back into the apartment. He returned to the couch while Brandon went back to the bedroom.

"No," Fiona said quickly. "I'm sorry. I… I didn't realize that you… that you're…"

"Gay," Nate said for her. He smiled, then nodded. "Is that a problem?"

"No," she said quickly. "Of course not. I just didn't think… I mean, you're always around girls. You flirt with me all the time."

He smiled and shrugged. "I'm a people person. And I do like you. If I liked girls, I would definitely be into you. I might have even tried to whisk you away from Adam."

She bit her lip as memories from the previous day flooded back. She remembered the angry voicemail Adam had left on her phone.

"You want to be with Nate, Fiona? Be with Nate! I'm not gonna stand in your way anymore."

"Actually, I think you might have. Adam and I had a fight a couple weeks ago. He saw that tweet you sent me, he got jealous. I didn't really say alleviate his concerns."

Nate raised his eyebrows. "Leave it to you to use big words when you're hung over."

"Sorry. Want me to get you a dictionary?" she teased.

He laughed and shook his head. "Good luck finding one in the apartment. It sounds like we need to go see Adam."

Fiona shook her head. "It's Saturday afternoon. We're not gonna be able to go there and get back in time for class Monday. I don't even know when the next plane to Toronto leaves."

Nate shrugged. "Whenever we say it does."

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry, but my dad's using our private jet this weekend," she said. Though she'd meant it as a sarcastic comment, it was the truth.

"Good for you, I know someone who has his own jet. B, come out here," he called into the bedroom.

Brandon walked out of the bedroom again.

"Fiona Coyne, this is Brandon Ashburn," Nate introduced them. Fiona's jaw dropped as soon as he said his last name. Nate smiled as he continued. "Son of Christopher Ashburn, the youngest self-made millionaire in New York City."

Nate turned to Brandon. "Is it alright if we borrow your plane for a couple days?"

"The pilot's on vacation," Brandon said.

Nate shrugged. "I have a pilot's license."

"No," Fiona said automatically. "I'm not getting in a plane that you're flying."

"Fine," Nate groaned, rolling his eyes. "We'll kidnap the pilot."

"Do I get to know what's going on?" Brandon asked.

Nate smiled and looked up at his boyfriend. "We're going to Canada."

To be continued…

AN: and you silly gooses were worried about Nate!