Amber could practically feel her world spinning as she buried her head further into the pillow. She didn't remember much at all about the previous night and was trying badly to piece things together. Unfortunately, she couldn't think very hard because it only made her headache painfully worse. She groaned desperately trying to get past the pain in order to remember if she had done anything incredibly stupid. She knew that it was most likely since no one in history was exactly known to do great things while under the influence.

When Amber began sniffing, her mouth began to water at the smell of the hot tea placed on her nightstand. She lifted her head with the little strength that she did have, she was confused seeing her curtains closed, but was entirely thankful knowing that sunlight wouldn't make her situation any better. Amber didn't even know why she had gotten so drunk; she hadn't done anything like this since the college parties she attended.

She was never one of those people to use things such as alcohol to forget about their problems, but Amber couldn't help but think that maybe that was the reason she decided to get drunk. She didn't like that one bit, she knew how things could easily turn into addictions, and after how she saw the effects of alcohol on Mark, she was surprised that she was even able to go near a bar.

Amber sat up slowly; she didn't want her head to throb anymore than what it was doing. Tea wasn't her favorite drink in the world, but she thought that it would be able to help her hangover. After a few sips and sometime later, she started to feel just a little better. Well, her legs still wobbled a bit as she stood, but the room was no longer spinning and she felt that to be an improvement. She looked down seeing that she was only in her undergarments, she cringed when her mind raced to the possible options as to why she was only in her underwear. She hoped she hadn't done anything that stupid.

Amber grabbed her robe from the other side of her bed; she needed some answers, no matter how embarrassing they were going to be. Before leaving her room, she grabbed her cup to bring it into the kitchen; she smiled when she saw Chord cooking. She could see that he was somewhat struggling but found it to be nothing but adorable. From what she could see and smell, he was frying bacon. Amber couldn't help but laugh when Chord unsuccessfully tried to flip the bacon over; as a result, he burned his fingers. Chord quickly turned around from hearing her laughter, he sent her a gentle smile,

"Good morning Neytriri."

"There's nothing really good about waking up with a hangover, but good morning Chord."

Before Chord could say anything else, Amber had come over turning on the faucet. She took his fingers, placing them under the cold water. Again, he smiled her way, and Amber decided that she loved when he smiled. It was much better from the scary and strange looks he usually sent her and other people. Once she felt that the water had done its purpose, she took his hand to dry it on a towel. Chord watched as she seemed to care so much about this one little accident. He was glad that his clumsiness didn't frighten her.

"You always were clumsy." She stated, as if reading his mind.

"Well, I'm glad you're still familiar with it. I was uh, just trying to make you some breakfast."

"As sweet as that is, I don't need you hurting yourself for me."

Chord took her hand, leading her to the kitchen table. She sat down while he prepared a plate for her; she honestly thought it was sweet. No guy had ever cooked for her, and she really couldn't believe Chord was doing it.

"I know you had a rough night, so I thought that this was the least I could do."

"And the tea?"

"Yeah, that too. Tea always helped me when I had a little too much to drink. Did you like it? I got the recipe from this place down in Colorado. They have all kinds of tea, simply amazing." He beamed.

Amber became more interested in learning about his travels rather than her own crazy night; she nodded her head as he sat down across from her. Looking down at her food, she looked a bit skeptical to eat it, but knew that he had worked hard to cook for her. She loved the fact that he tried alone, so she slowly raised a piece of bacon to her mouth, it wasn't so bad, and neither were the eggs.

Chord chuckled, drinking some orange juice "Looks can be deceiving."

She eyed him amused, "You're right. Thank you for breakfast, it really is tasteful."

"You're the only person worth burning my fingers for."

Shaking her head, Amber didn't know how to really take that, that little 14 year old girl who thought she was in love with her best friend would have squealed and done a happy dance. But the 22 year old Amber took it as nothing more than a joke.

"So, tell me about the places you've been?"

"Here and there. I've always loved traveling. I haven't been outside of the states just yet, but once I get that chance, I'm going to take it."

"I would love that, I've always wanted to travel as well but with these past couple of months being so hectic, I haven't gotten a chance to explore life very much."

Chord noticed the sadness cross into her eyes; he wasn't sure if it was because of him or if something else had been going on in her life. As he tried to think of things that could have possibly gone wrong and didn't involve him, Amber interrupted his thoughts. And again, he didn't notice who she was anymore, her voice low, not strong like it usually was,

"Um Chord; I know last night I got a little or a lot drunk. And this morning I woke up in my—underwear, and I just need to know…did we…did I um, did you and I have sex?"

Chord smirked, and that sent chills through Amber's body.

"Damn Amber, was I that bad in bed that you can't remember? You wound me woman."

Amber's hands flew to her face, she was right! And she was so embarrassed because she had done something completely stupid. She looked between her fingers when Chord began laughing. 'This bastard!' she thought as she rose from the table

"You lair!" she said hitting him repeatedly with her fists.

Chord could barely breathe from laughing so hard but managed to grab her wrists to stop her assault. Amber had a smile on her face as she couldn't help it when she saw him laugh.

"Sorry, sorry!" he yelled

"Yeah, you did get crazy last night, but the only thing you did was decide to strip while walking to your room."

He smirked once again, and Amber wanted to go hide, "Don't worry," he said, "nothing I haven't seen before."

Chord was lucky for his good reflexes because Amber's hand would have easily met his face if he wasn't quick enough, as he began laughing again; Amber huffed before attempting to go back to her room and never speak to him again. Chord was only amused even more as he grabbed her arm,

"Oh come Neytriri, I didn't mean anything by it."

"Chord Salling, you are the absolute worse!"

He cringed at that, it only reminded him that he needed to tell her the truth, and he had to admit that he had been stalling but it was time to tell her. His face became serious as he placed a finger under Amber's chin; he made her look him in the eyes,

"It's not your fault."

"What are you talking about?"

Amber truly was confused, and now a little scared as she looked into his eyes. That intense stare was back, and she wanted to stop looking, but his eyes just seemed to be pulling her in. Amber knew that eyes were like an entry to people's souls, Chord's seemed to clouded, filled with unrecognizable stories. She knew that he wanted to release his just as much as she wanted to release hers. She wanted to make sure that he knew she was willing to listen, but before she could, Chord was pulling her back to the kitchen table,

"Last night, you said some things that didn't sit well with me, so I'm going to explain why I left, okay?"

"Chord you don't have too. I understand and its okay."

He shook his head grabbing her hand tightly, "No it's not okay Amber. It's not okay because you think I left because of you."

"Please don't do this right now."

Amber didn't think she would be able to listen to him say that it was her fault. That he wished that night never happened, she knew that she wouldn't be able to take the words coming out his mouth. She ran her best friend away. She caused so much pain to his family and friends. Amber was never able to tell anyone that her and Chord had had sex, she knew that everyone would only speak the words she already knew out loud. It was her fault.

"No!" he yelled pulling her back as she tried to get up, Chord reached across the table grabbing her cheek, he slowly ran his thumb over it.

"I need you to listen Amber because I can't live with myself knowing that all along you thought I left because of you. Just listen, don't talk."

She bit her lip; his voice was so full of emotion that all she could do was sit and wait. Chord sighed,

"My name isn't Chord Salling. It's Chord Overstreet."

"What?" she asked more confused than ever, "You changed your name? Why?"

"No Amber," he said now taking both of her hands, "My name was never Chord Salling, I'm adopted."

"Chord—"

"When I found out, I was devastated. A few days after you and I—you know, Mark and I got into an argument and for the life of me I can't even remember what about, but I remember his words clearly, "Sometimes you're so worthless! Mom and dad should have left you were they found you!" I was confused because he had never said anything like that to me, so I asked them about it, and that's when they finally decided to tell me. For 20 years they had lied to me about my whole life, I didn't understand it Amber, it was like I didn't know who I really was because the life I was living was just a complete lie! And it hurt like hell to know that."

"When I began to think about it, they had always treated Mark different from me, they treated him better! He had always gotten the finer things; he would get away with his bullshit, never me. And finding out that was the reason why broke my heart even more."

Amber was crying, and Chord didn't understand why, but he wiped her tears anyway, "I'm so sorry Chord."

"It's not your fault; it never was your fault. There is nothing for you to be sorry about. I ran away, I needed to get away from them. I'm sorry for leaving you, but I never planned on looking back once I left. And I couldn't come to tell you goodbye, you meant too much to me to say it. And as hard as it's going to be, you're starting to mean just as much as you did so many years ago."

"Why keep running?"

This time it was Amber who caressed Chord's cheek, he placed his hand over hers.

"Running away is all I know now. I'm like a guy version of Cinderella," he smiled, "My story just won't end like the fairytale."

"I think it's time to learn something different then. Maybe we should pray together?"

Amber hadn't been to church yet, but she was willing to get a head start with Chord, he squeezed her hand,

"That would be nice but—I don't believe in God."

"Oh, don't say that Chord. There is a God! You just have to believe."

"No, I have nothing to believe in and haven't had anything for years. I doubt a silent prayer will make all my troubles go away. There's just no use."

"You have to believe! You have to have faith and hope because without them you have nothing to live for! God is there every step of the way, and everything happens for a reason Chord, we may not always know why but in the end, we learn and grow stronger! God created you for great things, you can't let being adopted or anything else get in your way."

"I was scared that this would happen, I knew that telling you I was adopted would only run you away. I'm not sorry for my beliefs Amber; I have no reason to believe in him when nothing in my life has gone right. Hope and faith died a long time ago."

Amber rose to her feet, "I'm not running away Chord, no matter what, you're still my friend and I care about you. And I believe in you Chord, you may have nothing or no one to believe in, but I believe in you."

Chord didn't understand this woman that stood before him, after all he had done to her, after everything he had said, she was still going to be there for him, and she was going to actually care about him. As many places as he had been, he never found anyone that truly seemed to care. Here he was, back in his hometown, after all the places, she had always been here.

Amber wasn't going to force God on him, only because she needed to get her own life right with Him first, but she was going to be there for Chord. She was relieved that he didn't leave because of her but the information she had gotten today was all that soothing.

"Amber?"

"Yes?"

"I don't regret it. I could never regret that night with you."

"I—I don't regret it either Chord."

Neither of them knew where their life with one another was going to go from here, they both secretly hoped it would only grow into an unbreakable bond, but that was going to be hard with Chord still having his doubts, and Amber still being afraid of living. The only thing that one of them did know was that their walls were slowly coming down for the person standing in front of them.

Chord walked to Amber and without saying anything, he took her into his arms. She didn't protest as she wrapped her arms around his neck, they hugged each other for what seemed like hours,

"Thank you Amber."

"Don't thank me yet." She whispered.

One of them is falling I suppose, just not telling which one.

Wouldn't mind knowing what you all think! :P