Over the Years

by angellwings

#10: Kidnapping

"Nate?" Ella asked him as he stood on the other side of her door.

"Hello," He said with a smile.

"I thought we were supposed to talk after New Years? You said you have interviews and—"

"Come with me," Nate said quickly as he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the doorway. "Do you have your keys?"

"In my pocket. Why? Where are we going?"

He didn't answer and Ella's brow furrowed. "Nate? Where are we going?"

"Some place secluded and quiet."

"Okay, you're severely weirding me out right now. I mean, I know you too well to think you're carting me off to someplace where you could…burry me alive or something, but you're acting very scary right now. Do you plan on explaining yourself or am I just going to have to ask?"

"I'll explain later. I promise."

Ella opened her mouth to question him again but quickly realized it was pointless. He wasn't going to answer any questions until he felt it was safe.

He opened the passenger side door for her and she stepped inside in a daze. As soon as they took off in Nate's car she realized what he'd done.

Nate had kidnapped her. She smirked and began to laugh. She covered her mouth with her left hand as her laughter increased.

"What? What's so funny?"

"I've—I've been kidnapped…by a member of Connect Three," Ella gasped out amidst her laughter.

"Why is that funny? I can be intimidating when I want to be. I could be a…a scoundrel."

Ella laughed harder and shoved his shoulder. "Oh, Nate."

"What? I could!" He pouted.

She rolled her eyes. "And I'm sure Jason thinks he could be a pirate."

"Actually, he could. I think Jason would be a pretty decent pirate. He'd be one with an actual honor code," Nate smirked.

"But isn't the point of being a pirate not to have an honor code?" Ella asked.

"That depends on the kind of pirate you want to be I suppose," Nate said with a shrug.

Ella smiled softly at him as they fell into silence. Ella noticed they were leaving L.A. They were headed into a less populated area of California. The road looked familiar, and she suspected she'd been on it before. It wasn't until they made a particularly sharp left turn that she remembered their current route.

She gasped. "We're headed to camp, aren't we?"

He grinned at her. "Maybe."

"I haven't been to camp in ages!" Ella exclaimed excitedly.

"I was trying to think of a quiet secluded place and camp came to mind first. There's no one here this time of year. So I asked Uncle Brown if I could borrow the place for the night," Nate said with a smile. "I figured what better place for us to talk then the place that started it all, right?"

Ella nodded. "It's perfect, Nate. Really."

They reached the beginning of the long and winding driveway and they both had to get out of the car for a few moments to unlock the fence blocking the driveway from intruders. Once they were back in the car and headed up the driveway nerves and expectations filled the air. Nate parked his car outside of the administration building. Ella stepped out and shivered at the cold. The air was clear and crisp, and undeniably cold. She'd left her coat hanging by her apartment door. Nate motioned for her to follow him around the back of the car. He opened the trunk and threw her a blanket and a fleece pull over.

She started to put on the pull over but Nate stopped her. "Ah, actually, that's for me."

She paused and glared at him. "So, you just expect me to shiver out here all night long then?"

He chuckled and gave her an amused look. "Yes, I want you to be a human popsicle, Ella. That was my entire purpose in bringing you here." When she didn't crack a smile he rolled his eyes. "I'm kidding, Ella." He shrugged off his heavy coat and handed it to her. "I was planning on you wearing my coat and me wearing the fleece."

"Oh," She said sheepishly. "Sorry."

He nodded curtly and pulled the fleece over his head. Ella quickly put on his coat and struggled to keep up with him when he stalked off.

"Nate, really. I'm sorry. I should have known better. I mean I do know better. But I'm just—I'm nervous, and I snapped at you without thinking. I really am sorry."

He didn't say anything as he took the blanket from her and spread it out on the ground. Well, she thought, I've ruined things yet again. He's going to spend the whole night giving me the cold shoulder now. Good job, Ella.

She sighed hopelessly as she snuggled into his coat and glanced around at their surroundings. He'd led her into a clearing. She was glad they hadn't gone toward the water. It was cold enough without sitting by the lake. She took in a deep breath and was shocked when Nate's scent filled her senses. His coat was not only warm it smelled like him too. That clean, freshly showered, masculine scent that only Nate wore. Any single whiff of it left her feeling safe and protected.

Guilt plagued her yet again. She should never have thought that Nate would just let her shiver in the cold. That was stupid, and she'd hurt him with the accusation. She reached over and placed her cold hand on his.

"Thank you for the coat, Nate. I mean it."

He huffed and squeezed her hand. "Ella, I know that things have been awkward between us lately, but no matter what happens I'm always going to want what's best for you. Whether that's something big like for you to have your dream job or something small like for you to stay warm. I just didn't like that you thought I would leave you out in the cold like that."

There was some sort of meaning behind the way he spoke about her getting her dream job. Someone told him. Someone told him that she had turned down Christian's job offer. And since she only told Caitlyn…

"Caitlyn told you about Christian's offer, didn't she?"

"She did."

"That girl needs to learn to keep her mouth shut."

"I'm glad she told me. I would rather you have told me, but since we both know that wasn't going to happen…I'm glad someone did. Can you still change your mind?"

"I don't want to change my mind."

"But can you?"

She sighed. "Christian said that there would always be a spot for me on his team."

"So, you could call and accept right now?"

"Yes, but I'm not going to."

"I don't understand," He said with a shake of his head. "Why not? That's the type of job you've always wanted, isn't it?"

She growled in frustration. "I like the job I have now!"

"Why? Why do you like being a stylist better than being a designer? I'm just trying to understand why you're giving that up."

"Because! Christian's offer was a permanent position in Milan!" She exclaimed. She hoped she wouldn't need to say anymore.

"You told me that you loved Milan."

"I do love Milan, but I don't want to live there," She said with a sigh.

"Why not?"

She hugged the coat tighter and spoke up loudly, "Because Milan is not close to you! That's why!"

His eyes widened and a grin stretched across his lips. "Really?"

"I don't want to be that far away from you or my other friends and family ever again. This job Brown gave me allows me to work in a fashion related field and stay near all of my family. I'm happier with this job than I would have been working for Christian. Trust me," She told him.

"So, then, would you say that being near me is…key to your happiness?" He asked in a slight teasing tone.

She gave him a small grin. "Now, don't you get a big head, Mister."

His expression turned serious and his hand tightened around hers. "Is it?"

She let out a small startled gasp as the atmosphere around them changed drastically. Everything felt more urgent and charged with electricity. "I…"

"It's a simple enough question, Ella. Is being near me important to your happiness? Because I've got to tell you, being near you is certainly important to mine," He admitted with a nervous gulp.

His thumb absently grazed across her knuckles, and Ella felt her heartbeat speed up. "Y—yes, it is. Very important."

The next time Nate looked up at her his vulnerability seemed to pour out of his eyes. She'd never seen him so unguarded. There was always, at least, a bit of a wall that he kept up. But now, in this moment, that wall was completely gone. "Really?"

She brought her free hand up to caress his cheek. "Really. The entire time I was in Milan I just wanted to come home. I wanted to come home and…be with you. Somehow, over the years I went from thinking of you as my best friend to thinking of you as something much more than that, and I never want to be that far away from you ever again."

"Oh, believe me, you won't be. Not if I can help it. You're right though, these feelings have been coming on so slowly for so long that I can't honestly tell you when things changed. They just did. I nearly went to Milan and brought you back home several times. The only thing that stopped me was knowing how much you'd dreamed of being there. And no matter how much I loved you or how selfish I wanted to be…what I really wanted was for you to achieve your dreams. You deserve to have your dreams come true, Ella," He said as he brought his free hand up to cover the one she'd placed on his cheek.

"Y-you love me?" Ella asked hopefully.

"I do."

"Well, then you don't need to worry about my dreams," Ella told him as Nate removed their hands from his cheek.

"And why's that?" He asked knowingly.

"Because hearing you say that you love me was a fairly big one," Ella said with a grin. She leaned closer to him and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth. "I love you too, you know?"

"I know," He chuckled. "How could you not?"

She laughed and smacked his arm. "I'm serious."

"Good, because that would be a terrible joke," He said with a smirk as his lips hovered over hers.

"Just shut up and kiss me," She ordered.

"With pleasure," Nate said as he suddenly swooped in and captured her lips with his own.

Ella's hands found their way to Nate's curls again, and she couldn't help but think that this was the best New Years she'd had in a very long time.