Disclaimer: I do not own Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or the characters associated with these series

Disclaimer: I do not own Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or the characters associated with these series. I am also not affiliated with any of the shows, celebrities, or pop culture icons mentioned in this story.

Author's Notes: Thanks for all the feedback. As I mentioned the before, this will be the last chapter of this particular story. I want to thank everyone for reviewing and sticking with the story throughout all of the delays. It means a lot that you wanted to read this.

This story will mention several real celebrities, in relation to the characters knowing them and interacting with them, however I will not be attempting to write any of these characters into the story. The only people that the characters will be interacting with that you really see will be fictional. Since this story is fictional and technically takes place in the future, I am taking liberties with the things that will happen in the pop culture world. I am not an authority on any of this, and have no knowledge that certain things will happen.

The dates at the top of the excerpts at the beginning should be used as a timeline for the story.

Chapter 11-Kiss the Rain

Excerpt from Frank Hardy's Inbox; Subject: "Undeliverable Item":

November 10th, 2008

System alert:

The following message (Subject "Well, this is awkward...") was undeliverable due to a system failure.

Nancy,

Well, this is awkward...

I don't know if there will ever be the right words to describe what's happened between us. There isn't a set of words that really conveys everything that is our relationship and I doubt there ever could be, so I don't think that explaining what's happened, even to ourselves would be any easier. It makes it difficult, because maybe if I could define what happened, it might make it easier for me to apologize.

I think our main problem was our expectations. We've known each other for a long time, and in some ways we've been in a relationship on an emotional level for almost the same amount of time. Through all the connections we had, we built up in our minds what our relationship would be. I would break up with Callie, and you would break up with Ned, and in some romantic moment of clarity we would kiss and live happily ever after. Only that's definitely not the way it happened, and I think we both had our problems dealing with the fact that things weren't perfect. But mostly me.

I handled my disappointment extremely poorly. Instead of talking, I got angry, and instead of thinking, I ran away. Basically, when you went to college and then on to LA, you grew up, and when I went to college I didn't changed a thing and pretty much stayed a teenager.

I am glad that I was finally able to learn the truth about everything, and now it's a lot easier for me to understand. You were just trying to help someone, and what happened between us only served to make that harder for you. It hurts that you didn't trust me with your secret, although I realize that I didn't give you the opportunity to, and even if I had, it was really Ben's decision. Of course now you don't have much of a reason to trust me. But I hope to give you a reason to.

I realize how much ground has to be made up. I said a lot of regrettable things that I think both of us will need some time to get over. So I'm pretty sure baby steps are in order to make this work. We could start small, maybe casually run into each other at a coffee shop and talk for a few minutes before I have to fly back out to Bayport. At the very least it would give me the chance to properly apologize.

So if you have any inclination to try and rebuild our relationship, or at the very least see me humiliate myself in the attempt to apologize, then please, e-mail me, or call me, or something. I don't want this fight to be our legacy. Sleeping together should be the start of our relationship, not the end of it.

I really hope that we can make this work.

Love,

Frank

"Do you ever get the feeling that the world is completely against you?" Frank did not appreciate the laugh that came out of his father's mouth at the question. He closed his laptop, frustrated.

"Feeling like a pair of brown shoes, Frank?"

"What?"

"It's an old line from...never mind." Fenton shook his head. "What exactly is the problem?"

Frank hesitated before answering. His father had known for some time that something was bothering him. It was only natural, considering how short tempered and agitated he had been. However, so far Frank had managed not to tell his father what the problem, despite multiple questioning attempts if only for one reason. His dad was absolutely no good at advice unless it revolved around work. Just the same, he clearly needed some sort of help. "I'm trying to apologize to someone. I sent them an e-mail to try and set it up three days ago. The server must have been backed up or something because I only just got the alert saying that they never got the e-mail." He shoved his laptop aside with the arm that wasn't trapped in a sling.

"Well...in my day we called people to arrange these meetings. You could go old fashioned."

"And I could win the lottery. That doesn't mean that they're anymore likely to answer the phone if I were to call." Frank sighed and immediately regretted it. Fenton knew that sigh. It had signified trouble with his love life since he had been thirteen.

Fenton raised an eyebrow. "They or she?"

"She." Frank answered begrudgingly.

"Well, I'm sure you're familiar with my advice on the subject."

"Go crawling back to her with a bouquet of her favorite flowers and a box of her favorite chocolates between my teeth." Frank recited. To Fenton's credit, this method had gotten him out of nearly every fight he had with Laura. Just the same, he wasn't jumping to use it. "She has far too many of both."

"If it's that serious jewelry might be the way to go."

Frank sent his father an extremely unpleased look. It was bad enough that he had gotten his romantic inclinations from Fenton, while Joe had inherited his mother's notions. Granted, this was a good thing for Joe in the end, but at this moment, when he actually need some sort of advice, it was entirely unfortunate. "OK. Dad, no offense, but your advice is terrible. Where's mom?"

"She's in the other room, fighting Vanessa for one last chance to coddle your brother before we fly back home and all of the coddling goes to Vanessa by default."

"I don't suppose you want to go tag her out so I can talk to her? I'll even surrender myself to the coddling."

"And face having the same problem as you finding the right apology? Sorry Frank, but I don't think I want to risk that. Why don't you just try and send the e-mail again? I'm sure she'll be more than willing to listen to you."

"Several things are wrong with that plan. The first of which being now that I've read the e-mail I realize how incoherent it is. I was still hopped up on the strong painkillers, and it was laughable. Besides, we leave town tomorrow morning. There won't be any time to actually see her."

This bit of information was just enough for Fenton to latch onto. "And you think this is something that you should apologize to Nancy for in person."

Frank briefly closed his eyes, wondering for a moment exactly how much he'd be forced to divulge now. "Yes. The girl is Nancy. We had a fight. A big one. More than one technically. And most of it was my fault so I'm trying to apologize but I can't seem to reach her." He paused, realizing that being forced wasn't going to be the problem. Stopping was. "I've seen her in her interviews and on the finale last night, and all I can think about is--," He stopped himself. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Do you know why the flowers and the chocolates and all of the other things work Frank?" Fenton asked for a moment. "Because once they're accompanied by a rambling apology they demonstrate my intent of making things right. Call her. E-mail her. Do something. Even if you can't see her in person you can at least let her know that you want to do the right thing." Fenton had his mouth open to say more when there was a knock at the door. He stood and went to answer it, wondering who it was; few people knew where the hotel room was, and he doubted that Frank had ordered any room service. To say that he was surprised by the visitor would have been a slight understatement. "Mr. Wyndham, what brings you here?"

The soccer player flashed a small, somewhat nervous smile. "It's Ben, please, Mr. Hardy."

"Well then, I'll have to insist on Fenton."

"Actually I was hoping to see Frank." Ben informed. "That is, if he's not sleeping, and if he wants to see me."

Fenton opened the door so Ben could step into the room. "Frank, Ben here would like to have a word with you. I'm going to go check in on your mom and Joe."

"That's really not necessary Fent-." But by the time Ben had half of the sentence out of his mouth, Fenton had already gone through the door that adjoined to the next room. After a brief moment, he eyed Frank, who was sitting at the small hotel desk. "Hey."

"Hi." Frank regarded Ben slightly suspiciously. He couldn't think of a reason that the man would want to come and visit him. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was hoping that there was something I could do for you." Ben answered quickly, dropping the bag he had on the floor, and shoving his hands into his pockets. "I want to thank you properly for saving my life and all. Especially since you got shot for all your trouble."

Frank shook his head. "I was really just doing my job. You don't owe me anything."

"I didn't say I had to thank you. I said I wanted to. Anyway, I spent some time thinking, and I thought of something that you could use some help with."

"I don't need help with anything." Frank wasn't entirely sure that he liked where the conversation was going. It was awkward enough to spend any amount of time with the man who had (sort of) been dating Nancy without her being there.

"And if it weren't for the fact that you look like someone who's at the end of their first week of post-breakup moping, I would believe you." Ben shook his head.

"Ben, please..."

"Frank, I 'm not stupid." Ben sat down on the edge of the bed. "You're in love with her. And you have been probably since way before you slept together. But instead of doing anything about it, you're sitting in your hotel room watching her television interviews thinking about how much you love her and how much it blows that you don't stand a chance with her now."

"And what makes you think that there is anything you could possibly do to fix that?" Frank realized slightly too late that he didn't deny anything.

Ben ignored the question. "Except what you don't seem to realize is that behind her pretty smiles for the camera she is thinking the exact same thing about you. You stand a chance Frank. Just not like this."

"What do you mean like this?"

"She's not going to take back some unshaven, moping shell of a man." Ben pointed out. "She's going to take back the guy that she fell in love with."

"She's too busy to see me right now anyways."

"Then call her."

"So I'm supposed to call her and say 'I'm sorry. I know it doesn't mean as much when I'm not in front of you and groveling, but you should know that I mean it, because I love you.' Is that it?"

Ben shrugged. "I think that would work quite well."

"Look, thanks for coming out here and trying to help, but I don't think that this is the way that I should handle this." Frank stood, slowly, in order to avoid aggravating his injuries.

"Fair enough." Ben stood as well, giving in far more easily than Frank had anticipated. "Just do me a favor and don't let her slip away, all right? You both deserve to be happy." The two shook hands, and Ben picked up his bag, and was almost out of the room when he turned back. "I almost forgot." He started to rifle through the bag. "Nancy found out that I was coming out here to thank you guys and she wanted me to give this to you. Don't worry. She doesn't know that I was going to bring up your relationship."

Frank took the stuffed yellow Labrador puppy dressed as a knight in shining armor in one hand. "Oddly enough, I think I'm more concerned about the fact that she gave me a stuffed animal from Build-a-Bear than the fact that she might think we're trying to fix our relationship."

Ben shook his head. "Who knows? Girls can be weird like that." He coughed into his hand. "Thanks again for the whole life saving thing. I'll send you and Joe a set of tickets to the first game we have in New York as your actual thank you gift."

"Thanks for stopping by. I guess I'll talk to you."

Once Ben was gone, Frank sat down on the edge of the bed, holding onto the stuffed animal and looking over it curiously. Nancy had given him a stuffed dog. He couldn't fathom why, unless she was equating him to a dog, which the particular outfit it had been clad in didn't equate with. He squeezed the toy's torso halfheartedly, and almost immediately he could hear Nancy's voice.

"I wish we could live in some sort of fairy tale world where we could find each other and live happily ever after, just prince charming and the well...calling myself a princess would seem a little conceited but...We don't. So hopefully saying I love you will be enough."

NDHB

"Tell you what? Why don't you go out and get some supplies? I'll keep an eye on her while you're gone."

Nancy pushed herself into a sitting position as she woke up, to the female voice talking with her father outside of her bedroom door. She would know that voice anywhere. Carson agreed to the speaker's plan and moments later the door to her bedroom opened. In walked Bess, looking tanned, perfectly coiffed, and quite displeased.

"OK, first of all, you need to open up your curtains and get some light in here." Bess walked straight to the windows to complete the task. "You're never going to win that man back if you look like you've never seen the sun before."

"I was sleeping." Nancy answered indignantly, choosing to ignore the implications in Bess' statement. "Shouldn't you be with Brian?"

Bess sat down on the bed near Nancy's feet. "We just had our honeymoon. And as much as I love him, you're my best friend. I've wanted to come and see you since you first called and told me everything. How are you doing?"

"Well, the swelling on my knee is almost done enough for the doctor's to find out if I need surgery."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. I happen to know that whenever you're not making your appearances you have been sitting in here alternating between sleeping, silent moping, and crying. Your dad is worried."

Nancy sighed, fingering at her hair, which she knew was a mess. "I know. I'm pretty sure he would go and kill Frank except for the fact that he's not sure if I'm crying because of him or what happened with Lily."

"Oh sweetie." Bess reached over and rubbed Nancy's shoulder. "It's gonna be OK. I mean, he can't stay mad at you forever. He's probably just as torn up about this as you are. More torn up even."

"That's what Ben said."

"Well, he's right. You know men. They don't have a clue how to operate without someone else in their life."

Nancy shook her head. "And what if that someone's not supposed to be me?"

"Oh please." Bess scoffed. "You and Frank were tailor made for each other. That's why you had this fight and not some stupid, 'can't you put your socks in the hamper?' fight."

"That doesn't make any sense."

Bess gave her a pointed look. "People who don't like each other pick fights over stupid things, and eventually they never get back together again. People who love each other pick fights over the big stuff and they get stronger for it."

"I don't know how you ended up being my assistant. You should have gone into the advice business."

"Sweetie, I am in the advice business. I give you advice practically every day." Bess patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. "Why don't you get dressed while I make you some tea, and dig out that cookie dough I know you have hidden away in your fridge?"

"Sounds like a plan." Nancy finally nodded. Bess was right in that she couldn't spend the rest of her life moping. "Could you get me my crutches please? They're right on the floor."

"Sure." Bess stood and walked over to the other side of the bed, where she saw the crutches and a box. "What's in the box?" She leaned over and picked it up, forgetting about the crutches briefly.

Nancy glanced over at it. "Oh, I don't know. Ben dropped it off yesterday when I was asleep. Dad says that he said it was something from Frank, but I never got around to opening it."

"Well...open it." Bess urged, shoving the box into Nancy's hands. "For all you know you've had an apology waiting on your floor for practically a day and you've been ignoring it."

After a brief moment, Nancy complied. She opened the box and pulled out a stuffed cheetah with a World Wildlife Fund pendant hanging around its neck and wearing a crown of white and blue flowers. "He went to Build-a-Bear." She announced more than a little confused by the gesture.

"That's sweet. See, he's trying to show you that he cares. Did he leave a note or anything?"

Nancy was holding the stuffed animal down on the bed so she could search through the box with her good hand when she heard Frank's voice.

"I'm sorry. I know it doesn't mean as much when I'm not in front of you and groveling, but you should know that I mean it, because I love you."

A few moments of silence later and Nancy had started to cry, while Bess had gained an extremely determined look. "OK. That's it. It's time to pull your self up by your bra straps and go get that man."

NDHB

Nancy looked over her apartment once more assessing the details. Everything was cleaned and put away, making it presentable. The table was set, minus the food which was being kept warm on the stove; a bottle of wine was chilling in the center. The apartment was perfect, and Bess had seen to it that she matched. They had gone to the spa and gotten the full works. Bess was out to dinner with Brian and Carson, while she was waiting for Frank to show up.

She had barely believed it when he had actually answered the phone, and had been even more incredulous when he had agreed to come over for dinner. Now with every minute that went by, she got more and more nervous about the fact that Frank wasn't there yet.

A knock at the door startled her from her thoughts. She hobbled over, briefly cursing the fact that she had to be on the crutches at all, and then she fumbled one handedly with the door while trying to balance before she finally managed to have any success. The momentum of opening the door led to her balance being thrown off and she stumbled to the side.

A hand darted out and caught her, pulling her back up into a standing position. "Whoa there. You umm...got a hair cut"

Frank and Nancy shared a nervous laugh. "Hey there." She greeted, allowing him into the apartment. She briefly fingered at her now mid-neck length hair "How are you?"

"I'm good. I finished packing today, since we leave tomorrow."

"Right."

"What about you?"

"Oh, I'm just...peachy." Nancy did her best to put a smile on through her nerves. The two waited for the other to say something, but it didn't happen. Instead they stood just inside the apartment door, staring at each other for several minutes.

"So..."

"Yeah. So..."

Frank wasn't entirely sure what came over him. One minute he was waiting awkwardly across the room for something to come at him and inspire him for his apology, and the next minute he was standing directly in front of her, cupping her chin with his good hand, and kissing her. A moment later their lips parted, and they both smiled softly. "About what happened..."

"You're sorry." Nancy filled in for him. "I know. I'm sorry too."

"I know." He nodded, and leaned his forehead down to rest on hers. "I just wish that we could start over and do things right."

"Who says we can't?"

NDHB

Nancy's head was resting comfortably on Frank's chest while his fingers ran through her now shorter hair. Everything felt right. Things had gone better than she had hoped. Granted things had also gone much more gingerly than they had before, but it had still been more than she knew was proper to expect. "See? We have officially started over." She announced proudly, reaching up to grab on to his hand, weaving her fingers through his.

"I'm so glad you called me. If we hadn't gotten to see each other..." Frank trailed off.

"I know. But it's really thanks to you. If you hadn't given Ben that stuffed animal to give me I wouldn't have gotten your message."

"My message? But you had Ben give me that stuffed dog." Frank sat up a little, starting to frown.

Nancy shook her head. "No, I..." Realization dawned on her. "You know the common element here seems to be Ben. I think he set us up."

"That figures."

Nancy worried a little when Frank didn't relax right away. Ben always seemed to come up at the most inopportune moments. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah." Frank squeezed her hand once, sliding back down. "I'm just trying to think of the proper way to thank him."

"I'm sure we'll be able to think of something."

The two sat in a very comfortable silence, listening to each other breathing for a moment before Frank spoke again. "I wish I didn't have to leave tomorrow. Now that we finally got ourselves together."

"I would come with you in a heartbeat."

"But..."

"But I found a job that wants me right away that I'm really interested in." Nancy sighed.

Frank echoed her sigh. "I guess this was always our way wasn't it? Getting along great and then parting ways?"

"We're not parting ways. We're just...living in different places."

"You really want this job?"

"I think it will be good for me. Therapeutic. It's a sitcom. And it has absolutely nothing to do with danger or mysteries."

"That does sound therapeutic." Frank kissed her temple. "I don't think I could stand in your way even if I wanted to."

"Thank you."

"I'll just have to find some cases that will get me out here more often." The two shared another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

NDHB

The End. Thoughts?