His brother was hurting. And it was his fault. He shouldn't have brought up the bitch. He knew Nate hated her. And what happened all those years ago was not his fault. How could he have blamed his younger brother?

"Shane?" The timid voice startled him out of his thoughts. Shane smiled slightly as he saw Mitchie poking her head through the bedroom door as though she were afraid to come in.

"Mitchie, hey. I'm not gonna eat you, you know," he chuckled as he motioned for her to come in. The brunette smiled, although it did not reach her eyes.

"A penny of your thoughts, Sire?" She needed to know what happened. She had never seen Alex like she had just moments before. It had scared the crap out of her and she was not going to leave until she got her answers so that she could help her best friend.

"It's my fault Nate acted like he did just now."

"Shane…" She had to stop him. He can't possibly be responsible for Nate's uncalled for actions.

"No! Just listen, alright? You're Alex's friend now and mine too, for that matter. So you need to know this, okay? So you can help Alex. This happened two years ago, Mitchie, and it was the most terrifying moment of all our lives…"

2 years ago…

It was disgusting. The fact that her best friend was sucking face with her mortal enemy since pre-school was down-right wrong. And to top it all off, Tiffany was looking at her from across the school gym with her tongue down Nate's throat with a triumphant look on her face. Thirteen-year-old Alex Russo sprinted from the school field to grab her books, ignoring the yells from her family members and a finally free Nathaniel Grey.

She grabbed her books from her locker, trying but not succeeding in keeping her tears in as she did so. She stomped out of the school compound, ignoring the fact that it was raining heavily.

"Alexandria Russo! Get in the car now or Mom will kill me!" fifteen-year-old Gabriella Montez screamed through the heavy and loud patter of the rain from the inside of the car Jason was driving. Her crazy little sister ignored her as she continued walking in the rain. From the front seat, Shane stuck his head out the window as the car drove along the pathway to Alex's speed, ignoring the curses of the oncoming cars from behind them.

"Alex, stop being an idiot! Get in the damn car!"

"Go away!"

"Alexandria Margarita Russo! If you don't get in the car right now, I swear to God I will do something so bad you'll remember it for the rest of your soon to be miserable life!" Gabriella yelled again, only to hit her head against Shane's seat when Jason suddenly stepped on the brakes. "A warning would've been nice, Jason," she mumbled as she narrowed her eyes when she looked at him.

The oldest Grey brother ignored her as he stepped out of the car after opening his umbrella. He ran up to Alex and stopped right in front of her, making sure he was keeping her dry. Or in his case, started stopping her from getting wet. He examined her pale face, her red eyes and her wet, messy hair. Feeling his sympathetic eyes on her, Alex felt her heart breaking again. Tears streamed down her rosy cheeks as her body shook from the cold and her grief. Gently, Jason took the books from Alex's hands and removed her backpack from her shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her to the car, silencing Gabriella and Shane when they were about to ask their questions with his fierce eyes.

Once they were home, Alex had immediately shut herself in her room, leaving the older three to answer to her worried parents and godparents. She only came down when it was time for dinner, only to have felt sick and depressed all over again.

After a few minutes at dinner with the constant puke-worthy flirting between Nate and Tiffany, Alex excused herself from dinner and went to her room. Nobody had expected Nate to introduce his bitch of his girlfriend to the family that night. Tiffany had been fake the whole time. Her fake smiles, praises. Why couldn't Nate see right through her? Alex took out the guitar her biological mother had left for her and started strumming it, almost feeling better when she started playing.

Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see
That I want and I'm needing everything that we should be
I'll bet she's beautiful, that girl he talks about
And she's got everything that I have to live without

Drew talks to me, I laugh 'cause It's just so damn funny
That I can't even see anyone when he's with me
He says he's so in love, he's finally got it right
I wonder if he knows he's all I think about at night

He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do

Drew walks by me, can he tell that I can't breathe?
And there he goes, so perfectly
The kind of flawless I wish I could be

She'd better hold him tight, give him all her love
Look in those beautiful eyes and know she's lucky cause

He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do

So I drive home alone, as I turn out the light
I'll put his picture down and maybe
Get some sleep tonight

He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The Only one who's got enough of me to break my heart
He's the song in the car I keep singing don't know why I do

He's the time taken up but there's never enough
And he's all that I need to fall into...

Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see.

"Okay. Who's Drew and why don't I know about him?"

Alex quickly wiped her tears as she set the guitar down before plastering a tight, fake smile on her face. Nate flicked an unwiped falling tear from her face. He did not look happy.

"Who's Drew?"

"What do you care? You've been AWOL from my life since you started dating Barbie," she sniffed as she turned her back to him and grabbed the nearest thing she could find – her locket – to keep her hands busy so that she wouldn't slap him.

"Tiffany's a nice girl. I really don't see why you guys don't like her," Nate sighed. "She's funny and nice and if you guys hang out together then maybe –"

"Not gonna happen. Anyway, Drew's just this guy," she quickly changed the subject. The last thing she wanted was to fight with her best friend.

"Who you're crying over," he stated the obvious. Alex sighed as she turned to him to explain herself.

"I really like him but he doesn't like me. He likes this other girl and she's beautiful."

"You want me to talk to him?" he sounded so genuinely concerned that Alex wanted to cry right there and then. How could he think of hooking her up with another guy when it was he she wanted?

"No, it's okay," she forced a small smile onto her face. "Umm… Nate, I'm really tired. I kinda had a rough day so…"

"Oh, right," Nate got up from her bed before walking to the door. "Night, Lexi." When she didn't answer him, he shook his head dejectedly and closed the door. If he had stayed a second longer, he would've heard Alex's heart-broken reply.

"Goodnight, Drew."

A few days later…

"Nate, I'm serious. It's either her or me."

The sentence she had been waiting for. It was only a matter of time before bitchy Tiffany showed her true colours to Nate. Alex held her breath from outside the music room. What was Nate waiting for?

Just break-up with her! Her mind screamed. She was his best friend since forever, the person he always went to when he had a problem and the person who understood him more than anyone else in the world. Why couldn't he just tell Tiffany goodbye? Did Tiffany mean that much to him? Or did she, Alexandria Russo, mean so little to him?

"Tiff, Alex is my best friend. Please, try to understand," he was begging her. Oh god, he was begging. She had to get in there. Stop him from being so pathetic around the blonde bimbo. Tiffany rolled her eyes and made to leave when Nate grabbed her shoulders to stop her from leaving, the pain in his eyes at having to choose between his best friend and his girlfriend evident. Alex was just about to step into the room when she heard the sentence that crushed her to pieces.

"I chose you, Tiffany."

And for the second time that week, Alex Russo ran from the school compound with her heart breaking into tiny little pieces.

Present day with Shane and Mitchie…

"He chose her?!" Mitchie gasped as she covered her mouth. Shane nodded with a smug smile on his face. Nate had always been idiot whenever Tiffany was around. Mitchie could not believe her ears. How could Nate have been so stupid? "But how did Alex forgive him? And you guys, for that matter?"

"We didn't talk to him for like two weeks until the day Tiffany broke up with him after she cheated on him."

"What?! After everything Nate did for her – sacrificing his friendship with Alex and everything else – she cheated and broke up with him?!" Mitchie shrieked. Shane nodded grimly. "Wow. What a bitch."

"Yeah, she was. And she was only thirteen. Imagine that."

"Wow."

"Anyway, Nate was a wreck when Tiffany broke up with him and Alex, being Alex, forgave him almost immediately."

"She just took him back? Just like that? Because he was a wreck?"

"Just like that. That's how much my dear brother means to her."

Two years ago…

Alex stopped typing on her computer when she heard a gentle tapping on her door. And not just normal knocking. Seven knocks followed by another five. Only one person crossed her mind. Nate.

Slowly, she got up from her chair before opening the door. Her eyes widened and she gasped when she saw the sight in front of her. Nate's hair was messier than usual, his eyes were almost as red as hers been a few weeks ago and his eyes… they looked so sad, so lost like a young child alone in a shopping mall for the first time without his parents.

"Alex…"

And he collapsed into her waiting arms. She led him to the bed as he told her all about Tiffany and how sorry he was. He should've chosen her. He should've known better. And she listened. Patiently without interrupting him. Letting him let out all his feelings, knowing it would make him feel better since it always did. She looked sympathetic at the right time, gave him a gentle squeeze on his arm when it got a little too painful for him to continue.

She had never seen him weak and broken and it scared the crap out of her that he could be so vulnerable because of Tiffany.

The next day, she stood by him the whole time in school and even got into a fist fight with Jack Hemlock, the jerk who had rubbed it into Nate's face that his girlfriend had cheated on him and had dumped him. What she was happy about, however, was Tiffany's shocked look when she had seen the two of them together before it had been replaced by a look of anger. It had been part of her plan to make Alex's life miserable by dating Nate and she definitely had not expected them to become friends again so fast.

Needless to say, both she and Nate were happy when the day was done. They proceeded to walk home as they always did when a van stopped right beside them. And before she knew it, she felt a sharp pain on her head before the world around her faded to darkness…

A/N: Please review!