"Oh my gosh, I so remember that!"Kelsey laughed as we went over our old childhood memories.

"Not funny! That was so disgusting!"

"Oh, come on, you have to admit that it was pretty hilarious."

"I see nothing hilarious about falling into a toilet. And my mom never let me stay over at your house again because of that."

"I know. Ridiculous. But at least I got to come over to your house."

"True, true. We were quite the disturbance around town and school."

"I think we were just disturbed,"Kelsey chuckled. I threw a pillow at her.

"Oh, shush."

"But, look where we are now. You're Miss Fabulous, while I'm in this ugly house taking care of my drugged-up sister and her children..."

I sat up with a gasp. How long were these nightmares going to haunt me? It's only been two days, hon. Give it some time. Nate's voice ran through my head. I brushed my hair out of my face, sitting up.

Tomorrow, early morning, I would be catching a plane to take me to my best friend's funeral. I shivered at that thought, it sounded so morbid...morbid but true. Not to mention surreal and heartbreaking.

Sunlight shined through the window, reflecting on my face. I was still staying at the Boggs' house. Connect Three currently weren't on tour, but they were still booked for local interviews and such. I had canceled whatever I was supposed to be at recently. I squinted my eyes at the overbearing sun. It was going to be another long day.

FFHFFHFFHFFHFFHFFHFFHFFH

"Shane's having his party this Saturday,"said Dee Cesario, trying to lighten the mood in the livingroom. She had come over to visit; did I mention she was married to Shane's Uncle Brown? I nodded, focusing my attention on the television.

"What exactly are we doing for it?"Jason asked, twirling a stray piece of hair around his finger. Nate sighed, putting his arm around me. I tensed a bit, but let him get away with it.

"Just a few friends, nothing too drastic. Mitchie's going to be here."

Jason's face brightened up.

"That's great!"

"I called her about it,"Dee chuckled.

"Thanks Dee,"Jason smiled.

"I can't wait to see her again,"Nate chimed in.

Mitchie. Their best friend. My best friend was dead. Nate looked down at me, sensing something was the matter. I don't know how he did that. He must have sensitive brain waves. Or he was just a freak. I tended to agree with the latter; I loved my freaks.

He attempted to give me a small smile. I stared at him blankly, then looked back down at my hands, rubbing them together. They were freezing cold. Nate placed a hand on top of them, but I pushed him away, standing up.

"I'm going for a walk,"I stated. It wasn't a request, it was a fact. Mrs. Boggs nodded. She sensed the tension in the room, as did Jason, Dee, and Nate. I think I was the central cause of it, so I might as well remove myself from the environment.

"I'll join you,"Nate said in the same tone I had. Ouch. No arguing with that. I simply bit my lip then turned my back to him, grabbing my jacket before I headed out the door.

FFHFFHFFHFFHFFHFFHFFHFFH

"There she goes,"he said in a low voice, lowering his binoculars. He looked over at his partner.

"Any action to be taken?"

"Not yet. We'll see what dear Laura's plans are after the funeral."

"Sounds entertaining."

"Believe me, it is. And we just happen to have front row tickets. I may get us some backstage passes later,"he chuckled, raising the binoculars up again.

FFHFFHFFHFFHFFHFFHFFHFFH

My vision blurred. Stupid saltwater. For some reason it always managed to slip out of my eyes at the most inconvenient times. I felt two strong hands on my shoulders, and let out a yelp.

"Shh." It was him. Wonderful. He turned me around to face him, seeing my tears. They betrayed me. He took a thumb to wipe them away.

"Allergy season. Don't know how long my contacts will hold up,"I sniffed. He frowned, taking a strand of my hair and tucking it behind my ear.

"I only did it because I love you."

"You sound like my mom."

"Is that a bad thing?"he raised an eyebrow. I ignored that question. He sighed, obviously frustrated.

"I'm sorry,"I whispered. His brow furrowed in confusion.

"Sorry for what?"

"For acting like this. For getting you involved in this...For being so stubborn,"I sniffed again. My vision started to blur once more.

He reached a hand out and touched my cheek.

"No, no, no. This isn't your fault. Believe me. I can't imagine how you're feeling right now, and I should be the one saying sorry. But Mom promised not to tell for the time being."

I gaped at him, at a loss for words. He pulled me into a hug. One of those great, irreplaceable Nate Boggs hugs. And I hugged him back.

I could tell he was surprised. I hadn't shown any signs of affection since the phone call. But this was too much to handle. I buried my head into his chest, and he stroked the back of my hair.

"You can cry, you know. Promise I won't tell,"he urged. I didn't respond, and I really didn't want to. I never cried, and now wasn't the time for exceptions. No matter how cute-sounding his voice was.

I don't know how long we were out there, but we found our way back to the house, me leaning on him for support. Mrs. Boggs greeted us with cookies and milk, which made me feel better.

What didn't make me feel better was that Kelsey's funeral was tomorrow. And I could possibly be part of the reason for it.