Ch. 14 Mine Forever

Maggie POV

I sat at the kitchen table, humming to myself, my iPod in my ears and my college information packets strewn about the table. The sky was darkening, and I had managed not to think about it for a whole week. I chose to ignore the aching hole in my heart, planning to crack down as soon as I didn't have college stuff to think about. My Mom was upstairs in her room, watching the television, and my Dad was out at another business conference for his work. My sisters were out having their own lives. Mitchie and Shane were in their own little world, finally done with the tragedy of their situation and focused on the little miracle growing inside of her. Caitlyn and Jason were at Camp Rock, and when I talked to Caitlyn she seemed… strangely relieved. Whereas, when I talked to Jason, he seemed depressed. I didn't understand it; both claimed there was nothing wrong, but still. I hadn't heard from him in a whole week, and I was loosing it. How stupid was I, anyway, to want a break? If he wasn't ready for whatever reason to have sex, then he wasn't ready. I shouldn't just give up the love of my life because of something as stupid as sex.

Oh, crap. I thought about it again. Tears brimmed in my eyes and I quickly wiped them away, looking at the campus maps and syllabi sent from my professors and the various welcome packets. I must not think about my soul.

One of my favorite songs, Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones, came on my iPod. I found myself singing along, the words suddenly so true to my situation.

"Ooh a storm is threatnin'

My very life today

If I don't get some shelter," but then an unexpected voice joined me for the last line,

"Ooh yeah I'm gonna fade away" Nate joined in singing. I jumped up and screamed a little when I saw him.

"I'm sorry, your mom let me in," Nate blushed, not meeting my eyes.

"Oh, I thought she was in her room," I muttered.

"She was, but she saw me hovering outside and went down and let me in, I guess you didn't hear her," Nate sighed.

We were silent for a few moments, not looking at each other. Finally, Nate cracked.

"Please take me back, Maggie, please," he begged. I looked up and saw tears in his eyes, "This has been the most horrible week in my life."

"We didn't technically break up," I muttered softly.

"Well, okay, can the break be over, then? Please? I love you, Mags," the way he said it made my answer clear by the look in my eyes, but he kept on going, "I can't imagine a world without you. If you were to leave and never come back I would die. Physically, painfully die. I need you so bad," the way he said this made me want to kiss him, "And I want you, too, you know that? Every time we kiss each other it's like my body's on fire. I just… I don't want to get you pregnant, Maggie, I know I've said this enough times, but I look at Shane and Mitchie and bile rises in my throat, and I would hate myself if that happened to you, I would want to kill myself and… I just… but that doesn't matter, if I can't have you because of it. I'd rather have you a thousand times over than loose you because of sex. And I want you to be happy, Maggie, I do, and I'm so sorry for everything that I've ever done that's hurt you… I just… I love you," he whispered.

"You should have started with that," I murmured before throwing my arms around him, "I love you, Nate. "

We hugged for the longest time, our arms wrapped tightly around each other. The way he was breathing on my neck made shivers go up and down my spine.

He pulled back from me, causing me to pout. He chuckled so softly that no one else would have been able to hear it, and then kissed me very softly. It was the best kiss we had ever had. The way he was pulling me closer to him and moving his lips against mine made my mind spin. I couldn't breathe very well at the moment.

I pulled back from him, my eyes wide with surprise, "Wow."

He smiled at me warmly. I threw my arms around him and kissed him again. He made a small noise in the back of his throat and we were soon kissing each other more passionately than we ever had. I found myself running my fingers through his curly hair, breathing heavily against his mouth.

"Nate!" I gasped, managing to unpeel myself from him. He looked at me in surprise.

"What?" he laughed softly.

"If you don't want to have sex, then please, stop now, so that I don't loose complete control," I panted, placing a hand on my forehead. He pulled me up into his arms and held me close to him, breathing softly.

"What if I do want to have sex?" he murmured very softly. I couldn't think straight after those words. He… wanted… to… have… sex?
"Who are you, and what have you done with Nate?" I managed to choke out.

He laughed without humor, "I'm Nate, I'm here, and I want to make love to you."

"But… you… pregnancy… I…" I continued to stammer, my mind a complete blank. He kissed my lips so softly I couldn't breathe.

"I decided that I was willing to try, if only to make you happy, as long as we're careful. And besides," he started trailing kisses down my neck, "I missed you so much I went crazy. I need to go crazy with you to make up for it," he rested his head on my chest, breathing in deeply. I felt a blush creep up to my cheeks.

"Nate…" I sighed. He stood up and looked at me.

"You don't believe me, do you?" he murmured softly.

"It's not so much that, I just don't want you to have to do what you don't want to do," I shut my eyes tightly and rested my head in the crook of his neck.

"But I do want to do this," his voice was a soft growl, and he lifted my face from his neck to kiss my lips hungrily. I gasped as he kissed me more fiercely than he ever had, wrapping his arms tightly around me. I found myself letting go more and more each second, wrapping myself around him. Soon enough he managed to force me against a wall and kissed my neck and collar. I moaned his name when his kisses drew lower.

"Wait a second," I breathed, pushing him gently away from me. His eyes were so wild with passion that my heart couldn't stop beating erratically.

"Okay, I believe you now. But now I can tell you all of my worries, too," I breathed softly.

"You were worried?" Nate's eyebrows rose up into his head, "You are worried?"

"I never thought you'd actually want to," I breathed, "Yes, I have worries."

"Okay," Nate murmured, "Tell me." His eyes were kind and loving.
"I… what… what if our relationship is… different… afterwards? I mean, what if we're driven apart because we're actually not ready?" I murmured, not looking into his eyes.

He leaned down to kiss my lips, "I will not let that happen. If it happens, and our relationship breaks apart, then I will work so hard to pick up the pieces you won't even be able to resist me," he whispered against my lips.
I smiled despite myself, "Well… what if we don't like it?" I sighed.

He kissed the tip of my nose, "Then we'll try again when we get married, and even if we don't like it then, hey, I'm okay with suffering for a baby," he grinned. I giggled, "Me too."

"Besides, the odds of us not liking it are…" Nate's eyes went up towards the sky.

"Okay, okay," I laughed, but my last worry played on the edge of my brain. Finally, I sighed, "What if it… hurts?"

Nate cupped my cheeks in his hands and looked at me lovingly as tears came up to my eyes unwillingly.

"I will never, ever hurt you," he breathed softly, "Any time you want to stop, just say so, and I'll stop."

I threw my arms around his neck and began sobbing uncontrollably. He held my tightly, his warm cheek pressed up against the side of my neck.

"Shh, shh, its okay," he murmured, "I'm really confused, though."

I laughed through my tears and hiccupped. I clutched his back, holding onto him for dear life.

"Mags, what's wrong," he breathed, "I only want to help you."

I sobbed, "I love you s-so much."

"I love you too," Nate chuckled, "Still I am very confused."

"I just… you're…and…" I breathed heavily, "You're amazing. I d-don't deserve you."

"No, I don't deserve you," he sighed. I shivered in his tight hold.

"N-no, I just w-wake up e-every day thinking you're g-going to dis-disappear!" I sobbed, holding him tighter to me.

He pulled me out of the hug and I began whimpering. I needed him. He looked at me straight in the eye, and his eyes were now brimming with tears as well.

"You just told me what I've been thinking every single day since I met you," he breathed softly. I threw my arms around him and sobbed harder into his neck.

Suddenly I felt him hoist me into his arms, bridal style, and start walking. As my face was buried in his neck, I had no clue where we were going. I cried out all my tears and just rested there, breathing softly into his neck.

Soon enough I heard a door open and close, and I felt myself being laid down on a soft bed. I opened my eyes and saw Nate staring back down at me, hovering over me on my bed, in my room. We continued to stare at each other, our eyes saying everything we needed to say.

After a while, he finally murmured, "I love you, Maggie."

I felt my breath hitch at the way he said it, "I love you, Nate."

"I really, really want to make love to you right now," he breathed on my face. Chills went up and down my spine.

"I really, really want you to make love to me right now," I replied, looking up at him calmly.

He leaned down and kissed the nape of my neck, "But… our one year anniversary… is tomorrow…"

I felt my breath hitch, "Perfect. We can go out first."

"To that nice Italian restaurant I like so much, and then to your Field Museum," he chuckled softly.

"Of course. And then come back to your place…" I breathed.

"Of course. I love you," he whispered again, moving so he was no longer hovering over me, lying down next to me on his side.

"I love you more," I grinned mischievously

"Not possible," he shook his head with amusement. Soon enough, we were both asleep.

CampRock

I was getting ready in front of my mirror, putting on lipstick and my favorite blue dress that I had worn to the dance last year at camp. I checked my hair a million times in the mirror, despite the fact that Nate wouldn't care and, hopefully, it would just be messed up tonight anyway.

The doorbell downstairs rang. I grabbed my bag and hurried down the steps, eager to see him.

He was standing in the doorway, a smirk on his face, a grey dress shirt on, black pants, and a black blazer.

"Hey," Nate smiled and kissed my lips softly, "You look amazing."

"Just amazing?" I giggled.

"Fine. Drop-dead, unbelievably gorgeous, so much so that I want to just pull you into my arms and kiss every inch of you," his laugh was contagious.

"You're not to bad yourself, handsome," I giggled, taking his hand as we went over to his car.

"Just not too bad?" his tone was mocking and amused.

"Fine. So unbelievably hot that I know every single girl is going to be looking at you tonight, and I'm going to have to be jealous," I smirked at him as we started driving.

"I love it when you're jealous," Nate laughed, "Your face gets so cute."

"I don't want to be cute tonight," I murmured in his ear at a red light, "I want to be sexy."
His face turned bright red, "Well, you don't have to do anything to be that."

"Aww," I giggled as we continued to drive. Soon enough we were at the small Italian restaurant he took me to whenever he could.

We went inside and got a small booth, and our feet tangled up in each other while we read our menus. The waiter was, luckily, a boy, so no jealousy could be found. We were just caught up in each other, the dim light, the way the food smelled… everything.

When we left, we went straight to the Field Museum. I found myself, as always, in the Evolving Planet exhibit. I would just lean on the railing, staring at the fossils as if they were alive and moving.

"You really like this, don't you?" Nate murmured in my ear as I studied a fossil Dimetrodon.

"Yeah," I grinned, "If I wasn't going to be a marine biologist… I'd be a paleontologist."

He kissed my neck, "I'm so glad you love it."

I laughed, "And as for you…?"

"They're interesting, yeah, but I'd much rather look at you the whole day long," he breathed. A blush crept up my cheeks. He was such a sweet talker.

I'm not going in on the details of our date, for it was both beautiful and private, from everything we said and did. It was almost as if the date were building up the pressure for that night.

We were quiet in the car when we drove to his house. I had in my purse my essentials: a condom (although Nate probably had five) my night dress, my birth control pills, and a brush. I felt my heart beat wildly out of control, and Nate looked nervous too. Maybe it would have been better if we had just done it spontaneously, instead of building up all the pressure.

I found myself being picked up by Nate once we had parked, bridal style, once again. I breathed softly into his neck, feeling more and more nervous by the second. Soon enough we were in his bedroom, and his bed was covered in rose petals. He set me down and began to softly kiss my mouth and neck, trying to be nonchalant about it.

"Hey Nate?" I breathed. He looked up and stared into my eyes.

"Yeah Mags?" he murmured.

"Can I get changed first?" I murmured. He smiled and nodded.

"I'm going to get changed too," he breathed. We smiled at each other and he left the room. I quickly pulled off my dress and pulled on my night slip, feeling its smooth blue silk hug me nicely. I took a deep breath and lay down on the bed, my heart going at faster than light speeds.

I heard a soft knock at the door. I took another deep breath and called out, "OK."

He walked in, dressed in his flannel pajamas. He smiled at me weakly and sat next to me.

"I love you," he whispered softly. I sat up and wrapped my arms around him, my heart still going at a racing pace.

"I love you too," and he leaned in to kiss my lips.

CampRock

The moonlight danced on the sheets of the bed. It was dark. I was sitting up in the sheets, tangled in them like my hair was, breathing softly and calmly. It was like everything had suddenly fallen into place.

"Mags?" I heard him whisper next to me. I smoothly turned around and faced him, his face illuminated by the moonlight. I smiled and laid down next to him, feeling my hair fall all over my shoulders.

"Yeah?" I breathed, smiling wider than I had in a long time. He grinned back in much the same, uncontrolled fashion.

"You're amazing," he inhaled. I giggled.

"No, you're amazing," I sighed. He smirked and kissed me softly.

"Well, you're beautiful," Nate smiled. I giggled.

"And you're the most intoxicating person I've ever met," I grinned. He kissed me again before stroking my hair.

"Go to sleep, little Maggie," he chuckled, "I'll be here, always."

I smiled a little and, soon enough, fell asleep with my head on his chest.

AN: The Unedited version is a lot longer than this, because there's a.) the sex scene and b.) the morning after… which is very, very risk-ay. I'd post the whole thing as a writer's cut, but I'd need people to ask me too… anyways, be happy! They're back together! Yay! And…. (drumroll) please review!