Natalie yawned and stretched snuggling closer to the warm body next to her. She knew Seth loved her. Knew it all along. He was so warm and comforting, just like he'd always been, she was safe with him, he was her constant, always there, never wavering. She remembered all of those times long ago when she had fallen asleep in his strong arms. She would wake up in the middle of the night, just to touch his face, make sure he was real, that she was loved. She opened her eyes and stared up at him... and her heart broke as everything came back to her with astonishing clarity.
She sat up, away from the sleeping face of a guy who wasn't Seth.
Natalie sighed and ran her fingers through her tangled hair, how was she ever going to get over Seth? When would she stop waking up in the middle of the night reaching for him only to find her bed empty? When something good or bad happened how would she resist dialing his number to tell him? When would she stop loving him, stop hurting?
Before she could stop herself warm tears were making their way down her cheeks and she hated herself for being so weak. Every thing she had ever thought about Seth was wrong, he didn't love her, not as much as he had always claimed, he had lied to her. She thought of those warm brown eyes and that gentle smile and her tears flowed faster.
Suddenly a warm arm encircled her and she yearned for the comfort, for the warmth it offered, she yearned for the words of comfort whispered into her hair and she longed for someone she could pour her heart out to, and in the early hours of that winter morning Cristian Vega became that person.

Natalie took a drink from the mug of hot chocolate she held between her hands. The tears had ceased and her nose had stopped running, though she new it was still red. She hated women who could cry without a red nose and swollen eyes, but she wished she was one of them. She watched as a marshmallow floated amidst the steamy brown liquid. Surprisingly she was starting to feel better as she bared her soul to this person who was practically a stranger to her, and one of Jessica's best friends.
"-so Seth fell in love with Jessica and now he can't stand looking at me," she finished, snuggling deeper under the warm blanket that enveloped her. She could hear the wind as it howled outside and it made her feel all the more safer, with her large blanket and steaming hot drink, and in the last hour, a person who had become her friend.
"Your love for Seth isn't going to go away anytime soon, believe me, it'll take time to get over him but soon you'll think about him less and less and then you'll find someone else, someone who can love you with all of their heart, the way you deserve to be loved."
"Yeah," scoffed Natalie. "and then I'll get my heart broken all over again."
"You can't think of it that way."
"Well look at you and Jen...sorry," Natalie apologized knowing that she was treading on a sore subject.
"Jen is where she's supposed to be, with Al."
"How can you say that? I know you love her and you can't just let something like that go, and I know that she loves you too, I know how much you went through to be together and now you're telling me that you don't even care?"
"That doesn't matter any more, the only thing that matters is that Al gets better and until that happens Jen and I have to stay apart, that's all there is to it," he said clearly ending that aspect of the conversation.
"I should get home," said Natalie reluctantly leaving the warmth of the blanket.
"Are you sure? I can drive you home."
"I'll be fine, thanks for everything Cristian." She said giving him a hug, besides Seth she had never had a real friend and she had to admit she liked it.
"No problem, maybe we can hang out later." He said handing Natalie her coat.
"That'd be great, I'll see you later."

Natalie walked across the icy parking lot towards her car and she had to stop herself from falling on the ice more than once. She got into her car and turned it on waiting for the heater to warm it up. She felt as if a burden had been lifted from her soul, she still ached for Seth but somehow she felt better about the future, it didn't look half as gloomy, and even if it was, now she had a friend to share it with.

She pulled away from Break Bar and onto the road, she decided to take the long way home so she could look out into the beautiful night. The stars were out and the clouds were gone, the snow had stopped falling and it cast a quiet calm over everything which made everything all the more louder when her breaks screeched on a slippery road as she lost control of the wheel. It took her a moment to comprehend what was happening and before she could even scream, her car went over an embankment, and then all went black.