Chapter 6

The stroll over to Nate's house wasn't as long as Steph thought. On foot, it was only about a block away from the school. Steph looked as they stepped up to the house. It was a normal sized house, nothing too big, nothing too small. Out in the front yard was a large oak tree and a tire swing hanging from one of the branches.

"This is nice...I bet you and your dad have a good home life here." Steph spoke as she took it all in.

"Yeah, I always thought so." Nate led them towards the door. He took his house key from his back pocket and unlocked the door. He opened it and smiled at Steph. "After you."

"Oh, what a gentleman." She giggled softly and stepped inside, Nate following right behind her and closing the door behind them. "Wow, I like it...It's very nice."

"Thanks, glad you think so." Nate smiled a bit before leading them to the living room, where his father was sitting, watching TV while doing some paperwork. His father was a well built man for his age and had short brown hair and blue eyes. He looked up at his son and Steph.

"Hey there, Nate. How was the game?" He asked.

"Um...It had to be cancelled early." Nate replied, not sure if he should've told his father about the incident during that game. "Unforeseen circumstances, you know? But anyway, I want you to meet someone." He nodded towards Steph. "This is Stephanie Tanner, one of the friends I made at school. Steph, this is my dad, Brendan Thompson."

"Oh, so you're the girl that Nate's been going on and on about." Brendan smiled softly at Steph, extending his hand forward to her. "It's nice to meet you, Stephanie."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Thompson." Steph returned the smile, accepting Brendan's handshake. "You must be proud of your son, sir. He's one of the best that the volleyball team has. He's awesome out there."

Brendan nodded. "I know. He was so good back home. Won a few trophies too during that time." He replied, recalling Nate's previous success. "But that's me talking. I'm sure Nate would love to explain more of this to you. I have to drop these papers off." He tucked his portfolio underneath his arm and went to leave the house. When he did, Steph's lips curled into a small smirk and she turned her head to face Nate.

"Do you really talk about me that much?" She questioned, resting her hands on her hips.

"Would it be wrong if I said I did?" Nate asked, that same shyness that was there when they first met rearing its head out once more.

"Hmm...No, I don't think so." Steph smiled some, returning that shyness. Nate bit on his bottom lip gently before nodding over to the couch.

"Um, have a seat." He offered.

"Oh, thank you." Steph replied before taking a seat on the couch. Nate went over and sat beside her.

"Steph, I just want to say." He began. "Thank you for staying with me in the nurse's office today. I mean, you should've went home. I was gonna be okay, you know that."

"Yeah, but I wanted to make sure." Steph answered, turning herself so she was facing Nate. "I wouldn't want to lose someone else that's close to me." She added softly, recalling her mother who was killed in a car accident and Uncle Papouli who died of natural causes.

"Of course...I guess I forgot about that." Nate rubbed the back of his neck, having his own dark family history himself. Steph nodded before speaking again.

"You never told me about your family, though." She said softly. "I know that it's a difficult to talk about and I know it's a sensitive subject for you, but don't you think you should talk to someone about it? If anyone...at least me. I want to know what's wrong so I can help."

Nate sighed, cupping his hands in his lap and then slouching over a little. "You really wanna know?" He questioned. When Steph nodded her head, Nate began to speak again. "Okay, here's how it is...My mom and dad, somewhere around the time when I was five or six, started to have problems with their marriage. They were either too busy at work to see each other, something was wrong in the house, whatever the case was...It was just unhappy living there. One day, my mom just ran out on me and my father, leaving a note behind saying that she went to Las Vegas." He took a deep breath, hating the feeling of bad feelings coming back.

"That's horrible..." Steph placed her hand lightly over her chest in shock. "She just left you and your dad with only a note?"

Nate only nodded to answer. "And that's not even the worse part of it all." He continued on. "One day when she was going back to her hotel room in Las Vegas, she was found dead there." He swallowed hard, trying his best not to crack. "Sources said she was raped because her clothes were torn and there were traces of semen on her bed, too...We got the call because there were no other sources to go to for the authorities."

"Oh my gosh...Nate, I am so sorry..." Steph wrapped a comforting arm around him, pulling him closer.

"It's just so hard...I mean, I couldn't even say goodbye to her." Nate shook his head. "It just isn't fair, you know?"

Steph nodded in understanding, knowing how it was to not be there for a loved one's last moments. She reached over, putting her other arm around Nate, bringing him into a gentle hug. Nate returned the affection, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"It's okay...It's okay..." Steph soothed, stroking the back of his neck for comfort. Nate tilted his head up, gazing into his friend's deep blue eyes. Their faces were very close to each others'. They brought themselves closer, sharing a deep kiss. Nate wrapped his arms around Steph's waist tighter, leaning back to lay down with her ontop of him, feeling like he was in heaven. After a while, they slowly broke the kiss.

"Wow...Wasn't really expecting that." Nate said softly.

"Yeah, me either." Steph breathed; it was obvious she enjoyed the kiss just as much as he did. She leaned into his embrace, resting her head against his chest. "How long did it take you to do this?" She asked slightly teasingly.

Nate shrugged his shoulders, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I think ever since I met you at school. Maybe I have a soft side for sensitive blondes." He smiled, kissing her on the top of her head. "But better late than never..."

"You know it." Steph ran her finger down his chest and smiled cheekily up at Nate. "Looks like coming to San Francisco wasn't for nothing after all, huh?"

"I don't think I want to leave now." Nate pulled Steph up closer and kissed her lightly on the lips once more. "I don't think I can stay here, though..."

"What? What do you mean?" Steph blinked back tears, thinking that he was going to leave her.

"No, I mean, I really can't...My cellphone in my back pocket. It's on vibrate, hold on." Nate slowly sat up, Steph reluctantly moving out of his embrace. He stood up and took his cellphone out of his pocket and answered it. "Hello? Oh, hey, Dad. Yeah, Steph and I are just...studying." He lied with a smirk, winking over at Steph, who blushed. "Sure, Dad, I got it. I know there's food in the fridge. We'll eat something later. Alright, bye." He hung up and set his cellphone aside, taking his spot beside his new girlfriend once more.

"So, where were we?" She smiled, moving closer to him.

"I think we were right here..." Nate leaned back again, pulling her into his arms, the both of them sharing their second passionate kiss that day...