OMJ!!! CATRINA SKY REVIEWED MY STORY! AND SHE LIKED IT!!! AND I WON THE CHALLENGE!! Haha, just a little fan girl moment. But seriously, it's like an honor. She's so awesome and an amazing writer. And my story's going to be featured for the entire week!!! Yay!!

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"So, if x is less than or equal to y, in which direction would you shade on the graph?"

Nate sighed as he looked down on his algebra notebook. Math had always been his weakest subject, but for the past few days, it seemed nearly impossible for him to concentrate on his schoolwork.

After about a minute of silence, his tutor, Landon, sighed. "Okay, Nate, how about we take a ten minute break. Go eat a snack or something, relax your mind, and then we'll try again."

"Yeah, that's fine," he mumbled, pushing his chair back from the desk in the small office. He walked down the hallway, past the living room, and had almost entered the kitchen, when he heard hushed voices.

"Well, are you going to tell him?" He instantly recognized his mother's voice.

A sigh was heard. "I don't know, Denise. He's been through a lot. You've seen how it's been affecting him. He's barely eating, almost never leaving his room, and he hasn't been talking to anyone."

"He deserves to know, Paul. Besides he'll probably find out sooner or later..." Her words trailed off as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. "Nathan, is that you?"

He walked forward. No point in hiding now. "Yes."

Paul rubbed his face with his hands. He knew his son had heard enough of the conversation to know they were hiding something. "Sit down for a moment, son."

Nate's breath hitched. It must've been serious. Paul never called his sons 'son' unless he meant business.

Once the three sat at the small table, there was silence for a moment. Nick was too frightened to ask what was going on, and the two adults.

"Nathan," Denise began, "Kristine, she-well she hasn't been doing good the past few days, honey. Her fever was at 103 on Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoon her left kidney failed."

Nate took a shaky breath. He had a feeling this would happen. "How is she now?"

The two parents glanced at each other. "She's awake now, but her chances of recovery are about 10% less than they were a week ago."

Denise watched her son's face, waiting for a reaction. When he didn't move, she reached forward to touch his hand, he snatched it back abruptly, and strode out of the room, and practically ran up the stairs, and down the hall to his room.

Slamming the door rather loudly, he locked it and turned towards his dresser in the corner. He hastily opened the top drawer, rummaging through the contents before he found the small baggie.

With trembling hands, he pulled it out, staring at the brownish leaves that it contained. This is a bad idea, he thought. Number one, it's not even yours, even though David probably already forgot he asked you to hold it. And number two, it's illegal. Besides, you're Nate Jonas. Teen heartthrob, clean cut Disney kid.

He debated the issue in his mind for minutes. "Screw it," he mumbled, grabbing the lighter, and rolling up the drug.

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"Nate, come on. We're getting ready to go down to the hospital." He recognized Jason's voice through the door, but his mind was too dazed for him to respond. "Nate," his brother called again.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm coming," he replied, surprised at how raspy his voice sounded.

"Are you feeling okay? You know, you don't have to go if you don't want to." he could practically hear Kevin frowning.

Nick rubbed his temples furiously. "I'm fine. I'll be ready in about 20 minutes." He waited until Kevin's footsteps could be heard heading in the other direction before he flopped back down on his bed again.

He groaned as a wave of nasuea come over him, and moments later he was kneeling in front of the toilet, dry heaving violently.

"Note to self," he muttered, "Never get high again."

He took a shower in record timing and slipped on a gray t-shirt, and black skinny jeans along with blue Converse with black and white striped laces.

He left his hair to air dry, and exited his room, the light in the hall causing him to wince. He heard the voices from the kitchen and could hear the clinking of silverware to plates.

As he neared the kitchen, the wonderful smell of chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.

"Nathan," his mother beamed at him. "Here's your breakfast. Did you check your sugar today?"

He grabbed a seat, and stuffed his mouth, shaking his head. "No, but I will when I finish."

The mother nodded, satisfied, and sat with her family.

Nate looked around the table, aware of the suspicious glance Shane was sending him.

He feigned innocence. "What's wrong," he questioned, as the older boys eyes narrowed.

"Nothing." He replied looking down on his plate again.

Nick also looked down, moving the now almost cold food around the plate.

Another note to self; avoid Shane as much as possible.

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As the family grabbed their coats to leave, the boys parents and Frankie decided to leave first, leaving Joe and Nick to wait for Jason who was in his room trying to find his phon.

"So, Nate," Joe started, noticing how uncomfortable the young teen looked. "What were you doing in your room last night?"

"Nothing, really," he replied simply. "Just thinking about everything that's been going on."

Shane smirked. "Really? Because I noticed an interesting smell coming rom under your door when I went to use the bathroom."

Nate felt the blood rush from his cheeks. Shane knew. "I-I don't know w-what you're talking about..."

"Don't play innocent, Nick! You know exactly what I'm saying. Why did you do it? Can you imagine what would've happened if Mom or Dad had caught you. Or even Frankie?" Shane's hands were clenched as fists at his sides, his face turning red with anger.

Nate sighed. "I know, but I'm just stressed out. I needed to take my mind off of everything, and that seemed like the best thing to do at the time. I'm really sorry." He mumbled the last part, his eyes looking at his feet.

Shane ran a hand through his hair, breathing out loudly. He opened his mouth to respond when Kevin came bonding down the stairs. "Found it," he said, waving the Blackberry Storm in his hand.

The eldest Jonas turned to slip on his jacket. Joe shot Nick a look that said 'we'll discuss this later.'

Jason opened the front door, and Shane's demeanor changed instantly. "Jase, pass me the keys. It's mt turn to drive today."

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"Lisa, how are you?" Denise hugged Kristine's mother, who was trying not to begin sobbing uncontrolablly.

She pulled back, sniffling. "I'm doing okay. She's sleeping now, but she's going to have to wake up soon. They have to put her on dialysis."

Nate's head shot towards them. "Dialysis?" He stood from his chair in the waiting room.

Paul shot his son a stern look. Nate quickly sat down. "Sorry."

Lisa wiped her eyes. "No, it's alright. I was just as shocked as you are. I just never imagined my baby would have to go through something like that..." Th tears escaped once again as Denise engulfed the emotionally wrecked woman in a comforting embrace.

Jason noticed Nick's face go white. "It'll be okay, Nate. The dialysis is supposed to help her. She's going to be fine."

Nick sighed loudly, putting his face in his hands. He was tired of people telling him it was going to be fine. Couldn't they just accept the fact that it wasn't going to be okay.

Couldn't they just give up hope?

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"Kristine, some people are here to see you," Lisa said, as Nate, JShane, .Jason, and Frankie all walked in.

"Oh how wonderful," Krstine said, although her raspy voice made it difficult to tell if she was being sarcastic or not. Judging from past experience, Nick guessed it was sarcasm.

"Kristine," her mother hissed, "Be polite," she said before walking out.

The girl sighed. "Alright. First of all, I guess I want to say sorry, Nate." He looked at her, astonished, as his brothers looked confused. "I'll admit, I was cruel to you the other day, but it's not entirely my fault, because I was in a lot of pain, and well, you know how girls get when their PMSing..."

Nick blushed furiously at the last bit of information. She smirked, detecting his discomfort.

"Apology accepted," Nate replied, being the gentleman that he was.

Krstine's smile became wider. "Great. But just so you know, this doesn't mean that I'm going to be nice to you or anything like that. We're not friends, we're just acquaintances. Two people who hold no grudges against each other."

Nate fiddled with the metal on his left ring finger. "Yeah, that's fine."

"Cool." Krstine turned to the brother's. "You must be Shane, Jason, and Frankie." she gestured to each one. "I'm Kristine."

Frankie spoke up. "Hi, Kristine. I'm Frankie, the coolest brother. I think you're really pretty."

"Frank," Jason warned, sending him a look.

Kristine laughed, causing butterflies to flutter madly in Nate's stomach. "Hey, Frankie. Thanks for the compliment." She leaned in, pretending to whisper to the young boy. "And if it means anything, I think you're the cutest one."

Frankie's smile widened. "Really," he asked excitedly.

"Really," she replied sending him a radiant smile and a wink.

The three older brothers laughed as the youngest began to blush.

Unfortunately, the moment ended when a man who seemed to be in his thirties walked in. His dark hair help speckles of gray and the bags under his eyes hinted at many lost hours of sleep.

"Ms. Simmons, it's time for your first dialysis for the day."

Nate turned and noticed the frightened look flash through her eyes. But she hid it well. "Well, it's now or never..."

Jason spoke up. "Would you like us to leave the room?"

The doctor looked up. "Well, you're not required to, but sometimes it can be hard to watch."

"Come on, Frank. You want to get something from the cafeteria?" Kevin tried to find an excuse to get Frankie out of the room.

"Yeah," he exclaimed, practically running from the room. A few second later, he ran back saying goodbye to Kristine before disappearing again.

A chuckle was heard from the seat next to Kristine. She has forgotten Nick was even in the room.

"Bye Kristine. Get well soon." Both Shane and Jason closed the door.

She turned towards Nate. "Aren't you going to go with your brothers," she asked, half hoping he would leave, but also hoping he would stay.

Nate shook his head. "No, I'll just stay here. I mean, I don't think anyone would want to be alone during this. and it seems like you and your mother don't really get along, so I guess I don't have a choice."

"My Mom and I get along just fine," she replied curtly.

Nate nodded, smirking. "Yeah, okay."

A pained look crossed her face as the doctor inserted a needle in her arm. "Look, you don't know anything about me or my life so don't go and assume things, okay?" She winced as a tube was practically shoved into her arm.

He merely nodded, not wanting to get on her bad side again.

"Okay, you're all set. I'll just wait here until the first few ounces are cleaned and I'll come check on you in a few minutes."

Kristine winced as a sharp pain shot through her arm. A small river of blood slowly made it way through the tube the doctor has put in her arm. The sight alone was naseuating.

She let out a yelp as another pain as her arm burned again, this time it was worse.

"Okay, that's about three ounces. Everything should go fine. I'll be back in about ten minutes to see your progress" And with that, the doctor was gone, leaving a horrified Nate and an indignant Kristine alone.

"God, this hurts," she groaned, as more blood flowed through the tube.

Nate could barely move. It made him feel even more guilty as he observed the unshed tears that wee glistening in her eyes.

"Are you okay," he asked carefully, watching her lips move, but no sound was heard.

He quietly stood and walked to the side of her bed. Her fists clenched the white sheets and tears began to roll down her face.

"A little bit longer, and I'll be fine," he heard her quietly sing, her voice broken by sobs that threatened to leave her body.

Nate had little time to be shocked over the words that left her mouth before her hand reached his and squeezed it so hard, he couldn't even feel the pain. Tears spring to his eyes as he realized the amount of agony she was experiencing at the moment.

"But you don't know what you've got, 'til it's gone. And you don't know what it's like to feel so low..." Her voice trailed off as she began crying openly, her eyes shut and her face became red.

"And every time you smile and laugh you glow. But you don't even know, no, no..." Her eyes shot open as she saw him, tears running down his face as he continued the song.

"So I'll wait 'til kingdom come. All the highs and lows are gone." He felt her hand tighten around his.

She looked him in the eyes as she sang the last line, and for the first time he didn't see anger or hurt. He saw hope.

"A little bit longer, and I'll be fine."

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So, I've finally written another chapter. School's been very stressful lately, so for the few people who are actually reading, don't expect another chapter too soon. Hopefully in the next week or two.

Review!