"I can do better."
Caitlyn parked the car in front of Ella's apartment complex. Before Nate could get out of the car though, she grabbed his arm. He looked back at her questioningly.
"Just—be careful, ok?" She hesitated for a second, and then said, "Good luck."
"Thanks," he said, looking up at her building as he got out of the car.
He waved at Caitlyn as she pulled away and he headed to the spinning door. Nate just waved at the clerk behind the front desk, who just motioned for him to let himself up. As Nate got off at the third floor, he walked straight to the third door on the left. He hesitated for a moment as to whether he should knock or not, when he heard a sob coming from inside the apartment.
Ella was sitting on her couch watching the end of The Notebook. She was sniffling from the ending scene when she heard a loud knock on the front door. She jumped a foot in the air in surprise before she wrapped her blanket around herself and got up to investigate, confused as to who would be banging this angrily. She wiped her tearstained cheeks as her feet shuffled down the hallway to the door.
Peeking through the eyehole she took a deep intake of breath at what she saw on the other side. Outside of her apartment, Nate was glowering at the door with a look so angry and infuriated, that if looks could kill, she'd be very dead. She knew she had set-up the whole thing, but she hadn't expected him to be so angry.
"Nate…" she giggled nervously as she opened the door for him to come in. "What are you doing here?"
"Where is he?" Nate practically growled, barging in, looking everywhere. Where was who? Ella wondered.
"Uhm…who are you looking for Nate?" she asked confused.
"That bastard who made you cry. Where is he? I swear I will kill him for hurting you."
Ella almost laughed in relief when she realized what Nate was talking about. He must have heard her crying from the movie, and had assumed Matt had hurt her. She smiled at how over-protective he was.
"Oh, Nate… I was watching The Notebook and the final scene was so touching, that I cried. No one hurt me," she soothed.
"Then where is Matt?" he questioned. "I thought you two were on a date?" surely he would have come to Ella's rescue if he heard and angry man shouting in the hallway?
"Oh," Ella started nervously. Nate raised an eyebrow. "Um… he has to go to work early tomorrow so he left early so he could get some sleep."
"Ella…" Nate said warningly. "I can tell when you're lying to me, AND I happen to know that he's off-duty tomorrow… Why are you lying to me?"
"Um…I-I…uh…" Ella sighed. "I don't know…"
"Ella…" Nate said in a knowing tone. "I think you do know, you just don't want to tell me," he said, taking a step closer, to which Ella took a step back. "But my question is, why don't you want to tell me?" he asked taking another step.
Ella gulped and took another step back. Nate was toying with her, and he was enjoying watching her squirm, if his smirk was any indication. "I…uh…I didn't want you to be mad?" she hated how her answer came out as more of a question than a confident answer. Nate seemed to notice too as he stopped advancing for a second to pause and raise an eyebrow at her.
"Now why would I be mad at you?" he asked curiously, starting his advance again.
"Um…because it was a set-up?" she asked in response to his question as she bent her head, her curtain of hair hiding her face. She continued to retreat as he kept advancing.
"Oh?" he asked. He had long since figured out that he was set-up. What he hadn't worked out yet was what he was being set-up for, and he wanted to see Ella squirm until she cracked. "And what exactly is this set-up for?"
Great, Ella thought, completely depressed. He figured it out. "Um…to get you to admit how you feel about me?" she answered sheepishly.
This caused Nate to come to a complete halt. Out of all of her possible answers, he was not expecting that. "And how exactly do I feel about you?" he asked, curious as to what her reply would be.
"You like me. A lot," Ella said in a sudden burst of confidence. She took a step forward to his now step-back. "You like me a lot, but you are too scared to admit it." She took another step forward as he stepped back. "You're scared that I don't feel the same way that you do, even though I've been freaking in love with you for years. You're scared that if you do something about your feelings, it could possibly ruin our friendship instead of making it better! And most of all, you're scared of yourself. You've never felt this way about anyone else before, and you're scared of your feelings."
Nate's retreat was brought to a stop as his back hit the wall, but that didn't stop Ella's advance. The look on his face he was sure mirrored that of a deer caught in the headlights.
"But here's the thing Nate, you and me are perfect for each other. We may be really different, but together we could be something beautiful. You're like a horse. You're strong and majestic until you see a snake and get scared."
In a sudden flare of anger, Nate grabbed her shoulders and spun her around so that she was pinned against the wall and his hands were on either side of her face so that she couldn't escape. "And you, Ella Padour, are a narwhal. You are amazing an awesome, but you are too afraid to use your horn until you have no other option."
"And together," she cut in, "we could be a beautiful unicorn or just two magnificent animals, too afraid to admit how they feel to each other."
He seemed to be debating with himself for a second before asking her a question. "And which would you want to be?" he asked tentatively.
She huffed, crossing her arms, hiding her small smile by looking down. "Well I have always wanted to be a unicorn, but it's up to you."
"Hmm…well then I guess it's a good thing I've always secretly wanted to be a unicorn, isn't it?" he smirked. Ella's head whipped up in shock, her mouth in a perfect "o" shape, but before she could say anything, his mouth covered hers in a perfect kiss. She was frozen in shock for a second before she forced herself to kiss him back, both of their lips molding perfectly together. They only pulled apart when the need for air became important. They both struggled to catch their breath as he leaned his forehead against hers, gazing straight into her eyes with a look of pure love.
"So, where does this leave us?" she whispered.
"I hope as boyfriend and girlfriend," he replied. "That is, unless you had plans with Matt…" he teased.
She responded by scowling and pulling his lips to hers again in a fiery, passionate kiss before pulling away just as quickly, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"BTW, being with my brother is sooo not as cool as being a unicorn!" she told him in a tone mimicking the one she used when she told off Tess at Camp Rock, before kissing him again. This time, it was Nate who pulled away.
"Wait! What do you mean 'your brother'?" he asked bewildered.
She just laughed, pulling his lips to hers again.
So I thought the horse + narwhal = unicorn thing was a pretty cute idea! So when are scientists gonna finally try it?... Kitty wants a unicorn!
This chapter goes out to my fellow Kitty who allowed me to ignore her for half an hour at a sleepover at her house, so that I could finish writing this… thank you Kitty! I loves you!
I would also like to dedicate this entire story to the two authors who inspired it: Standard-Ang3l and angellwings.
When I first started reading Camp Rock fan fictions, they were the first authors who had me hooked. After gaining so much inspiration from each of them, I finally wrote my first fanfic. I first read about this pairing through them and they're also the ones who reminded me that I had yet to post the ending. So this entire story is dedicated to them. Thank you!
;P
FOR OTHER STORIES: You all know the drill. This story is DONE (as in, "no more updates"), but I DO have more chapters and short stories to post. You all have 2 options for getting me to update:
1.) To have me post on my next regular post day (Wednesday), I need FIVE (5) reviews on this story, giving me your feedback on it (letting me know you still care); or
2.) You can all work together to give me at least 7 reviews on EVERY ONE of my stories to get me to update early (as in BEFORE next Wednesday) AND on my regular post day.
So here's your review on my request: I need at least FIVE (5) reviews on the second (and final) chapter of "A Horse & A Narwhal" if you want me to post a new story/chapter next Wednesday. I will update sooner, if all of my stories get at least 7 reviews each. If that (highly unlikely) occurrence happens, I will post something new BEFORE (and on) Wednesday.