The car was not moving steadily as the drugs worked their way through Natalie's system. Dan couldn't help the tears that leaked out of his eyes as she parked and stumbled out of the car. She stopped for a second before shutting the door, grabbed a water bottle, and swallowed another pill without looking at it.

He reached out to her as she stumbled on the curb, almost falling, but luckily catching herself before she hit the pavement. She righted herself and gave the bouncer a fake but real-looking ID, which he barely looked at before letting her pass through.

He followed her through the club as she danced and looked... lost. Her face clearly expressed a look of fear and yearning. Maybe it was because he knew her so well, but to Dan, it was obvious Natalie was looking for something. Happiness? Attention? Whatever it was, she wasn't a true druggie: she wasn't chasing the high, she was using it to find something else.

Whenever she looked like she was growing drowsy or the high was wearing off, she would pop another pill from her purse. Dan was counting them down, hoping for her supply to end. However, each time he thought she couldn't possibly have more, she retrieved another.

Worse though were the people at the clubs... Natalie seemed to be the youngest one there. Why wasn't she scared to be around all these people she didn't know? There were college students- obviously not the studious ones, if they were frequenting clubs on Monday nights- who were giving her surprised looks. He could tell what they were thinking: How did she get out alone without her parents realizing?

He didn't have an answer for them. He nevertheless followed her as she made her way around the dance floor, hoping to be able to help. It killed him to know he couldn't do anything. He needed to know how this story would end: would she have a happy ending, or would she end in a place like this? Loud and anonymous, where no one knew how special she was? Where she would just be another messed-up teenager without a story...?

She danced a little. There was a group of young students there- guys in their twenties, it looked like- who came over and danced around her. Dan felt like he was boiling in anger. One reached out and touched Natalie's arm, pulling her closer. She stepped towards him- what was she doing? They were dancing together- the drunk boys and Natalie, who was obviously much, much further gone than they were. The dancing was obscene. Upon closer inspection, Dan could see in Nat's eyes that she was scared.

And there was nothing he could do.

One of the guys- the same one that had pulled her close- reached for her and kissed her, his hands stroking her, groping her. She stumbled back, wiping her mouth on her arm as though to get the taste of him out of her mouth.

"No-" she muttered, almost tripping over her own feet as she tried to get away.

"Come on- I'm just trying to have some fun-" he reached for her again, and she took another step back.

"Lemme alone-" she said, pushing him away and turning, attempting to run.

"Fine! You're no fun anyway!" he called after her as his friends laughed- at her stumbling run or how she rejected him, Dan wasn't sure. He was just glad they hadn't followed.

He took off after Natalie, whose running had taken something out of her. She was leaning against a wall near a group of couches, her hand against her forehead and her eyes closed. After a solid minute, she opened her eyes again, tried to take a step, and stumbled so horribly that her knees buckled and she fell to the floor. Her face was white, her eyes darting and red. She tried to help herself up, but her arms just shook. There was no one near to help, though Dan doubted anyone here would.

With a last effort, she reached for her phone. She found Henry's name in the contact list, and texted a random-looking arrangement of letters- Dan wondered if she was using that Internet lingo, or if she was too far gone to even type anything meaningful at all- and sent it. She tried crawling over to a couch, but it was too much for her. She collapsed into a heap on the ground, sobbing dryly and breathing fast and hard.

Dan was fully in tears now, and they were falling down his face in streams so that he could barely see. He reached out, knowing full well he could not touch her, and tried to lay his hand upon her hair. He stopped just short of where he would have made contact, trying to convince himself that he really was there, and could help her.

"Natalie," he whispered. "I love you so, so much." His sobs began to break through his words. "How could you do this to yourself?"

He didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse that no one came to help her. She could have been taken to the hospital, or someone Natalie categorized as a "sketch" could find her and do some damage that could possibly be more serious. For forty minutes he sat waiting with her, watching as people looked over at her, and walked right by.

"Natalie- Natalie!" Dan looked up in surprise to see Henry running towards Natalie, still stationary on the ground. So this was what he'd meant, before, at school. The boy dropped to his knees next to her, and shook her gently. "Nat- Nat wake up."

But she didn't movie.

"Natalie?" he said again, a note of fear touching his voice. "Oh, crap..."

He turned her over onto her back and touched her wrists, her neck, her chest- looking for her pulse, Dan gathered. He breathed a sigh of relief the same time Henry did.

After a few more minutes of trying to wake her up, Henry stood and ran over to the bar.

"How old are you, kid? Who let you in here?" the bartender asked, something Dan had been wondering himself. Henry just shook off the question.

"Can I have some water and a towel, please?" He handed the man a couple crumpled dollars, and was given what he needed.

After several more attempts, this time with a cool, wet cloth to her forehead, Natalie finally stirred.

"Natalie... oh thank God..." Henry said.

She opened her eyes, looking dazed. "Henry?" she asked.

"Yes- can you hear me?"

She nodded, and then tried to sit up. Henry put a retraining hand on her shoulder.

"Nat- what did you take? How much?"

She put a hand to her head, and was quiet for a long time. Then her shoulders began shaking as she started to cry. She hid her face in her hands and curled up against the wall. It was possibly the most heartbreaking thing Dan had ever seen.

Henry didn't ask her again. He just reached for her arm and helped her up. As she stumbled, he put an arm around her waist as she struggled to stay upright. They made their way out of the club, and Henry looked anguished at Natalie.

"How did you get here?" she asked.

He bit his lip. "Well, I figured you drove, so I had to get a ride so you could get your car home..."

She looked at him in anger, but it was obvious she wasn't up to saying anything else.

"Well, my sister's home so she drove... not my mom, don't worry. But we're gonna take your car home." They finished walking to her car, and she leaned up against it. He took out his cellphone and called someone- his sister, Dan presumed.

"I got her... Yes. I don't know if she's ok... Stop it. Look, you don't get what she's going through right now... No, I'm not going to do that. I have to go now, she's right here. I'll talk to you when I get home. We're at her car now. Thanks for the ride." He hung up, and Natalie just looked at him angrily.

"You told her everything, didn't you?"

He crossed his arms, looking angry. "No. I didn't tell her anything. But when you ask for a ride because you have to pick your girlfriend up in the city in the middle of the night, it's pretty obvious she's got a problem. I didn't have to tell her anything, but she still guessed a lot of it."

Natalie looked away.

"Gimme your keys," Henry said.

She fumbled with her purse for a minute before he got frustrated and took it from her, found her keys, and then handed the purse back. He took her arm again and led her to the passengers seat, opened the door, and helped her inside. She didn't say another word.

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