The truth is, everybody is going to hurt you. You just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.

It was so sweet watching him talk about their future together. Paul had it all planed now. There was no child, no Torrey, who could destroy anything. They just hat to make it official, tell their friends and family.

God, if he only knew. But she couldn't tell him, at least not yet. He was happy and so was she, for now.

"So what do you think? About you, me, together? Our future?" Paul grinned down at her.

Tears dared to fall from her eyes. "I love you." She told him and pulled him down for a kiss.

But there is no future for us.

Candice was lucky, she got away with a small concussion. The girl in Steven's room on the other hand, no one knew, she died of a drug overdose. Steven himself was at a police station.

"Ian please, I'm not ready." Nina begged him.

"You never are." He groaned. "But we gotta do this sometime. You'll just call your lover later and explain it to him."

For Ian it was now or never. He didn't get it, but she couldn't tell him either. Or could she? How would it sound?

'Hey Ian, my secret lover is one of your closest friends, Paul. Sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but you know there was little problem with his fiance Torrey, if you know what I mean. That's the reason I can't pretend to be your girlfriend.'

Paul was going to hate her. One day she's telling him, she loves him more than anything else and now he's going to find out she's with someone else. With his friend. He's going to think, she lied to him or she was a slut that fooled him.

"You don't understand." Nina tried again.

"Ok, what exactly are you guys whispering about?" Michael finally asked.

"Nothing." Nina quickly told him.

"Actually, there is something we wanted to tell you sooner, but there was no right time." Ian said and put an arm around his 'girlfriend'. "We're dating." He grinned.

Immediately Paul's eyes met Nina's. God no, she thought, but it was too late. So she simply covered her face with a smile, that made her look happy and leaned her body against her 'boyfriend'.

Kat was confused. What the hell was happening here? She looked over at Paul, who looked shocked like everyone else in the room. Then back at Nina and Ian, who smiled happily at one another. Was this some kind of joke? How could Nina be with Ian, when she was with Paul?

"Well congrats you two." Sara was the first one to speak. "And good luck." She laughed. After her came the good luck wishes from their other friends.

"Thanks guys." They both laughed and Ian's eyes met Kat's questioning look.

Flashback

"You don't get it, Julie is terrorizing me, Nina. We have to tell them sooner or later."

She only shook her head in no again. "Not yet. I can't." And Ian groaned in frustration.

"Why?" The cast was on the plane, on their flight back to their home mansion, after their visit at Comic Con. It was late and they were pretty tired, happy to rest a little bit and get some sleep.

But instead of resting or sleeping, Nina and Ian were fighting again.

"Because I just can't Ian, what don't you get here?" She whisper- shouted at him.

"What the fuck is your problem?" He hissed back.

"You are." Damn, she was really angry right now. Ian tried not to shout at her and counted to ten to relax.

"Seriously, what is it?" He asked in calm voice again.

"There is someone else, Ian, and I love him." She told him with tears in her eyes. Not bearing it any longer near him, she stood up from her seat and walked to the small bathroom.

The blue eyed man sighed in frustration and tried to get more comfortable in his seat. How was he supposed to know there was someone else? He couldn't, she never mentioned this guy, she was with. Why? Or did she?

Ian felt another pair of eyes watching him. When he looked in her direction, he met her questioning gaze.

'What was that?' She mouthed at him, pointing towards the bathroom, Nina went to, with her finger.

Instead of answering, he simply patted the seat beside him.

Kat looked to her right side, Michael was asleep. She stood up slowly, not wanting to wake him up and walked over to Ian.

"What happened?" She finally asked, after waiting for five minutes, when she got that he wasn't going to talk himself.

He was watching her intensely, observing her face, that mirrored all her emotion. He never mentioned to her again or anyone else, that guy, who tried to rape her. But he promised her, they would talk about it again. But every time he tried to change the subject, she ignored it and started talking about something else.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her instead of answering her question, his eyes not leaving her face.

She just rolled her eyes and smiley slightly. "I'm fine. Now back to-"

"Are you really?" He interrupted her.

"Ian, stop changing the subject." She groaned and he instantly imagined her making that noise under other circumstances.

"I think you're lying to me."

"I'd be lying, if I told you it was easy." She looked away from him, out of the window, right behind him. "It's not easy." She added.

Katerina Alexandra Graham was known as a sometimes stubborn person, with a strong personality and loud mind. She was not a liar. He knew that. Everyone knew that. But she was that kind of person, who didn't want to bother others with her problems, when they had plenty of their own.

Pushing the memory of that day, out of her head again, her sad, green eyes found his blue worried ones again.

"I'm fine." She assured him and smiley slightly and suddenly something tightened in his chest.

"Come here." Ian told her and slid further into his seat, making some more room for Kat. She moved towards his body, leaning hers against his.

In a comfortable position for both of them, Ian felt just how fragile her body was. He bet she had a shortweight. When was the last time she ate something sensible? He frowned slightly at the thought and told himself to keep in mind to pay more attention to that, while hugging her body closer and resting his head on hers.

End of Flashback

Ian knew that look. She wasn't stupid. Just like the last time, when she looked at him like this, he knew, she knew, something was wrong.

Instantly he thought about their conversation on the plane. She thought about it too, he could tell.

Before anything else could be said, Nina stood up and excused herself. "I need to use the bathroom." She told them and walked away.

"I'll go and look if I can find a doctor, who can fill me in about Candice state." Paul said. It seemed like he tried to convince himself more than any other person in the room.

He left without looking back.

She was standing before the mirror with her hands on the sink, supporting herself, trying to calm down. She had a filful breathing and her heartbeat was loud and fast. so out of control, it felt like it was going to jump right out of her chest.

There, is was done and she was the most horrible person alive.

He hated her, she could see it in his eyes, when he looked at her. Hurt, shocked and caught of guard. He'll probably never talk to her again, never give her a second glaze, she'll be so unimportant to him.

So that was it then right, their future.

When Nina heard the bathroom door, she quickly blinked the tears away. Other woman, were going to think she was crazy, if they saw her like this.

Slowly breathing in and out, she looked at her reflection in the mirror and tried to fix her hair.

At least the mirror is a true friend. He never laughs, when you cry, she thought.

"Nina?" She jumped at his voice and turned around to face him.

His face was blank, showing no emotion. His jaw set tense and his hands locked into fists.

"We need to talk."

Kat shivered slightly, as the wind rushed through her hair. It was a bad idea wearing only that black tank top and those blue shorts today, but she didn't even have the time to change, because everything went so damn good today.

She still didn't know what was going on and didn't intend on asking someone. It seemed like no one had a clue. She wished Ian would just talk to her. Explain what they were doing.

When her hands were getting too cold, she decided to go back in the hospital. She saw a drinks dispenser, beside the elevator, when she walked by. Nearing it and looking what it had in it, she found the coffee button and pressed on it.

Shit, my money. Kat placed her hand on her forehead. Her purse was still with Michael. She left it beside him, told him to keep an eye on it, while she got some fresh air.

"Can I help you?" A British accent asked behind her.

"What? No, I just-" Kat had her hair pulled up in a pigtail today. Turning to see who the stranger was, her long hair slapped him right across the face.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." She exclaimed. "Did I hurt you?"

The guy was tall, about 6'1, and she had to look up at him. He was wearing a white shirt, with a light blue denim jacket over it, definitely not hiding his strong, muscular arms, and plain pants in a green shade.

"Woah, your hair is monstrous." He laughed at her. He had brown, messy hair and those green- brown eyes, that were wandering her body up and down.

"No woman has slapped me before the first date." He grinned and Kat blushed a little.

"I'm so sorry." She repeated and smiled then too.

"I'm Nate, by the way." He added and pulled out his hand, waiting to shake hers.

"Kat." She laughed and placed her hand in his. But there was no hand shaking and her laugh died, as he kissed the back of her hand gently, while his eyes didn't leave hers.

"So tell me Kat, what were you doing before you slapped me?" He smirked down at the attractive woman.

"I wanted to buy a coffee, but I left my purse with Michael-"

"Michael's your boyfriend?" He questioned and did she dare think it, he looked kind of disappointed.

"No, he's my best friend." She responded.

"Great." Nate's eyes lit up again. He put an arm around the brunette and turned her back to the drinks dispenser. He was about to put his money it the slot, when Kat started protesting.

"Oh shut it." He told her and bought the coffee. Before handing it over to her, he took a long sip.

"Thanks." Kat grinned and took the cup away from him.

From a small distance, Michael and Ian spotted Kat Graham with that guy together, while they were looking for their three lost friends, already worried, where they were.

"Who's that?" Ian scoffed in disgust. Who the fuck was that? He wanted to shout.

"No idea, man. But looks like she's having some fun, let's just leave her be." Michael replied honestly.

"I don't know, maybe we should-" Ian began.

"No, no, no we shouldn't ." Michael interrupted him, putting a hand on his friends shoulder. "Let's go look for your girlfriend." He grinned and pulled Ian with him.

Ian turned with him after a final look. What was that feeling in his chest. He felt like punching something, no actually, punching that guy in the face. Right here, right now, he didn't even care. That fucking prick made her smile. He could make her smile too. And so many other things, if he tried to. Shaking his head, Ian swallowed down this random feeling and walked away.

You never realize how much you like someone until you watch them like someone else, Michael thought, still grinning like an idiot.

Watch out Kat, you're wrapping some guys around your little finger without even noticing.

"Hey sweety, how are you doing?"

"Omg, you look awful. Are you alright?"

"Damn, why did it take so long girl?"

"Are you ok?"

"Do you want to drink something? Or eat?"

"What did the doctor tell you?"

"What do you remember?"

After the first two questions, Candice's mind shut down again and she wasn't listening. She still felt pretty dizzy and watching them, when they finally were let in her room, she regretted it immediately. They were like a mob of ants. Moving fast, together. You couldn't count them. Two seconds and they changed their positions. Therefore they were talking and talking and talking. No she didn't really listen, but she saw how their mouths moving and it irritated her.

"Shut up, please." She pleaded softly, but none of them could hear her. All together they were louder than her. "I said shut up!" She snapped.

There it was. That's what she wanted to hear. The sound of silence. Her lips twitched upwards a little and she made herself comfortable again in the bed, closing her eyes.

"Thank you." It took her seconds to fall back asleep.

Another long break followed.

"She was pretty tired then, huh?" Steven looked at the others.

"Yeah, guess so."

"Yes, you finally did it. I'm so proud of you guys. This is going to be good, I promise." Nina heard Julie's voice through the loudspeaker. She was sitting here, her hands wrapped around her upper body. She was distant and shivering slightly. Wrapped up in her own world, where everything was great, she didn't notice Ian ending his call.

"Earth to Nina." He tried again and she finally responded.

"Sorry." She blinked and a tear escaped her eye.

"C'mon, why are you crying again? Everything went good. You just have to talk to your lover boy and explain to him it's fake." Her fake boyfriend tried to cheer her up.

30 minutes ago

There was no going back now.

"I don't understand." He murmured. "What was it out there?"

"It wasn't what it looked like, Paul." She sobbed loudly.

"Really?" He laughed sarcastically at her answer. Was she being serious right now? "Because it kind of looked like to me, like you were telling me and the others, that you and Ian were dating. Or am I wrong?"

She was silent, how was she going to fix this now?

"Am I wrong, Nina?" He snapped, taking a few steps closer to her.

"No." She whispered, looking down, ashamed of her actions.

"Am I wrong, Nina?!" He roared this time, right before her, shaking her by her shoulders.

"No!" She cried this time.

The hands were gone the next second. Now there was the point, he couldn't even touch her. She bet he was disgusted. Maybe it even hurt him to look at her.

"I can explain." She stammered. Nina expected him to shout at her again, grab her, do something. But when she looked up, her heart nearly broke in two. There he was, standing before her. His eyes red and glassy with tears. His breathing was unsteady with one hand on the wall supporting his body, he looked up at her. She wanted to explain so badly. She just couldn't. "I can explain." She repeated in a broken voice. She tried to convince herself from her words. It didn't work either.

Paul let out a shaky breath, dried his tears with his sleeve and turned his body away from her, ready to leave.

"Paul please, I love you." At that he laughed slightly and turned his head back in to her.

"That's what Torrey told me, Nina. What kind of love is that?" He looked at her for another five seconds. Praying she would tell him what was going on. If he was such a fool and she played him from the beginning, if yes, why did she do it? Out of fun, was it a bet? If not, what was the reason turning him down now? Did he do something wrong? If yes, what was it? But she still said no word.

"Good luck with Ian." He tried to smile at her and turned back to the door.

There it was, her last chance to tell him what was really going on.

Could she still work this out? Could they, if she told him the truth now? Would he trust her, like he did before, or would it just make him hate her more? How did she even let that go so far? Why didn't she just tell him from the beginning. If she said no to Julie, this would have never happened. She loved that guy so much and now it was supposed to be over, everything they've gone through together? Just like that. He would have done anything for her. He did everything for her. And that was how she treated him afterwards. What kind of person was she? Would her parents still be proud of her? How she made it all alone up there, where she was now, from where she stood back then? Would her brother be proud? Or the rest of her family? Would her old self be proud of her now? She always told herself to never get attached with a co worker. It was one of her most important rules and she broke it. Her best friend back then, always told her she would fail and she protested, now look what happened.

But it doesn't matter anymore, who was right or wrong. If she could only find the words, she mentally kept adding to her speech for him, but they are gone. Damn, she has to say them now. Find a way to say them now. Not be afraid of them. Say it now, everything she was keeping inside. There is no more time to wait, no more to waste another heart beat. Because she will never know, if he still would stay with her, tell her everything is going to be ok again, not until she lets it all out. She has to say it now. Maybe they can leave it all behind. She just has to say it now.

The door softly closed behind him as he left her alone in the bathroom.

"Paul..." She began sobbing again.

There it was, her last chance to tell him what was really going on.

It slipped right through her hands.

30 minutes later

"Nina?" Snapping his fingers before her face, Ian tried to reach her again.

"What? Sorry." She shook her head.

"You spaced out again." He informed her. "It's going to be ok."

"No, it's not. He hates me." She muttered under her breath, more to herself.

Ian was silent for a moment. Why would he hate her?

"Have you already talked to him?" He asked after a minute.

"Yeah." She looked up to him and nodded her head furiously. "He hates me, Ian. He hates me so much." And she just couldn't help it, the sobs, she tried to hide, to suppress, they came out anyway and she was crying again. "God, I destroyed everything. He will never look at me again. He hates me."

"Shh..." Ian tried to calm her down. "It's ok, it's going to be ok." He pulled her into a tight hug. He really didn't want to get used to this. He never even thought, he would be able to destroy a relationship, she and her boyfriend had. He didn't want to.

What people had to go through for love. It was unbelievable. So much pain. But sometimes it was like they'd rather feel pain than nothing at all. They're sick of feeling numb, their hearts are filled with hurt, they're wounded and need someone to save them.

Sometimes they say, the only way to get your broken heart healed, is fall in love again.

"And I was like, Yo mama, I fucked your girl." Nate mimicked a black's voice. "So then you know, she called my mom. And my mom kicked me out." He came to the end of one of his stories.

"You can't be serious." Kat laughed so hard. She felt so carefree, like she hasn't in a very long time.

"Oh believe me, I am." He assured her grinning.

They stood on the balcony, with their hands resting on the railing, enjoying the view, chatting a little bit and the coffee long gone.

At first everything was normal, like Kat drinking her coffee normal. Then Nate decided to shove her a bit to the side and she accidentally spilled the coffee over the railing. She shrieked a loudly, girly sound and looked over the railing, watching the coffee splashing on a woman's dress, who released a way louder and weirder sound than Kat. She immediately looked up, to see where the coffee came from. Her eyes cached Nate and Kat on the balcony, staring down like two idiots from the third floor.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" She screamed like a fury.

Quickly Nate grabbed Kat around her elbow and pulled her back with him. But knowing Kat and her bumbling self, she tripped right over her feet and fell with all her body weight right on top of Nate. His hands flew automatically around her waist, keeping her from slipping away. Not that this was enough already, during the fall, her head bumped hard against his, leaving them both groaning in pain.

With one hand pressed on his chest, keeping herself steady and with the other she touched the hurting place on her head. Hissing in pain, she opened her eyes again and started down at the guy, whose fault that was. He was smirking at her. Why the hell was he smirking?

"You think this is funny? You hurt me." She grunted down at him.

"I hurt you? You were the one who tacked me down woman. I was only trying to keep you safe here." He defended himself.

"Oh please, where are you bruised, big boy?" She laughed sarcastically.

"My forehead-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence, he groaned in pain again. Kat pressed on his forehead with his fingers. When she heard his groan, she jumped off of him, like a kangaroo, and helped him up.

"I'm sorry Nate." She looked up at him through her eye thick eyelashes. "I'm sorry." She repeated and raised her hand, touching the hurting place again,
gently with her fingers. This time a small hiss escaped his full lips. God, Kat felt so bad. She was responsible for that."I'm so-"

"Stop apologizing." He grinned at her. Noticing the the shiver that went through her and seeing those little goosebumps, that build within seconds on her skin.

"Here." He muttered. Quickly he took off his light blue denim jacket and positioned it for her to put it on instantly. And so she did. The jacket was way to big for her small fragile body, but it didn't matter. Who knew the wannabe player could be such a sweet caring guy? She thanked him quietly and pulled the jacket tight around her body. Inhaling deeply, she could smell the waft his cologne.

Their eyes locked for a moment and she's not sure she just imagined it, or if he really moved a little bit closer. But before she could think any further about it, before he had the chance to kiss her, before she had the chance to back away or kiss him back, a very familiar voice broke their little moment.

"Kat, you coming?" Her head snapped towards Michael and she had to think quickly.

"Yeah." She shouted back and turned to Nate again.

"So, are you gonna give me-" He started and was interrupted.

She stood on her tip toes, grabbed his face in her hands pulling him down and crashed her lips against his for a short moment. Nate was too shocked to respond. He was actually about to ask her for her mobile number, so he could call her, hopefully meet her again. Not even letting him finish his question, she kissed him. And no, he was not complaining. But before he had the chance to really taste her and respond to her kiss, she already pulled away from him.

Opening his eyes, he met hers only for a second before she ran in the direction of her friend, who called for her.

"Hey, you can't just run away from me." He called after her.

"Bye, Nate." She waved hat him.

"I don't even have your number." He tried again. This time the only sound he heard was her laugh.

"And you still have my jacket." He muttered under his breath.

You know that moment when you meet someone and then realize, damn you're never gonna see that person again.

A huge thank you for the fans, who are still reading this. I hope you're not all too angry with me for not uploading for so long. I'm really sorry. And yes this was Nate as in Nathaniel Buzolic. I know there are some Kennett fans out there, so I thought I'd bring him up.

Please tell me what you liked, what you didn't like. Any wishes or expectations for the next chapter?

Thanks again,
Ella