Nat was still asleep by 11:00 am the next morning. He was exhausted. The rush of being with Kristina, the pain and anger of yelling at his dad, and all the physical exercise he was put through last night left him wiped out. Instead of going to sleep by freewill, he felt like a professional wrestler had knocked him out. As soon as his head hit the pillow, it was like someone flicked the lights off in his body, and his body had no intention of the light being flicked back on.

Next to his bed lied the pair of jeans he had kicked off last night. Nat was in a face-down position with his index finger barely touching the pocket. Inside the jeans pocket was his cell phone. It was his cell phone incredibly loud and obnoxious ringtone that jolted him awake.

Nat moaned and, with great effort, sat up and reached into his pocket and pulled out the cell phone. It was Kristina.

Seeing her name was more energizing than 3 cappuccinos.

With shaking hands, he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Nat, it's Kristina. I was…I just, wanted to call and check up on you…to see if you were okay. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Nat was horrified at his own voice. He sounded like an ex smoker.

"You don't sound fine. Are you, really?"

"Y-" Nat nearly answered yes, but suddenly his throat felt terribly sore, like someone had lit a match back there.

"Nat, are you really okay?" Kristina asked again impatiently. She was worried.

"My throat is really sore. It must have been from yelling at my dad last night."

Kristina laughed. "You, Nat Wolff, the most patient, sweetest boy in the universe, yelled at your dad last night?"

Nat blushed, embarrassed. "Yeah, well, last night was a crazy night."

"Nat, I'm coming over with some medicine. If you're naked, get dressed, I'm coming over pronto."

"Wait, Kristina…"

"Yeah?"

Nat coughed. Not out of being sick, but with nervousness, he looked like a wreck. "You don't have to come over here. You might get sick."

"Don't be afraid for me at all, Nat. Germs are afraid of me." Kristina hung up the phone and rang to the bathroom to take a shower.

Nat put his jeans back on, because that's all he had energy to do. He called his dad, even though his dad was in the living room watching cartoons with Alex. His whole body ached and he didn't feel like moving at all.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dad."

"Nat! What's the matter? You sound awful!"

"My throat's sore and my body's aching. Kristina's coming over to give me some medicine. You can meet her now."

"Wow, Nat, I'd-"

"Dad, before you get mad at me, don't. She didn't leave me much choice, she insisted and I was too weak to argue."

"I was going to say I can't wait to meet her."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You know, your mom used to-"

"Daaaaaaad! This is nothing like Mom!" Nat whined.

A half hour came and went and finally the doorbell rang. Alex opened the door. Kristina was on the other side, looking like an angel in her fuzzy white sweater. She was smiling and had a bag of medicine in her left hand. "Hey, Kristina, come on in." Alex greeted her.

Alex showed her over to the couch, where Mr. Wolff had fallen asleep. "Dad, wake up!" Alex yelled. Mr. Wolff jumped, but relaxed when he saw it was only Alex with a girl. "Hey, Alex, who's your friend?"

"This is Kristina. She's the new bass player."

Mr. Wolff stood up and shook Kristina's hand. "Hi, Kristina. I've heard so much about you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine, sir." She answered.

"Oh. Don't call me sir. Call me umm…Nat and Alex's dad."

"Okay, Nat and Alex's dad!" She said, giggling.

Alex took Kristina's other hand and dragged her upstairs. He rolled his eyes before opening the door. "Parents!"

"Oh, c'mon, Alex, I loved your dad!"

"We all do." He said, twisting the knob.

"Hey guys." greeted Nat, coughing.

"Hi Nat." Kristina said softly, sitting by his bed. "How are you feeling?"

Nat stuck his finger in his throat, doing the gag sign.

"Not too god, huh?"

"Horrible sums it up."

Kristina put her bag on the floor and started reaching things out of it. Cough drops, throat spray, and canned chicken noodle soup. Nat sat up as Kristina handed him a cough drop to suck on. "So how have things been lately?" She asked, trying to start a conversation.

Nat shrugged. He didn't really feel like talking.

Mr. Wolff walked in the door. He looked very serious. Oh boy, I hope he doesn't yell at me again, Nat thought to himself.

"Kristina, can I talk with Nat for a second?" He asked softly.

Kristina nodded and left. Mr. Wolff shut the door for her.

"Nat, I need to tell you something. It's really important. I hope it explains some things. First of all, you're not grounded."

Nat widened his eyes. What's going on here?

"I'm not trying to go back on my word, but I think I was being way too hard on you."

"No, Dad, I deserved it. I should have called you, I should have left the key under the mat, I should have introduced you to Kristina, I shouldn't have yelled. I really screwed up."

"Yes, you did, but I think being sick is punishment enough. Besides, the whole reason I reacted the way I did is because I felt…overwhelmed."

Nat couldn't believe what he was hearing. His dad being overwhelmed? His dad was always goofy, funny, and lighthearted, a lot like Alex. He couldn't imagine his dad feeling serious, sad, and overwhelmed.

"Ever since you've gotten to high school things haven't been the same. You're seeking out your own identity, you're not a little boy anymore. You'll get into serious trouble at one time or another. It used to be I could just scold you for sneaking a cookie out of the cookie jar, but now you have to be punished for things like sneaking out of the house. It used to be you had an innocent puppy love infatuation with pretty teachers or Rosalina, but now you're having serious feelings for other girls."

Nat sighed. "Dad, it will be fine, I'll be a good kid. It's still me, Nat, I'm just a little older now."

Mr. Wolff nodded and headed towards the door. When he almost shut the door, Nat squeaked, "…and Dad!"

"Yeah?"

"I don't have feelings for anyone."

"Sure you don't Nat, sure you don't…" Mr. Wolff giggled as he shut the door.

Kristina came in 5 minutes later with a bowl of chicken soup. "Here, " she said, handing it to him.

"Thanks." Nat took the spoon and took a bite. "It's delicious."

"Thank you."

"Kristina?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you move in with us?"

Kristina threw her head back and laughed. Her face always shined when she did that.

"Seriously, you have, like, a good luck curse on you or something! Everything was going wrong but as soon as you came along everything got better. Could you rub off your magic pixie dust on me?"

"Nat! I gotta go. You take care of yourself."

"Ok, ok, ok! Bossy."

They both laughed as Kristina walked out the door.