A/N: Sorry for any mistakes; I have ten minutes before I have to leave for work and I wanted to get this up. I hope you all enjoy and please review. It will make me feel better after having to deal with drunk people all night :)

If there was one thing Nathaniel Sergeant hated more than anything it was lies. His parents used to lie to him, constantly, as he grew up about why they couldn't pay the rent that week or why he had to pretend that he'd gotten into a fight when it was really his mother who had backhanded him so hard he'd fallen and hit his head off the corner of the stove. He was sure that the only true thing he'd ever heard them say to him was that they were disappointed in him. Give him the plain truth of things any day and while he might not be happy, he would certainly appreciate it more than any lie, even if it were meant to protect him. He'd had a girlfriend once, fiancé actually, who had lied to him all the time and even when he caught her cheating she still tried to deny it.

Nate wasn't a man of many complications; he liked things straight and true and to the point. He did what felt right to him and if it didn't feel right anymore than that was it and he rarely ever looked back. Life was too short for regrets. Being with Josslin Levinson had always felt right to him. Ever since the first moment they had met, even as he had been being extremely rude to her, there had just been something about her that called out to him. He'd thought it was her big brown eyes at first, easily the first thing he'd noticed about her; the nick name he'd given her, doe eyes, was certainly an apt one. Later he'd considered that it was how damn awkward she was, how she was always putting her foot in her mouth at the most inappropriate moments. As he'd gotten to know her he'd realized that it was so much more than that that he had recognized something in her that just fit for him.

He had been so glad when she'd informed him that she was not in a relationship with the broodish Aidan, because it meant that he had a chance with her and unlike those other guys who watched her and speculated he was not going to let that pass him by. It felt right to pursue her and so he had and he'd never once regretted it, even after the truth had finally been revealed to him, her big bad secret that could have literary torn him apart. It was strange, because he knew that if she had been anyone else he would have walked away. She'd lied to him after all, although by omission, and Nate hated lies. But she was Joss and there was just something about Joss that wouldn't let him give her up. Not even when she'd changed him. He supposed that the reason he was so able and willing to forgive her was that he loved her, although he had never told her so, and love allowed for forgiveness; demanded it.

He had to consider also that since things had come into the open between them, Joss had always told him the truth. Or almost always. The only time she kept things from him was when they had to do with Aidan, which was irksome to say the least, because it was almost like she had drawn a line in the sand and relegated them to sides, with her in the middle. Firmly in the middle, with no sign of ever relenting to let anything that had to do with her best friend or her boyfriend interact or even intersect. And sometimes he would find himself wondering, if it came down to it, whom would she choose? He knew enough about the Aidan side of her life to know that the vampire had done things that if in her place, he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to forgive. And yet…Joss had a big heart, and so it really wasn't that hard to fathom why she continued to forgive the vampire and probably always would. He supposed he would have to accept that, because he never wanted to give her reason to be forced to choose, especially now that she was carrying his child. His child.

It felt right to him; he had honestly never really considered being a parent, not after the shining example of his own parental figures, but as soon as the idea that he and Joss had created a life together sunk in, he had to admit that it just felt so right. He couldn't explain why it did; only that it did. And if something felt right to him, he stuck with it, always, until it didn't anymore. So, being with Joss was right and being the father of her child felt more than right; he could over look the occasional omission of things that occurred on the Aidan side of the sand. That didn't mean it still wasn't irksome when she clearly was straight out lying to him about something that happened in that particular lodebar.

"What happened to your arm?"

Joss was fiddling with the equipment that she kept in the back of the storage unit, collecting the footage from their last transformations. She hadn't showed up until the last possible moment that night; his own change had already started when he heard her slam the door of her unit closed. And now, as he watched her gathering her data, despite how tired she looked, he couldn't help also noticing the red patch of skin just above her wrist.

"Hmm," she didn't even look at him. "Uh, nothing."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Nothing?"

Something in his tone must have permeated her studious fog, because she finally looked up at him. "Really, its fine Nate. We should get going; good thing I've got stuff in my locker. Your on nights right?" She was being evasive and seemed to almost nervously pull the sleeve of her shirt down to cover her wrist. He didn't say anything, but as she moved towards the doorway, he grabbed her wrist and pulled the sleeve up, revealing a nasty looking scar, which he definitely knew had not been there the day before; it looked like it was a wound that was some time healed, but not yet faded. Just looking at it made his blood run cold; it was unmistakable.

"Joss," his tone was dangerously low, even. "What happened? This looks like…tell me that is not what I think it is. You wouldn't be that stupid."

She wrenched her arm away and pulled her sleeve down again. Her gaze was steely as she met his equally angry one. "If I was? And anyway, I said it was nothing. It's fine; that's all you need to know. I have to get going or I'm going to be late for work."

Something had definitely gone wrong yesterday, he could tell. Why else would she be late, when she always insisted that they arrive at the units with time to spare before the change? And of course if she didn't want to talk about it, explain, then it stood to reason that it had to do with Aidan. Nate shook his head and followed her out of unit, slamming the door closed with more force than necessary. Up ahead he saw her flinch slightly at the noise, but she kept walking, only stopping to wait for him outside.

"You know, I get that you like to keep things separate; but you can't anymore. This has nothing to do with you and everything to do with our child Joss. Our Child, not just yours. Its one thing for you to do something reckless to yourself, but its not just you that your endangering."

She ran a hand through her hair in agitation, pushing the shoulder length brown tresses into disarray. "I would never…don't you think I know that Nate? I knew what I was doing and I had to do something! You know what, forget it! I am not justifying myself to you. What I do, and when I do it is completely up to me. I may not have control of my body or over the fact that for the next almost seven months I am stuck with this thing growing in me, but I will not apologize for making my own decisions. Now, I am going to work, before I say something really stupid to you. I love you Nate, but god some things I shouldn't have to justify to you." She turned and walked away quickly, practically jogging to get away from him. Nate watched her go.

"Fuck!"

Later that night, as he was starting his shift he saw Aidan at the Nurses desk, filling out charts. He hadn't heard from Joss all day, and part of him was glad because clearly they both needed to cool down a little bit before they had a conversation without tearing into each other. But part of him was just mostly pissed off.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Aidan looked up from his charts, seeming surprised to find Nate before him. His brow furrowed slightly and then smoothed, "Uh, yeah."

Nate nodded towards an empty room just across from the desk and quickly strode over to it. Aidan followed looking bemused. Once in, he closed the door and leaned against the wall. "What's up?"

"What happened yesterday?"

Aidan still looked bemused. "Yesterday? Oh, with Sally. Joss told you. Look, I'm sure Joss and the baby are both fine, uh she didn't really get hit by any of the flying projectiles or anything, as far as I saw."

Nate stared at him, processing what he had just said. He had no idea what the other man was talking about, but that would have to wait until he found out what he really needed to know.

"That's great. But I'm talking about the other thing. I saw Joss' arm."

To his credit, Aidan's expression gave away nothing. "She told you about that too then." He didn't sound surprised.

"No; that's my point. She wouldn't tell me what happened, but all I had to do was get a good look at her wrist to guess."

Aidan sighed, "Look, Nate, I- Joss can be very obeisant when she wants to be. We were in a situation where lives were at stake and despite what either of us might have wanted; there were very few options. I would never..." he sighed again, seeming to be trying to find the words to explain.

Nate felt tired all of the sudden; angry and tired and it all just didn't matter anymore. He didn't want to hear it; he knew enough about Aidan and knew him well enough now to know that it just would make him angrier "Don't bother trying to explain, its all just excuses. The truth is wherever you go violence follows." He moved towards the door and stopped in front of the vampire. "I know you care about Joss, but you've got realize that at some point there comes a time when there is a line that you don't cross. You've crossed that line Aidan; and if you cross it again, if I ever find that you have endangered Joss or my child again, you will have to answer to me." And fixed the vampire with a piercing look and then left the room to start his shift, anger still warming his blood. All through his shift, as he helped during a trauma and checked patient's drips and dolled out medicine, he couldn't suppress his anger. It was only when he reached his apartment and found Joss sitting outside on the front step that it began to fade and be replaced by a feeling of futility. She was staring off into space, pensively, elbows resting on her knees.

"Hey." He sat beside her as she straightened. At first they didn't speak, just sat there, the early morning air growing slightly warmer as the minutes ticked by. Finally, without turning to him, she said, "I'm sorry. About yesterday…I-I want to tell you what happened, and I know your going to be mad, but I have to except that." And so he found himself listening as she explained about coming home and finding that Sally had been possessed and how everything just escalated from there to the point where she and Aidan were locked in their house with a human and a psychotic ghost; with the full moon fast approaching and one of them going through blood withdrawal.

"Its like," she paused searching for the right words. "Like he's an addict who needed a fix and I couldn't let him just drain that girl. I couldn't let him destroy everything that he's been working for by killing her. And he would have, he wouldn't have been able to stop. I knew I could do something and so I did; he didn't want me to, but…I'm sorry Nate. I know what I did was reckless; it could have turned out very badly, but I had to do something. I couldn't let him suffer, no matter how mad I was or am at him, I can't."

He nodded, but didn't say anything and so they lapsed into silence, as she didn't seem to know what to say to bridge the gap.

"I've been thinking about it all yesterday and last night," he finally said, his tone almost suggesting his thoughts were far away. "I know Aidan is your best friend, I know that he saved your life and he took care of you when you had no one else. I know what he means to you." He paused and looked at her; was looking down at her feet, her hands clasped almost as if she was praying. "I sometimes wonder, if it really came down to it, which one of us would you choose Joss?"

She looked up sharply at that, almost incredulously and then shook her head, as if in denial of his question.

He sighed tiredly and stood, "You want to come in before you head to work? Have you even eaten yet?" he knew her shift didn't start for another hour and a half.

"No. I mean no, I haven't eaten yet." She stood and followed him into his house, where she ate the toast her made for her in a fog, leaving him to his own mess of thoughts.

As she was getting ready to leave forty minutes later, she suddenly turned to him and pushed her hands against his chest, leaning up on her toes and kissed him. "I love you Nate," she practically whispered. "You don't ever have to worry who I would choose. Aidan is my best friend and I love him, but you…without you I would have fallen apart these past months. Don't ever think that I wouldn't choose you." She kissed him again and this time he returned it, along with a tight hug.

As he watched walk quickly down the street, before closing his door on the warm spring morning, the feeling of futility still pervaded him. He didn't doubt that Joss believed her words to be true and yet… he couldn't help feeling that she had just told him the biggest lie of all.