Chapter 9 (Riley's POV):

It was late, when I finally let go of Emily. I put her gently on her bed and walked slowly to the door, trying not to wake up the others. I left my room and walked calmly around the camp, thinking about everything that had happened that day.

That's when I heard something. Music, to be specific. I followed the sound. I don't know why I did it, but I guess it would be alright... I found myself in front of a cabin slightly bigger than mine. That's where the music came from. I opened the door really slow and I saw Nate. He was sitting on the floor, in a corner, playing guitar.

"And I'll let you know. When it comes, when it comes. I'll let you know. But don't stay up for me. Don't wait up for me. If I'm not home. Yeah…" he sang, in a gentle voice. I stared at him and it seemed like I was incapable of moving. To be honest, that song really calmed me down.

I wanted to leave, but I chose to stay there. I opened the rest of the door and walked to the end of the room.

"Riley." he said, smiling, as he saw me. I sat next to him and remained in silence. I prefered not to say anything, since I didn't know what to say. I mean... I new what to say, I was just too full of myself to say it. "So... Are you here for any particular reason or you just missed me?"

"I'm sorry..." I mumbled, lowering my head. I assumed he was surprised, since he didn't say anything for a while.

"Why are you apologizing to me?"

"I don't even know where to begin... Because of the bar, because of the notebook..."

"Because of the kick." he added, laughing. I laughed too.

"Yeah, that too..." I agreed. He stared ar me, smiling. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just... I haven't heard you laugh yet."

"Is that such a big deal?"

"No, but you need to understand that... Since we've met, you have been agitated, mean and agressive. This new side of yours is different, that's all." he explained, making me blush. He laughed again.

"This isn't exactly my 'happy side', but oh well..." I admitted.

"Aren't you happy?"

"I'm happy!" I lied.

"If you were happy, you wouldn't be wandering around camp at 2 AM with that face." he notested, making me sigh.

"It's Emily... I've been worried about her... With Kyle and Gwen and all that..."

"And by 'all that', you mean me?"

"Sorta... We're having some family issues and so..."

"Family issues?" he asked, waiting for an answer. I opened my mouth to talk, but no sound came out. I wasn't sure if I could tell him or not.

"Nate..." I started.

"You're right, sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's not that... You're actually one of the few people that still care... But that's a delicate subject and I don't feel comfortable to talk about it."

"That's okay. Do you want to go for a walk?" he said, getting up and holding out his hand. I just stared at him, with a confused look. That really didn't seem a good idea... "Come on, don't be like that. Let's go."

"Okay." I agreed, taking his hand and getting up as well. We left the cabin and started walking in silence. I admit I didn't expect that he would be so nice.

"I'm sorry I snooped through your songs." he mumbled, making me stop in order to stare at him. Was he really apologizing?

"Nate..."

"I just wanted to see if I could... Loosen you up a bit. And that ended badly to me..." he comented, rubbing the place where I kicked him.

"Sorry..." I said, lowering my head.

"Hey, I was kidding." he laughed, putting his hand under my chin, to lift my head. I wanted to smile, but I just couldn't. He seemed to understand that. "What do you say about going back to the studio?"

"That's a studio?" I joked.

"It has instruments and stuff to record your songs, so, it's a studio. A pretty lowsy one, but still a studio." he smiled, holding my hand and taking me there.

"Why did we come back here?"

"Because you're going to sing for me."

"Me? I better not, I don't want you to go to the hospital or anything..."

"Don't say that. Sing."

"But..."

"Come on. You'll see that it'll make everything better."

"But what am I going to sing?"

"Whatever you want."

I sighed. I didn't know what to sing, until I remembered another song I left unfinished. One I wrote when I was with Sean.

"What I think, you are just perfect. Could it be that I am worth it? Is this thing an open door? Walk right through to something more. You and me… My life would change in a second. In a second…" I sang, moving my fingers through the strings of the guitar he handed to me.

"Wow... That was... Wow..." he comented, making me blush. Crap! I haven't blushed since Sean! Sean... I actually wrote this song for him...

I felt tears sliding down my face. I didn't understand why I was crying, but I just wanted to stop.

"Riley... You're... Crying..." he said, looking at me. I stuttered a lot, not being able to say two straight words.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled, running away. I didn't wait to see if he was following me. I just wanted to go to my room. As I arrived there, I closed the door with so much anger, that I woke Emily up.

"Ri... What happened...?" she asked, with a sleepy face.

"Nothing, I just went for a walk."

"Are you crying?"

"No, you're imagining things already. Come on, go back to sleep." I said. She turned around I realized she was already asleep. I sighed. Why did I need to cry again, now that things were actually working out for me? I cleaned my tears and put my pajamas on, as I lied down on my bed. I just wish I would stay in my room, instead of going for that walk. Nate saw me cying and he would never look at me the same way. I blew it...