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A/N: Who am I kidding? You're probably going to skip over this author's note anyway-I can cut the suspense with a knife! All I can say is: REVIEW when you're done! They make me update sooner and make me feel warm and fuzzy! (Plus, previews!)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: STOOD UP PART 2

"I'm sorry, Dude, I can't," Drew told me over the phone. I heard a girlish giggle in the background.

"Why not?" I demanded, but I already knew the answer.

"I'm with Alli," he mumbled.

"That's what I figured," I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Give me 40 minutes?" Drew asked. "I'll come get you then".

"Fine," I relented, "I'm at the Dot now but I'll meet you in the parking lot at Degrassi".

"Sounds good, man," said Drew but another giggle in the background told me he was really listening.

"Drew?"

"Yeah, yeah—40 minutes, you got it," Drew told me distractedly.

"Andr-!"

Click.

"Urgh!" I cried out loud. Guys with girlfriends suck, I thought bitterly. With that, I began my walk back to Degrassi, glancing over my shoulder only once—Through the glass window I could see Natalie checking her watch. Swallowing the stuck feeling in my throat, a mixture of guilt and regret, I faced forward once again and kept walking.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^later^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

An hour and a half later, I was still at Degrassi, sitting on a bench over looking the parking lot. SURPRISE! …Drew was late.

Eventually, I pulled out a comic and, fighting back the pain in my chest that lingered from standing up Natalie, I tried to read it.

I kept looking up every few minutes to see if Drew was pulling into the parking lot but every time I looked up, the parking lot seemed to become emptier and emptier until there were only a few cars left. Throwing my comic down next to me in frustration, I checked my watch again—Where was Drew? I pulled out my phone out to call him, ready to give him a piece of my mind, but I stopped dead at the sight of someone entering the parking lot on foot.

It was Natalie—What was she doing here? I scanned the parking lot, looking at each of the few cars left; Sure enough, her ancient blue car was poking out from behind a large green van— It mso ostly obstructed by the van, so I hadn't noticed it before.

As quickly as I could, I got up and grabbed my stuff, ducking behind a large tree that was near the bench, to give myself some time to think clearly before she spotted me. I knew I was being a spaz but I couldn't face her right away.

She was close enough that I could immediately discern that she was upset. She was stooped over her ancient, blue car, manually unlocking the passenger door. The zipper of the backpack slung over her shoulder was open, a few papers sliding out every time she made a sudden movement, jerking the key around in the lock.

A painful pang grew in my chest as I watched her struggle. Perhaps I'd handled it all wrong? Maybe I should made up an excuse about why I couldn't meet instead of just leaving her there…But no, that wasn't an option...was it?—Because that would mean I'd have to lie to her again, and wasn't the whole point of calling her there to tell her the truth? That seemed a tad counter productive.

I watched as she managed to get the passenger's door open and shoved her back onto the seat, bending down she picked up the stray papers that had escaped.

As she leaned into the side of the car to adjust her stuff, I knew I had to say something to her. I had to make it right. My heart pounding hard against my chest, I stepped out from behind the tree and, breathing unevenly, made my way towards her.

She couldn't see me yet; slamming the passenger door, Natalie noticed a stray piece of paper on the floor she'd neglected to pick up. She bowed to pick it up and by the time she had straightened up, I was standing in front of her.

"Natalie?" I said, my voice much softer than I'd intended.

"Adam!" She responded, as she came up—very surprised.

"Natalie, I—"

"I'm glad you're okay," she said genuinely, speaking over my attempt to apologize.

"What?" I asked, taken aback and thoroughly perplexed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, when you didn't show up after almost two hours," Natalie explained, as though it was obvious. "I was worried that something had happened to you".

By something, I knew she'd had Fitz and Owen in mind.

"No, it's nothing like that," I told her, but regretted it a minute later. Her face had changed, and not for the better, as she seemed to pick up on the fact that she'd been stood up. The look on her face made the pain in my chest swell—Why was she so nice? Most people would have jumped to that conclusion right away. But not Natalie, she had thought better of me. This made me feel even worse.

"I should go," she mumbled, avoiding my eyes. "I don't want to keep you away from your stuff". The way she said it wasn't mean, it was hurt—That much I could tell.

"Natalie, wait—!" I said, as she went around to the driver's side. "I can explain…" Though I knew I couldn't. Nevertheless, this made Natalie stop in her tracks.

"Explain what, Adam?" she asked reasonable, raising her eyebrows and bringing her right arm up in a half-shrug. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks glowed pink—but I wasn't sure why.

I opened my mouth to respond but of course, what could I say? I couldn't really explain...And Natalie seemed to figure as much.

"That's what I thought," she said, but the way she said it suggested that she was hoping she was wrong.

"Wait!" I said again desperately, coming around to her side.

"I'm tired of waiting, Adam," she told me earnestly, totally calm. Natalie wasn't one for dramatics.

"Just hold on," I pleaded, trying to muster the courage—For what? I don't know…I'm knew I could tell her the truth; Not now.

"I can't," Natalie said, looking me in the eyes—I could tell she was being honest. "That's what I've been doing for the last month. Waiting, and holding on—Hoping that you would start to make sense but you don't, Adam. You just don't—I can't figure you out".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, one minute—You're being super nice and doing thoughtful things…and the next, you're pushing me away. After that, like nothing happened, you're friendly and hug me again then you stand me up after you asked me to hang out in the first place…I just don't understand. I thought if I hung around long enough, it wouldn't become clear. But it hasn't, it's gotten worse. I don't know—Maybe I'm an idiot but I just don't get it".

It hurt me that Natalie was blaming herself for my erratic behavior. What made it even worse is the way she was telling me all this. Her tone was honest, level-headed, and completely reasonable to boot. I wish she'd yell at me, call me names, get angry, something to make me feel like I deserved what was coming to me. Instead, she was unintentionally killing me with kindness.

"If you don't like me, Adam," she said finally. "Just tell me". She was looking at me in the eyes, with an expression pleading for the truth-The one thing I couldn't give her.

"What? How could you-?" I asked, taken aback by her conclusion—How could she think I didn't like her? Just then, I realized there was one truth I could tell her and it was perhaps the most honest one of all. "I do like you," I said.

"What?" said Natalie sounding surprised, and suddenly she was blushing hard.

"I do like you," I said breathlessly, taking a step towards her. I felt my mouth tilt into a crooked smile. "I like you". It felt good to finally say it aloud.

"Y-you do?"

"Mhm," I assured her, taking yet another step forward. This time, she moved too—Taking a step backward. I heard a little thud, which told me her back had hit the car. "I do," I said, I felt myself inching even closer, as though it was out of my control-Magnetic pull is the only way I can think to describe it.

I heard her draw in a breath.

"I like you too," she said quietly, looking up at me. Her eyelashes fluttered involuntarily. Our faces were quite close now. All I'd have to do was lean in a little further…

As this thought was running through my brain, my body seemed to think it was time for more action. I brought my hand up, touching her cheek first, then placing a strand of loose hair behind her ear. I felt Natalie tense up under my fingers.

This is just like one of those sappy, romance movies my mom likes, I thought. Normally, the people in the movies made me gag but I couldn't bring myself to think this was ridiculous as I always did when my mom forced Drew and me to watch those movies with her. I found I liked the way Natalie felt in such close proximity to me.

Right that second I decided what I was going to do and before I could even come up with the courage to do it, I found myself closing the gap between our lips as fast as I could.

Our lips crashed together, and for a second, I forgot all about the fact that I was lying to her, and the fact that this was wrong as long as she didn't know. As Natalie and I pressed closer to together against the car in the empty parking lot, I told myself I'd have plenty of time to worry about all of that later-For now I'd just enjoy this moment…

A/N: Oh my-REVIEW! You will get a preview as long as I have a way to get it to you-Be it PM or email or carrier pigeon, if you have one (in which case, you rule).

P.S. I hope you guys liked these twin chapters-I spent the majority of my History class writing the first part instead taking notes as I should have been. Plus, I wrote the second part twice because as I was posting it, the stupid library internet cut off and I lost all of it...So hope you enjoyed it-Stay tuned for previews and new chapters asap!