Author's Note: Okay, so I know it's been over a week, but here it is: THE NEWEST CHAPTER OF A CHRISTMAS WEDDING! First things first, I have to say: THANK YOU ALL for you amazing support. I never would have expected so many people to want me to continue this story, including people who had never reviewed before. You guys are fantastic, and this chapter is dedicated to you. I will get around to reviewing and naming characters soon, really! I don't always have access to a computer, so it gets hard sometimes, but hopefully I will get a lot done this weekend. (And even I don't, it will get done sometime, really!) So yeah, thanks to: Endor Solo, ValzBrownie, sweethappylove07, Ashy143, HAWTSAUCE, rio95000, GHJaSam4Ever, Haylie Myers, and DeanFan92 for reviewing. Thanks so much! Please continue to review if you like what you see! Enjoy chapter four!
"Hey." I looked up to see Nate, smiling ruefully at me. "I guess I'm done."
"Are you okay?" I stared at his bandaged hand, which hung limply at his side. "Did you have to get stitches?"
"Yeah, but just a few." He shrugged, and I sighed with relief.
"Gosh, Nate don't do something like that again! You scared us all half to death!" I shivered as I remembered our drive to the ER. It all seemed pretty blurred. After I had screamed, chaos had broken out for a few seconds. The next thing I knew I was grabbing my car keys and pushing Nate out the door towards my car. He was holding a towel to his hand, but that didn't stop the blood. I had skidded around several corners, speeded through a yellow light, and finally dropped him off at the ER, before going to the waiting room, where I finally let the tears I had been holding back fall silently to my lap.
Nate's chuckle brought me back to the present. "I'll try to keep that in mind." He paused and stared at me. "Have you been crying?" He lightly touched my face with his good hand, tracing the tear spots. I felt my heart flutter in spite of myself.
"No. Yes. Maybe." I said, then brushed his hand away, embarrassed and not really sure why. "I was scared, okay? Your face... it was so white."
He nodded, then sat down beside me. "It's okay Ella. It wasn't even that serious of an injury. And I'm fine now." As if to reassure me, he laid his hand on my arm, and I took a deep breath.
"I know." I turned to face him, then regretted it. His face was just inches from mine now.
"Oh, uh, sorry." He said, rising quickly. "I didn't expect you to turn."
"It's okay." I said softly. For a minute he looked down at me, then turned to walk away.
"We should go. I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to linger in here after the doctors are finished."
"Right. Okay. Great." I stood up too, then hesitated. "Uh, Nate?"
"What?" He turned around, smiling at me. I realized this was the first time since we had broken up that there had really been very little awkwardness between us. I bit my lip.
"I was wondering... well, I mean, I'm glad you're okay. And, I just, I'm really glad. Christmas wouldn't be the same without you." I blurted, then felt my cheeks warm. Well that was coherent Ella.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, well, um-"
Before I knew what he was doing, he pulled me into a warm hug. I hesitated, then relaxed in his arms, my head easily finding the place on his shoulder where it fit so well. "Thanks Ella," he whispered, his breath tickling my ear, "Christmas wouldn't be the same without you either. And I, well, I lo-"
This could be the start of something new! It feels so right, to be here with you! I pulled away quickly, blushing again, as my ringtone rang out. Trying not to look at his face, I answered.
"Ella? Is everything alright? Is Nate okay?" I recognized the voice of Mrs. Reynolds, Nate's mom.
"Yeah, everythings fine Mrs. Reynolds! Nate hurt his hand when a glass ornament broke, and they had to put in stitches, but he's fine, and we're going to head home now." I hurried, trying to convince her everything was fine.
I heard her sigh of relief. "Well, at least he's in good hands. Tell him I'll see him at home, okay?"
"For sure. Bye!" I turned and faced Nate, determined to get a hand on my emotions. "You're right, we should head home, your mom's waiting."
As we walked to the car, I could help but glance at him. What were you about to say? Was it what I think it was? And if so... how does kissing Michelle figure into that?
The silence lasted until we were about halfway home. Then Nate cleared his throat. "So, your boyfriend seems pretty nice."
I kept my eyes on the road. "He isn't my boyfriend. We went on one date. We danced. Everyone made us kiss cause we were under the mistletoe. Not a big deal really."
"But still, he seems nice." I heard the question in Nate's voice, but I didn't know how to answer it.
"He is. He's nice, and funny, and charming, and dorky, and makes me laugh all the time, and honestly, logically he's probably the perfect guy for me." We reached a red light and I hit the break, realizing I was suddenly tired of it. Tired of not saying how I felt, tired of hiding behind lies and excuses, tired of pretending my head and my heart weren't at war. "And you know what's really frustrating?" I turned to face Nate, my voice rising. He looked taken aback. "What's really frustrating is that he is all of those things I just said, but honestly, I can't even be around him without thinking about you. Cause guess what? Call me crazy, but I never stopped loving you!" I heard him gasp, but I kept going, my voice continuing to rise. "And you know what? That's freaking insane because we broke up, and you moved on, and I thought I did too, but honestly I hate everything about this situation. I hate that we can't talk like we used to. I hate that I wonder if you're out with other girls on Friday nights. I hate that I was dancing with Warren tonight and not you. And you know what I hate the most?" I turned toward him again, realizing I was almost screaming, but not caring for once in my life. "WHAT I HATE THE MOST IS THAT YOU WON'T JUST-" I stopped abruptly as our lips connected.
BAM! POW! KABOOM! Fireworks exploded in my head as he deepened the kiss. For a minute, I felt everything, my anger, the surprise of the moment, how hard my heart was pounding, my total happiness, and then I didn't feel anything but a soft glow. Vaguely, in the back of my mind I heard car horns, but I didn't care in the least. I forgot. I forgot how much I love him.
As he pulled away, I felt myself take a slow deep breath as I opened my eyes. I realized his hand was on my cheek, and my arms were around his neck. My seat belt was stretched to its limit, and biting into the skin on my neck, but I barely felt the pain. "-kiss me." I breathed after a second.
He smiled, looking a little mischievous. "If you insist." I laughed as he leaned forward again. Just then the blast of a car horn made us jump apart. I glanced up at the light, which changed from green to yellow as I stared at it.
"Oh." I said, feeling my cheeks burn. Nate looked where I was staring and started to laugh.
"Oops!" He said, and I smiled and quickly pressed the gas.
By the time we reached his house my head was spinning. Michelle and Nate kissing. I saw that. But Nate just kissed me! What's going on? He smiled at me as we came to a stop. "Well."
"Michelle." I said quickly, not knowing how else to begin.
He looked confused. "Uh, what about her?"
"I, well, I saw you. At the mall. Together. You were, well, kissing." I rushed on as I saw Nate's face begin to register some shock. "I just want to know what that was about. That's all. But before whatever this is goes any further... I have to know."
Nate looked down suddenly. "Do you think Michelle is cheating on Michael with me?"
The question was so direct I almost stuttered. "What? No! I mean, I don't think either of you would do that, but I saw what I saw okay?"
Nate stared at me. "Just like what you said about Lizzie."
"Nate! You know this is different!" I felt myself start to feel angry. Don't let this happen Ella. Don't let this come between you again. "I said I was wrong about Lizzie. Doesn't that mean anything?"
"It's not about if you were wrong or not. It's about the fact that you didn't trust me enough to know that I would never do something like that!" Nate's voice sounded angry.
I sighed. "I know, okay! But when Lizzie and you started hanging out so much... and you never answered my calls... and... I just didn't know! Is that a crime?"
"Ella, didn't you know I loved you? I would never, ever, cheat on you like that! How could you not know that?"
"Loved?" I said slowly. "As in, not anymore?"
"Loved." He repeated. "As in, trust me, it's not an emotion that's going anywhere any time soon." His voice softened. "I'm sorry."
I looked up at him. "Why?"
He lifted his hand and touched my face, and it was only then I realized I was crying. "For these." He wiped the tears away.
"Nate?" I said, slowly. "You never answered my question. What were you and Michelle doing."
He sighed. "Michael was making a music video for his Visual Arts class. Michelle and I were playing a couple and Michael asked us if we'd be comfortable kissing eachother. It was just a stage kiss, and we're both the closest thing you can get to being professionals without really being professionals, so we said we'd try it. And it went great. Michael was behind us filming though, so you probably didn't notice him." He glanced at me. "Did it bother you? To think I was kissing her?"
"Well, yeah..., I would never want Michelle to cheat on Michael."
"No, I mean, like did it bother you to see me kissing her?"
I dropped my eyes. "Well, yeah. A little. Or, I don't know, a lot. Whatever."
"Okay." He smiled and I smacked him on the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"
"That's for that smug look you had on your face just then. Don't think I didn't notice you smashed that ornament when you saw Warren and I kissing! Jealous much?" I taunted, sticking my tongue out at him.
He blushed bright red. "Oh. Well, uh, yeah, but it wasn't intentional. I just had it in my hand, and I was just sitting there getting more and more jealous and my grip must have been tightening cause before I knew it it broke and the shards sliced into my hand."
I smiled, then reached for his bandaged hand. I turned it over, palm up, and kissed the gauze wrapping. "There. I 'kissed it all better'."
He grinned. "You know, my lips kinda hurt."
I laughed. "Yeah, right." My smile faded slowly. "But really, what are we going to do now? Like, where do we go from here?"
He studied my face. "What do you want to do?"
I hesitated for a minute, then said, "Take it slow. See where this goes, but no stress and no pressure. Almost like we just... start over."
"Starting over." He nodded. "Sounds good to me."
"Yeah. And Nate? I am really sorry about what happened. With Lizzie."
Nate's smile disappeared. "I know. I forgive you."
"How's she doing now?" I asked.
"The last I heard she's doing okay. We still email back and forth occasionally. She asks about you every so often."
"Oh." I felt myself blush. Oh, Lizzie, don't be nice. Not after what happened. "Well, tell her I say hi, okay? And... I'm sorry."
"She knows you're sorry. She's already forgiven you." For the first time, Nate smiled. "And she'll be thrilled to know we're friends again."
"Good." I smiled. "So, friends?" I offered my hand.
He grinned at me and grabbed my hand, pulling me forward and pecking me on the lips. When he pulled back he nodded. "Just friends. For now." ...
...
"Guys, I really don't think that's a good idea." I stared at my dad and Gabriella. "I can't write a song good enough to sing at your wedding."
"Of course you could!" Gabriella smiled. "And it's not like it's going to happen during the actual ceremony. You'll sing it at our reception. For our first dance together as a married couple."
"Oh," I gulped, "well, that takes the pressure off."
My dad laughed. "Just think about it, okay Ella? Sit down at your desk, and see what you can come up with. If nothing comes, we'll let it go, no questions asked okay?"
I nodded. "Okay. Well, I'm going to head to bed now guys, it's been a long day."
"Yeah, and I better get going. I still have a list to make up of all the last minute things to do before the wedding. Not to mention the bridesmaid dress fitting is tomorrow!" Gabriella smiled up at her soon-to-be-husband. "I want to make sure our day is perfect. Or at least, perfect for us."
"Me too." He smiled and kissed her. "You're my everything Gabriella. I love you."
"I love you too." She hugged him.
I smiled as I walked to my room. You're my everything. You are my everything. You are the song I sing. I grabbed a pen as ideas started to form. And I just have to believe... You won't let me go...
AN: Okay, so I know the Warren&Ella fans are sad right now, but, don't worry, I'm not going to make it that easy on Ella and Nate. There is still some drama to come! Please review!
Random Poll:
Which old HSM characters would you rather see coming into the story in later chapters?:
A.) Martha, Jason, and Mrs. Darbus.
B.) Jimmy the Rocketman, his friend whose name is escaping me right now, and Tiara Gold.
C.) Other character not mentioned in the two previous options! (I think that was pretty much it, but correct me if I'm wrong!)