Time slows down as I stare at his back.

Seconds slowly turn to minutes but he doesn't say anything. He just stands there with his head hanging low.

I bite my lip as I fight back the tears that are threatening to spill and turn to Johnny with a defeated look in my eyes. I can see pity etched on his face, but right now the last thing I need is him feeling sorry for me. I just want this night to be over.

"I'll do it," Nate finally says and I quickly turn my head in his direction, not believing my ears.

"You will?" I ask in disbelief.

He nods.

I feel my heart pound a mile a minute, and have the sudden urge to cry, but this time it's not out of sadness. It's out of sheer relief.

"Thank you," I say in a small voice but hesitate when I think about Mia and Gracie. I can't leave them behind. I came here with them.

I turn to Johnny and see that he's smiling. He's actually smiling. I can't help but smile back. I know that none of this is easy for him, not when he loves me the way he does, but to him, my happiness is far more important than anything he could ever feel for me, and that is how true love should be.

Selfless.

When you truly love someone, you should always put their happiness before yours, even if it means sacrificing your own heart, and that is exactly what Johnny is doing for me. He's putting his feelings to the side and pushing me to fight for my own happiness.

I was determined to do the same thing for Nate not too long ago because his happiness is and always will be my priority. It doesn't matter what has happened between us. I just want him to be happy again and will do whatever it takes to make it happen, even if it means sacrificing my own happiness. My love for Nate knows no bounds.

"Go," Johnny tells me. "I'll take your friends home and make sure they get home safe," he reassures me and I give him my thanks.

I quickly say goodbye to Mia and Gracie and walk over to Nate.

"I'm ready."

He nods but doesn't say anything. His silence makes me a bit nervous and puts me on edge, but I'll take what I can get for now.

Nate starts walking and I follow after him as he weaves his way through the crowd of bodies that are gyrating every which way but as I follow him and try and keep up, people begin to bump me and get in my way, which slows me down immensely in my drunken state.

I yell out to Nate hoping he can hear me over the loud music but he just keeps walking, putting more and more distance between us. I try and walk faster to catch up but in the process, I stumble and fall on my hands and knees. I hear some loud collective gasps but no one comes to my aid.

No surprise there.

I sit back on my knees and feel the room spin around me.

Fuck! Why did I have to go and get drunk?

I close my eyes and wait for the spinning sensation to stop before opening my eyes again. I wipe my scuffed up hands on my pants and try to stand back up only to fall back down onto my knees.

I look around helplessly and notice that people are starting to stare at me.

"Nate," I call out but it's useless. He's long gone and I am surrounded by a crowd of people who couldn't be bothered to help me.

"What are you looking at?" I yell angrily, on the verge of tears when a hand appears in front of me. I look up and immediately feel relief wash over me when my eyes connect with Nate's. "You came back for me?" I ask him as I put my hand in his. He pulls me up and helps me onto my feet. I can feel peoples stares on us but I couldn't be bothered to care. Not now.

He wipes something from my cheek and I grab his hand to see a tear glistening on his fingertip.

"Sorry," I apologize quickly and wipe my stray tears. He pulls me in for a hug, taking me completely by surprise.

"I'm sorry I lost you," he apologizes and I feel my body shake as the tears fall.

"It's not your fault."

"I got worried when I didn't see you behind me."

"You came back," I repeat in between tears and he chuckles.

"I'll always come back for you," he tells me and I feel my heart beat a mile a minute.

He holds me while I cry and when I'm finally in control of my emotions again, he pulls me by his side and guides us through the crowd of people but this time he makes sure to keep me close.

We finally make it to the exit and step out in an alleyway that leads to the front of the club and the parking lot located in the back.

We head in the direction of the parking lot, and I see his car right away. He unlocks it and to my surprise, he opens my door for me. I thought since we weren't dating, he wouldn't open my door for me anymore, but clearly, he wasn't kidding when he said chivalry is his middle name.

I smile and get in but not before giving him my thanks. He nods and closes the door behind me going back to his quiet self. I buckle up and watch him as he walks around the front of the car. He finally gets in and buckles up but he doesn't say anything else to me but at least he doesn't make a move to turn on the music either.

I stare at him but he doesn't notice until he finally looks over his shoulder to back out of the parking spot. I make no effort to hide the fact that I'm looking at him, but he still says nothing. I want to scream in frustration but resist the urge.

He drives out of the parking lot and heads in direction of my place, or at least I think he does until I realize he's heading in a different direction. I consider asking where he's taking me but with the way he's acting right now, I doubt I'll get an answer out of him. So rather than wonder, I sit back and enjoy the quiet ride and give Nate his space. He clearly needs it and I don't blame him.

Half an hour later we arrive at a small diner. I don't know what we're doing here, but I don't question it. I simply get out of the car and follow Nate inside. He asks for a table for two and we follow the hostess to a table he specifically asked for. As soon as we sit down, I understand why.

The table has a gorgeous view and faces the beach. The very same beach where we had our first date. It's also the same beach where he followed me to when I was avoiding him after we nearly had our first kiss. I smile at the memory and turn towards Nate to see that he's looking at me.

I don't know what him bringing me here means, but to me, it means everything, because it shows me he cares in a small way. If he didn't, he wouldn't have brought me back to the one place that holds a lot of great memories for both of us.

"This is nice," I comment, finally breaking the silence, but again, he doesn't say a thing. He simply nods and I sigh. "Are you seriously going to give me the silent treatment all night?" I ask exasperated and he smirks. He actually smirks! I know it's not much but after getting the silent treatment from him for what feels like forever, it's a start.

"I'm not sure what you want me to say. Tonight has been one long, complicated night and I'm just tired."

"Tired of me?"

"You do get on my nerves sometimes," he says with a chuckle and just the sound of his laugh has my insides rejoicing.

"I missed you," I admit, feeling sad.

"I missed you too," he responds but I notice there is a bit of hesitation on his part.

"But?"

"But there is still a lot we need to talk about." And he's right. I have so much I need to say to him, I don't even know where to start. And I'm pretty sure neither does he. "I brought you here for a reason though."

"And what is that?" I ask curiously.

"You need greasy food and some strong black coffee in you."

"Is that why you brought me here instead of taking me home?" I ask touched and he nods.

"Yes, as mad as I am at you, I don't want you to feel like complete shit tomorrow. And something tells me you've never had a hangover, so I'm going to hold your hand in a sense and get you through your first hangover because tomorrow you are going to be dying. I have no doubt about it."

"Don't remind me," I say with a huff and drop my face into my hands.

The waitress finally comes and Nate orders for both of us. He gets me black coffee and a big breakfast platter that comes with everything a breakfast lover could want and he gets a glass of milk and some buttermilk pancakes for himself.

"Is there any chance I may not wake up with a hangover tomorrow?" I ask him after the waitress leaves and he shakes his head.

"Doubtful. With the way you drank tonight, I wouldn't be surprised if you had a hangover for two days."

"Fuck my life." I groan. "I'm such an idiot."

"You can say that again," he says with a laugh.

"Ha, ha, ha. I'm glad you can laugh at my expense," I say with a dry laugh.

"Hey, I didn't force you to drink."

"You are the reason I drank though," I tell him and he frowns. "But I don't want to get into that right now. Maybe not even tomorrow," I say with a shrug.

"We have to talk sometime," he deadpans.

"I know. Believe me, I know. But can we at least wait until I'm fully sober and have my head straight on."

"Fair enough," he responds and we fall into a comfortable silence while we wait for our food. When it finally arrives I nearly gasp at the order Nate got me. It could easily feed two or three people.

"I hope you're planning on helping me with this because this is way too much for me," I say, gesturing to my very large plate of food that has a bit of everything.

"Just eat whatever you can. You can take the rest to go and eat it tomorrow."

"You're not going to help me?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"Nope, you're on your own."

"Thanks for nothing," I tell him and he grins.

"Make sure to start with the greasiest food first. Your stomach will thank you," he tells me before digging into his pancakes. I take a bite of everything but the pancakes and feel like I am in heaven.

"This is so good," I comment before taking a sip of my coffee and when it hits my tongue, I nearly gag and have to force myself to swallow it down. "That's disgusting. I can barely tolerate coffee with creamer and sugar, but this," I say pointing to my mug. "This is the grossest thing I've ever drunk."

"You drank tequila," he reminds me. "If you can drink tequila, you can drink black coffee, so suck it up and drink it. You need it."

"No," I say stubbornly. "It should be a crime to have to drink that nasty beverage. I refuse to touch it again."

"Do what you want. You're going to regret it tomorrow," he tells me with a shrug and goes back to eating his pancakes.

"Fine," I say defeated and take little sips of coffee in between eating, but I hate every second of it. How people drink this stuff black is beyond me.

I have definitely learned my lesson and will never drink again if it means never tasting black coffee ever again because this shit is gross.

"How are you doing there?" Nate asks me after I eat a good part of my platter.

"Not great. How are you?"

"I'm good full."

"And I'm too full," I admit. "I ate way too much. Let's just hope I can keep it down. If I throw up in your car, it's all your fault," I tell him with a grin.

"I don't think so."

"Don't be so sure," I say smugly and he raises his brow before calling the waitress to ask for a box to go and the check.

When we're finally ready we head out. Nate takes my food from me and stores it in his car before heading towards the sidewalk. I follow after him and realize he's heading towards the beach when he crosses the street.

"Was this always part of your plan?"

"No, this became my plan when you mentioned throwing up in my car," he says seriously and I scoff. "I'm kidding."

I give him a look like I don't believe him and he laughs.

"I'm serious. It was always part of my plan to bring you here," he admits with a small smile.

"Well I'm glad you brought me here, but what I don't understand is why? Why take me to the diner across from the beach? There are plenty of 24-hour diners in the area, but you brought me to the one that sits right in front of my favorite place and I just want to know why."

"I don't know. It just felt right," he says with a shrug and I know that's all I'm going to get out of him, so I let it drop.

I take off my boots when we make it to the edge of the sand. He does the same and we walk a few feet out before sitting down in the sand. I look around and see that we are alone and I'm rather glad it's just the two of us.

"I don't know what any of this means, but I'm glad we're here. Together," I say while looking at him. He smiles but he doesn't say anything. He simply turns and faces the ocean, and I just sit there quietly and stare at him, remembering all the times I ran my hands over his face and kissed his lips. It was way too many to count and I miss it. I miss it so much.

But he's no longer mine to hold and to kiss, I remind myself.

I feel a tear form on the corner of my eye and turn away from him and just stare out at the ocean, which always brings me peace when I need it.

"Are you cold?" I hear Nate ask and turn towards him, not understanding why he's asking. "You're practically hugging yourself," he points out when I don't say anything and I look down and see that I have my knees pressed up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs.

"I honestly didn't know," I admit embarrassed. I was so lost in thought I hadn't even noticed I was cold.

"Here," he says and puts his long sleeve shirt around my shoulders, leaving him in nothing but a black tank. "Nate, no. You're going to freeze." I try to give it back but he won't hear of it.

"Keep it. I'm fine," he assures me.

"Well thanks," I say gratefully and slip my arms in the sleeves and pull it tight around me. When I do, I get a whiff of his scent and have to resist the urge to press it up to my nose, which would come off really, really creepy, but I can't help it. I love his scent. It smells sort of spicy like cinnamon with hints of vanilla and some woodsy scent I can't put my finger on. I have no idea what to compare it to, but it smells amazing and makes me wish they made candles inspired by his scent that is so masculine it drives me crazy.

"You smell good," I blurt before I can stop my word vomit and cover my mouth in embarrassment. Thankfully, he finds my comment amusing and just chuckles in response.

"Thanks. No one has ever told me that before."

"You're welcome. Now forget I ever said it."

"Nah, I think I'll save it to memory just like that kiss you gave me on the nose," he says with a smug grin.

"Oh, God," I mutter embarrassed and cover my face. "I was hoping you forgot about that."

"Nope. It's all right here." I pull my hands away from my face and see that he's pointing to his head.

"You're never going to let me live it down, are you?" I mutter.

"Nope," he says with a chuckle.

"Great. Just great."

I shake my head at him and rest my chin on my knees as I think of everything that has happened up until now.

It's crazy how only a few months ago, I hadn't even had my first kiss and now I have not only had my first kiss, but I've also had my first boyfriend and my first heartbreak. It's all been one crazy, whirlwind adventure but I wouldn't change any of it for anything in the world. Not even our break up, because it all led to this exact moment in time. It helped make us stronger people.

We're still not on the mends and have a lot of healing to do, but the fact that we are here together, gives me hope that everything is going to be okay.