Silence surrounds me as seconds slowly turn to minutes, filling me with dread. I wait with bated breath, my heart in the pit of my stomach, hoping and praying for any sign that Nate's going to be okay but nothing happens.

I feel my stomach churn at the thought of losing Nate and curse Miranda for what she did to him. I'm not sure what happened after I left him last night but my gut tells me she drugged him just to make me believe she slept with him.

Why?

Why did she need to take things so far? Nate didn't deserve this. Any of this.

I never wanted things to get to this point. I mean, who would? No one wants to see the person they love suffering like this.

I sob, feeling my heart shatter all over again and press my face to Nate's shoulder, wishing things hadn't gotten to this point.

"Why Nate? Why? You didn't deserve this. Any of this. I hurt you. Miranda hurt you. You deserve so much better than this," I whisper to him knowing I'll get no response but deep down, a part of me hopes he hears me. "If you wake up from this, I promise to leave you if that's what you want. Just don't die on me, please. I don't want to live in a world where you're not in it," I say in between tears. "If you want to be with someone else, it'll hurt me but I promise to try and be happy for you. I do. Just whatever you do, don't leave me. Please," I beg as a tear slips down my cheek.

I close my eyes and let my head slump back against the shower wall in defeat when I hear a barely discernible, "Never."

I whip my head in Nate's direction and see that his eyes are now open. He looks at me with so much emotion in his eyes I can't help but feel my heart gallop and soar.

"Nate?!" I say in relief. "You didn't leave me!" I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him so hard as I cry into his shoulder. "Thank you for staying with me," I whisper to him. "I was so scared I was going to lose you," I confess as I fight back a sob.

He's going to be okay.

I pull away from him and watch his eyes fall shut again. The moment is short-lived, but I'm just thankful to see that he's still with me. I get back on my knees and kiss his forehead before leaving his side to shut off the water.

I quickly hurry back to Nate's side and nearly slip on my way back like the klutz I am, but thankfully make it back to his side in one piece and get on my knees. I carefully slide him back down on the blanket, making sure to be extra careful with his head.

I take in his unconscious form on the blanket and know it's going to be harder to move him this time around because he's drenched and the blanket is wet now but it's better than nothing. I stand up and bend over, grabbing the ends of the blanket closest to his head and slowly turn him inside the shower until he's facing the door of the shower and slide him out onto the bathroom floor.

I take a quick five-second breather, well more like a minute because the man is heavy, before dragging him the rest of the way to his room. I get him as close to the end of the bed as I can before laying him down carefully on the carpet, making sure he can't hurt himself if he wakes up and moves. I walk over to where his feet rest and pull off his sopping wet shoes and socks and throw them to the side, not caring where they land, before moving onto his jeans. I pop the button on his jeans and gulp as I pull the zipper down.

"Nate, I'm so sorry. This is not how I imagined taking your clothes off the first time," I tell him, wanting to bring a little humor to this whole god awful situation. I stand over him and bend over so I can reach the belt loops on the sides of his jeans and pull on them but his pants don't budge an inch. I sigh and curse my luck.

Why me?!

I have no choice but to grasp his jeans from the waistband. I wrap my hands around the waistband on each side of his pants and pull on them as hard as I can, and make some progress but of course, they get stuck on his butt of all places.

"I never realized how big your butt was until now," I comment and see a grin form on his lips. "Oh, you find that funny?" I tell him and am glad to see he's sort of with me. I take a small break to catch my breath before grasping his jeans again and pulling them past his butt. Once they are loose on his hips, I walk over to where his feet rest, grab his pants from the bottom and pull them off him the rest of the way.

I toss them to the side carelessly, knowing I don't have time to waste, and quickly make my way back to his side, kneeling next to him. I look at the last offending piece of clothing on his body and what is it? His black boxers! And of course, they're glued to his body like a second skin now that they're wet.

Just my freaking luck!

"Oh, Lord. This is especially not how I imagined seeing you naked for the first time," I murmur as I grab his boxers by the waistband and start to pull them off. I keep my gaze up and away from his manhood as I slide the dang things off him and am relieved when they don't get stuck on his butt like his jeans did.

Yay, for small miracles!

I continue sliding them off him and don't ask me how, but I manage to lose my balance in the process and fall on him, and nearly face plant on his crotch. His crotch!

What sort of joke is this?!

Just when I thought I was in the clear, this has to happen. FML! I came so close to falling on his-his package. I shriek in both embarrassment and frustration and quickly pull myself off him and rub my hands up and down my face, not believing what just happened.

Why? Why me?! What have I done to deserve this embarrassing karma?

My god. This needs to stop before something worse happens. Well, I'm not sure there would be anything worse than face-planting into Nate's crotch, I think with an embarrassed laugh and shake my head. Gah! Fuck my life! I hope that something worse doesn't happen or I may die of pure embarrassment on this floor and I can't exactly afford to die right now. Nate needs me, so no dying for me. I have to live through this and hope Nate doesn't know what happened because if he ever brings it up then I will die.

I finish getting the boxers off him and throw them across the room, hating the dang things for making me go through such an embarrassing moment. One I hope Nate never, ever brings up. As soon as the boxers are off him, I grab the first thing I find and cover his junk with what turns out to be a decorative pillow off the pile of stuff I threw on the floor. "That'll do," I say with a shrug.

I hear a small chuckle and look up to see Nate smiling. His eyes are still closed but I can tell he's half there. "Glad you're having a good laugh at my expense," I tell him with a smile and wonder if he felt me fall on him. I hope for just that moment he was out of it, so I never have to hear of what happened and can take that embarrassing secret peacefully to my grave.

I run back to the bathroom and grab all the towels I can find and dry him off as much as I can but skip his privates. Those can air dry. I'm not going there.

Not today satan.

I'm sure his privates will be fine as they are. A little moisture never hurt anyone.

I replace the pillow covering his package with a dry towel but don't take a peek of course because that would be wrong. Or would it? Nope. Not going there.

I breathe a sigh of relief, glad that at least that part is done. "Now comes the hard part. How do I get you back on that dang bed?" I look from him to the bed, back to him and back and forth. "A little input would be nice right now," I say with a sigh before finally deciding that lifting him from behind is the best way to go. I kneel behind him where he's laying on the blanket and try to sit him up but he just slumps right back on the floor.

I groan out loud before trying again. This time, I tuck my hands under his armpits and lift and push him forward at the same time. I struggle to move Nate. He weighs like a ton of bricks but I slowly manage to lift him until he's sitting up. Well, not exactly. But he's sitting up enough to wrap my arms around him. I hug him from behind, wrapping my arms around his chest and try to pull him but I don't move him in the slightest.

Great! Just great!

I keep my arms under his but decide to lift them towards my shoulders as if I'm lifting weights and pull up with all my might and boy does it make me sweat but I finally manage to move him. I slowly stand up on shaky legs and pull him back toward the bed. His feet drag on the floor but I don't worry too much because I don't have to pull him far.

When the back of my knees connects with the bed, I end up falling onto the bed with Nate's upper body on my lap. I nearly laugh out loud at my compromising situation but resist the urge. Now is not the time to laugh as ridiculous as this all is. Thank goodness no one can see this. If they could, I'm sure they would be cracking up at my misfortune. Never in a hundred years did I imagine having to drag a naked Nate around his hotel room. Yet, here I am. Trying to figure out how to get this hulking naked man back on his bed.

Lord help me. I'm gonna need some miracle to get Nate back on the bed. He's so big and this is no easy feat. Especially not for me.

This whole situation is just nuts and I can't help but want to laugh as I look down at Nate just chilling in my lap. I compose myself and get the laughter wanting to burst out of me under control and roll Nate over on the bed so he's off me and laying on the bed on his stomach. Well part of him is. The majority of him is still on the floor and his butt is in full view for me to see. I quickly pull my eyes away from his nicely rounded butt and shake my head.

This is not how I imagined seeing him naked for the first time. Someone up there must be having a good laugh at my current dilemma and I don't blame them. This is pretty hilarious and also just plain ridiculous as crazy as it all is.

I climb up on the bed so I'm standing over him, and ignore the fact that I'm completely dripping water on his backside. I stick my hands under his armpits again, seeing as it's what has worked best for me so far, and slowly make my way towards the headboard as I pull him up the bed, hoping and praying I don't hurt his junk in the front as I drag him on the bed.

"Nate, come on. You have to help me here. You're so heavy," I complain and feel him move just a little. I sigh in relief and pull him up the bed some more. Thankfully he's half-conscious now, so he helps a bit, but even with his help I still huff and puff the entire way. It'll be a miracle if I don't blow this hotel down with how hard I'm breathing. This is one workout I did not signup for and something I hope to never do again.

When Nate's completely on the bed, I bend over, placing my hands on my knees, not caring that I'm still standing over him, dripping water on his backside. I stand there a minute and just try to catch my breath, thankful that I haven't passed out from all the exertion.

"God you're big," I comment out of breath as I look down at his resting form and see a smirk lift the corner of his lips from the side of his face. I wonder if he thinks I was referring to his "package." I blush at the thought but push it towards the back of my mind because I can't be thinking about that. Not right now. I need to focus.

I climb off the bed and flip him on his back, making sure not to look down south where his package and family jewels are now completely exposed. The towel fell off him when I was dragging him on the bed.

I grab the blankets off the floor and quickly cover him before placing a pillow underneath his head. When I see that he's comfortable, I find the discarded towel on the ground I had covering his lower half and quickly lift the blankets and toss the towel on him, making sure to cover him down under but without looking of course. I'm not about to peek even if things are finally looking up.

I return to the bathroom and take off my drenched clothes in a hurry and leave them in a pile on the floor. I dry my naked body with the only dry towel left in the whole room and wrap it around me when I'm done. I look around the bathroom in search of a bathrobe but come up empty and sigh.

Just my freaking luck, I think with an eye roll.

I have no other choice but to go in search of his suitcase that has to be somewhere in his room. I look around for his suitcase and find it propped open on the floor of the closet and thank my lucky stars when the first thing I grab is a clean black T-shirt. I drop the towel and put on his shirt that surprisingly fits loosely but it's short and falls just below my butt. I pull at the hem hoping it will miraculously grow longer but of course, it doesn't. That's just dumb wishful thinking on my part.

I sigh in frustration because the thought of wearing a T-shirt while naked underneath makes me a tad nervous, but I don't have a choice. My undergarments are soaked and Nate's boxers don't fit me, and I can't exactly run back to my room and leave Nate alone. I have no other options. It's either this or walk around in my wet towel and risk getting sick, and I'm not about to do that. I need to make sure I stay healthy while I watch over Nate so his T-shirt it is for me. Wearing his T-shirt definitely has an upside though, it smells just like him and I like it. I like it a lot. He smells so good.

I walk back to the bathroom and lay out my clothes to dry on the bathroom counter and give myself a once-over in the mirror. My curly hair is a disheveled mess and my eyes are all puffy and bloodshot from crying, but that's the least of my worries. Nate is my biggest concern and my priority right now.

I quickly brush my fingers through my hair before making my way back to Nate where I sit down on the bed beside him. I touch his forehead and am relieved when his forehead feels cool to the touch.

"Thank goodness," I whisper aloud and brush my fingers through his still-damp hair. I lean over and kiss his forehead before pressing my forehead to his. "You're going to be okay," I promise him before going back to the bathroom to get the hairdryer. I return to Nate's side and plug in the hairdryer and blow dry his hair, making sure he doesn't sleep with wet hair. Once his hair is all dry, I sit there and dry my hair, hating that my curls are going to be super puffy without a diffuser but I do it anyway, so I don't sleep with wet hair either. I can't risk getting sick at any cost right now. Nate needs me more than ever, so I have to make sure to take care of myself so I can take care of him.

I finish drying my hair and climb into bed with Nate. I lay down beside him, not caring that he's practically naked under the blankets. He's not well right now and I can't be bothered to worry about that. I'm just glad he's okay now and will be better in due time.

I sidle up right next to him and lay my head on his chest, feeling at ease for the first time in months. I'm so grateful to have him by my side even if it isn't in the way I want. I know full well this can all come back and bite me in the ass come morning, but right now, I can't bring myself to worry about that. After everything I just went through with Nate, I just want to be close to him, and if he wants to chew my head off over everything that has happened between us when he wakes up then so be it, but right now I just need to be near him.

I listen to the steady beat of his heart and count every single heartbeat while I lazily draw hearts on his skin with my fingertip. I close my eyes and think of every single thing that led up to this exact moment in time. All the good and the bad. None of it was ever easy but I'm thankful for all of it because it brought me, Nate.

I don't know what tomorrow will hold, much less the future, but right now, in this moment, I know that if we were able to get through this, we can overcome anything.

Together.