"We're going out tonight." Sofia says, taking a seat on her bed.

I've never been inside of Shane's apartment. It's different from Grayson's apartment. It's very different. It seems as though Sofia has completely taken over the apartment in the best way possible.

"What?" I laugh.

"Yeah, we're going out. It's going to be my first time going out with the guys since turning twenty one." She smiles. "You're going, right?" She asks.

"God, I want to. I really can't tonight, though." I sigh.

"What? Why?" She pouts, crossing her legs on the bed.

"Brian has me working on this app until we're closer to being done with it. If we're being honest, he's pretty stressed out with a baby on the way. He's been working twenty-four seven. I know his girlfriend is getting upset because he's never home. Which, I totally understand. I would probably be pretty upset too if I was never able to see Grayson. I really want to just finish what we had started tonight so he doesn't have to worry about it tomorrow." I admit.

"I get that." She sighs. "I'm bummed out that you're not going, though."

"I am, too. Maybe tomorrow? I'll take you out. My treat." I smile.

"I'll take you up on that." She laughs. "We'll FaceTime you?"

"I'll be there in spirit." I laugh. "I'm surprised you were able to get Grayson to even go out. He hates stuff like that."

"Trust me, I know. He still doesn't really want to go, but I was able to pull out the puppy dog eyes. Just for future reference, he is a complete sucker for the puppy dog eyes. Get's him every time." She smirks.

"Well, just be patient with him. Maybe you can get him to loosen up a bit, too." I add.

"Oh, we're getting him drunk. I don't think he's ever been drunk before. We're definitely going to make him loosen up." She laughs.

"He's going to hate this."

"Absolutely." She smiles. "Want something to eat? I went grocery shopping last night. We have tons of snack food."

"I'm good, thanks." I smile. I look down at my phone and see two missed calls from Nathanial. I have no idea how I missed these, but it must be fairly urgent. "Hold on, my brother is calling me." I mutter, answering his calls and walking to the hallway.

"Natalia! God, finally. You never answer your phone." He remarks.

"Yeah, sorry. I somehow missed your call." I reply.

"Too busy with your boyfriend is give your brother the time of day?" He replies.

"No." I huff. "I'm with Sofia. We're at Shane's apartment."

"Of course." He mutters in reply.

"Okay, did you need something or are you just going to be an asshole for the entire duration of this phone call?" I snap.

"Yes, sorry." He says in defense. "I just wanted to call and let you know that since I'm in town without Grace, I'll be going out tonight. Do you want to go?" He asks.

"I can't tonight. I have a lot of work to do." I reply.

"And does this work involve you blowing me off for your boyfriend?" He asks again.

"Again, no." I groan in reply. "I actually have real work to do. Not all of us can ride the backs of our significant other with a Youtube career."

"Okay, no need to be a bitch." He laughs. "I was kidding, come on."

I sigh and run my hand over my face in frustration.

"Is there anything else, Nathan?" I ask.

"Nathan? Wow, you are pissed at me." He says, laughing again.

"Nathanial." I correct.

"Well, Mami and Papi want to have dinner with us tomorrow. I figured you could...I don't know." He mutters, trailing off.

"What?"

"I figured that maybe you could invite Grayson. I don't know, they might enjoy having him there. Maybe we can all get to know him a bit better." He says nonchalantly.

"You want me to invite Grayson to our family dinner? Really?" I say, completely unconvinced.

"Yes. You know, I'm not a total asshole." He remarks.

"Now that's hilarious." I say in a sarcastic tone. "Why in the hell do you think I would put you two in the same room together? You completely harassed him at the last family gathering." I remind him.

"God, are we still going on about that? I said that I was sorry." He groans.

"Yeah, to me. You never said it to him." I reply.

"Nat." He groans. "You're getting pissed off at me for wanting you to be in a happy and healthy relationship. After the shit that happened with Ryan, can you blame me? I watched as my baby sister was getting her ass beat by some white guy who had no feelings for anyone other than himself."

"And you constantly remind me that he's white? Yet, you're the one who is married to a white woman and gets pissed at Mami and Papi every time they tell you what you're telling me. God, you're a hypocrite."

"Okay, you're right." He sighs. "Maybe I am. I just want you to be with someone that will be good to you. You don't even know this guy!"

"I know him more than most people do. He's a good guy, okay?"

"He's fucking weird." He replies.

"Nathanial, he has more going on than you're aware of. Frankly, it's none of your business." I add.

"He just isn't your type."

"Yeah, you're right. My usual type is an asshole who beats me when I disagree with him on politics and calls me an idiot. Maybe I should give Grayson up and go back to that!" I say with sarcasm.

"You know what I mean, Nat. Come on. I'm just worried that you're in this for a rebound, not because you actually like the guy. This guy sees you more than just a rebound. I just don't want you to hurt him or yourself." He sighs.

"Oh please, don't pretend that you're suddenly on team Grayson." I huff.

"Oh, trust me. I'm not." He laughs. "I just don't want for anyone to get hurt, okay? Including him."

"Noted." I mutter in response.

"So what does he have going on that I'm not aware of?" He asks, circling back around to my original statement.

I don't want to tell Nathanial the truth about Grayson. Really, it's none of his business. But by telling him, would he get a better understanding of Grayson? I want to think that I know my brother more than Grayson or Shane do. Nathanial isn't a bad guy. He's one of the best people that I know. Growing up, I have always wanted to be more like him. He is selfless and genuine. He's just being protective over me, I know it.

"He...Grayson isn't like everyone else. He's bad in social situations and not the best at communication sometimes." I reply.

"So what, like anxiety?" He asks.

"Not quite. Grayson has Aspergers." I admit.

"Hold on." He says, pausing any further comment from me. "He has like...autism?" He asks.

"Not quite. It's different. It just effects the way that he communicates and reads social cues." I explain.

"Natalia, what the hell are you doin?" He sighs.

"Excuse me?" I ask.

"Despite what level it's on, he still has a form of autism. I'm not saying that it's his fault, because clearly it isn't. Do you really want to deal with someone like that, though? I mean, you two could never really have a normal relationship." He explains.

"Excuse me?" I yell into the phone. "What the hell do you know about a normal relationship? Who the fuck gave you the right to say that about me or him?"

"Nat, I'm not saying this to be an asshole! It makes a lot of sense, really. This guy just isn't... all there." He says in a cautious tone. "Which isn't his fault!" He says immediately after.

"He is just as normal as anyone else." I snap.

"No, he isn't." He sighs. "Nat, you're outgoing and very personable. You love being social and going out with friends and-"

"I don't even have friends anymore." I reply.

"Yeah, and Ryan is the one who fucked that up for you. Okay? That's not your fault. You're putting yourself back out there and I love it. Okay? I swear, I'm not trying to be an asshole right now. I want you to be happy. I know this guy makes you happy. I'm sure he's nice and is really into you."

"But?" I ask, waiting for the reply.

"You're more outgoing than he is. You are more social than he is. You want to do things that he'll never want to do. That isn't his fault, and it isn't yours. But you're going to hit a lot of challenges in your relationship because of it. He won't understand your feelings at times, even if he tries to. He will make mistakes and you're stubborn enough to never let it go. You will end up resenting him. If you guys happen to get married and have kids, you're risking your kids ending up like him. Do you really want that for your future? I know this is sounding harsh and I'm sorry. I'm not saying any of this to be an asshole. I'm saying this because you're my sister and all I want is to see you live the dream life that you always pictured for yourself."

"So just because he has something that makes him different from you and me, he isn't worthy of me? Is that what you're trying to say?" I ask, anger laced in my voice.

"Of course not." He sighs. "I'm just saying that you're going to end up hurting you and him if you don't back out now. Clearly, I have no control on what you do or who you date. But I'm not just going to stand around while you do this without at least telling you how I feel." He says.

"Nathanial. I love him. He's amazing. He's nice, caring, funny...he's everything. He is a provider without even knowing it. He loves me for me. He doesn't care about my past, and he-"

"But does he know about your past? Does he know about your epilepsy? Can he handle it if you have a seizure? Can he be quick to respond in that situation? What about Ryan? What if Ryan decides to poke his crazy fucking head back in the door? Are you so sure that he will handle it? The dude hates confrontation. Will something like those situations be too much for him?"

"Ryan has already tried contacting me and Grayson handled it the same way anyone else would. I'm fine, Nathanial. I love Grayson and I'm not going to let your opinion of judgement about him change that." I snap.

"You don't even know him, Nat. How can you say that you love him?" He groans.

"Because he treats me like no one else has ever treated me before. He's amazing, Nathanial. I love him. He loves me. Don't ruin this for me."

"I'm not going to ruin it for you. You're going to find a way to ruin it for yourself." He bites back.

"Are you done arguing with me about my relationship? You know, if that's all you're going to do while you're in town, don't even bother coming here anymore.

"You're right. I'm sorry." He says, sighing into the phone. "Listen, I'm sorry. For real. I'm sure he's great. Thank you for telling me more about him. I have a better understanding now. I'll try and go a bit easier on the guy. I'm just scared that if I'm not this cautious with everyone, then you're going to end up with another guy like Ryan. I was so scared that I was going to lose you on that last seizure, Nat. He hit you so hard and for so long that you had a seizure. I thought I was going to lose you. I thought I was going to lose my baby sister because of that asshole. I don't want to lose you." He says, sounding desperate.

"You're not going to lose me." I assure him. "Grayson couldn't hurt a fly."

"I know." He sighs. "That's what I'm afraid of."