33: Carnival

Adult language

Now I know why I keep dreaming about running in an annoyingly huge skirt and it tripping me up. I finally remember more of the dream. The dancing earlier must've done the trick. Gabriella tried to hide from Nate's wide-eyed expression. Nate was asking her what her having had that dream meant.

"I'm not sure. I've always had dreams along those lines. Only tonight I can remember more." she tried to explain as Nate's grip on her upper arms almost hurt.

Nate slackened his grip, but he was far from relaxed. "Yes, you're already starting to forget, but I have them in my memory now." He tried and failed to control the huge onslaught of emotions running through him as he said, "Gabby, all that really happened. You remember it like you were there. I'm starting to wonder if you were there."

"Are you trying to tell me that I'm this woman in my dreams reincarnated or some such nonsense?" she asked and started feeling uncomfortable. She didn't want to give Nate false hope, and she also didn't want him thinking she was this other woman he'd been engaged to before he was turned by Gus.

"Stranger things have happened. Hell, vampires are real. So are witches... and psychics. Why can't reincarnation be real too?" Nate said as he sat on the bed and twiddled his thumbs, thinking.

Gabriella curled up into a ball. She didn't want him thinking she was this Helen person. She wanted him to love her for her, not because Helen missed him and decided to be reincarnated. Although, if that were the case then she was always meant to reincarnate since it happened. Oh, let's not get started on that time/space continuum thing... my brain will explode.

Nathaniel chuckled aloud at her thoughts. "I missed you" suddenly whispered in his head. A memory from an earlier dream came back to the surface. That was a Helen that looked an awful lot like Gabriella. But if that was Helen saying that then how could Gabby be Helen at the same time? Unless...

"You've always had dreams like this?" he asked her, and watched her as she voiced her response.

"Yes. The most frequent one is the running. Constant running, running, running and never making it where I want to be in time." she answered and started picking at the bedspread.

"Um, can you remember if you had a dream like that the night before we threw August out?" he asked, trying to figure something out.

She nodded her head. "I don't really remember the dream, but I remember being very happy you were there when I woke up because the dream was sad. At least, part of it was." she said.

"Part of it..." he almost asked.

"I know there was another part because I remember remembering another part, but it's gone now." she told him and watched as his eyes widened again. "Nate, stop it. You're making me uncomfortable. Don't do this. I know what you're thinking." 

She got up from the bed and told him she was going to go get dressed.

Nate again wished he could cry. He wasn't quite sure which emotion wanted to bring on the tears the most: joy, grief, hope, or excitement. What if she's not? I'd better not do this to her, as she asked. He got up to rummage in his dresser for something to wear.

He got distracted by his thoughts before he could even open the dresser. But what if she is? WHAT IF SHE IS?!

I have a pretty damn good idea what the 'questions we need answered' will be.

He let out a huge, ragged sigh.

If it's true then Helen really loved me... loves me. If it's true then she found me again. Or maybe it was set up so that we were predestined to meet. Well, according to Gabby everything is predestined.

He huffed out a breath of air and paced around the room. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't think it. Don't get your hopes up. It doesn't matter if Gabby is Helen or not. I love her as much or more than anyone in my whole existence.

It's too late. The idea is already there. I just have to constantly remind myself that it might not be true. Even though I'm pretty damn sure it is. Shit! Stop it!

They think the same. They act the same. There's this .... look ... that Gabby gives me that reminds me of her. Well, for pretty good reason it probably will turn out to be. Stop it!

They even almost look the same.

Nate made an almost whining noise as he put his head in his hands. I know in my heart it has to be true, but the chance it isn't means I've set myself up and I'm going to be almost heartbroken. And that's not fair to Gabriella. When is the carnival?

Gabriella walked into the room to find Nate with his head in his hands. She only saw him that way for a split second before he almost instantaneously took on a more casual pose.

"You're thinking it, aren't you?" she accused.

"I can't help it now." he said as he looked at her, then at the floor, then back at her again.

Gabby spun around on the spot and stomped out of the bedroom. Nate went and sat on his couch to try and not think about it anymore. He failed utterly.

The week passed quickly for the two of them. Nate had a difficult time getting Gabriella to push past her limits as far as intimacy was concerned. Now she accused him of thinking of Helen all the time. He tried to remind her that he'd loved her even before the question was raised that she could be Helen.

The two of them slept in on the morning of the first day for the fair. They'd had a grueling argument the night before so they both were exhausted.

"Well, at least I know what I'm going to wear." Gabriella said as she got ready.

"What if it's not today? Are you going to wear the same dress tomorrow?" Nate asked as he sat on the bed and watched her pull out her dress.

"It'll be today." she said optimistically.

Nate walked up to her and put his hands on her face. "Why don't you just ask whatever it is that gives you the visions if it's true?"

"Don't start that again! I told you. I wanna hear it from somebody else." she said as she scowled at him.

The carnival was enormous. They both wondered how a town as small as the one they were in could host such a shindig. 

Nate found a booth where he could shoot bottles and win a prize. It didn't take him long to read the man running it's mind to figure out that the guns were not aligned properly. Once he figured that out, he adjusted his aim and blew everything away, earning a huge, tacky stuffed animal for Gabriella. She tried to hide her excitement that she finally got the experience of having a boyfriend win her something at a fair, but she didn't hide it very well. Nate just grinned.

The two of them went around to the different sections of the fair, enjoying the sites and rides as the sun set.

They heard a voice come up behind them and say, "Oh! How wonderful! You found each other!"

The pair of them slowly turned around and saw before them the woman from Gabriella's vision.

The woman had her hand over her heart in a hopeless romantic gesture. "This is so rare! You're very lucky that she was willing to do it all over again for you."

I can't read her, Nate thought. I wish I could so I could know what she's talking about. I wonder... is it witches or psychics that do that to me?

"Come, come. You have questions for me that I will gladly answer for free. It warms my heart to see the two of you together." the woman gushed as she beckoned them closer.

Nathaniel couldn't help but feel suspicious of the woman as they entered the tent. He stood and watched her carefully for any signs of fraud; however, the fact that he couldn't read her played in her favor.

"Yes, I've come to you to get some answers." Gabriella asked as the woman looked thoughtful.

Gabriella looked up at Nate and she gave him an 'I told you so' look, meaning that yes, today was the day.

The lady turned to her and said, "I'm guessing you don't know who you are."

"Shouldn't you already know that?" Nate asked in a clipped tone.

The woman's heavily make-uped eyes cut over to him as she said, "I would hope that you understand the way I am since she's the same way. The more I predict, the more it takes out of me physically. I can't just go around predicting constantly. Most of the time, yes, I fake it. In fact, I just wear this clothing because that's what my customers expect to see."

Then her expression softened as she asked Gabriella, "Why haven't you tried to find the answers you seek on your own? You're more powerful than I am."

Gabby blushed as she admitted, "I'm not very good at it. I used to only get the ones forced upon me until very recently." She felt a little better when the woman grimaced, understanding immediately. "Also," she continued, "I want someone else to find out for me. I think it would make it more real... less like I feel like that's what's supposed to be true or I want to be true."

Understanding again crossed the woman's face. "You don't know who you are, do you?"

"I suspect I know." she answered.

Nate felt cross about how Gabriella momentarily hoped the woman would contradict her.

The woman nodded again then said, "Alright. You wish to know who you are... or should I say were."

"Yes." Gabby answered.

"I'll ask." the woman said simply. Then they all were quiet while the woman completely relaxed. She gasped once and then was quiet again.

While they waited, Nate wondered how the woman had known that Gabriella went through something again for him (he assumed she meant life in general), implying that she knew without trying that he was a vampire.

"Helen Stone." the woman said, and Nate had that feeling that he needed to sit down that he hadn't had for over a century. 

He stared at the woman. He couldn't bring himself to look at Gabriella just yet.

"You're in danger." the woman spoke again. "That's not fair. You go through all this trouble only to fall victim to another vampire's greed."

"Fall victim?" Gabby asked, sounding worried.

"It wouldn't let me see the outcome. I'm sorry." the woman really looked upset she couldn't answer the question.

Gabriella swallowed. She couldn't bring herself to look at Nathaniel just yet either. She asked, "So, I'm Helen Stone?"

"You were Helen Stone. Now you're Gabriella Hudson." she answered and Nate fully believed her now.

"What does that mean?" Gabriella asked the question that Nate was thinking.

"It means that Helen's life is over, but your soul remains of course. You're Gabriella."

"You make it seem like we're two different people now. Which is it? Am I her or not?"

"You are, or were, but you must also realize that this life has given you different experiences than the last one did, molding you into a different person. Or.. an effort at improvement as some believe." The woman now turned to Nate and said, "Nathaniel is your soul mate. Again, not fair that he was taken from you and you from him. I knew this without trying, as can sometimes happen."

There was a small pause as the pair of them took in what the woman had said.

Then Nate couldn't stand it anymore, and he practically flew around the table and swiftly pulled Gabriella into his arms. He didn't care that the woman was watching as he passionately kissed Gabby.

Gabriella felt overwhelmed as Nate kissed her. She felt a little jealous. He had all the memories. The only memories she had of her past life she got in her dreams, and those mostly disappeared when she woke.

Nate suddenly broke the kiss, thanked the woman, pulled out his wallet, and gave her the entire contents, eliciting a giggle from the lady. She tried to tell him it wasn't necessary, that she'd said it was free, but he'd rushed out of the tent too quickly for her to say it, pulling Gabriella behind him. She shrugged her shoulders and started counting.

Nate quickly scanned their surroundings for a place where they could go talk. Finding one, he pulled Gabriella through the crowd as fast as she was able to go. He felt sixteen again.

"Nate, slow down! You're going to pull my arm out of my socket!" Gabby gasped. She figured they'd ended up where Nate wanted to go when he pulled her up against the side of a temporary structure. She had barely caught her breath when he started kissing her again.

Nathaniel felt his heart would surely burst with all the love he felt at that moment. He still could hardly believe it. Helen! She came back! Gabriella! His soul mate! One in the same! No longer did he feel guilty about any lingering feelings he had for Helen, nor for loving Gabby, making him feel like he was cheating on Helen's memory. 

He pulled back a little since Gabriella begged him for air. It wouldn't do to have her fainting right now.

Gabriella shook. She closed her eyes and merely focused on breathing. She felt overwhelmed again. She worried that now Nate only loved her because she was once Helen. The idea caused her pain.

"Gabby, open your eyes and look at me." Nathaniel said to her thoughts.

For the first time since the lady told her who she'd been, she locked her gaze with Nate's. She felt stripped away of everything, leaving only her soul looking back at his. Her eyes filled with tears.

Nate felt jealous of her tears. "I love you, Gabriella. I loved Helen, and up until a few moments ago I actually felt guilty about it. Can you imagine my joy at finding out you are one in the same?"

"But..." she tried to form her thoughts into words.

"Absolutely not." he answered her anyway. "I loved her. I love you. I love - you. How can I not? Also, remember I loved you even before we suspected." he said and smiled at her. "Don't be jealous of yourself."

"But I don't remember!" she cried.

"Somewhere, you do." he said as he held her chin while she sighed in a defeated manner. He pulled her to him and said, "How can I make you understand?"

"I think I get it. I'm like... the sequel. Same story, different book. The next volume in a series."

"A little like that, yeah." he said, but something about the way she said it scared him to death. A series... No, not again. I'm not going through that again! Don't leave me!

Gabriella felt confused as to why Nate suddenly squeezed her tightly in an almost desperate way. "What is it?" she asked quietly.

"I can't stand the thought of losing you again. I'm talking about the vision... and the near future."

She tilted her head up to look at him as she said, "Nate, I don't want to become a vampire. I can't stand the thought of leaving you, but I don't want to be turned."

"I know." he said. Then his voice sounded very determined as he said, "But you know very well that's not going to stop me from trying anyway."

24: Powerful and Weak

"Kidnappers? Well, that's the pot calling the kettle black, wouldn't you say, August? Seeing as how you kidnapped Marge to begin with." Nate countered Gus's accusations.

"I'd hardly call rescuing her from her wrecked car kidnapping." Gus smiled sardonically. "I saved her. Who knows who could've come along and harmed her?"

"I can take a guess." Nate answered.

Nate continued, "Gee, could it be a sadistic vampire that considers killing and turning innocent mortals a way of 'saving' them?"

"Of course I'm saving them! You were about to die! She would eventually die!" Gus said with a false sense of compassion. Then he smiled as he said, "Besides, I'm thoroughly curious to see how someone with that ability will be as a vampire. And, since the cosmos has refused me Gabriella, then I'll just take the more mature specimen... the one that knows how to use her gift." he taunted Gabby. He paused for a moment before he quipped to them, "But since mine's been kidnapped..."

In her surprised fear, Gabby dropped her book as Gus suddenly grabbed her and pulled her a few steps away from Nate.

"You stole mine, so I'll steal yours. Seems fair enough, doesn't it, Nate?" Gus taunted him as Gabby froze in fear.

"Hardly seems a fair trade since you've already turned yours." Nate decided to spar words with him in hopes to keep him from running off. He was afraid. This was too damn near what was supposed to happen before Nate would have to hurriedly turn her or have her die in his arms. He took a few tentative steps in their direction, but Gus sped off a few more meters away.

Gabriella forced herself to calm down and think. It wouldn't help her one bit to panic. She knew there was no way to break out of his hold since he was infinitely stronger than her, but there had to be a way to get out of this. Panic nipped at her heels and started making its way into the forefront of her thoughts...

No! This is not the way to do this! Gus wants me because I'm psychic. It's high time I used it to benefit me. 

What am I going to do to get out of this? She sent out the question to whatever it was out there that sent her the visions.

It answered her!

How in the world am I going to do that? Gabriella wondered as she stopped struggling and froze.

"Why look so shocked, Nate?" Gus asked him, misunderstanding the look on his face from sharing Gabby's vision. "You honestly didn't expect to be able to keep me away from her, did you?" Gus laughed then dipped his nose to the nape of her neck. "She smells even more exotic than her mother. I wonder what she tastes like?"

No! Gabriella screamed in her head. Get OFF!!

Nate watched as some strange pulsing light wave seemed to come from Gabriella. It was so strong physically that it knocked August right off of her, and it sent him to the ground as well. However, unlike Gus, he didn't get knocked unconscious. The wave appeared to die out quickly, not even affecting the nearby house, but since August stood right on top of her, he got the full force of the attack.

Forcing out the ball of energy or light or whatever it was took a lot out of Gabby. She suddenly felt extremely weak. Her world tilted on its axis as the ground started rushing up towards her.

Nate was there in an instant and caught her in his arms just before she passed out from exhaustion.

 "How is she?" Marge asked as she stood at the end of the bed.

It had been a few hours since Nate had carried Gabby and held her in the truck as he brought her home. He'd left everything in the truck bed as he'd carried her into the house and put her on his bed.

He looked worriedly over at Marge and said, "She won't wake up!"

"Nate, you have to give her poor body time to recover. That literally took a lot out of her." Marge explained.

She walked around the edge of the bed to get a better look at her daughter.

Nate suddenly realized something. "You knew, didn't you? You knew that was going to happen, and you didn't warn us?"

Marge sheepishly brushed something off of the dress she borrowed from Gabby before she answered, "I did warn you, sort of."

"Sort of?!"

"It's complicated." she finally said.

"I've got time." Nate said, indicating for her to explain herself.

Marge nervously rubbed the back of her neck before she said, "You see, if you'd have known you wouldn't want to take Gabby. Gabby needed to go to learn about that thing she can do. To do that she needed to be put in that threatening situation. Also, it was going to happen in a way that you weren't supposed to know so I couldn't tell you."

"Sounds almost like you were self-fulfilling your own prophecy." Nate said, trying to keep his anger at a minimum.

Marge threw up her hands and exclaimed quietly, "Of course it was self-fulfilling! That's how it was supposed to be!" She huffed a little and continued, "Plus, I didn't have all the details, as usual, so I wasn't sure. I just knew you needed to be there, and if you were there, things would be okay."

"Yeah, I did a lot of good just standing there."

"You were needed. Surely August is awake now, and look at her! If you hadn't have been there to take her away from him, all of it would've been for nothing and he'd have her again."

"So I'm a pack mule?" Anger dripped from his words as he continued, "Oh, sure, let Gabby do all the work and leave Nate to carry her off when she's done! Sure! Because he's not good for anything else!"

Certainly 'mulish' behavior, Marge couldn't help think. Aloud, she said, "Calm down, Nate. You're only looking for an outlet to let out your worry, and I'm not going to argue with you." Men and their egos! "You know you're important to her, surely, Nate." she said in a more sensitive tone.

"No, I don't. All I get are constantly mixed signals. I guess it depends on the day of the week how she feels about me. I never in the world thought I'd ever meet a woman that blew hot and cold more than she." He huffed. "Oh, but she flat hates me now because of what I let happen to you."

"I'm not having that argument either with you, Nate. You know you saying she hates you is bullshit. And for that matter, it's not your fault. Hell, it's not my fault either. It's August's damn fault. Or fate. At any rate, I saw it happening before it happened. It happened so that means it was supposed to happen. I don't want to hear another damn word about this being your fault, understand?"

Yes, ma'am, Nate thought sarcastically, Marge reminding him of his mother. For that matter, does that make her my sister if we share the same maker? So does that mean I'm Gabriella's uncle? But then if I become her maker then I'm uncle daddy who's also boyfriend? Oh, this is so weird.


Marge very calmly looked off into the distance as she said, "I think I'm going to go be sick and then sit down for a while." She couldn't help but be saddened by her whole nonchalance about going to go be physically ill due to her changing. Talk about going through 'the change'. She left the room to go take care of her nausea then go to try to read a book.

Nate also left the room to go and get a few of the strange items out of the truck bed. Not knowing where else to put them, he put them upstairs in the spare space next to the exercise equipment.

Gabriella stirred. Her head was killing her where the ponytail pulled the hair on her scalp, so she removed the ponytail and fluffed her hair out around her shoulders. Nate heard her wake up and was at her side in seconds.

"You're awake." Nate said, plainly stating the obvious.

"Yes." she responded. "So, it worked?" she asked, referring to what she'd done earlier to get Gus off of her.

"That was amazing, Gabby! I've never seen anything like it, and the shock I registered coming from August tells me he hasn't either."

"I have no idea what that was. I don't understand it either. I only knew I could do something like that because, well, I saw myself doing it." Her look of shocked amazement turned into a small smile as she looked up at him and said, "And you caught me before I could crash into the dirt."

Nate shrugged, "Of course." After I stood there not being able to save you myself.


"And brought me back here." A look of sudden worry crossed her face as she said, "My book! Did you get it off the ground where I dropped it?"

"Yes. Don't worry." He said as she relaxed against the headboard again. He smiled all of a sudden as he said, "August is going to be so pissed when he finds out we got all that stuff right out from under his nose. He was so distracted by wanting to make us panic that he never thought to take any of it while he had the chance." His spirits lifted when he saw Gabby share in his smile. He reached out to take her hand, happy she didn't turn away from him in a disgusted manner.

"Gabby, I'm so sorry I couldn't be more help. I hate that I stood there lamely, forcing you to have to come up with some other way to get us out of that situation." he said in a subdued fashion.

"Nate, you can't be the hero every time. There was very little you could've done really. If you'd have tried to attack, one of you might've hurt me. We needed something Gus wouldn't expect. I just wish it hadn't wiped me out like that. Maybe Mom can explain it..."

"She did." He continued to answer the question in her eyes, "She called it something like a psychic energy rebounding shield or something. At least, that's how I understood how she described it. It's my guess that it quite literally takes a lot out of you in order to do it."

"Sounds like something off of a video game. I used up too much mana and passed out."

He couldn't help but laugh when he thought about it. Then he looked at her with a more serious expression and asked her, "Gabby, are you okay?" His thumb traced invisible lines against the back of her hand.

Gabby looked down at what his thumb was doing as she told him she was fine, just tired. She had a hard time reminding herself to be mad at him. Him sitting there looking at her with that look of loving worry made it even harder. It would be so much easier if she could just hate him, but she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop herself from loving the man in front of her.

The walls felt like they were closing in on her, and she desperately needed to get off this bed! She sat up so she could do just that.

Nate surprised her by kissing her as soon as she sat up. At first, she just let him, hoping he'd get whatever it was out of his system and let her go on her way when he was done. When he didn't stop when she thought he should, she moved to pull away.

Nate had had enough of Gabriella's anger. After their tumultuous and emotional day, he desperately needed her. Then, listening to the tender thoughts in her head didn't help one bit. Knowing she could sense his changing mood and wanting to escape because of it, he snagged his chance to catch her before she slipped away.

It felt like ages since he'd kissed her last. His left arm moved around to hold her to him by pressing onto the small of her back while his right hand moved up her arm. That hand had to quickly move to the back of her neck in order to stop her from pulling away. He felt like his heart would burst if he didn't take more of this kiss that he so desperately needed. He needed her to know he loved her, that he was sorry for his part in what was happening to her mother ... and that his body craved hers. No, her trying to pull away was not going to stop him this time.

He shifted himself on the bed in anticipation of what he wanted to happen next. He could feel her fear, anger, and anxiety, but he could also tell she wanted this every bit as much as he did. She just didn't want to admit that she did. He needed to convince her of it. As he pushed her back onto the mattress, she made a feeble sound of warning in the back of her throat which he ignored.

No, she thought to him. "Yes." he mumbled back to her as his hands found their way to the hem of her sweater, his intent to pull it up and off.

Nate! You just got back in my good graces, and now you're going to ruin it with this?! she angrily thought to him now.

Damn woman, even when I've got her mouth to shut up she knows she can still gripe at me with her thoughts. "I'm not ruining anything!" he said, but still let her scramble out of the bed.

He rolled himself out of the bed as well and stood there, waiting to see what she would say.

"You just had to go and ruin the moment, didn't you? There I was... sitting there finally starting to forgive you for locking me up in my room this morning, or yesterday, or... you know when I mean! There I was.. you know.. and then you have to go and start doing that."

"Seducing you?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.

She blushed and got even angrier. "Yes!" She let out a huff and continued, "That! Doing that while my mother sits somewhere in this house, suffering!" She threw her hands up in the air like she'd made enough of a point according to her.

"Are you finished?" he asked, calmly treating her like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

"Maybe. That depends." she said and looked at him with warning in her eyes.

Nate shifted his weight back and forth for a few seconds before he countered, "First of all, I wasn't 'ruining the moment' like you say. I was making it better. Second of all, don't say you've started forgiving me when you have forgiven me. Third, and best of all, you wanted it too." He stood there and dared her to deny it before smiling while he watched her as she figured out she couldn't.

He rolled his shoulders as he said, "And yes, your mother isn't well obviously, but she knew what was going to happen and she's just about come to terms with it... so you should too."

My mother won't even be my mother in a matter of hours, she couldn't help but think. She meant that Marge wouldn't be the same person anymore.

Nate took offense at the thought. "Of course she will be! You think I'm not the same person I was when I was human?"

"I wouldn't know." she said, but something about what she said felt a little off. Her brows came together as some memory wiggled around on the edge of her mind, but right now she had to forget it and focus on getting out of Nate's bedroom.

Nathaniel felt momentarily amazed at what he thought he saw on the very edge of the spectrum of Gabriella's thoughts. How could... But he had to stop the thought because Gabby darted towards the door.

"Don't!" he said as he caught her.

"Let go, Nate." she said with mild pain and fear in her voice.

"Absolutely not. What was that?" he asked. The split-second picture that she just thought looked like a memory, but that was impossible.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Please, just let me go."

"No." he said, and to prove his point, he pulled her closer. "And I'm talking about that picture that you thought when you said you wouldn't know anything about me from when I was human, yet how could you..."

"I said let me go!" she shouted as she struggled against him.

Again, he refused to let her go, but instead he turned her to face him as he said, "That was my house, Gabriella! How could you possibly know that?!"

Gabriella felt afraid by the wild look in his eyes. "I don't know! How should I know?! You and I both know that I tend to just know things! I'm psychic, remember?" she argued, finally accepting the fact that sometimes she did just know things and couldn't explain how she knew them.

"But that wasn't the future, Gabby, that was the past! Now, I know you're not a mind reader, so how did you know that!" he exclaimed as he shook her as gently as he could manage, desperate to read past this block he now sensed.

Gabby started crying. He was terrifying her now. She found herself repeatedly mumbling 'I don't know' over and over while shaking her head no.

He felt terrible how he was frightening her, but he had to know. "Gabriella, please. I'm not trying to scare you." scared...


"But you are." she said in between sobs.

He reached up with one hand to gently wipe the tears off of her face. He whispered, "Darling, please don't cry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry." Nothing is worth making her terrified of me. He started tenderly kissing the tears away while lightly running his fingers through her hair.

When she'd finally stopped crying, Nate couldn't stop himself from lovingly caressing her lips with his. He didn't know how that split-second picture memory of the house he grew up in came to be in her mind, but he decided to figure it out at a later date.

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Oh yeah, I keep forgetting to mention that I've put Gabby and Nate up on MediaFire. I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to stuff like this, but they're there. The links are on the Scrapbook tab. ^^