'Keep this in a safe place.' Nathan's words echoed in her head as she slowly made her way back to her dorm. He was so different from everything she had heard about him. She had experienced only a bit of who he really was, and she craved to know more. She looked at the picture once more before letting out a huff of air and putting it in her pocket. The large doors of the girls' dorm squeaked in the quiet of the hall, causing her to wince at the sound. The last thing she needed was Victoria, or even Max, to find her coming in this late.

She managed to return to her room without any unwanted encounters. The first thing she went for once entering her room was her bookshelf. Routing through all the books she had, she managed to find her favorite, 1984 by George Orwell. She carefully placed the photo Nathan had given her within the first few pages. "A safe place," she said softly to herself. After returning all the books to their rightful places, she climbed into bed and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, she was not awoken by the usual sunlight seeping through her window on to her face, but by the annoying hum of her phone. She reached over groggily to silence the noise. The bright screen caused her eyes to sting, and when they fully adjusted she was still unable to see without her glasses.

Holding the phone only a few inches from her face, she was able to distinguish what was on the screen. It was a text from a number she didn't recognize, 'Meet me in the parking lot in 10 min.' Her brows furrowed as she stared at the text. She sat up in bed and quickly responded, 'Who is this?'

The response came quickly as well, 'Who do you think it is idiot.' Nathan, she concluded. She didn't fully remember giving Nathan her number, but it seems she must have.

With such a short time given, she wasted no time getting ready. Unfortunately time management had never been one of her strong points. After showering and getting dressed, she noticed 20 minutes had already gone by. "Shit," she muttered as she quickly slid her shoes on, grabbed her bag, and headed out the door.

The campus was relatively empty at this time. Leaves fell peacefully and crunched under her feet. She made her way across the quad to the parking lot. There, she saw Nathan, leaning against a red truck. "Took you long enough," he called out as he saw her approaching.

She couldn't help the small smile creeping onto her lips. "Ten minutes isn't much time to get ready."

He looked her up and down quickly. "You managed," he then opened the door and climbed into his truck, "well come on."

"Where are we going?" She questioned as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Breakfast," he stated simply as if there was no where else they would be going.

"Fair enough." She shrugged as they started moving.

The drive was peaceful. Lauren watched the familiar views of Arcadia Bay go by as they drove in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was more of a comfortable silence. Nothing needed to be said, and it wasn't being filled with meaningless small talk. It was just what it was.

Nathan pulled up to the Two Whales Diner. It was a popular place among fishermen around town and she had been here a few times herself. Once inside, Nathan motioned to the far booth near the jukebox, "Let's sit down there." Lauren nodded and they made their way to the booth. They talked casually about the food and other things around town until she got up to go to the bathroom.

Nathan sat in the booth waiting for Lauren to return. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught something that looked familiar; a red and black flannel. He turned quickly, knowing whose it was, "Rachel!" His smile twisted into a face of disgust when he realized who it really was, "Whatevathefuck?"

Max was standing before him. She stumbled over her words awkwardly, "Uh..."

Nathan was becoming increasingly agitated by the situation. "Oh look," he spoke in a taunting voice laced with sarcasm, "it's 'Max Amber.' Nice outfit. By the way, thanks for getting me fucking expelled, you twee bitch."

"Considering we're in a public diner with a police officer right over there, you shouldn't advertise your rage, Prescott." Max's demeanor had heavily changed from when she first spoke.

He clenched his fists as a spoke. "Oh yeah? You shouldn't have bitch-snitched on me to that fucked up principal."

"Listen Nathan, I'll take back everything I said if you hook me up with Frank," she nodded her head towards the end of the diner the known drug dealer was sitting at, "you know what I mean."

Nathan relaxed in his seat and scoffed. "You look like you've never even taken a hit of baby aspirin."

"How do you think I stay wired all night studying? So is it a deal or not?"

"Calm down. Deal. You'll get your 'school supplies.' Just go over to Frank and whisper 'higher education,' he'll hook your ass up." Nathan let out a long sigh once Max walked away. He looked around and found extreme relief that Lauren hadn't come back during his altercation with Max. Unfortunately his relief was short-lived as Max soon came back. "Holy shit what do you want now."

Max came back with something Nathan hadn't expected at all. She stood confidently before him and spoke clearly, "Your sugar daddy will always protect you and threaten me."

Nathan's face twisted in anger. "You don't know shit about my father or me. Nobody here does."

"Then tell me what I should know." Her confidence had yet to fail her.

"Why?" he spat at her, "So you can pretend to care? Spoiler alert, he's an asshole."

"Maybe I could help you." Max's tone lightened slightly.

"I don't need you for anything except to stay out of my fucking business, understand? Now get out of my face." He was seething with anger at this point, but that faded as soon as he noticed Lauren standing farther back behind Max. With no idea of how long she'd been there, he just hoped she hadn't heard most of the conversation.

Max turned to follow his gaze and stiffened when she noticed her friend. "Lauren, what are you doing here?"

A light scoff escaped Nathan's lips. "What do you think she's doing here. She came with me."

"Seriously? What the hell," Max was clearly furious, "Come on, let's get out of here. Chloe is waiting." She turned, expecting Lauren to follow.

"Max, I'm not leaving" Lauren admitted as she moved back towards the booth.

"What? Why?" Max followed her gaze as she looked back at Nathan. She then found herself angrier than she had been before. "Do you know what he's done?! He's not a good person, you can't be alone with him so let's go." Max reached out to grab her friend and bring her with her, but Lauren pulled back in an attempt to stay. Max didn't know what overcame her, but in a mix of anger she let go as Lauren was pulling harder to get away, causing her to fall back into the booth, knocking over a glass on the way. Lauren cried out in pain as the broken glass on the seat dug into her arm.

Max stared in disbelief as the blood from the cut seeped into Lauren's white shirt. She knew she couldn't let this stay the way it was, and raised her hand to use her power. However, she was cut off by a sharp voice.

"No," She looked to see Lauren staring up at her, her eyes a mix of indistinguishable emotions, "Don't you dare do that. You can't just rely on that every time you fuck up and I won't allow it. Live with your mistakes and maybe you wouldn't even need that."

Lauren's words cut deep as Max stumbled to respond. "I-I didn't mean it." Joyce had made her way over with a towel to wrap around Lauren's arm. In all the commotion Max had slipped away without another word. Sitting there, she began to feel as if she had been to harsh to her friend. She hadn't been paying attention to anything Joyce had said, but thanked her and assured her she'd be fine anyway.

Her attention shifted to Nathan who was now standing with his hand extended to her. "Come on, let's get that taken care of." She took his hand as they exited the diner, never even having eaten breakfast.

Authors Note:

Hey everyone! I want to apologize for my lack of updates. I started my freshman year of college this year and have been super busy. I just wanted to let you all know that even though my update times are super slow and sporadic (and I feel really bad about that) I promise this story is not going to be left unfinished. I also want to thank all the people supporting this story. This is my first story I've ever written and all the positive feedback has been really nice, so thank you everyone!