A/N: HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! I decided to write a festive Natella for the occasion, Haha. Enjoy! :D Also the finalists for the Indie CR Awards were announced today! Thank you to everyone who voted! I'm a finalist in several categories! The categories I'm a finalist in are:

Best Nate/Ella

Best Jason/Ella

Best Nate

Best Ella

Best Jason

Best Romance

Best Drama

Best Friendship

Best Adventure

Best Full Story

Best One Shot

I'll let you all know whenever they put up the voting form!

Happy Reading!

angellwings

Proving It

By angellwings

"Happy Independence Day!" Ella yelled as she entered the Mess Hall that morning.

"What's so happy about it?" Nate asked as he looked up at her from the group's usual table. His eyes widened the minute he saw her. "Whoa, did a patriot throw up on you?"

Ella glanced down at her red white and blue ensemble and then pouted at Nate. "You don't like it?"

"It's…intense, Ells. You're wearing a sequined red, white, and blue bow in your hair."

She smiled and touched it to make sure it hadn't moved. "It was a bow tie. I found in the wardrobe trailer and tweaked it a bit. Isn't it adorable?"

"Yeah, cute," Nate said sarcastically. "Seriously, what's with the merriment?"

"What do you mean? It's July 4th! The day to celebrate America! That totally deserves merriment! S'mores, fireworks, those little flash poppers you throw on the ground—"

"Pop-Its, they're called Pop-Its. I should know, Shane's terrorized me with them our entire lives," Nate said with a huff.

"Right, well there's those and then the confetti party poppers, and patriotic songs. I mean, how can you not love this holiday?" She asked brightly.

"Well, if you're me then you've got an older brother that nearly sets you on fire every year, and did once," Nate told her irritably.

"I can't believe this," Ella said with a grin. "You're an Independence Day Scrooge!"

"I'm not a Scrooge. I would be more than happy to celebrate America if fireworks weren't involved," Nate said defensively.

"You don't want fireworks, Caitlyn won't celebrate without fireworks…geez. Can't anybody just be happy and go with the flow?" Ella asked with a sigh.

"You can, obviously," Nate said with a smirk as he flicked her sequined bow.

"Hey!" Ella said as she smacked his shoulder playfully. "If that bow comes out you're putting it back in. I don't care how your rep suffers."

"How would my rep suffer?" Nate asked curiously.

"You don't think your brothers and the other guys would pick on you if they saw you putting a bow in a girl's hair?" Ella asked with a quirked brow. "They'd never let it go."

Nate chuckled and nodded. "Fair enough."

"Now," Ella said with a grin. "Are you going to cheer up and celebrate the 4th or are you going to keep whining all day?"

"Keep me away from the fireworks and then we'll talk," Nate said with a wink.

"I'd have to keep you away from everyone else then because they're all looking forward to the fireworks," Ella told him.

"Yeah, well, let Shane set them on fire," Nate grumbled.

"Fine," Ella agreed with a nod. "When it comes time for the fireworks we'll stay far away from Shane. I'm curious, though, what would you have done if I wasn't here forcing you to participate?"

"Hide in my cabin, probably. Try and work on a few songs," Nate said with a shrug.

"Wow, that's sad," Ella said with a shake of her head.

"We can't all be social butterflies like you, Ella," Nate said with a small smile.

"You can, at least, not be such a hermit," Ella said as she bumped his shoulder teasingly.

"Hey guys!" Shane said brightly as he approached the table. "Nice outfit, Ella."

"You stay away from me today," Nate told him with a glare.

"Aw, come on, dude! I don't even have any fireworks yet!"

"Don't care, stay away," Nate said flatly.

"But…where am I supposed to sit for breakfast?" Shane asked.

"Don't know and I don't really care just not with me," Nate told him with a shrug.

Ella chuckled and shrugged at Shane. "Sorry, you set him on fire. I can't help you."

"It's not like I meant to," Shane said with a huff. "Plus, that was years ago. We were still Junior Rockers."

Ella smiled weakly at him. "Being set on fire isn't something that's easily forgotten."

"Fine, I'll go sit at that table in the back. All alone."

"Fine with me," Nate said as he waved him away. "Go."

Shane muttered darkly under his breath as he stomped away. Jason and Caitlyn walked in then and sat down across from Nate and Ella.

"Happy 4th of July!" Caitlyn said happily.

"Where's Shane going?" Jason asked.

"Away from me," Nate told him.

"Dude, are you still harping about him setting you on fire? Don't you think it's time you get over that?" Jason asked with a grin.

"Have you ever been set on fire, Jase?" Nate asked.

Jason shook his head. "Can't say I have."

"Then you have no substantial opinion that I care to listen to," Nate told him before he went back to his plateful of food.

"Shane set you on fire?" Caitlyn asked. "Is he the reason I can't play with sparklers?"

"Yes, he is," Ella told her. "Go yell at him. You know you want to."

"Wait," Caitlyn said with an evil grin. "You're giving me permission to yell at someone? You never do that."

Ella smirked. "He set Nate on fire. I think a little yelling is okay."

"Aw, Ella, I didn't know you cared about Nate so much," Caitlyn said knowingly.

Ella sent her a silencing glare. "Go yell at Shane, Caitlyn."

Caitlyn chuckled and stood from the table and pulled Jason with her. "Don't mind if I do."

"Later, guys!" Jason called as Caitlyn led him away.

Nate smirked at her. "Thanks for sending Caitlyn after him. I appreciate that."

Ella shrugged. "No problem. What else am I good for if not turning Caitlyn loose on people?"

"A lot of things, Ells. You're good for a lot of things," Nate said with a soft smile.

Ella blushed and stared at her hands as they sat folded in her lap. "Thanks, the feeling's mutual, Nathaniel."

"Why do you call me Nathaniel?" He asked curiously.

"Well," Ella said slowly. "You shorten my name, and I can't exactly shorten yours in return…so I use your full name instead. Is that okay?"

He nodded and smiled. "Sure, as long as it doesn't catch on. I really don't want anyone else calling me Nathaniel."

"That's fair, I guess. You're the only person that calls me Ells."

He quirked a brow at her. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yes, no one else calls me that. I've gotten El, Ellie, Ella-Bell—I really hate that one by the way—and my dad likes to call me Bella Ella. But never Ells. That's only you, Nate."

He nodded and smiled slowly. "Good. I like that."

"Me too," Ella said with a blush as she wrung her hands.

"Hey, you two," Mitchie said happily. "Have you seen Shane?"

Ella nodded and pointed behind her to where Caitlyn was yelling at Shane. Mitchie chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"What did he do this time?"

"He forced Brown to ban sparklers back in the day," Nate told her.

"And Caitlyn takes offense to that, apparently," Ella said with a smirk.

"Of course she does," Mitchie said with a grin. "Pyromaniac." Mitchie paused when she noticed the pink tint on Ella's cheeks. She glanced between Ella and Nate. "What's up with you two?"

"Wh—what do you mean?" Ella asked with a gulp.

"I mean, you're all blushy and Nate's all…smiley. What happened?" Mitchie asked.

Ella and Nate exchanged a hesitant look. Finally, Nate looked back down at his plate and answered Mitchie.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Ella sighed and deflated a bit. "Yeah, nothing. I should go get some food and then head to the wardrobe cabin. I haven't finished Tess's outfit for the jam tonight."

Mitchie glared at Nate and rolled her eyes before she walked away. Ella stood from the table and walked toward the buffet line, but Nate quickly grabbed her wrist. She turned to face him expectantly.

"Ella, I…"

"Yes?" Ella asked hopefully.

"I hope we're still on for tonight. It's the first July 4th that I'm actually looking forward to," Nate told her nervously.

Ella sighed and nodded reluctantly. "We're still on."

"Are you going to stay and finish breakfast with me?" Nate asked.

Ella bit her lip. If he wasn't willing to admit that they were flirting with each other then why should she eat breakfast with him?

"No, Nate," Ella said with a shake of her head. "I really should go."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Apparently, there wasn't much going on here anyway," She said with a bit of bite to her tone. "So why stay?"

She quickly walked away from him to get her food and then left the Mess Hall without a second glance. She'd work for the rest of the day. That should get her mind off of Nate.

She hoped.

There was a knock on the door frame of the wardrobe cabin and Ella looked up to find Dana smiling brightly at her.

"I see you're in the holiday spirit too," Dana said with a smirk as she motioned to her own red, white, and blue outfit.

Ella chuckled and motioned to her boots. "Love it. Especially the Docs. Are they…Hello Kitty?"

Dana shrugged and blushed. "I don't usually show off my love of Hello Kitty, but they're Hello Kitty Docs. How could I resist?"

"You couldn't, of course," Ella agreed.

"So, when Mitchie told me you were in here working I almost couldn't believe it," Dana said as she sat down in a chair across from Ella's station. "I mean dad finally let all of us go which means the festivities are just about to start, and you're still here. Working. What did Nate do this time?"

"How do you know it was Nate?" Ella asked as she finished packing Tess's outfit in a garment bag.

"Please, no one knows better than me. You know, after he and I would get into it I would spend the rest of the day rehearsing. It was something that didn't involve him so it was safe," Dana told her knowingly. "I'm assuming that's what you're doing. Right?"

Ella huffed and zipped the garment bag up angrily. "When it's just the two of us everything is great. He's sweet and honest, you know? But the minute someone notices anything between us he brushes it aside and denies everything. While I'm sitting next to him. It's infuriating."

"Nate tends to be infuriating. He's a very complicated guy and you're a very complicated girl. He's probably confused. He'll wise up eventually, and if he doesn't you can always force his hand by making Luke take you out on a pretend date. He'll do it for twenty bucks," Dana said with a smirk.

Ella chuckled. "Oh yeah? And you know this how?"

"Oh come on, you know how shy Andy is. Do you really think he would've asked me out without a little encouragement?" Dana asked her with a grin.

"You didn't!" Ella said with a loud laugh.

"The guy gave me no other choice. What was I supposed to do?"

"You're an evil mastermind. You could almost give Caitlyn a run for her money," Ella said with a shake of her head.

"Oh no, no one could give Caitlyn a run for her money. She's the master," Dana said with a smile. "I would never want to be in her crosshairs." Dana paused thoughtfully. "Poor Jason."

Ella laughed and shook her head. "He doesn't feel the pain anymore. She's broken him in. He'd do anything for her."

"Wish I could train Andy like that. Maybe then I could manage to pull him away from his drum set," Dana said with a grin.

"I wish Nate would be as open about how he feels as Jason is," Ella said with a sigh. "Sometimes I think he's ashamed to admit there's chemistry between us."

"Not ashamed, El," Dana said with certainty. "Afraid. He's afraid."

"Why?" Ella asked. "I mean what does he think I'm going to do? Spit in his face?"

"Yes," Dana said with a nod. "That's exactly what he thinks you're going to do."

"Well, that's just stupid," Ella said with a sigh. "I would never do that."

"You wouldn't?"

Ella and Dana suddenly turned toward the door. Nate was casually leaning against the door frame and staring at Ella curiously.

Dana cleared her throat and stood up. "You know, I think I'm gonna go find Andy. I'm sure he's around the drum cabin somewhere."

Ella waited until Dana was gone to nervously look up at Nate. "H-how long have you been standing there?"

"Since you brought up Jason and Caitlyn," Nate told her honestly. "I was going to speak up sooner, but then I heard my name. It's not often a guy gets the chance to be a fly on the wall."

"Yeah, cause that's not creepy at all," Ella said softly.

Nate shrugged. "Okay, so I'm a bit of a creeper, but that doesn't change what I heard. You want me to be more like Jason?"

Ella sighed. "No, not really. I mean, I like you. I just…I wish you would admit that there's something between us. Jason was honest with Cait from the beginning, but you…every time someone notices you act like…like we're barely even friends."

"I don't want to risk rejection in front of friends, Ells," Nate said as if it were obvious. "I'd rather figure out what this is with you in private first."

"Yes, but…you've had two summers, Nate. Two summers where you've been available and I've been available, and you've done nothing," Ella said as she ran a hand through her long hair. "When were you thinking we were going to 'figure' this out?"

He groaned and stepped out of the doorway. "I…I don't know. I like you, Ella. I just…didn't want to screw it all up."

"Not doing anything could screw this up just like anything else," Ella told him. "Maybe you like me, but you just don't like me enough to risk it all."

Nate shook his head and watched her as she gathered up her things and straightened up the cabin. "No, Ella, you're wrong."

"Then prove me wrong," She said with a sigh as she pulled her bag onto her shoulder.

"How do I do that?" Nate asked.

"You'll figure it out," Ella told him.

"You're not bailing on our plans, are you?" Nate asked.

Ella shook her head. "I told you we would spend the fourth together and we will. I just need to drop this bag off at my cabin. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"I—I'll come with you," Nate said as he followed her out of the wardrobe cabin.

"You sure about that?" Ella asked bitingly. "Someone might see us together."

His jaw clenched and he growled softly. "I don't care about that."

Ella sighed but said nothing as she continued toward the cabin she shared with the rest of the girls. The walk was awkwardly silent. Shane and Mitchie passed them and gave them both strange looks.

"Hey," Shane said as he stopped them. "Everything okay with you two?"

There was a brief hesitation before Nate squared his shoulders and took a rallying breath. "No. No, everything is not okay."

Ella's eyes widened and she gave him an odd look. "What?"

"You see, Ella's mad at me because I've been denying that I feel anything for her. She thinks I don't want to take a risk or that I'm ashamed of her or something. But I'm not," Nate told them as he cast Ella a sideways glance. "I'm really not."

Ella gulped and her eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

"Proving it," Nate said confidently.

"Um, dude," Shane said with a smirk. "I was really just asking to be polite."

"Don't ask if you don't want a real answer, Shane," Mitchie said with a smirk. "Go on, Nate. Finish what you were saying."

"The truth is…I was scared. Scared she wouldn't feel the same or scared that she would and I'd somehow mess it all up and then…and then I really would lose her. But I don't just want to be her friend. I want to be a lot more than that. If she still wants me, that is," Nate said with a nervous sigh. He turned away from Mitchie and Shane to glance at Ella. "It's really all up to her at this point."

Over the lake in the distance a loud whistling could be heard. Shane frowned and looked back at Mitchie. "Aw, man! The fireworks are starting! We're missing it! Good luck, little brother, but Mitchie and I have to go. I am not missing the fireworks."

Shane ran off and pulled Mitchie along with him.

"Just don't set anyone on fire!" Nate yelled after him. "Jerk."

He froze once they were gone and slowly turned back toward Ella. She was blushing deeply and smiling brightly at him. She giggled and let out a small sniffle. That's when he noticed her eyes were watering.

"Ella, are you okay?" He asked in concern.

"I'm great," Ella said with another giggle. "Are you kidding? I-I can't believe you did that!"

"You told me to prove it," Nate said as he reached for one of her hands.

Another loud firework went off over the lake and Ella looked up as it exploded in the sky. She watched the light trail down before she turned back to him. "But…I never actually thought…I just—"

"You just what?" Nate asked as he looked her in the eyes.

"Thank you," Ella said with a warm smile.

Nate shrugged and gave her a small smile. "No problem."

A split second later he stumbled backward and barely caught himself as Ella threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He tightened his old on her so she wouldn't fall, and held back a chuckle as he noticed her feet weren't touching the ground.

He smirked and spoke into her hair. "Next time, warn a guy before you tackle hug him."

Ella laughed softly. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

When they pulled apart Nate smiled brightly at her. "I was thinking instead of having lunch in the Mess Hall tomorrow…we could have a picnic or something. Or…is that too cheesy?"

Ella smiled and bit her bottom lip. "No, I think a picnic sounds great."

"Good," Nate said as he let out relieved breath. "Happy Independence Day, Ella."

She hugged him again and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek. "Happy Independence Day, Nate."