A/N: Again, sorry I have not updated. Life as senior getting ready for college is NOT easy . Anyways, read & review and enjoy! :D

After her encounter with Amber, Serenade had stormed off and blindly went to her apartment. Once she entered her apartment, Serenade threw her stuff down and began to sob uncontrollably. Fortunately, her friend Iris entered and got down on her knees to comfort her friend.

"What's wrong Serenade?" Iris asked with concern. "Don't let that Amber get to you. She's stupid."

The green eyed girl continued to sob and cry and slowly she regained her composure to try and talk to her friend. She rubbed her eyes and looked straight ahead at the wall.

"I know Amber is stupid," Serenade laughed. "You don't have to tell me that, but it's not that…"

"Then what's wrong?"

Serenade slowly took a deep breath and she felt her heart flutter and skip a beat as she was ready to tell her friend what she was feeling.

However, before she could say anything, Serenade's phone rang. She crawled to her bag and began to look for her phone. To her surprise, she saw that Nathaniel was calling her. She picked up her phone and answered.

"Hello?"

"Um, Serenade?" Nathaniel said reluctantly. "Do you think you could come by my house right now?"

"H-How come?" Serenade said nervously.

In the background, she could hear Amber yelling at Nathaniel, her parents and even at Serenade.

"Uh, it's Amber," he replied nervously.

"Oh," she said. "I'll be right over then, bye."

Not waiting for an answer Serenade hung up her phone. Immediately, Iris said that she was going with Serenade no matter how much she protested. She smiled sweetly at her friend and thanked her for her support.

Immediately, the two friends left Serenade's apartment and made their way towards Nathaniel's house. Feeling nervous, Serenade marched up the steps and rang the door bell. There was movement inside and more girlish yelling that belonged to Amber, and finally the door was answered by Nathaniel's and Amber's mother.

She was the older image of Amber, except with Nathaniel's lighter blond hair and much warmer golden eyes.

"Oh my dear Serenade!" Mrs. Hunter exclaimed. "I've missed you so! But young lady you are in trouble!"

Serenade gulped nervously, still in the arms of Mrs. Hunter.

Mrs. Hunter put her hands on Serenade's shoulders and said, "Why have you not come over for dinner yet? Daniel and I were so excited to hear you come back! I was almost expecting to make some mac and cheese for you and Nathaniel again soon."

"Ohh I-I" Serenade laughed nervously.

Mrs. Hunter waved it off and laughed a much lighter and warmer way than her daughter. As if right on time, Amber appeared upstairs with her pajamas on and a white bandage covering her nose.

"MOM!" she screeched angrily. "Why did you let that thing in?!"

"Amber!" Mrs. Hunter scolded. "Don't you dare call Serenade that! After all, what you did to her is the reason why you have your nose like that."

Amber huffed angrily and turned back to her room and slammed the door shut. Mrs. Hunter sighed and turned back to Serenade and smiled warmly at her.

"I'm so sorry for punching Amber!" she cried out. "I didn't mean to! I just—"

"Sweetheart," Mrs. Hunter said sweetly. "I've known you for a long time and I know that anybody wouldn't do something to my daughter unless they had a reason to. My husband and I were so shocked at first, but when we found it was you it was more shocking."

Serenade fidgeted uncomfortably.

"But," she continued. "We knew you, Serenade. And right away, when we found out about this dilemma, we knew Amber had to start it."

"I'm really sorry though," Serenade said regretfully. "I still shouldn't have…"

"What's done is done," Mrs. Hunter said. "Now, you and your friend must join us for dinner! My husband wants to greet you and especially Nathaniel."

Serenade blushed at the mention of Nathaniel and walked to the dining room. The three walked in and greeted Mr. Hunter, and despite the many apologies Serenade gave, like his wife, Mr. Hunter waved it off and was pleased that she was back in town.

As soon as Serenade and Iris sit down, Nathaniel walked in and smiled at the sight of Serenade. Soon dinner was served and all them talked, ate and laughed. Serenade had never noticed how much fun she had had with Nathaniel ever since she moved back until now. She felt slightly happier about this.

Once dinner was over, Iris excused herself to go home, but Serenade told her to go back to her apartment to sleepover because it was late. She decided to go back with Iris so she would not be alone, and to her surprise and delight, Nathaniel also volunteered to go as well.

The three friends walked back to Serenade's apartment, so once Iris went inside, Nathaniel asked Serenade if they could talk for a little bit. She agreed so the two were outside on a bench.

After a brief moment of silence, Nathaniel asked, "Why did you punch my sister?"

"A-Are you mad?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I just want to know."

Serenade sighed and told him the reason; all the stuff she was saying about her and how much she was trying to lower Serenade's self-esteem.

Nathaniel looked down and nodded and said, "I'm sorry."

"I'm the one who's sorry," Serenade said. "I still shouldn't have punched her."

"She's the one who caused it don't worry about it," Nathaniel said smiling. "But can I ask you something else?"

The green eyed girl nodded. Then his golden cat eyes looked straight into her emerald green eyes making her blush.

"Why were you really avoiding me?"

Serenade opened her mouth to speak but said nothing. To her surprise, he took her hand in his and asked again, "Why were you avoiding me?"

She sighed and began to tell him her story.

"I heard from your sister something awhile ago. She was passing by a pizza joint where me and Iris where at and we listened to her talking about you. She left, so I decided to follow and from there I found out about…"

She didn't know if she could go on, but Serenade took a deep breath in and added, "I found out about the letters I was being sent from my secret admirer … And I found out it was you ..."

Nathaniel blinked in surprise. He was still holding her hand and also looked pretty happy from the way his golden eyes were glowing.

He then sighed and said, "Yes, you're right it was me. I just can't believe that you had to find out from Amber."

The blond laughed and when he saw Serenade's playful pout, he continued to add, "But yes it's me. I really like you a lot Serenade. It's not just because you came back, but because you've been an amazing friend and girl to me. I think you're beautiful, smart, funny, cute, dedicated and so much more I can't even describe. I…really do have strong feelings for you Serenade."

Serenade looked away unsure how to respond. When she came back, she did feel a different atmosphere with Nathaniel but maybe she just chose to ignore it and continue with their friendship. But did she really feel that way for Nathaniel? All those times spent with Nathaniel recently, and how much she had missed him when Serenade was avoiding him. Now she knew she had to decide, but now her heart was telling her to go with Nathaniel.

"Nathaniel…" Serenade started.

He then slowly lifted her face up to him and the two's eyes met. Mesmerized by his golden eyes, the two best friends moved closer.

"You think too much," Nathaniel whispered.

Then the two of them leaned in closer and their lips brushed against each other. They pressed their lips a little harder and the two began to kiss softly and slowly. To Serenade, it felt as if his and her lips were meant to mold and move together like that. And from somewhere inside her, as they continued kissing, Serenade felt as if she was floating little by little and the stars were dancing around her and Nathaniel; she had never felt like this with anyone before and it was an amazing feeling.

Serenade then put her arms around Nathaniel's neck as the kiss deepened a little and he put his arms around her waist holding her tightly. The two continued to kiss, but then reality hit Serenade and her eyes widened. She was kissing her best friend! Was this a dream?

Out of anger at herself for over thinking, she pushed Nathaniel away and ran off inside despite the hurt she felt in her heart as she forced herself to leave his arms and the painful look on Nathaniel's face as she ran off from him.