Nate

It was three days until Nate saw Camille again. She was battling her parents over her rights to refuse treatment, and Ronnie was doing his best to keep Nate updated. In the end, the doctors sided with Cami. Since her birthday was only two weeks away, they said it would do more harm than good to start her back on treatment, only to stop again once she turned eighteen. After the doctors ruling, Camille’s mother finally agreed to let her come home.

Nate was practically giddy when he heard the news. And when Camille called him to say he could come over, he was out of the house before he even hung up the phone. He made record time getting to the French Quarter and had to remind himself to take the stairs to Cami’s room one at a time.

He opened the door and his heart jumped to his throat when he saw Camille sitting up in bed with Poo in her lap. Her face brightened when she saw him.

“Hello.”

She laughed. “I feel like you’re always saying that.”

Nate strode across the room and sat on her bed, petting the excited dog who attacked him with affection. Nate leaned over Poo to pull Camille into a hug. “I missed you,” he whispered.

“Me too.”

Cami

Camille clung to Nate, drinking in his warmth and intoxicating smell. She wished she could bottle it and keep it with her always. Just having him in the same room did wonders for her heart. Nate had an inexplicable way of making Camille feel steady.

“So how are things with your parents?” Nate asked.

“Intense.”

“It’ll get better,” he said squeezing her hand.

“How are things with your parents?” she asked, eager to change the subject.

Camille needed to escape the guilt she felt for disappointing her own parents. Being stuck at the hospital with nothing but their worried faces for the past three days had drained her strength. Plus, she knew things had been tense with Nate’s parents since she dragged him into the middle of her cancer drama.

“Pretty good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean my mom was pissed about me skipping school but she’s been pretty understanding given the circumstances. And strangely, this whole thing has brought my dad and me closer. I haven’t seen him touch a drink since I freaked out.”

“Freaked out?”

Nate got that sheepish grin that Cami loved. The one where he scrunched up his face when he realized he’d admitted something he hadn’t meant to. “I sorta went home and trashed my room the day I found out you were sick.”

“Nate . . .”

“It’s fine. We’ve already repaired the drywall. And it forced my dad and I to spend more time together and talk about things. He’s been opening up to me about the divorce and he even says Tyler’s name now.”

“That’s good,” Camille said, snuggling in tighter next to Nate.

She loved Nate’s big heart and the way he always focused on fixing other people’s problems. But it made her feel bad, knowing she was just one more person he had to worry about. And there was no fixing her problem. Camille had agreed to spend the time she had left with Nate, but she was starting to have doubts that it was a good idea.

He kissed the top of her head as if he could sense her worry. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

She sighed. “Honestly, I’m thinking I don’t know where to go from here.”

“What do ya mean?”

“I know we said we were in this together, but I feel like I’m taking advantage of you, Nate.”

He sat up and faced her. “Cami, wild horses couldn’t drag me out of here. You’re gonna have to face the fact that you’re not getting rid of me. And I promise, I’m definitely getting something out of this.”

“Like what? I mean, this is probably it. We won’t be able to do other stuff.” Camille trailed off unable to say what she truly meant. I won’t be a normal girlfriend. I won’t have the energy to make out with you or go to prom or have sex.

“Cami, even if all I get to do is lay in bed with you and watch movies all day, I’d be happy.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you.”

She shook her head, as sadness filled her heart.

Nate propped himself up so he could look at her. “Cami, you have to know you deserve to be loved.”

“That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

“I know this sounds bad, but I don’t believe you.”

“Why?”

“How can I? You fell in love with someone who doesn’t exist.”

“I’m pretty sure I fell in love with you. You are Camille LaRue, right?” he teased looking wildly around the room. “I mean you don’t have a twin do you, or is this like some Freaky Friday bit?”

“Nate. I’m being serious. If you knew I had cancer from the beginning it’d be a different story, but I feel like I tricked you.”

“Cami, I don’t know how else to explain it to you. You are the same girl I fell in love with.”

She shook her head.

“Okay, fine. Then let’s start over and this time we can be brutally honest.”

“Nate . . .”

“Come on. We started over before and that went pretty well if I recall.” Nate winked and Camille’s heart fluttered, remembering their date.

“We can’t start over.”

“You can always start over. You just have to want to.”

She rolled her eyes but that didn’t stop him. Nate was already lifting her phone from her nightstand. He grabbed his own from his pocket and set them next to each other on his lap.

“You ready?” he asked.

Cami nodded.

“I’ll start.”

Camille put her phone down. The air in the room was heavy from their silent conversation, yet her heart felt lighter. Her phone pinged again and she looked down at her text message.

Camille put her phone down. The screen was blurry from the tears in her eyes.

Nate pulled her close. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I was just talking to my boyfriend.”

“Yeah? What’s he like?”

She laughed. “Kinda perfect.”

“I like him already. But why are you crying?”

“Because he scares me.”

“Why?”

“Cause I think I love him, too.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

She shook her head. “Nate, can you promise me something?”

“Anything.”

“No grand gestures. I just want time with you.”

He grinned and kissed her softly. “I’ll take it into consideration.”