For the past two weeks, Nate and Natalie were always together; they ate together during lunch breaks, they waited for each other after classes and during practices and whenever they had time, they would always find a way to be together. Nate would bring her to any place that was nice. They went to the circus, to the mall and even to expensive restaurants. They were inseparable.

Meanwhile, Jake looked in envy. He wasn't happy about them being together. Even though Natalie already forgave him for being stupid, he wasn't really happy about it. He had a chance and he let it slip away. There was one time when he waited for Natalie to be dismissed. He wanted to treat her for coffee and he thought she would love the idea, but as soon as she was dismissed, Nate came into the picture and stole her away from him. He wanted to take her hand but couldn't afford to make her mad again. He knew they weren't really dating. He wanted to ask her out, but as long as Nate was there, he can never get a chance to take her somewhere and tell her how he really felt.

Natalie still liked him but that was enough. She wasn't crazy about him unlike before. She realized that she can be loved by another person, and she can love that person back. She would often ask herself: Why bother taking the risk and getting hurt again? She wanted to give Jake a chance but she was scared he would leave her again. She didn't want to go over what happened before. She wanted to be happy.

Nate was also happy. He had her and she had him. He hasn't told her how he really felt yet. He was scared that when he'd finally tell her how he really felt for her, she'd only go away. He knew how she felt for Jake back then. He asked her about her relationship with Jake and he knew she really loved him. He was jealous of course, but he couldn't do anything about it. He wasn't planning on falling in love with a girl he thought was irritating, but as time passed, he learned to like Natalie who made him smile. He was just so scared he'd lose her. Everybody has secrets and his' was big. He was scared of his secret and he was scared it would affect his relationship with her. He wanted to be with her always, but if he makes one single mistake, he might lose her. For him, losing her wasn't part of the plan. As long as he plays the cards well he might, just might have her.

Friday came and it was their lunch break. Jake sat with the other Wales. As he played with his cold yogurt, he saw both Natalie and Nate coming inside the cafeteria. She was blooming and he was guilty. Nate was carrying her books and they sat on a vacant table near the door. 

As he stared in envy, Denise asked, "I didn't know Nate and Natalie were dating..."

"They're not. She's just going with him since she thinks he's the perfect friend."

Denise stared at them and looked at Jake after. "What happened to the both of you anyway?"

Jake was quiet. He didn't want to repeat what happened. He played with the yogurt again.

"Anyway man. It's a good thing Natalie came to accept him and his child." Denise continued.

Jake paused. He looked at Denise with a questionable look. "What did you say?"

"Why? You didn't know? He has a son. Remember that time when he wasn't around for almost 2 weeks, we were in our first year in college; we even thought he migrated to Paris. He wasn't planning to migrate then. He was fixing his problems."

"Huh? What problems?"

Denise rolled his eyes. "Come'on Jake, don't tell me you forgot about Haley Baxter? She was the hottest chic in school. Even graduating students wanted her. Remember? They were dating back in high school. She got pregnant and everybody talked about them. Haley's parents forced him to break up with her and in the end he got the child for himself. His father was really disappointed at that time that he almost had a heart attack."

Jake was quiet. He wasn't sure how to react. He totally forgot about that incident. He knew about Nate's past, but for some reason, he totally forgot. He tried to ask himself if Natalie knew about his past, but as he stared at her laughing like nothing was really wrong, he knew at that moment that she didn't know a single thing. He stood up, went towards them and promised himself to tell her in front of Nate. As he approached the both of them, Natalie turned to look at him and smiled.

"Hi Jake, we were planning to join that party at Tropical Point. We should hang out." He looked at her for a long time. He didn't want to see her sad. He didn't want to break her heart. He decided to tell her on another time.

"Jake? What's the matter? Are you okay?" Natalie asked worriedly. He can see that Nate was getting nervous. He knew Nate hasn't told her yet and it sickens him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Sure. We should hang out together. I have so much to tell you."

Nate looked at him. He wanted to ask Jake what he was going to tell Natalie. "Great! That would be fun! I'll make sure I won't be a party pooper." She laughed. Jake decided to walk away. As he went back to his seat, he looked at Natalie again and he knew she was really happy. 

He took his tray and walked away and no matter how much he wanted Natalie to avoid Nate, he couldn't afford to see her get hurt. Not again.