The Other One

Chapter 2

Second chapter is up. :] It's shorter than the first one, so I apologize for the length, but it was a good place to end it, so here it is. Read, Comment, Vote, Enjoy! :D

+Cake

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Lizzie went limp, and Nathan's arms were the only things supporting her. He held her tight and buried his face in her hair, murmuring nice things and probably hoping to cheer her up. But there was no way this could ever be cheered up. Her heart had basically shattered; she was in love with Connor, and it was painful to realize she still loved him, even now that she knew their whole relationship had been a horrible lie. She clung to Nathan and sobbed, wanting to hold onto him forever and push out of his arms and beat the crap out of Connor at the same time. Quickly, it was decided that she would continue clinging to Nathan. Because, even after learning the truth, she didn't have the ability to hurt Connor.

How could he do that to her? And to his wife? Oh, the poor, poor woman. Guilt exploded in Lizzie's stomach and a new wave of sobs began. Connor was probably married to a wonderful woman, who was completely oblivious to her husband's affair. How could Lizzie have done that to another human being? She realized that her mother had been right. Connor was just like her father. Only now, she was the other woman. It almost made her sick to think about it. Her broken relationship with her mother had all been for nothing.

"Lizzie... I..." Connor tried talking to her, his voice pleading and panicked. She felt Nathan give his head a shake and could feel the glare he was sending Connor. She almost smiled through her tears. Ha, take that you bastard, even your best friend thinks you're horrible. She snuggled closer to Nathan's warm chest as she heard Connor walking away from them.

They stood there at the beach, Nathan holding her and murmuring pretty things in Lizzie's ear, for nearly an hour before she was able to stop crying. She knew Nathan probably thought she was pathetic, but at that moment she didn't care. She took a deep breath and inhaled Nathan's comforting masculine scent before giving him one last squeeze and pulling away. She gave him a half-hearted smile and turned to get her bag from the sand so she could leave. Halfway to the parking lot, she remembered that Connor had driven her, and burst into fresh tears for the second time that night. Nathan rushed over and grabbed her hand.

"Hey, Lizzie. Lizzie, please don't cry. Please, hun. No more. If you keep doing that, I'm gonna start crying."

Lizzie tried to breathe through the huge weight crushing down on her chest and tugged her hand out of Nathan's grip. "I'm sorry, Nathan. You don't have to do anymore for me. I've probably already ruined your night." She growled and roughly knuckled the remaining tears away. "God, I'm so sorry. You probably had a hot date or something."

He smiled a tiny sympathetic smile and shook his head. "You're kind of a heartbroken puddle right now. My plans aren't important enough to ditch you when you're like this. Give me a minute, I'll call my friend and cancel, and then I'll drive you home. Does that sound okay to you?"

"You don't have to, I can just get a cab, and -"

"Lizzie, do you really want the cab driver dealing with this instead of me?" He raised one eyebrow and she was stuck.

"No," she muttered, "But I don't really want you to have to deal with me either. I'll probably go all crazy red-head temper on you soon. And then you'll be sorry that you ever helped me." Nathan shook his head and loped off to drive his car around.

They arrived at her house just as it was getting dark outside, and Lizzie took her keys out and opened the front door with some difficulty. She turned to find Nathan standing on the sidewalk staring at her, and suddenly she thought of the perfect way to thank him for helping her.