Nathan was dead. He wasn't coming back.

His picture flashed across the screen. His face looked light and innocent. Of course, they didn't use a mug shot or anything resembling a realistic version of him. It had to be a perfect picture of when he was young, clean, and giving his classic, sultry sweet smile that he used to lure girls in.

It was the same smile he used on me when I first met him years ago.

The Nathan that I knew now never smiled like that anymore and would never get the opportunity to again.

Shock. I was in absolute shock; that's what it was.

That might have been a little bit of an understatement. I felt catatonic and strangely numb. Paramedics could bring a defibrillator to try to jumpstart me like a car battery and it probably wouldn't work. I looked between my hands and the screen with my mouth hanging open.

I had hands with fingers on them. I could move them around still. Nathan couldn't move his hands anymore. He couldn't use them to hit me or touch me ever again.

He was dead. Nathan was dead.

What do I do? Should I call someone to let them know? How should I react?

It felt like Nathan's dark eyes were staring at me from the screen. He was blaming me for his death like it was my fault he was gone. The picture lingered too long up on the screen just to taunt me. My heart dropped; this couldn't really be happening. Even in his death, Nathan knew how to terrorize me. It was almost like he planned it this way.

"Cause of death is currently unknown at this time..." The woman read off the prompter in her all-business voice. I tuned her out as I stared at his face on the screen. I grabbed the remote and paused the broadcast.

I blinked once and it was still there.

I blinked twice and the words looked like they were growing larger.

By the third time, I could hear him calling for me.

"Hey, Sweetheart." He whispered slowly in my ear. "Sucks, doesn't it. Are you going to miss me?"

I turned my head to search for him, but there was nothing there. I could feel his warm breath against the skin on my neck. I could even smell his scent seeping from my pores. It felt so real.

Was I going crazy again?

I turned back to the screen and the words were still there.

Nathan. Nathan Webster. Remains. Found. Unknown Cause of death. Authorities. Investigation.

He was really gone.

"Cameron!" I called out. He hadn't emerged from the bedroom yet. I needed him to see this to make sure I wasn't delusional.

I started cracking up. Hysterical fucking laughter, loud from the bottom of my gut. My sides hurt. I was shaking so hard. Tears were forming in the corner of my eyes and I wiped them away. The maniacal cackles overtook the room until the smile fell from my face and turned into loud earthshattering sobs.

"What is it now, Jess? I swear if you are crying like that again to get me to come in and watch those puppets rapping the ABCs..." Cameron paused mid-sentence.

"Nathan's dead." I choked out as I looked back at him. He looked as shocked as I was.

Cameron shook his head and reached over the back of the couch to take the tv remote out of my hand. He turned it off and threw the remote back down on the couch. I was glad he decided to give it a soft landing instead of chucking it at the wall like my phone. I didn't feel up to shopping for a replacement today.

"You don't need to watch this." Cameron frowned.

"I...just...I...." The words wouldn't come out. I hated Nathan more than I could ever verbalize for the things he did to me over the years, but there was still a decent part of me that was grieving for reasons I didn't understand. Even if I had a ton of bad memories involving him, Nathan had still been a huge part of my life. Nothing that happened between us could ever take that history away. If I didn't suffer through all the bad with him, would I still have been who I was today? Would I still be me?

I didn't know how I should feel and it made the knot inside me feel that much worse.

"Jess, why are you crying?" Cameron came over and sat down next to me. He placed his arms around my waist and pulled me over on top of his lap to hold me.

"I don't know." I curled up into a ball on top of him and buried my head in his neck. "It's just really sad. I mean, he was our friend once."

"He was never our friend. He was an egotistical, manipulative bastard who hurt you." Cameron held me tightly. The news was hitting him more than he was letting on. I could hear it in the tone of his voice.

"I know, it just feels so strange. Even though I don't want anything to do with him and I'm glad he's out of my life, it just doesn't feel right that he's gone, gone. I'm sorry that I'm crying. I'm just confused." I apologized.

"Darling, don't be sorry for letting it out. It will take a while to sort through how you feel about it. Remember, you are safe now. He can't get to you. Nathan will never be able to hurt you again." Cameron raised my chin up to look me in the eye. He leaned in and kissed my lips softly.

I turned around and sat between his legs with my back against his chest. He looped his arms under mine and raised my shirt up to run his hand along the bottom of my stomach. I sat in solemn silence and watched him gently caress my skin.

Cam's phone began buzzing in the pocket of his shorts. He kissed my shoulder and sighed.

He shifted so he could reach in and grab it out. He looked down at the screen and knitted his brows together. Whoever was on the other end of the line was someone he didn't look interested in talking to.

"This is Nash." He said when he placed the phone to his ear.

There was a deep male voice on the other side of the phone. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but it couldn't be good because Cameron held onto my stomach tighter and tighter every second that passed.

"Yes, we saw the news. She is here with me now." Cameron answered curtly.

I glanced up at his face for answers. His jaw was clenched and I could hear him gritting his teeth. Whatever he was having a conversation about wasn't good.

"Yes, sir. We will be there in the next hour." He said into the receiver.

Cameron hung up the phone and placed it down on the arm of the couch.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"That was my boss. He wants us both to come down to the station to discuss the investigation into Nathan's death." He answered.

"Wait, why would they want to talk to us? Do they think we were involved somehow?" I started freaking out.

"I'm not sure. He didn't say. All I know is he said they had some questions for us and he thought it would be easier if we came on our own. He said he is trying to keep your involvement with Nathan from leaking to the media, but he's pretty sure it is only a matter of time before it gets out."

"You mean the tape." I swallowed.

"Yeah, the police found the video and some other stuff at the studio. I think you should call Link and your parents. I don't know how bad this could get and I think you should warn them."