"You gonna tell me what happened back there?" Nate asked.

We were at a gas station, filling up on gas and grabbing snacks before heading back home. My mind combed over every moment, every word I shared with my aunt. Were the signs there and I missed them?

"Remember the night of the concert at the park?" I asked him.

He glanced up from the drinks he was looking at, brows furrowed. "You mean the night I fought a guy over a shirt? Nope. Don't recall."

I wasn't in the mood for his jokes. "Did my aunt ever find the collection box?"

He frowned as he thought about. "Shit, I forgot it was stolen that night. She never brought it up again. Did she even file I report?"

I shook my head. My stomach knotted. I felt sick. Was the box stolen or did she take it herself? I tried to push it out of my head. Jumping to conclusions before I'd had a chance to talk to her was only going to drive me crazy.

"Seriously, what'd Lynn say?" Nate asked, watching me cautiously. "You look like you're about to blow chunks."

"She said my aunt had a gambling problem. That she used to steal money from their old bakery." I hated the way the words tasted on my tongue. That was not my aunt.

He grabbed a sports drink from the from the cooler and started down the snack aisle. He hadn't said anything. Why didn't he say anything?

I caught up to him as he in the chip aisle. "This is where you come in and say Lynn Goffney is full of it."

His eyes dropped to my empty hands. "Are you getting anything?"

I crossed my arm, staring up at him "Nate."

He looked up at the ceiling and sighed before turning back to me. "My mom has been losing jewelry lately."

Was he being serious? "You think my aunt is stealing from your mom?"

"No!...Maybe." His shoulders dropped as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It sounds like a possibility."

That wasn't what he supposed to say. He was supposed to be on my side. On Aunt Mimi's side. He was supposed to say Lynn Goffney was a liar.

"Charm."

I shook my head, storming out of the gas station. The car was locked, so I pulled out my phone while I waited for Nate to come out. I probably could've walked home, powered on the fumes of my anger.

There were messages from Nessa asking if Nate and I ran away to get eloped.

I angrily typed out a reply, no and you can cross get over nate off the list.

The car chirped. Nate had unlocked it and was walking over with two bags full of snacks in his hand. I climbed in the car as he pumped gas.

My phone light up with a message. I thought it was Nessa, but Nate's name flashed on the screen. My eyes darted to the window. His back was to me.

I opened the message. I shouldn't accuse your aunt of stealing when I have no proof

No, he shouldn't. For all we knew it was all just a big misunderstanding. Lynn could've been lying. Nate's mom could've misplaced her jewelry. There were other explanations. Ones that didn't make my favorite person in the world out to be the bad guy.

♡ ♡ ♡

When we made back to Aster Pointe, I told Nate to take a different street than the one we needed to get home. The sun had started to set, the sky a mix of purples, pinks, and yellows. Aunt Mimi's building didn't look as bad in the golden lighting.

"Who lives here?" He asked after he parked.

"My aunt." I stepped out the car and he followed. I pulled out my keys, finding the spare Aunt Mimi gave me. She left town a lot, randomly, and would sometimes forget to leave food for Confetti. Was that one of the signs I was blind to? Were her impromptu trips spent in Vegas? "I need proof."

I let us into the dark apartment. My aunt's car wasn't in her usual spot so I knew the house was empty. Except for Confetti, of course. He was curled up in a ball on the kitchen counter. He wasn't supposed to be there, but since Nate and I weren't supposed to be in the apartment I didn't bother shooing him off.

Nate stood in the area between the living and dining rooms, looking around the small space. "I was expecting it to be...colorful?"

"Yeah, she said this place is only temporary." I didn't add in the fact that she'd lived there for years with no intentions of moving out. "You can search here. I'll check the bedroom and the bathroom."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Nate still stood by the door, looking a little uncomfortable.

"The collection box," I told him. "Jewelry. Something that proves Lynn's story."

He still didn't seem fully on board with the idea of going through my aunt's, his boss's, things. But he nodded and headed for the entertainment center.

I ducked into my aunt's bedroom. It was messier than the rest of the house. Brightly colored laundry overflowed from the hamper, her pink bedding was a mess on her bed, there were water bottles with varying amounts of water in them everywhere. I fought the urge to clean and started my search.

Part of me hoped I'd never find that neon green metal box.

After I searched the drawers, under the bed and through the closet, I was about the move to the bathroom when her laptop caught my eye.

I grabbed it from where it sat on her messy nightstand under a unicorn shaped coffee cup that was full of old coffee.

The laptop was password protected. I tried her birthday, Confetti's name, Cake Me Up. Nothing worked. I glanced around the room for some kind of clue. My eyes landed on a framed picture on the dresser of Aunt Mimi, my dad and my grandma.

I typed in my grandma's birth date, finally gaining access to the laptop. It opened to her web browser. She was on a site meant to look up people in prison. What was she doing on a site like that?

Before I could investigate further Nate came into the room, eyes wide. "Your aunt just pulled up."

A slammed the laptop shut and placed it back on the nightstand. "Get the lights!" I told him while I positioned the coffee cup back on top of the laptop. I turned off her bedroom light and closed the door as I left.

My heart was thumping in my chest. I was about to get caught in my aunt's apartment, where I was trying to find proof of a gambling addiction. She was never going to let me step foot into Cake Me Up after that.

"Nate?" I whispered. The apartment was pitch black. I had to use my hands to navigate.

"She's still sitting in her car." He sounded close. I held my hands out in front of me, pulling back when I touched him. Where I touched him was mystery to me.

His hand brushed against my arm. He was right in front of me then. Despite the possibility of being outed as the worst niece on the planet, being so close to Nate, in the dark, gave me a weird sense of intimacy.

It was silent. Nothing but the sound of our breathing and my heart slamming against my ribs. A car door shut, reminding me that we needed to do something. "She's coming."

Nate's hand found mine in the dark. "Come on."

I trusted him to safely navigate me in the dark. We ended up at the couch and he pulled me down with him. What the hell was his plan?

"You trust me?" His voice was whisper, his breath fanning my face. My own breath hitched in my throat.

I heard footsteps, heels clicking across concrete. Aunt Mimi would be there any second.

There was zero doubt in my mind that he knew what he was doing. "Yeah."

Keys jingled right outside the door. The noise faded into the darkness when Nate's lips pressed against mine.

Shocked, my first instinct was to push him away. My hand was on chest, but I found myself gripping his shirt and pulling him closer instead. His hand cradled the back of head, his fingers tangling in hair. His other arm snaking around my waist as the kiss deepened.

"Oh, hell no!"

Nate and I jumped a part at the sound of my aunt's voice. The brightly lit living room burned my eyes. My lips stilled tingled from Nate's kiss.

Nate hopped up from the couch, his light brown skin burning red. "We were just—"

Aunt Mimi held up her hand to silence him. She looked pissed. I'd never seen her so angry. "I know what you were doing, thank you. I don't need details."

"You." Her glare landed on me and I flinched. "I gave you that key for emergencies. Not so you could dry hump your boyfriend on my couch."

"We weren't—"

"Shut up!" I clamped my mouth closed, only breathing when she looked away. "Nathaniel, you will drive her straight home. No pit stops or taking the scenic route. It shouldn't take you more than ten minutes to get there. And in ten minutes," her eyes were on me again, "I will be calling your landline. If you're not there to answer I will call your father. Do you understand me?"

I nodded. Nate said, "Yes, ma'am."

Aunt Mimi watched our walk of shame to the car. As soon as we pulled out of her apartment complex, I laughed, practically wheezing. Nate looked alarmed at first, but he soon joined in.

"I wasn't expecting that," he said after he sobered up a bit. "I don't think I ever heard her yell like that before."

I wiped tears from my eyes, still fighting of laughter. "Me either. She must really hate people kissing on her couch."

He laughed again, glancing at me. My lips. Did his still feel electrified too? He looked away, clearing his throat. "Sorry for that, by the way. I should've asked—"

"It's fine," I cut in. "It was smart. Quick thinking."

We stopped at a red light and his eyes drifted over to me again. Any other time I would've gotten embarrassed, turned way. But that kiss. It had me feeling like I was dreaming. Like at any moment I'd awake from the happy fantasy.

My own brain was in disbelief. It couldn't believe Nate kissed me. That he was sitting next to me, looking at me like he wanted to it again.

A car honked and Nate broke eye contact.

♡ ♡ ♡

Aunt Mimi called right as I opened the door. After confirming to her that I was home, I went up to my room and flopped down on my bed. I just wanted to relive that kiss a few more times before I had to rejoin the world.

My phone vibrated, killing the moment. Digging it out of my purse, I saw a message from Nessa on the screen. I clicked through to find a picture of our list, her pink gel pen had been dragged across 'GET OVER NATHANIEL".

I hope you have white out, I replied.