HOME | DD

Description

“Nathaniel, what is so dangerous that you have to hold me at arm’s length? We’ve been dating for a while… We’ve even made love… And yet, you still won’t tell me what you’ve gotten yourself into. Please, tell me.” she begged. “I can’t Alana, I don’t want you to get involved.” “But, why? I can help you. Whatever it is, I can handle it.” “You need to rest and relax. You’ve spent so long saving the world, now I need you to save yourself. Let me handle my affairs.” “How long will it take?” “I don’t know. But, until then, you and I can’t see each other as much.” He could see her heart breaking, the tears welling up in her eyes. “N-Nathaniel… No… I just got you back… I can’t lose you!” she babbled. “It’s just until this is sorted.” he attempted to reassure her as he kissed her forehead and walked off, leaving her in the park, alone. “N-Nathaniel… N-No… N-Not a-again… Not again… Not again… Nathaniel!” she began to cry.

"That bastard!” Derek yelled as he hit a wall. “Surely he has a good explanation.” Lyra remarked. “He made our Melody cry! He fucked her and dumped her!” Derek’s fury continued to build. “What if he’s trying to protect her? Just like when she broke up with him to protect him from her enemies?” Nora pondered. “But she’s OUR Melody! She’s one of the most powerful and dangerous people on the planet! She can handle whatever he’s into!” Derek yelled. “I think it’s almost poetic.” Renee commented. “How in the hell is it poetic?!” Derek boomed. “Think about it… Nathaniel knows full well what Melody is, he knows that she can save him from what he’s into… But! His first and foremost desire is to keep her safe. I’m sure he will tell her what’s wrong when the separation causes the agony in his heart to reach a critical mass.” Renee explained. “And while we’re all waiting for that to happen… She’s up there, in her domain, crying her eyes out and losing her warmth… She’s returning to being cold.” Veronica sighed.

A few days later, a little witch paid Alana a visit. “I’m sorry Chani, I’m just not into it.” Alana sighed. Chani had been poking Alana to see what was wrong, why the life had left her eyes, but Alana wasn’t ready to tell her. So, she tried to find ways to keep her distracted but nothing ever worked. She knew she wasn’t the only one who knew something was wrong… She noticed that even Mr. Zaidi had asked her if she was okay during class, to which Alana replied “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”… She had to do something… “I think it would be good for you. Please.” She spoke softly and chose her words carefully. Alana thought for a minute, she knew Chani meant well… Hell, out of all of her friends outside the Tower, Chani had been the one trying the hardest. “Okay, let’s go.” she sighed as she began following her friend.

As they approached the Snake Room, Alana stopped. “Really? Here?” she asked. She looked at the crowd and the security detail. “It doesn’t look like it’s open to the public.” she commented. “Yeah… I feel like it’s a private party.” Chani affirmed. “Let’s crash it.” Alana smirked as they walked up to the front of the line, ignoring the group of people cussing them out as they stood before the bouncer. “Names.” The bouncer demanded. “Lady Melody of the R.D.R and this is my guest.” Alana replied. “That’s cute. But, unless you’re willing to show me proof that you’re actually Lady Melody, I’m not letting you in.” The bouncer commented. “Are you fucking kidding me? The fact that the color has left the faces of the people standing at the front of the line and the fear that has washed over them should be enough proof.” The disgust and insult in Alana’s voice was very apparent. “How stupid. Death Herself stands before you and you demand she show proof of who she is before letting her and her friend inside our party.” A voice called from inside the building. “Castiel! And just what the fuck is this?” Alana demanded. “Come in and see.” He grinned as he held out his hand. “You’d better give one hell of an explanation.” She smirked as she and Chani followed him inside. When they entered into the bar, the rest of Crowstorm looked at Alana and smiled. “Hey! Look who it is!” “Lady Melody! It’s great to see you again!” “I never thought I’d see you at one of these things!” “It’s good to see you Alana!” the band all greeted. “Alana, have you met the band before?” Chani asked. “It’s a long story.” Alana replied. “Miss Roster! What an absolute pleasure to have you at our party! I was almost afraid that you wouldn’t come!” The agent grinned as they walked up to them. “I wasn’t invited.” Alana clarified. “Yes, you were. Castiel was instructed to invite you directly, as you two are friends.” Alana looked at Castiel curiously. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Castiel looked down. “I didn’t think you’d come. You’ve been very preoccupied lately and I didn’t think this kind of thing was your scene.” “If I had known, I might have shown up of my own choosing… But, I will admit, it was Chani that brought me out tonight.” Castiel turned to Chani. “What convinced you to bring her out?” Chani smiled. “She’s not been herself lately, I thought a night out would be good for her.” Castiel turned serious and looked at Alana. “What did that idiot do?” Alana looked down. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

As the party went on, Chani told Alana that she was going home and that she should stay and hang out with Castiel more, that it would be good to take her mind off what’s been bothering her. Alana was instructed to sit down on a couch closest to the band. “This really isn’t my scene.” She thought as she looked around at the girls surrounding her. “These girls are all fake.” She thought. She could tell that these girls were all trying too hard. Faces caked on with makeup, clothes purposely chosen to be revealing, figures that proved that they all clearly needed to desperately eat a sandwich, and their body language emitted a sense of competition. “It’s as if they’re all broodmares whose sole desire is to be chosen and fucked by Castiel. Pathetic. The fact that his agent requested that I sit with them is a fucking insult.” she thought. “I knew this wasn’t your scene.” Castiel sighed as he walked up to her. “And yet, I’m still here to support my friend.” Alana answered. “Let’s get out of here.” He grinned. “I think that’s the first smart thing you’ve said all night.” She chuckled as she got up from the couch and followed him out of the building.

As they talked he led her through the park and to an apartment building, a much nicer one than the one she remembered him living in in High School. “I see you’ve upgraded.” she commented. “It’s not as much of an upgrade as what you’ve gotten, but it’s nice.” Alana chuckled. “Is that like when I showed you my R.D.R dorm and said “It’s not much, but it’s home.”?” Castiel chuckled as he took off his jacket and turned the music on. “You could say that.” He walked over to her and motioned for them to sit down on the bed. “Alana.” He lightly growled the desire in his eyes becoming apparent. “Uh…. Cas? What do you think you’re doing?” “You need a distraction… Maybe, I could be that distraction… At least… For one night.” He began running his hand along her leg. “You’re joking, right?” Alana pulled away from his touch. “It’s just a proposition.” He ran his hand through her hair as if to straighten it. “Cas… I…” “Is Nathaniel waiting for you tonight? Do you have something else planned…? Now? In the middle of the night?” The sound of Nathaniel’s name saddened her. “N-No…” He moved closer to her, so close that she caught the subtle scent of his skin. He pushed the strands of hair covering her neck away. “We could have fun…” He moved closer to her, his lips getting dangerously close to hers. His eyes staring intensely at hers. “Are you fucking kidding me? He knows I’m loyal to Nathaniel and yet he’s still pulling this shit? I don’t care if he is hot, and our friend, this is wrong and he knows it.” She thought. “No Castiel. I don’t want this.” She stated as she stood up. “Alana. You know how I feel about you. That’s why I treat you different from the other girls.” “Oh, yeah, really different. That’s why your agent insisted I sit with all of those skanks at the party. That’s why you brought me home and thought it was perfectly okay to suggest a one night stand. Even if I wasn’t loyal to Nathaniel, I’d back hand you for this on the premise of the severe lack of basic human decency.” “Nathaniel does nothing but hurt you! How can you still love him?!” “I know he doesn’t mean any harm by it. For god’s sake Castiel! He’s gone through a lot and is still walking through Hell! And up until recently, he’s had to do it mostly alone!” Fury began coursing through her as she began walking to the door. “Alana! Don’t!” He boomed as he grasped for her hand. “Don’t you dare fucking touch me!” Her glasses immediately turned dark with the blue glow showing where her pupils were supposed to be. “Alana.” He immediately looked defeated. “And I’ll have you know that the trope where the lead singer of the band gets poisoned by a pretty girl in a music video has been done before. Your latest video is a fucking cliche!” She yelled as she threw the door open and slammed it shut.

When she got back to her apartment, she noticed Nathaniel pacing in front of her door. He looked at her, his eyes filled with pain. “He came back.” she thought as a wave of relief washed over her. “I wanted to be sure not to miss you. I thought you’d never get home…” “What are you doing here?” “I wanted to see you. I ran into Derek, Lyra and Nora in the lobby. Derek wanted to kick my ass and kick me out of the building… But the girls let me come up here anyway. I figured it would be best to just wait out here rather than going inside to wait for you.” Alana smiled. “I’m glad to see you.” “Really? I don’t deserve that smile.” “No, you’re right, you don’t deserve it. But, something tells me that you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important, so, come on… I need to get comfy and I’m sure you don’t wanna spend the entire night out here.” She sighed as she opened the door and lead them inside.

She lead them to her bedroom, where she took off her shoes and stood before him. “Alright, explain yourself.” Nathaniel looked heartbroken. “I screwed up. I should never have left you. The past few weekends… What’s happened the past few weekends has been… I haven’t experienced something so intense in years… The last time was with you, before you moved away. I wish all my weekends could be like that. If I could, I’d be at your door every night. I want all of my weekends to belong to you. I want you.” “I-It’s hard, Nathaniel. Are you coming back so you can leave better? You shatter my heart every time.” “That won’t happen again.” “Oh? Really?” She cocked her head out of curiosity. “You ended things with me to protect me from your enemies as you rose to power. Now, I’ve been trying to protect you from mine while you attempt to regain normalcy. I couldn’t put you at risk.” “Please, feel free to elaborate.” “I worked for a huge cartel around here. And now they’re out to get me. They threatened to kill me and if I don’t keep working with them they… they…” he began to get choked up, the sadness ravaging it’s way across his face. “Alana, they’re capable of all kinds of things. I’m afraid they’ll come after you. That’s why I stopped everything. I didn’t want to give them the chance to use you against me. To use you period. I screwed up, all these years, I made all the wrong choices. And you reminded me what it’s like to be good, and now it’s too late. It’s much too late.” He flung himself to the floor, wrapping his arms around her. “Please let me tell you. I’m finally ready to.” “Nath…” Seeing him shaking and wrapping his arms around her, tears welled up in her eyes. “Nath… Come on… Sit on the bed…”

When they both sat down, he made sure he was facing her and she took his hand in hers. “It started after high school. I found myself having to get by on my own, financially. My mother kept sending me money, alone, against my father’s will. Then we had a really violent argument one day, about how she was managing my sister’s modeling career… From then on, I had to get by on my own. One day… I ran into the wrong people, a little like you in that alley… The guys were dealing and they spotted me. I tried to negotiate with them to get myself out of there. I promised them they could make even more money. I thought I had been clever, but ever since that day, they’ve never left me alone. Their leader used me to develop the market, to climb the ladder.” “And you haven’t gone to the authorities because you don’t want to risk going to prison.” “Exactly.” “So? Are you an actual dealer? Or just an adviser?” “At first, I was just an adviser. It was convenient for me, I got paid too… The things got out of hand… I started giving orders to some of the guys who worked for us. And without realizing it, I ended up managing the network of dealers…” Alana looked down. “I never thought you’d get mixed up with that sort of thing… If it was hemp, I’d be a little more okay with it… But this is a hard drug ring…” Nathaniel looked down. “I know… And I was eaten up with guilt, so I took action… My way.” “Meaning?” “When they make me transport the drugs, I replace it with inoffensive plant mixtures before they hit the streets and I throw the drugs out. Except that… The jerk I was working with realized it… Its… the same guy who attacked Nina last time, who came after you. And he’s blackmailing me. I thought I could fool them. I thought they were morons. But these guys are… dangerous and they know what they’re doing. When I found out what you’ve become, I wanted to come to you. I wanted your help. But then you and everyone showed me that you’re trying to get out of this life… That you need to rest and have peace. I couldn’t bring you back into it. You’ve gone through so much pain… I couldn’t add to it.” Alana sighed. “Nathaniel, I came back to this city to retrieve you. I came home with the hope that you would forgive me for what I’ve done and leave with me when I graduate. If it means decimating a cartel to free you so you can come with me, I am more than happy to do so.” His eyes grew wide. “Alana…” “You are the most important person to me, outside my family. I will do whatever it takes to protect you. Now, am I the only person who knows?” “No, Amber knows too. She’s kept it to herself. She couldn’t bear to see me go to jail. When my father almost went to prison and the cops dragged him away, handcuffed, she never really got over it… It destroyed her. I can’t put her through that a second time.” “Of course…” “I’m sorry for not having been able to talk to you about it before… But I had to try and protect you.” “By excluding me from your life?” “Exactly, it was the best way to protect you, not to disappoint you, to… not to lose you in the long term. I’m going to leave now… At least I’ve told you the truth.” He stood up and began walking towards the bedroom door. “The hell you are! I’m not letting you leave again!” She grabbed his hand and held him back. “Alana…” He stopped and turned to her. “Why would you come back? Why change your mind and finally admit everything?” “Because I realized you were the only person who made me want to get myself out of this mess. I went home, convinced I had made the right decision… Except that it wasn’t worth it anymore. To keep on doing what I do, without running into you, without being able to see you, or talk to you… You reminded me what it was like to feel carefree. To not worry about anything, for a few hours, long enough to make love.” Alana’s heart began to race as she saw Nathaniel blush. She wanted to kiss him immediately. She wanted to make love to him again… To prove to him that everything is going to be okay. She felt the same desire when she found out what his father was doing to him. But, just as it was back then, she knew this was not the best time for that. He looked deep into her eyes and continued to speak. “Without you, I don’t have the strength. And also because I hope that this time, you won’t let me leave…” She stroked his cheek lovingly and an adoring grin appeared on her face. “And I hope you won’t ever leave again.” He closed his eyes long enough to kiss her palm then looked at her with conviction. “Now, I no longer have anything to hide.” “You won’t ever leave again?” He took her in his arms, hope filling his eyes. “You’ll have me?” “Yes.” “You aren’t afraid of me or disappointed in me?” “Nope. You’re not afraid of getting involved in this relationship?” “You’re important to me Alana. I’ll do everything I can to protect us.” The grin on Alana’s face turned into a tired smile. “That’s more like it.” She took her glasses off, placed them on the bedside table and kissed Nathaniel passionately. Nathaniel held her as tightly as he could while they kissed, abandoning her lips only to place kisses on her forehead, cheeks and neck. “We’ll talk about what to do about your problem later… But, for now, let’s relax.” she smiled as she got up, grabbed her pajamas and walked to the bathroom. He smiled, got down to his underwear and crawled into the bed. Alana walked back into the room wearing a black spaghetti strap shirt and short black shorts. “I love you… You stubborn fool… Don’t you ever forget that.” She sighed as she got in the bed, wrapped her arms around him and used his chest as a pillow. Nathaniel wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “I love you too, Alana.”

———————————————————————————————————–----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
04/06/19:
HOLY CRAP this was long for me to write! Especially considering I used a ton of in episode dialogue! But! I have it done! I guess it’s a good thing it was long seeing as I didn’t post any part to Alana’s canon last week! But, yes, this does take place after “It’s About Time!” and it revolves around Episode 11 of UL. As we finally find out what’s wrong with Nathaniel’s situation, I felt like this blurb was very necessary. By the way, to anyone who needs to know what a “Broodmare” is, it is a female horse who is designated for breeding.
I worked my ass off to get the foreground from the Episode 11 illustration and edit it.

Credit goes to:
ChiNoMiko
Episode Life

Description

“Nathaniel, what is so dangerous that you have to hold me at arm’s length? We’ve been dating for a while… We’ve even made love… And yet, you still won’t tell me what you’ve gotten yourself into. Please, tell me.” she begged. “I can’t Alana, I don’t want you to get involved.” “But, why? I can help you. Whatever it is, I can handle it.” “You need to rest and relax. You’ve spent so long saving the world, now I need you to save yourself. Let me handle my affairs.” “How long will it take?” “I don’t know. But, until then, you and I can’t see each other as much.” He could see her heart breaking, the tears welling up in her eyes. “N-Nathaniel… No… I just got you back… I can’t lose you!” she babbled. “It’s just until this is sorted.” he attempted to reassure her as he kissed her forehead and walked off, leaving her in the park, alone. “N-Nathaniel… N-No… N-Not a-again… Not again… Not again… Nathaniel!” she began to cry.

"That bastard!” Derek yelled as he hit a wall. “Surely he has a good explanation.” Lyra remarked. “He made our Melody cry! He fucked her and dumped her!” Derek’s fury continued to build. “What if he’s trying to protect her? Just like when she broke up with him to protect him from her enemies?” Nora pondered. “But she’s OUR Melody! She’s one of the most powerful and dangerous people on the planet! She can handle whatever he’s into!” Derek yelled. “I think it’s almost poetic.” Renee commented. “How in the hell is it poetic?!” Derek boomed. “Think about it… Nathaniel knows full well what Melody is, he knows that she can save him from what he’s into… But! His first and foremost desire is to keep her safe. I’m sure he will tell her what’s wrong when the separation causes the agony in his heart to reach a critical mass.” Renee explained. “And while we’re all waiting for that to happen… She’s up there, in her domain, crying her eyes out and losing her warmth… She’s returning to being cold.” Veronica sighed.

A few days later, a little witch paid Alana a visit. “I’m sorry Chani, I’m just not into it.” Alana sighed. Chani had been poking Alana to see what was wrong, why the life had left her eyes, but Alana wasn’t ready to tell her. So, she tried to find ways to keep her distracted but nothing ever worked. She knew she wasn’t the only one who knew something was wrong… She noticed that even Mr. Zaidi had asked her if she was okay during class, to which Alana replied “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”… She had to do something… “I think it would be good for you. Please.” She spoke softly and chose her words carefully. Alana thought for a minute, she knew Chani meant well… Hell, out of all of her friends outside the Tower, Chani had been the one trying the hardest. “Okay, let’s go.” she sighed as she began following her friend.

As they approached the Snake Room, Alana stopped. “Really? Here?” she asked. She looked at the crowd and the security detail. “It doesn’t look like it’s open to the public.” she commented. “Yeah… I feel like it’s a private party.” Chani affirmed. “Let’s crash it.” Alana smirked as they walked up to the front of the line, ignoring the group of people cussing them out as they stood before the bouncer. “Names.” The bouncer demanded. “Lady Melody of the R.D.R and this is my guest.” Alana replied. “That’s cute. But, unless you’re willing to show me proof that you’re actually Lady Melody, I’m not letting you in.” The bouncer commented. “Are you fucking kidding me? The fact that the color has left the faces of the people standing at the front of the line and the fear that has washed over them should be enough proof.” The disgust and insult in Alana’s voice was very apparent. “How stupid. Death Herself stands before you and you demand she show proof of who she is before letting her and her friend inside our party.” A voice called from inside the building. “Castiel! And just what the fuck is this?” Alana demanded. “Come in and see.” He grinned as he held out his hand. “You’d better give one hell of an explanation.” She smirked as she and Chani followed him inside. When they entered into the bar, the rest of Crowstorm looked at Alana and smiled. “Hey! Look who it is!” “Lady Melody! It’s great to see you again!” “I never thought I’d see you at one of these things!” “It’s good to see you Alana!” the band all greeted. “Alana, have you met the band before?” Chani asked. “It’s a long story.” Alana replied. “Miss Roster! What an absolute pleasure to have you at our party! I was almost afraid that you wouldn’t come!” The agent grinned as they walked up to them. “I wasn’t invited.” Alana clarified. “Yes, you were. Castiel was instructed to invite you directly, as you two are friends.” Alana looked at Castiel curiously. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Castiel looked down. “I didn’t think you’d come. You’ve been very preoccupied lately and I didn’t think this kind of thing was your scene.” “If I had known, I might have shown up of my own choosing… But, I will admit, it was Chani that brought me out tonight.” Castiel turned to Chani. “What convinced you to bring her out?” Chani smiled. “She’s not been herself lately, I thought a night out would be good for her.” Castiel turned serious and looked at Alana. “What did that idiot do?” Alana looked down. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

As the party went on, Chani told Alana that she was going home and that she should stay and hang out with Castiel more, that it would be good to take her mind off what’s been bothering her. Alana was instructed to sit down on a couch closest to the band. “This really isn’t my scene.” She thought as she looked around at the girls surrounding her. “These girls are all fake.” She thought. She could tell that these girls were all trying too hard. Faces caked on with makeup, clothes purposely chosen to be revealing, figures that proved that they all clearly needed to desperately eat a sandwich, and their body language emitted a sense of competition. “It’s as if they’re all broodmares whose sole desire is to be chosen and fucked by Castiel. Pathetic. The fact that his agent requested that I sit with them is a fucking insult.” she thought. “I knew this wasn’t your scene.” Castiel sighed as he walked up to her. “And yet, I’m still here to support my friend.” Alana answered. “Let’s get out of here.” He grinned. “I think that’s the first smart thing you’ve said all night.” She chuckled as she got up from the couch and followed him out of the building.

As they talked he led her through the park and to an apartment building, a much nicer one than the one she remembered him living in in High School. “I see you’ve upgraded.” she commented. “It’s not as much of an upgrade as what you’ve gotten, but it’s nice.” Alana chuckled. “Is that like when I showed you my R.D.R dorm and said “It’s not much, but it’s home.”?” Castiel chuckled as he took off his jacket and turned the music on. “You could say that.” He walked over to her and motioned for them to sit down on the bed. “Alana.” He lightly growled the desire in his eyes becoming apparent. “Uh…. Cas? What do you think you’re doing?” “You need a distraction… Maybe, I could be that distraction… At least… For one night.” He began running his hand along her leg. “You’re joking, right?” Alana pulled away from his touch. “It’s just a proposition.” He ran his hand through her hair as if to straighten it. “Cas… I…” “Is Nathaniel waiting for you tonight? Do you have something else planned…? Now? In the middle of the night?” The sound of Nathaniel’s name saddened her. “N-No…” He moved closer to her, so close that she caught the subtle scent of his skin. He pushed the strands of hair covering her neck away. “We could have fun…” He moved closer to her, his lips getting dangerously close to hers. His eyes staring intensely at hers. “Are you fucking kidding me? He knows I’m loyal to Nathaniel and yet he’s still pulling this shit? I don’t care if he is hot, and our friend, this is wrong and he knows it.” She thought. “No Castiel. I don’t want this.” She stated as she stood up. “Alana. You know how I feel about you. That’s why I treat you different from the other girls.” “Oh, yeah, really different. That’s why your agent insisted I sit with all of those skanks at the party. That’s why you brought me home and thought it was perfectly okay to suggest a one night stand. Even if I wasn’t loyal to Nathaniel, I’d back hand you for this on the premise of the severe lack of basic human decency.” “Nathaniel does nothing but hurt you! How can you still love him?!” “I know he doesn’t mean any harm by it. For god’s sake Castiel! He’s gone through a lot and is still walking through Hell! And up until recently, he’s had to do it mostly alone!” Fury began coursing through her as she began walking to the door. “Alana! Don’t!” He boomed as he grasped for her hand. “Don’t you dare fucking touch me!” Her glasses immediately turned dark with the blue glow showing where her pupils were supposed to be. “Alana.” He immediately looked defeated. “And I’ll have you know that the trope where the lead singer of the band gets poisoned by a pretty girl in a music video has been done before. Your latest video is a fucking cliche!” She yelled as she threw the door open and slammed it shut.

When she got back to her apartment, she noticed Nathaniel pacing in front of her door. He looked at her, his eyes filled with pain. “He came back.” she thought as a wave of relief washed over her. “I wanted to be sure not to miss you. I thought you’d never get home…” “What are you doing here?” “I wanted to see you. I ran into Derek, Lyra and Nora in the lobby. Derek wanted to kick my ass and kick me out of the building… But the girls let me come up here anyway. I figured it would be best to just wait out here rather than going inside to wait for you.” Alana smiled. “I’m glad to see you.” “Really? I don’t deserve that smile.” “No, you’re right, you don’t deserve it. But, something tells me that you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important, so, come on… I need to get comfy and I’m sure you don’t wanna spend the entire night out here.” She sighed as she opened the door and lead them inside.

She lead them to her bedroom, where she took off her shoes and stood before him. “Alright, explain yourself.” Nathaniel looked heartbroken. “I screwed up. I should never have left you. The past few weekends… What’s happened the past few weekends has been… I haven’t experienced something so intense in years… The last time was with you, before you moved away. I wish all my weekends could be like that. If I could, I’d be at your door every night. I want all of my weekends to belong to you. I want you.” “I-It’s hard, Nathaniel. Are you coming back so you can leave better? You shatter my heart every time.” “That won’t happen again.” “Oh? Really?” She cocked her head out of curiosity. “You ended things with me to protect me from your enemies as you rose to power. Now, I’ve been trying to protect you from mine while you attempt to regain normalcy. I couldn’t put you at risk.” “Please, feel free to elaborate.” “I worked for a huge cartel around here. And now they’re out to get me. They threatened to kill me and if I don’t keep working with them they… they…” he began to get choked up, the sadness ravaging it’s way across his face. “Alana, they’re capable of all kinds of things. I’m afraid they’ll come after you. That’s why I stopped everything. I didn’t want to give them the chance to use you against me. To use you period. I screwed up, all these years, I made all the wrong choices. And you reminded me what it’s like to be good, and now it’s too late. It’s much too late.” He flung himself to the floor, wrapping his arms around her. “Please let me tell you. I’m finally ready to.” “Nath…” Seeing him shaking and wrapping his arms around her, tears welled up in her eyes. “Nath… Come on… Sit on the bed…”

When they both sat down, he made sure he was facing her and she took his hand in hers. “It started after high school. I found myself having to get by on my own, financially. My mother kept sending me money, alone, against my father’s will. Then we had a really violent argument one day, about how she was managing my sister’s modeling career… From then on, I had to get by on my own. One day… I ran into the wrong people, a little like you in that alley… The guys were dealing and they spotted me. I tried to negotiate with them to get myself out of there. I promised them they could make even more money. I thought I had been clever, but ever since that day, they’ve never left me alone. Their leader used me to develop the market, to climb the ladder.” “And you haven’t gone to the authorities because you don’t want to risk going to prison.” “Exactly.” “So? Are you an actual dealer? Or just an adviser?” “At first, I was just an adviser. It was convenient for me, I got paid too… The things got out of hand… I started giving orders to some of the guys who worked for us. And without realizing it, I ended up managing the network of dealers…” Alana looked down. “I never thought you’d get mixed up with that sort of thing… If it was hemp, I’d be a little more okay with it… But this is a hard drug ring…” Nathaniel looked down. “I know… And I was eaten up with guilt, so I took action… My way.” “Meaning?” “When they make me transport the drugs, I replace it with inoffensive plant mixtures before they hit the streets and I throw the drugs out. Except that… The jerk I was working with realized it… Its… the same guy who attacked Nina last time, who came after you. And he’s blackmailing me. I thought I could fool them. I thought they were morons. But these guys are… dangerous and they know what they’re doing. When I found out what you’ve become, I wanted to come to you. I wanted your help. But then you and everyone showed me that you’re trying to get out of this life… That you need to rest and have peace. I couldn’t bring you back into it. You’ve gone through so much pain… I couldn’t add to it.” Alana sighed. “Nathaniel, I came back to this city to retrieve you. I came home with the hope that you would forgive me for what I’ve done and leave with me when I graduate. If it means decimating a cartel to free you so you can come with me, I am more than happy to do so.” His eyes grew wide. “Alana…” “You are the most important person to me, outside my family. I will do whatever it takes to protect you. Now, am I the only person who knows?” “No, Amber knows too. She’s kept it to herself. She couldn’t bear to see me go to jail. When my father almost went to prison and the cops dragged him away, handcuffed, she never really got over it… It destroyed her. I can’t put her through that a second time.” “Of course…” “I’m sorry for not having been able to talk to you about it before… But I had to try and protect you.” “By excluding me from your life?” “Exactly, it was the best way to protect you, not to disappoint you, to… not to lose you in the long term. I’m going to leave now… At least I’ve told you the truth.” He stood up and began walking towards the bedroom door. “The hell you are! I’m not letting you leave again!” She grabbed his hand and held him back. “Alana…” He stopped and turned to her. “Why would you come back? Why change your mind and finally admit everything?” “Because I realized you were the only person who made me want to get myself out of this mess. I went home, convinced I had made the right decision… Except that it wasn’t worth it anymore. To keep on doing what I do, without running into you, without being able to see you, or talk to you… You reminded me what it was like to feel carefree. To not worry about anything, for a few hours, long enough to make love.” Alana’s heart began to race as she saw Nathaniel blush. She wanted to kiss him immediately. She wanted to make love to him again… To prove to him that everything is going to be okay. She felt the same desire when she found out what his father was doing to him. But, just as it was back then, she knew this was not the best time for that. He looked deep into her eyes and continued to speak. “Without you, I don’t have the strength. And also because I hope that this time, you won’t let me leave…” She stroked his cheek lovingly and an adoring grin appeared on her face. “And I hope you won’t ever leave again.” He closed his eyes long enough to kiss her palm then looked at her with conviction. “Now, I no longer have anything to hide.” “You won’t ever leave again?” He took her in his arms, hope filling his eyes. “You’ll have me?” “Yes.” “You aren’t afraid of me or disappointed in me?” “Nope. You’re not afraid of getting involved in this relationship?” “You’re important to me Alana. I’ll do everything I can to protect us.” The grin on Alana’s face turned into a tired smile. “That’s more like it.” She took her glasses off, placed them on the bedside table and kissed Nathaniel passionately. Nathaniel held her as tightly as he could while they kissed, abandoning her lips only to place kisses on her forehead, cheeks and neck. “We’ll talk about what to do about your problem later… But, for now, let’s relax.” she smiled as she got up, grabbed her pajamas and walked to the bathroom. He smiled, got down to his underwear and crawled into the bed. Alana walked back into the room wearing a black spaghetti strap shirt and short black shorts. “I love you… You stubborn fool… Don’t you ever forget that.” She sighed as she got in the bed, wrapped her arms around him and used his chest as a pillow. Nathaniel wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “I love you too, Alana.”

———————————————————————————————————–----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
04/06/19:
HOLY CRAP this was long for me to write! Especially considering I used a ton of in episode dialogue! But! I have it done! I guess it’s a good thing it was long seeing as I didn’t post any part to Alana’s canon last week! But, yes, this does take place after “It’s About Time!” and it revolves around Episode 11 of UL. As we finally find out what’s wrong with Nathaniel’s situation, I felt like this blurb was very necessary. By the way, to anyone who needs to know what a “Broodmare” is, it is a female horse who is designated for breeding.
I worked my ass off to get the foreground from the Episode 11 illustration and edit it.

Credit goes to:
ChiNoMiko
Episode Life