PRESENT TIME

Daniel was throwing a Halloween party.

I didn't know it yet, but Zelena was feeling uneasy about Nate. She didn't know how to cope with him being the one who beat Tyler nearly to death. She didn't know how to cope with seeing him choke Maddy, and she didn't know how to cope with Nate hurting her. The bruises on her shoulders were starting to go away, but she would always remember that it happened.

She couldn't seem to bring herself away from Nate.

"Is it too much?" Zelena asked when she walked out of her room and into the living room where her brother was waiting, and with him was also; Rue, Jules, Kat, Lexi, and Cassie and they all smiled at her.

"No, Zee you look so hot!" Cassie exclaimed.

"You look completely terrifying... in a good way," Rue said, and Zelena smiled.

"You look great, sis. Go have fun, okay?" Benjamin said, before kissing her on the cheek.

"Thanks, Benny." She said, giving him a smile before she left with her friends.

"Zelena... has your brother always been that hot?" Jules asked, and Zelena raised an eyebrow as she looked over at the girl who was dressed as an angel. She also saw the look that came onto Rue's face, and she shook her head.

"He's my brother, I don't pay attention to shit like that," Zelena said.

"Wait, guys... did you hear about Nate?" Cassie asked, looking at the group.

"No," Kat said, but Zelena had, and hearing Nate's name made her sick to her stomach, but also made her heart flutter at the exact same time.

Nate had been temporarily expelled. At first, Nate spent most of his days in bed. Then he decided to spend his days driving around aimlessly. Sometimes, he'd check in on Zelena. Sometimes he'd check in on Jules. Or watch her house at night. He met Zelena every Friday night at the motel. He looked forward to it every week. Zelena always made him feel better. And in turn, he made Zelena feel better.

FLASHBACK

Nate Jacobs and Zelena Lincoln found themselves once again tangled in a set of bedsheets, but this time at the motel they met at every week. Every week that passed, Zelena found herself less and less excited to come, but she still did anyway. Something inside of her was telling her that she needed Nate, that she loved him, and even through all the horrible things he did.

She still wanted him.

"Do you think it's always going to be like this?" Nate asked as the two of them watched TV after they had finished.

"I don't know... I feel like you need a plan." Zelena said, as Nate's fingers lightly stroked her arm. She hated and loved his touch at the same time. It gave her body a tingly sense when he touched her, but it also made her feel sick to her stomach knowing that the same hands that made her feel good were also the reason for the bruising on her shoulders. Little did Zelena know.

Nate had a plan.

PRESENT

Zelena wandered outside of Daniel's house where she saw Fez lighting a blunt, and she took a deep breath before clearing her throat. She knows that she owes him the biggest apology in the world, and she only hoped that he didn't hate her. When Fez heard her clear her throat, he looked over and his eyes softened seeing his friend.

"Hey, what's up, kid?" He said.

"Hey, Fez." She said, and then she started to play with her fingers. "Uh, look... I owe you an apology." She continued and Fez shook his head.

"Nah, come on, now. We're good." Fez said to her.

"For real, man..." Zelena trailed off as she walked over to the couch that he was sitting on and joined him. "I said some really fucked up shit I didn't mean." She said.

"Listen, Zee. You a drug addict. I don't take nothin' a drug addict says personally. 'Cause I don't believe nothing a drug addict say. I love you, I hate you. You the best. Go fuck yourself. It's all the same shit. You know what I'm saying? Y'all just looking for an angle in." Fez said, and Zelena nodded her head.

"Yeah, I know... but...-As your friend, I need you to know that I'm sorry. And I love you." Zelena said to him.

"I love you too, kid," Fez said, looking up at her, and Zelena was near to tears.

"Thank you for not... selling me drugs." She said, and Fez nodded his head.

"As your friend, I got you." He said, and Zelena sighed, taking a deep breath before pulling her knees to her chest and laying her head down on her knees. So much was racing through her mind, and she was sober, but she didn't want to be, she could slowly feel herself sinking into a depressive state. "You sober?" Fez asked.

"Yeah... unfortunately." She said, laughing a little. She had only been sober for one day, fully. On and off for hours, she still felt like shit and felt like her life was falling apart, but she was trying to not turn to drugs, and so far, it had been working.

"And how's that?" Fez asked.

"You know, it's weird. I've been fucked up so long that it kind of feels like a new drug." Zelena said.

"I feel you," Fez said.

"The highs are high. But, the uh... the lows are low."

―

"Rue." Zelena's voice was outside of the bathroom as she lightly knocked. She saw Rue quickly walking through the party, but she also heard that she was crying as she went past her, and Zelena immediately followed her. "Rue... it's me, it's Zee... can I come in?" She asked.

"Yeah..." Rue said, wiping her eyes as Zelena opened the bathroom door and then locked it behind her. She saw Rue sitting on the toilet lid, tears streaming down her cheeks and Zelena bent down in front of her.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Zelena asked.

"I think Ali was right about Jules..." Rue whispered, and Zelena stood up a little bit, wrapped her arms tightly around Rue, and hugged her. Zelena figured that Rue was probably crying about what happened in the pool because she saw it as she was sitting with Fezco.

"It's okay... come on... let's, I'll walk you home." She said, and Rue nodded her head before the two girls left the bathroom and ultimately left the house.

"Rue... Zelena." Lexi's voice was heard as she saw the two girls walking out. Zelena had a secure arm wrapped around Rue as they walked outside, and Lexi followed. "What happened?" Lexi asked. Rue turned around and faced the girls.

"Uh... I'm a burden." Rue said.

"What?" Lexi asked.

"No you aren't, Rue... don't think like that," Zelena said.

"Yeah. Um... I'm sorry, I'm just... I'm a burden and it is what it is, and it's embarrassing and it's stupid, but it's true..." Rue said, and Zelena shook her head.

"Rue... if Jules is making you feel like a burden... then she's not good enough for you," Zelena whispered, frowning at her. She hated to hear Rue talk about herself like that. Both Zelena and Lexi wrapped Rue in a hug.

"No, don't say that," Lexi said to her, as both girls had their arms wrapped around Rue, and Rue embraced them back. "You're not a burden." Lexi continued.

"You're not, Rue. Not at all." Zelena whispered, and Rue was near to tears despite their words, because she felt like a burden, and then Jules came stumbling out of the door and looked at the three girls.

"Rue. What's wrong?" Jules slurred.

"We're gonna head out," Zelena said, as Rue turned away from Jules.

"No, no. It's just because you're not dancing with me." Jules said.

"Yeah, Jules... that's not the problem," Zelena said, suddenly becoming irritated with the blonde. She hated seeing Rue upset over her, and Zelena had a bad feeling about her from the beginning when she cut herself in front of her and Nate at McKay's party. Jules wrapped her arms around Rue, and Zelena saw Rue did not return the embrace and she lightly moved Jules away from Rue.

"Jules, you're soaking wet and really drunk," Lexi said.

"And you're dry and dressed like Bob Ross," Jules said back to her.

"Okay, and she looks fucking great." Zelena quickly came to Lexi's defense.

"Okay, I think we're gonna go," Lexi said while Jules was only laughing, but Zelena was starting to get really irritated with Jules.

"Don't be fucking boring. This whole town is so fucking boring. I don't care." Jules said.

"Uh, would you like to come with us, Jules?" Rue asked, and Jules shook her head. "Okay, well, then, how are you gonna get home?" Rue asked.

"I don't know, and I don't care," Jules said, before stumbling back into the party, which made Zelena roll her eyes.

"Okay... let's go," Zelena said.

"I can't... I can't fucking leave her." Rue said, walking back inside, and Zelena sighed, before following in after her. She definitely did not want to be here or stay at this party, but she wasn't going to leave Rue here alone with Jules.

She felt her phone vibrating and she had a bunch of missed calls and text messages from Nate, but she continued to ignore them. Her head was so foggy when it came to Nate. She wanted to cut him off, but she also just wanted him to stay by her side and never leave.

Zelena was thinking that maybe she should've answered the phone, but if she had known what he did yesterday. She never would've answered the phone again.

―
FLASHBACK

Nate Jaocbs went back to Tyler's apartment, he was sitting in the living room. When Tyler walked out of the bathroom and back towards the living room, he didn't see Nate sitting there yet, but Nate spoke up. "Morning, Tyler," Nate said, which caused Tyler to jump.

"Fuck, oh god..." Tyler said.

"Sit down, Tyler," Nate said.

"Please, man. Please don't fucking hurt me again. Please." Tyler said, slowly walking forward.

"Tyler, I'm not gonna hurt you. You're in a fucking neck brace. Just sit down. I want to have a mature conversation. Come on." Nate said. Tyler slowly walked over to the couch as he kept his eyes on Nate.

"About what?" Tyler asked.

"Your options. It's okay. Sit." Nate said, pointing to the chair that was opposite of him and Tyler slowly took a seat.

"What are my options?" Tyler asked.

"Not good, man. But one's better than the other." Nate said.

"Oh, fuck." Tyler responded, before shaking his head. "Please, dude. I...-I was in the hospital for, like... seven days. I...-I...-My retina detached, and I can't...-I can't see, and... and I get migraines constantly, and I can barely breathe through my nose...-" Nate cut him off.

"...-Tyler... Tyler. I don't care. I need you to take a breath. Relax. I need you to go into your room and put some clothes on. Then I need you to get in your car and drive down to the East Highland police station. You're gonna walk up to the receptionist, and you're gonna tell her that you'd like to confess to a crime." Nate said.

"What crime?" Tyler asked.

"The second night of the carnival, you ran into Madeline Perez, who's a junior at East Highland High. You'd been stalking her since she turned down your sexual advances. You confronted her and asked her why she'd been ignoring you. She said it was because she had a boyfriend. You became enraged and you choked her." Nate said.

"What's my other option?" Tyler asked.

"Well, I mean, go about your day. But, at some point, Madeleine Perez is gonna go down to the East Highland Police Station. She's gonna walk up to the receptionist. She's gonna say that she'd like to report a crime." Nate said. He had now stood up and walked over to Tyler's shelf, and Tyler fully turned his body around.

"What crime?" Tyler asked.

"On the weekend before school started, she went to a party. She got intoxicated. She was raped in the swimming pool by a 22-year-old college student named Tyler Clarkson. Who, on the second night of the carnival assaulted and raped her again." Nate said.

"You can't prove that I was at the carnival," Tyler said.

"You sure about that?" Nate asked.

"Yeah. I was with Benjamin... and Zelena called frantically asking Benjamin to pick her up after she saw something happen. She wouldn't tell us. I'm not going to confess to a crime I didn't do. You make me do this, Zelena will hate you forever." Tyler said.

"Zelena already knows I put you in the hospital, and she still wants to be with me, so no... I don't think she'll care, but we'll make you confess to one that you did commit." Nate said, but he didn't know how wrong he was about Zelena. "Either way, it doesn't fucking matter." Nate snapped.

"Whatever you're doing to manipulate Zelena, stop it. Out of all the lives you're fucking up right now, she's already been through enough and doesn't need you wrecking her life too."

―

Zelena was in the kitchen with Rue and Jules, while Rue was trying to get Jules to stop drinking. Zelena had a cup of water in her hand, but when she looked up towards the door, she immediately dropped the cup, water splashing on her legs and her stomach dropped at what she saw. Nate Jacobs walked inside, dressed as a prison inmate, but that wasn't what made Zelena sick to her stomach.

His walking in with Maddy is what made her sick.

Everyone started to chant Nate's name as they walked to the kitchen where Nate made direct eye contact with Zelena who was starting to shake. She watched as Nate lifted Maddy onto the counter and kissed her before they both got drinks. Then Zelena watched as Nate kissed Maddy again after they took their drinks, and she truly felt inside of her that she was going to be sick.

She ran out of the house, past Nate and Maddy and Nate watched her go, but didn't go after her. Rue immediately went after her and when she got outside and away from the house, she hunched over the grass and let everything out of her system, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Zelena..." Rue said, and Zelena looked up, her eyes filled with tears, and Rue could see the heartbreak in her eyes as Zelena shook her head.

"She'll always mean more than me."

―

Damn, that's tough. What do we think is gonna happen with Zelena now?

Don't forget to vote/comment.

xoxo.