Yes, So I am pretty sure that we have all come to the conclution that I SUCK! The only excuse that I have is that life is absolutely INSANE right now...Has been for a while but that's not something that I am going to be getting into...You wouldn't want to know anyways, trust me! So yeah, this chapter was difficult as hell to write when I first tired so I had pushed it aside for a while thinking that maybe if I take a little break I'd be able to get back into writing...That obviously didn't happen how I wanted it to...Nooooo it had to take me almost three months just to pull this chapter together! I don't think I have even gone that long without posting something..

But anyways! Here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy it (well those of you who have stuck around) You're all amazing and loyal fans and i <3 u all =)

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The days that followed went by quickly. Before she knew it Celeste was standing on the shore staring out at the ocean. Soon she and the rest of her friends would be heading off to the airport to head back home. She smiled to herself and thought about how all her friends were feeling at that moment. No doubt they were all dreading the hours they had to travel. They were all hung over from the night before. Who in their right mind would want to be traveling anywhere while they were hanging? 

As Celeste continued to look out at the ocean she couldn’t keep from thinking about everything that had happened over the last week. It had to be the best week she’s had in a long time. This one week vacation was something she had been needing. It was made all the more better that Nate had come along. Though she knew that she would have had fun with just her friends, it still would not have been quiet the same without Nate.

“Celeste,” Nate called out. She turned and looked over her shoulder at where he was standing. “Time to go”

“I’ll be right there” she smiled turning her attention back to the water.

The memories that she had made over the last week would stay with her forever. The pictures that they had all taken would help with those memories as well. It was a trip that she wouldn’t have missed for the world. Granted that most of their time was spent partying in one place or another didn’t matter. The only thing that matter was that she was with the most important people in her life. 

With one last lingering gaze at the horizon she turned on her heel. Celeste wrapped her arm around Nate’s waist as soon as she was near him and led him lead her through the lobby and out to the waiting car. She stifled a laugh as she could sight of her friends. There were all sleeping in the car, mouths hanging open. It was too bad that her camera battery had died cause it was such a Kodak moment in the back seat.

“I wish my camera wasn’t dead,” she sighed facing the front. “That back there,” she said hooking her thumb over her shoulder. “Is the best picture that I could possibly take.”

Nate chuckled “I would let you use my phone to do it but it’s dead.” 

“So is mine, I completely forgot to charge it when we got back in last night. Aaron is going to kill me, I can just imagine how many times he’s called already.”

“Hmm,” Nate hummed “I’ll say about. . .twenty missed calls once you get a chance to plug in your phone.”

“Thirty-Seven” she grinned 

“That’s kind of excessive, don’t you think?”

“Have you met my brother?”

“Ah,” Nate chuckled “You have a point there. Can’t fault him for it though, if I were in his shoes I’d be blowing up Jessica's phone too”

“You’d probably be worse” Celeste pointed out. She knew she was right, Nate would blow a gasket if he couldn’t get in touch with his little sister. 

“Yeah,” he sighed “You’re probably right.”

“Oh, there is no 'probably’ about it.” she grinned

Nate smiled “Fine, fine. You’re right.”

“I know,” Celeste nodded

~*~

The flight back to the states seemed to take longer than it did when they first left. It felt as if they had just gotten on the plane and now Celeste and the rest of the group were pouring out into the baggage claim. Hunter, Jay and the twins were doing a whole lot better after sleeping during the whole flight.

At first Celeste didn’t think that she or Nate would be able to get them up long enough for them to actually get on the plane. It hadn’t been as hard as either of them had thought it would be.  But of course, as soon as they were all situated in their seats their friends had all fallen asleep. 

“I can’t believe that our vacation is over,” Nina grumbled “It was the best Spring Break ever”

“None of us are happy that it’s over, sis” said Maddie with a roll of her eyes. 

“There’s always next year!” Jay exclaimed with a huge smile. “Just think, we have a whole year to plan another trip.”

“I like where you’re going with this,” Nina grinned looping her arm through Jay’s and pulling him toward the exit after they grabbed their bags.

“Great,” Hunter grumbled “Those two planning together can’t be good.”

“Can’t stop them now,” Celeste said “Let’s just get out of here.”

Nate grinned over at Celeste while he grabbed their bags - handing one to Celeste. Wrapping an arm around her shoulder they all wandered out of the building to where Jay and Nina were waiting for them. They were having a very animated discussion about where everyone would go for Spring Break the following year. Celeste and Maddie shared a look and both rolled their eyes. It wasn’t like they were running out of time to plan a trip. It was a year away.

“Can you both take a break on the planning so we can get out of here?” Celeste asked “I’d rather not have either of you getting involved in any kind of accident because you were too busy talking and not paying attention to your surroundings.”

“Yes, Ce, because you pay so much attention to whats going on around you when you’re with Nate,” Nina shot back playfully. “But, once again Mother you are right”

With a shake of her head Celeste pulled Nate into the parking lot. When she had talked to Aaron the day before he had let her know where he would be leaving Nate’s truck. He had also told her that he would drop it at the airport that morning - before their flight landed. It didn’t take long for the group to spot Nate’s truck and once they did they all breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Aaron hadn’t decided to make them hunt down the thing. Even though he had let them know where it would be, there was always a chance that they could have gotten lost in the huge parking lot. 

It had been decided - before they left for Mexico - that even though Nate’s family was in Phoenix he was going to drive everyone else home first. During the drive back to Hilton Valley Celeste couldn’t say that she missed it all that much. It had been a very long time since she had gotten away from that place for longer than a weekend. Sure, the place would always be home for her but that was all. 

“I can’t wait to get to your grandparents house,” she sighed happily “I really want to see Brook. I’ve missed her”

“Me too,” Nate nodded “I haven’t ever been away from her for this long.”

“I bet you can’t wait to have her in your arms.”

“I can’t. When I do I’ll have my two favorite girls with me again.”

“The two of you should just get married already” Nina piped up from her her perch in the back seat with Maddie. Hunter and Jay had volunteered to sit in the bed of the truck. 

“Please, don’t start” Maddie groaned 

“What?” Nina said sliding a glance at her sister. “We all know it’s going to happen eventually, they are both adults and I personally think that they should just get it done and over with already.”

“You’re impossible” Maddie muttered 

“As fun as I know this conversation is going to be, this is your stop.” Celeste giggled. Leave it to Nina to bring up something like marriage at the most random times.

“Call us later,” Maddie smiled as she reached around the seats to give both Cece and Nate hugs. 

“Don’t forget to let me know if you change you mind and decide to head to Vegas. I wouldn’t mind tagging along if you plan on eloping.” Nina teased before she hopped out of the truck. 

It didn’t take long to drop off both Hunter and Jay since Jay decided to hang out at Hunter’s place for a while before he had to go to work. Both Cece and Nate had laughed when Jay told them he had to work that night. He had, had the cutest face as he told them he didn’t want to go and wold rather stay home in bed. He hadn’t yet gotten back to reality yet and probably wouldn’t for a few days. 

Nate had offered to take Celeste back to her house so that she was able to drop off her bags but she refused. She wasn’t ready to give up her time with him yet. Since his family was going to be staying at his grandparents house through the weekend she had asked if it was alright if she stayed as well. Nate laughed it off and he said that he just wanted to know if she wanted to drop off her things. He wasn’t going to be letting her go till Sunday. Apparently he had gotten the okay from his family and Aaron before they even left for Mexico.

As they drove to Phoenix Nate kept on hand intertwined with Celeste’s the whole way. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face even if she tried. Just looking over at him had her smiling. Sure, Nate always made her smile - without even trying - but this was different. Their relationship was different. She bit her lip and turned to look out the window. Of course their relationship was different. Barely a week ago she had given herself to Nate - all of herself. Just thinking about that night had her blushing.

They hadn’t done it again after that night. That didn’t stop them both from doing other things though. There had been nights were there had been a whole lot of touching and exploring. Others were spent cuddled in each others arms. They had joined their friends most night but usually ended up going back to the hotel early for spend time with each other. 

“Mm, I can guess what you’re thinking about right now” Nate whispered 

“Can you now?”

“Yeah, I most definitely can.” he nodded “You’re thinking about all the things that I can do to that delectable body of your’s. Thinking about all the things I have done. Baby, we’ve barely even scratched the surface.”

Celeste could only sit and stare at Nate as he went on to list all the things that he wanted to do to her. She could feel her face heating with every word that fell from his lips. Her body was also heating, wanting. He was just lucky that he was driving, if he wasn’t Celeste would be held liable for her actions. As it was she tucked her hands under her thighs to keep from reaching out to him. She would not be the cause of an accident if she couldn’t keep her hands to herself. 

She was relieved - not in the way she wanted to be - when they pulled up to Nate’s grandparents home. That relief was short lived once she noticed that there was a police car parked in the driveway as well. Celeste couldn’t come up with any sort of explanation as to why there would be a officer at the house. 

“What the hell.” Nate muttered 

Both stepped out of the truck at the same time and headed for the front door. Neither bothered with knocking, not like Nate needed to it was his families home after all and they were expecting them both. She just hoped that they hadn’t called the police since neither she nor Nate were able to call when they landed. That would be a tad bit over board if that was the case.

Celeste could hear weeping when they stepped into the foyer. She couldn’t distinguish was coming from, all she knew was that it was a female - two to be exact. Nate gripped her hand in his and tugged her toward the living room. With every step that they took the weeping got louder. She felt her hand grasp Nate’s tighter. Some thing was seriously wrong. That much was obvious with the police car out front. But, she could feel it in her bones. Whatever they were about to walk into was going to change everything. 

“What’s going on?” Nate questioned as they stepped into the room. All eyes turned to them. 

“Oh, Nathaniel!” his mother cried. She rushed forward, throwing her arms around his neck. “I am so sorry!”

“Mom?” Nate whispered pulling back. “What happened?”

“I turned my back for a second. Just a second I swear!” Jessica sobbed “It’s all my fault.”

“Will someone please, tell me what’s going on?” Nate asked “Where’s Brooklyn?”

Shock. That’s what Celeste was feeling. She knew even before anyone could answer that Brooklyn was gone. Jessica just cried harder as their father wrapped his arms around her, whispering into her ear. 

“I think you should sit down for this, son.” the officer said 

“No, I think that someone should tell me just what the hell is going on!” Nate yelled “I pull up to see a patrol car sitting out front then I come in here to find my sister, mother and grandmother all crying.”

“Brooklyn’s been taken.” his father said. The words were spoken so softly that at first Celeste wasn’t sure that she had heard him right. Even if she knew that those exact words were going to come out of someone’s mouth she just hoped that she was wrong. 

“What did you just say?” Nate asked calmly. Too calmly to mean anything good. “I could’ve sworn that you just said my daughter was taken.”

“You heard correctly,” the officer said

“We tried calling you, we did.” his mother sniffed “We tried calling both of you.”

“I hope to God that this is just some sort of sick joke.” Nate said through clenched teeth. 

“I’m afraid not,” the officer said solemnly “We got the call just a few short hours ago. She was taken from a convenience store just down the road.”

“I’m so sorry Nate.” Jess cried “I am so, so sorry. It’s my fault. All my fault.”

“I’m aware that you’ve just returned from a trip but I need you to come down the station to answer a few questions.”

Without so much as a word to anyone in the room Nate turned on his heel and stomped out of the room. On his way out he grabbed Celeste’s hands and tugged him with her. She could feel the tremors that wracked his body. She could feel the rage simmering just below the surface. They both knew who had done the unthinkable. There was only one person on that list. That person was Sam. 

Walking into the station wasn’t something that Celeste ever thought she would do. This was so completely different from that time she and Nate had went to see the sheriff back home. It was so much worse than that. The officer escorted them to an interview room and had them wait while he went to speak with his superior officer. 

“Nate?” Celeste whispered. He hadn’t said a word to her during the drive over. 

“Mr. Anderson,” said a detective as he stepped into the room. “I’m Detective Sanchez and I’m leading the case for your daughter.”

“Let’s skip the formalities, shall we. I want to know everything that happened.” Nate ground out.

“For everything that your mother and sister told the other officer, they had taken a trip to the store to pick up a few things. Your mother separated from your sister and you daughter when they entered the store. Your daughter had wanted something and you sister offered to take her to get it. She said that she turned her back on the cart to get something off the shelf and when she turned around you daughter was gone. A few of the workers had seen a young woman walk out of the store with a young child. Said that the little girl was crying but couldn’t make out what she was saying.”

“Did they get a good look at the young woman?” Celeste asked even though she knew who it was.

“They didn’t but, we did get the security tapes from the store and shows the young woman enter the store alone and leave shortly after with your child. I would like to show them to you to see if you recognize the young woman.”

“Oh, I assure you that I know exactly who is responsible for this without even looking at the tape. But, I would like to see it anyway.” Nate fumed. 

Detective Sanchez inserted the video and pushed play and all Celeste could do was watch on with wide eyes. She could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched Brooklyn being taken. She looked so scared in the video. Terrified. Celeste’s eyes were glued to the screen as Sam looked over her shoulder with a smirk on her face. 

Nate’s control on himself snapped. He stood from his seat so quickly that he sent the chair toppling over. His fist went flying into the wall, the sound causing Celeste to flinch. He shouted out things that she could hardly understand. There was just too much going on in her own head. The sound of her pulse pounding in her ears was the only things that she could hear. Nate was kneeling on the ground, his head against the wall, knuckles bloodied.

Raising slowly, Cece walked over and knelt next to him. She looked up at the detective who stood off to the side and nodded. 

“We know who she is. That young woman on the tape.” she whispered “Her name is Samantha Cohen, she’s Brooklyn’s biological mother.”

“Do you have any idea where she might go? Or why she would do this?”

“No, I don’t know where she would go but, I do know why she did this.”

Celeste went on to tell the detective everything that had happened since Sam had popped back into Hilton Valley. She also informed him on what had taken place when Brooklyn was born and how Sam had dropped the child off with Nate’s family before disappearing. She told him everything, not leaving out a single detail. 

It was a few hours before they were able to leave and Celeste needed to call Aaron. She hadn’t meant to go this long with out getting in touch with him. But under the circumstances she knew he wouldn’t hold it against her. As they sat in the truck Celeste twisted the fabric of her shirt in her hands. Nate was still fuming, he wouldn’t stop until he had his daughter in his arms again - she knew that. 

“Son of a bitch!” Nate shouted punching the steering wheel. “She is unbelievable!”

He hit the wheel a few more time. Each time it caused Celeste to flinch in her seat. She knew that he would never turn his anger toward her - or hit her for that matter - she was still afraid. She had never seen his so livid before. He wasn’t even that mad when he punched that boy in school. But this, this was different. The whole entire situation was different. His daughter was gone. His child. The one thing that he held closest to his heart had been ripped away and there was nothing Celeste could do to go back and change it.