The Return (Once Upon a Time sequel)

Chapter 22

"Jade..." He breathed out. 

Before I could process what was happening, I was engulfed in a sweaty embrace. I tried to process the fact that he called me by my real name. Finally, my real name rolled off of his tongue.
 Nate and I stood like that for what felt like forever but I eventually pulled away, remembering that he too had upset me. But I was here for another reason as well. 

"Why do I hear about you not being well?" I immediately started about the reason of me being here. 

Nate's shoulders slumped and he seemed angered by my words. He sighed and looked away for a split second, before focusing back on me.

"It's nothing, really." He muttered. 

"Nothing? Nate, who are you trying to fool here? Starting fights with Lost Boys, disappearing without letting anyone know where you're going, closing up. That is not nothing." I snapped.

Nate looked away again in shame and I know I had hit a touchy spot. But I didn't care. 

"What is wrong with you? Ever since my mother arrived you've been distant and not only to me but to everybody. You have been acting like a jerk and now I'm standing here talking to you like a mother, trying to slap some sense in you." I continued, anger and frustration oozing out of me.

"You have no right to act like this, no one did you anything to give you any reason." I pushed.

"Oh yeah, like you know what happened." Nate yelled, taking me aback.

"You know nothing, Jade. Only what Grace told you and even that is not nearly close to what everyone knows about why I'm acting like this. I'm just thinking." He explained. 

"Thinking? How is picking up fights a way of thinking? I walked out here to see you punching a bag with so much force you could bash a skull in. And then you tell me you're thinking?" I yelled back. 

I didn't know why I was so frustrated. Maybe it was because of the fact that I had been sitting inside for the past few weeks or because the sun and the fresh oxygen that I inhaled had some sort of aggressive gas in it.  I think the first option is more likely though...

"You don't understand, Jade!" Nate shouted over my voice, causing me to stop yelling at him.

We continued with a staring contest. I stared deeply into Nate's magnificent blue eyes, but gave up first as I looked to the side. I breathed out slowly, trying to find my cool self.

"If I don't understand then explain it to me. Tell me what is wrong and what is making you act like this. Don't you want to be understood by somebody? Why keep hiding in your shell?" I pushed. 

"Because it's too complicated to understand. Even I can't put my finger on my behavior." Nate spoke up.

He paused, his hand cupping my cheek so that my head would turn to him. I lifted my eyes off the ground and stared into his once more. 

"I have been trying to find the reason that makes me this mad. I didn't know where to start in the beginning but eventually, I found my clue. And now I'm on a path that will hopefully lead me to an answer. It won't take long, I promise. I've picked up my pace and I think I'm getting close." Nate paused again, hope taking over his features. 

"And if I get my answer, you'll be the first to know Jade. You are closest to me out of all the creatures on this island." My heart melted at his words but I didn't want to show it. I shouldn't. 

I couldn't.

Nate then pulled me into another hug. He seemed calmer, gentler. He seemed slightly more himself, but knowing him for a while now, I knew that he hid his anger inside of him.