Twenty-One: Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

Nathan invited the boys and Calista over for dinner, ignoring the protest from his grandmother. Calista arrived several minutes after the guys did and Lady M suddenly got angry, saying that it was supposed to be a family dinner but Nathan knew she didn't want Calista to be there, she seemed all right with the boys being there. Nathan smirked and ignored her.

Calista was nervous of course, she had no idea why Nathan invited her over for dinner when he knew that his grandmother did not want her there. Nathan was very persuasive when he invited Calista and she could not say no to him, Nathan also told her that he needed to talk to his parents about his future and he would love it if she was there to support him, just in case they disagreed with his plans.

Calista dressed up for the night; she wore a black strapless cocktail dress that reached down just above her knee, she was glowing and happy and that infuriated Lady M even more. The guys stood behind Calista as she greeted the old lady coldly; they were like her bodyguards, they glared at the old lady while giving her their most fake smiles.

Nathan's father sat on the high chair at the end of the long dining table, on his right sat his wife and Nancy whilst Lady M sat on his left side followed by Nathan and then Calista. On Calista's other side was Lucas, they were opposite River and Tristan. Dinner was awkward, a few conversations were shared, mostly between Lady M and her son about the growth of the James Empire.

During the main course, Veronica started asking the teenagers about their school but most of her questions were targeted at Calista, asking her about her parents, Jake and Nancy's piano lessons.

"Nancy feels more comfortable with you, she hates her new piano teacher," Veronica said, Calista suddenly felt guilty. She'd lie to Nancy about concentrating on her studies, she shouldn't have done that.

Calista cleared her throat before answering, "I don't mind being her piano teacher again," she smiled, Nancy's eyes widened and she cheered. Veronica laughed and thanked Calista.

William smiled and turned to the guys, "So boys... what are your plans after high school?"

"I've been accepted by Browns, sir. I'll be studying business management," Tristan answered, Calista raised an eyebrow. It was the first she'd seen Tristan looking so... polite. Of course, he was polite to her parents when he met them at Jake's party but with Nathan's parents, Tristan sounded a bit nervous.

William James nodded, looking impressed. He turned to Lucas. Lucas swallowed his food first before answering, "Yale, sir. I'll be taking up Law." again, Nathan's father looked impressed.

He now turned to River, "I hear you're going back to Greece. I've talked to your father, since he is one of my business partners. I think that it's ridiculous of him to hand over the business to you at this age- I'm not saying you can't do it, I believe in you, River- I just think that you should go to University first before doing such thing, make the most of your teenage years- fall in love, party it up and do whatever you want to do because I tell you, managing a business involves a lot of responsibilities," River only nodded with a smile. Nathan grinned at his dad.

"Thank you for that, sir." River answered, William smiled.

His attention was now on Calista, "What about you, Calista?"

Calista smiled, "I got a scholarship from Juilliard, sir." Veronica's eyes lit up. William didn't seem surprised, Calista guessed Nathan had probably told him.

"Really? That's terrific! Well done!" Veronica congratulated enthusiastically. Calista thanked her.

Nathan's father only smiled and cleared his throat, turning to Nathan. He said, "How convenient, Nathan's decided to go to NYU," Lady M's eyes widened.

Her voice was high pitch, "New York University, are you stupid? New York University is not good enough for your son, William and you know it. Oxford or Cambridge in England are so much more prominent, we have connections and those two will easily accept Nathan. Your father and yourself graduated from Oxford, I don't see why you agreed with NYU for your son," Lady M was talking to William, who looked calm as always.

"NYU is entirely Nathan's decision, he is my son and I know I have the right to disagree but as you can see, Lady M, Nathan is old enough to make his decisions and I've promised to give him my complete support," William said, coldly. The whole table went quiet and waited for Lady M's reply.

When she didn't speak, Nathan cleared his throat and spoke up, "I'd feel better knowing a university has accepted me because of my abilities rather than through my connections, grandma." Lady M gasped and narrowed her eyes at her grandson. He merely smirked at her, it was the first time he'd called her 'grandma' face-to-face.

"How dare you disrespect me, Nathaniel?" she demanded angrily,

Nathan only smiled, "How dare you bribed my girlfriend into breaking up with me? You have no right to do that, you're only my grandmother." Veronica gasped and she glared accusingly at her mother in law.

"You! You are the reason why my son was miserable for a month, how could you?" Veronica angrily asked, pointing at Lady M with utter shock.

The other guys looked at each other and excused their selves but William James told them to stay. They secretly thanked him, they didn't want to miss a perfectly good show.

"I believe that girl will only ruin my grandson's future, I was simply protecting him," she'd looked at Calista in disgust.

"Don't you dare speak to Calista that way. I know the real reason why you wanted me away from her! You want me to marry your friend's granddaughter so you can get your name back in the society again and I know the real reason why you're here, all your friends back in England have turned against you and do you want to know why? 'Cause you're a power hungry, manipulative old witch and you deserve no one," Nathan said, furiously rising from his seat and throwing daggers at the old lady. "I don't want your inheritance and the title, you can give it to the Charity for all I care," Calista grabbed his hand and quietly told him to calm down, he looked at her and sat back down.

Lady M managed to keep it cool but everyone could see that she was humiliated, she turned to William. "You see William, look at your son now. You spoil him with material things but with no discipline!"

William James looked away from her, "Enough, Margaret! We let you stay here for two months without complaint, Lady M. Two whole months and you made the entire family miserable. You said you've changed but how could you do this to your own grandson?" With a sigh, Nathan's father's eyes darkened, "I want you to leave this house now, I'll get someone to take you to the airport once you've gathered up all your belongings, I don't want my children to see you again; no more visits from them and no connections. From now on, you're no longer considered as our family,"

Lady M laughed evilly, "You said the exact same thing to me ten years ago, William. I am your mother and always will be,"

"Well, this time I'll keep my word. You've cross the line, Margaret." he said and with that he called George the Butler and ordered him to prepare one of their five private jets to take the old Viscountess back to where she belonged.

Lady M left before dinner finished and it seemed that the whole James household, including the staff from George the Butler to the pool boy, rejoiced when she'd left. It was the last time they would see the cruel Lady M. By tomorrow the news of the business mogul William James III disowning his own mother would reach England too, even before Lady M could. After dinner, Nathan's parents apologised to the teens before going off to bed.

"Are you kidding me, sir? That was good!" Tristan replied, which made Nathan's father chuckle.

Mr and Mrs. James left the kids in their massive family room. The guys still could not believe that Nathan told his grandmother off. "Why have you not done this before, James? If you did, you could've saved yourself from the one-month misery,"

Nathan shrugged, "I don't know," he turned to his girlfriend and smiled, "Are you OK?"

She smiled brightly and gave him a hug, "My hero!" she said, happily. He laughed and kissed her forehead.

The other guys shook their heads, "Oh, time for strip club!" Tristan said, looking at his watch. Nathan cocked his eyebrow at the boys while Calista glared at River.

"Does Midnight know about you going to the strip club?" she asked River, accusingly.

River turned to Nathan, "Does Calista know you're coming with us too?" Nathan's eyes widened. "If I'm going down, you're going down with me," he whispered to Nathan, grinning mischievously.

Nathan turned to Calista, who looked at him accusingly. "Baby, I swear. I'm not going with them. I didn't even know they're planning to go tonight," he explained and then he turned to the guys with a glare, "I'm a committed man now so you guys don't need to include me to your shenanigans any more,"

"And to answer your question... Midnight knows," River smiled

"It's OK, Nate. Just have fun tonight but not too much, OK?" she agreed, Nathan furrowed his forehead at her. Was she seriously letting him go to a strip club? She gave Nathan a passionate kiss, "I trust you so don't you dare break it,"

"Are you sure?" he asked, she nodded

"Don't worry, Cal. We'll make sure he and River don't get any spanking tonight," Lucas joked,

Calista pouted at him, "Oh yeah and that's gonna make me sleep well tonight," she answered sarcastically. She looked at her watch, it said 11.32. "Hey, it's late. I should go,"

"We'll drop you off," Nathan offered, she nodded.

They were still talking about Lady M's downfall as they drove Calista home, Nathan was driving his black range rover; he was the guys' designated driver by choice. He decided to drive so that he couldn't drink tonight. Calista sat on the front seat and the three guys sat at the back, they were loud and were insulting each other. Calista could only roll their eyes at them.

Nathan walked hand in hand with her until the lobby, he parked the car right in front of the building's main entrance. He didn't feel like letting her go just yet so they stood there facing each other with smiles on their faces.

"Phew, what a night!" Calista said with a sigh of relief. She was so glad that Lady M had gone.

"I know... now that Cruella De Vil is gone..." he said with a smile, he ran his knuckles softly on her glowing face.

She nodded, "Nothing's gonna stop us now," she finished for him and he nodded. He bent down to kiss her. She couldn't help but smile while kissing him.

Beep! Beep!

"Nathaniel, come on! Strip club!" Tristan yelled from the front seat, the window was down. He'd transferred in the front seat the moment Calista got out of the car.

Nathan broke the kiss and glared at his friend and then he turned to Calista, "Are you sure it's OK for me to go with them tonight?"

She nodded, "It's OK, Nate. I trust you not to do anything stupid,"

He smiled, Calista was the perfect girlfriend and he could not ask for more. "Since I'm driving, I'll be choosing the location and I'll make sure to stay away from strip clubs, I promise."

He kissed her again.

"Come on, Nate! The ladies are waiting for Lord Tristan!" Tristan was shouting and that got Calista worried about Tristan waking the entire building.

"Go," she told him, Nathan shrugged and stayed.

"They can wait," he replied, stealing another kiss.

"If you get bored, I can sneak you in tonight. Just give me a ring," she whispered, he smiled against her lips.

"I'll be here," he said, she pulled away from him.

"Now go, Nate."

He nodded, "I love you,"

"Love you too and be careful," she said, he nodded again and began to walk back towards the car. She smiled and watched him drive off before going in the elevator.

An hour later, she received a phone call. Nathan was indeed waiting in the lobby.

"'Most likely to buy the playboy mansion...Tristan Xavier Zhou,'" Calista giggled when she read the 'most likely' section of their yearbook, Nathan shook his head in disbelief.

"Last week, he went home with four girls at the same time, how he got four girls to have sex with him remains a mystery to me," Nathan told her, she agreed.

They graduated a week ago and now they were off to Spain for their last summer vacation together. Calista and Nathan were reading their newly purchased yearbook as they waited for the others to turn up. They were in the airport, in the VIP section of the James Airlines waiting to board Nathan's own private jet. His father had given him one as a graduation present.

"'Most likely to become a supermodel...Mimi Christina Roberts,'" Calista read on, she smiled. "No surprise there seeing as she has just signed a five year contract as Revlon's face," she scanned for their names and she giggled when she finally found Nathan's. "'Most likely to rule the world...Nathaniel Matthew James,'" she looked up at him and stroke his face. "Napoleon," she teased,

Nathan grinned, "What does it say about you?"

"Apparently, I'm mostly likely to marry Nathan James," Calista replied, Nathan smiled proudly and kissed the tip of her nose.

"How very accurate,"

She giggled.

"Tristan, you are absolutely revolting! I don't want to hear your recent sexual encounters, OK?" Ysabella said, in disgust as she and Tristan entered the lounge closely followed by Lucas and Mimi who seemed to have gotten very close since the prom, Jayden walked in a few seconds later, talking to someone on the phone. Typical, Ysabella and Tristan were arguing again.

"God, Ysa. You are so uptight, I wonder why you don't have a boyfriend!" he replied, childishly. Ysabella opened her mouth but couldn't seem to find the right words to throw back. She glared at him and sat down next to Calista and opened her bag to take her iPod out. Tristan seemed to find it amusing when annoying Ysabella so he sat down next to her and snatched her iPod away.

"This is gonna be an interesting vacation," Nathan whispered to her, she nodded.

"Where's Midnight?" Calista asked the new arrivals, ignoring Ysabella and Tristan who were chasing each other around the room. Nathan only rolled his eyes at them

"She's with River, they went to buy some food," Mimi answered,

Lucas grinned cheekily, "Are you sure about that? They might be in some place private. Those two are making the most of their time together before River leaves us for Greece. I bet they won't even talk to us the whole summer," he replied, Mimi stuck her tongue out to him and he laughed, knowing he'd successfully given Mimi an image of River and Midnight screwing each other in a public toilet. "You're so innocent,"

Nathan looked at his watch for the fifth time that day. He couldn't wait to get on the plane and catch some sleep, he hadn't slept properly since their graduation. He'd been invited to a lot of after-graduation parties and he went to all of them with Calista. He took out his phone and dialled River's.

His best friend answered after the tenth ring and he was panting. Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Dude, whatever you're doing with poor Midnight. Stop it, we're leaving soon," he told them,

"Sorry, we'll be there soon." with that, River hang up.

He turned to his girlfriend, "Do I get to meet your grandma Herrera?"

Calista nodded, excitedly. "I haven't seen her for seven years! Don't worry, she's not like Cruella De Vil and my grandfather is awesome, you're going to love them,"

He chuckled and squeezed her hand, they went back to reading the yearbook together. Calista had managed to sit on his lap, "Hey, Hotcakes?" he called, it was his new endearment for her.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you," he told her. Midnight and River entered the lounge, both were in a messy state and out of breath. Tristan gave them a teasing smile while the other rolled their eyes at them. Nathan and Calista ignored them, the couple were in their own little paradise.

She smiled and pressed her lips against him. "For what?"

"For everything, for giving me a chance to fall in love and for taming me and straightening me out before I can mess up my life," he replied, she gave him a hug and they stayed like that until a lady announced that it was time for them to board the plane.

"Spain, here we come!" Mimi childishly exclaimed, Lucas shook his head, chuckling. His eyes sparkled as he followed Mimi.

End.

/note/ Well that's the story of Calista and Nathan. I know this is the bit when the writer says: "Oh my God, I can't believe the story is finally finished!", however I cannot say that because there's a sequel to this story. The story of Lucas and Mimi- I know, I know that you were all waiting for the story of River and Midnight but I've decided to do a story of them set five years later.

But I'm glad to finally finish a story- normally, I get pretty bored after writing ten chapters but I can't believe that I've written 21 chapters. That's an achievement!

The story of Lucas and Mimi will be set in Spain during their vacation. I have a vague plot idea in my head and yet to write them down for development. I hope you will enjoy their story as much as you've enjoyed Nathan and Calista's. I will post the first chapter in a week. So watch out!

Thank you for reading this story from the very beginning to the end. I will try and edit this story while doing Lucas and Mimi's; it'll probably take a long time since I'm on my important year- A levels and then going off to university and all.

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Thank you so much for your reviews. It really means a lot, I now feel confident about my stories. I no longer hide them and without your kind words, I wouldn't be able to finish this story.

You're a lovely bunch and hope to see your names again. :D

YOU ARE ALL VERY SWEET & GENEROUS THAT I THINK YOU SHOULD ALL BE MADE SAINTS.

I would also like to thank those who put my story on alert, add them on their favourite list AND made me their favourite author. Thank you.

(I feel like I'm doing my acceptance speech for a Nobel Prize. lol)

BUT THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED AND THANKS IN ADVANCE TO THOSE WHO WILL.

Love,

Lady K.