Chapter four

 “Where have you been?” My mothers voice pierces the silence as I creep through the door. I turn, somewhat nervously, I need not say anything, my face is a dead give away that I know I should be in trouble.

“Um...” I begin, but she cuts me off before I have a chance to explain anything.

“I was worried! You didn't leave a note or anything!” She obviously thinks I was just out walking, and I ponder over whether to explain truthfully or not.

“Well, I didn't plan on being out so long, I was only getting some air” I glance at the clock on the wall. It's only 8:30 but considering when I left, I've been out a while. I never usually go out that early, and if I do, I'm careful to be back in time to see my parents still asleep. My mother has a hint of annoyance in her eyes, but she's not angry as such, more curious, which could be worse.

“So why where you then?” She quizzes

“I walked up to the estate and Zandy was there-”

“Zandy?” She cuts me off again “Why is he here?” She looks slightly puzzled.

“I don't know” I lie “He didn't say. He only arrived early this morning, so he asked me in for breakfast” She observes my expression. It's very tense, the way it gets when I'm straining in the wake of a lie.

“I'm surprised he even recognised you” She turns back to the tea she had been making when I came in, obviously accepting my story, to my relief. I go to ask why he wouldn't recognise me, and then I realize. As far as my mum's aware, the last time Zandy and I saw each other, I was only about ten or eleven. Having changed quite a bit over the years, he probably wouldn't.

“Oh, well, I suppose he just guessed it would be” My voice was cracking but she seemed too tired to notice.

“Yeah, I suppose” She then turned to me, and I knew what she was going to ask.

“So, what did you talk about? Give me the gossip!” She fakes an excited look, but I know she really is

“Not much really” I try acting casual “Just catching up mostly” She seems disappointed but drops the questioning.

The mornings events drift precariously around my mind. I lay on my bed, attempting to fall back asleep, but in vein. I'm not really even trying to be honest. The comfort of the bed gives me the perfect place to think everything through. I twist one of the lilies in my hand. It's from the bunch he gave me, so it's fairly wilting now. I took good care of it, though, so it's lasted longer than I thought. I had never actually thought about it before, or really noticed but, maybe he gave me lilies intentionally. No. It's a stupid thought and I shake it out. They're my favourite flower, but I don't think I ever told him that, why would I? I set it down by my side, unconsciously stroking the petals. He never did tell me why he's here. Is he even here for me? Maybe he just needed a break from the city? But it all seemed a bit too coincidental, he's never came here alone before. I give up questioning him, and myself. As his beautiful face drifts back into my mind, I relax and drift off into a light sleep.

I can faintly hear someone asking for me, but I'm still half sleeping and I don't feel like waking up yet. The noise only gets clearer though. I ignore it, trying to drive it out. I'm not ready to wake up yet! I moan to myself. The noise has softened now. Whoever it was, probably my mother, is being somewhat more gentle now. It's only when I feel a hand on my cheek that I awaken. It's not with anger or any kind of fright though. I just stir, and my brain slowly comes back into focus. It's the most gently I have woken in a long time. I can still feel the soft hand on my cheek, and I know it's him. My eyes flicker open. My smile comes immediately, like I don't even control it when he's around.

“Hey” I mumble, seeing him smiling down at me, softly stroking my cheek. It's so soothing to me.

“Hi, your mum told me just to go through” He says, obviously worried I would question his being in my room when I'm just waking. I'm not even in bed though. My pyjamas are still on from the morning, though the wellies have been removed. I'm just lying on top of my duvet, and now he's next to me.

“I don't think she knew I was sleeping” I admit, instinctively running my fingers through his mess of sandy hair.

“You wanna get some dinner tonight?” I can't help but be slightly taken aback. This would mean becoming somewhat public about out feelings for one another. Not completely revealing, obviously. But they would know we had some kind of romance between us, even if only just beginning. And why should they think anything sinister? I'm just being stupid really, but the idea took me by surprise.

“Um, yeah, sure, I guess” He laughs at my answer

“So many answers squashed into one” He teases, pushing my fringe out of my eyes.

He starts to sit up on the bed,

“I'll pick you up at seven, try and be ready” He winks

“I'm offended at that, I'm always ready on time” He lets out a hollow laugh.

I sit up, becoming level with him once more. He leans forward, and for a moment, I think he's going to kiss me. Instead he nuzzles my nose with his, affectionately.

He begins to move away, starting to stand up to leave, but I grab him, pulling him in to me again, kissing him with more passion than I ever have before. I don't know what it was. I guess I started to realise that by tonight, there was no going back. If any of our families said anything against us, it all became difficult and complicated. I liked it the way it was now. Simple. We just love each other and that's it. He seems to understand my movements. He takes my hand and squeezes it, something I've always found extremely comforting, and leans forward to whisper in my ear.

“Don't worry, everything will work out fine” He flashes me another sweet smile and leaves. I fall back against my wall, sighing deeply. My stomach still feels unsettled, like it's been pushed up into my mouth, and is refusing to come back down.

Kneeling down, I grab the box that sits, hidden, under my bed. Across the lid is written, “Memories and Special things”. Returning to sit on my bed, I open the box, starting to sift through it's contents. There are a few random bits of jewellery, some tickets from past gigs, old pictures and birthday cards that I deemed particularly worthy of keeping. At the bottom of the box, I find his letter. It still smells like it did the first time I read it. I read it over and over until the words are stuck in my mind. I lay for hours, just thinking of him. I reach into the box again, retrieving a old photo, worn and dusty. I haven't looked at it in a while now. His eyes shine up at me. I laugh at how tiny we all look. I was only about seven when it was taken. The two of us sit, along with two other people, on a grassy bank, smiling back at the camera, ice cream in hand. The other two people are both of our sisters. We were all so close. The best friends I had as a child. I almost well up, looking back at what we all used to have. To have him back in my life means more to me than I can ever say. I always thought we would meet again one day. I was drawn to him, and I couldn't explain why, or how.

Reviews

[Ian H Morrison]

it is even better the second time reading it

[Beck Louise]

hahaha thank you! :)

[Theresa]

Ahh, love the romance and the hint of mystery. I want to keep reading. Excellent work. You have such great description.

[quarintine_deathangel]

but in vein. I'm :it should be in vain
about out feelings: it should be our
Excellent chapter with some good twists. I'm not a romantic but this was pretty good, thanx for the read request ^.^

[Beck Louise]

D****t I knew that spelling was wrong but my head just couldnt focus haha, thanks :) Thank you for the great review :)

[quarintine_deathangel]

I've messed up spelling before too XD and welcome

[That_Girl]

Aww how sweet! But I'm confused just slightly... and you probably already explained this but I can't recall... why are they keeping their meetings a secret?

[Beck Louise]

Yea, theres a small part in chapter one where I very briefly explained :) Zandys uncle is Becky's mums boss, so they really shouldn't be together, not the done thing :)

[That_Girl]

OH! That's right... sorry. Okay. :)

[Beck Louise]

It's fine hehe :) I probably didnt explain it well enough :)

[That_Girl]

No no no... I'm sure you did... I just read a lot on here and it slipped my mind. :)