I Adore You // Braeden Lemasters

Chapter 3: Scrawny

Natalie sat in the terminal, waiting to hear her flight number called over the loud speaker. It was a Sunday and the airport was really busy. She was tired and was hoping to sleep on the flight. It was early in the morning and the sun had only just come up. Arcade Fire blared into her ears. Good music always made her feel calm. She lay with her head back on the seat until something caught her eye.

A young guy, just a few years older than her, was walking over toward where she sat. He was on the same flight. Why did he look so familiar? Most of the people she knew were from school. But she couldn't place his face... A moment later her flight was announced. She rose from her seat and headed for the terminal gate.

Once on the boarding bridge she realized the handsome dark haired guy was just behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and removed one of her airpods.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you from somewhere? You just look so familiar..."

Smiling, he removed his earbuds and replied, "Um, I'm not sure, sorry. But I do some acting and I'm in a band."

Suddenly she realized. "I just saw your band last Friday! Really great show." she grinned.

He returned the grin, "Really? That's awesome! I'm glad you enjoyed it."

She gave a nod and continued her walk down the bridge. "So you're heading to Ohio?" She asked. Normally Natalie was quiet and shy. But she immediately felt comfortable having a conversation with him.

"I'm actually from Ohio. Only about an hour out of Cleveland."

"Oh wow, same here. I'm from Youngstown."

"You're joking!" He laughed. "I'm from Warren. What a small world."

Warren was about 20 minutes away from Youngstown. Natalie was so surprised at the encounter she had to wonder if this was really happening or if maybe it was a dream.

Before heading to her seat, Natalie said,
"I never got your name,"

"My name's Braeden," he said with a smile.

"I'm Natalie. Nice meeting you," she turned and headed to her seat, as he said the same.

Braeden was about 5 rows up from her, and she sat close to the tail of the plane. She felt butterflies in her stomach when she got settled in. What a sweet guy, she thought.

Braeden turned around once to glance at Natalie, who was fast asleep in her seat. He smirked to himself.

When getting off the plane, Braeden ended up behind Natalie as they headed over the bridge and into the airport.

"Hey, I'm going to be in town for a few days and I'm doing an acoustic set at the amphitheater on Saturday night. You should come by!"

"Okay, yeah. I'll be there." She said with a smile.

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Mikey was blowing up her phone a lot during her first day home. She was a little bothered since they were only in the talking stage and she wanted to spend time with her family. But she missed him, too.

Saturday night she went to the amphitheater, bringing her sister along. Natalie had always been sweet and introverted, and was too nervous to go to the show alone.

There were 4 different artists performing that night, one of them being Braeden. He sat on a stool, all alone on stage with his acoustic guitar in hand. The crowd was no more than 50 people, and was a lot more intimate than that concert she saw at the club a couple weeks back.

Natalie stuck around after his set was over to watch the final artist play. A voice came from behind and she turned to see the scrawny and shaggy haired Braeden slinking over to her.

"Hi!" He said, still full of energy.

"Hey," she said. "Great set! The atmosphere is really great here."

"Thank you so much. Have you been here before?" He asked, stage lights softly shining onto his face. The cool breeze tossed his hair about.

She thought hard. "Not since I was a little girl. But it's a great venue."

"Oh yeah? Who did you see here?"

"I saw a Led Zeppelin tribute band, actually." She laughed.

"Really? That's awesome!" He said. "It's so cool to have a connection to somebody from Cali and from here." They bonded.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I go to CSU, so the only people I know out there are from school."

"Well, glad you came." He chuckled. "I gotta go round up my gear. I've got a bunch of plans with family this weekend before I head back to LA on Monday morning."

"I won't keep you," she said politely.

"You're fine! Sorry I don't have more time. But I wanted to give you my number. You should totally come to more shows once you're back in LA."

She was really caught off guard, but coyly handed him her cell phone. After adding his contact to her phone, he placed it into her hand.

"Thanks again for coming. Drive safe, have a good night!" He said as they parted ways.

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a/n: okay so fun fact, I really do live 15 minutes from Braeden's hometown. Same area code and everything hahah, so I had to incorporate that in here somewhere :)