I Adore You // Braeden Lemasters

Chapter 10: Pulling Leaves Off Trees

Natalie was busy with work the following days. She worked behind the counter of a small restaurant that sold mainly coffee and baked goods. Mikey had finally stopped sending her messages, so she was relieved. She had been feeling homesick off and on again. But she knew it was too soon and too expensive to fly back to Ohio.

"Hey! How's your day?" Natalie's phone buzzed. She locked her screen and slid it back into her pocket.

Later that night she received another message, "What's up?" He said.

The following morning — "Hey you okay?" Natalie ignored the messages.

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One night Natalie and Aubrey sat on the back patio drinking lemonade.

"Are you excited for senior year?" Aubrey asked.

"I don't know." Natalie shrugged.

"You don't seem to be too sure about anything." Aubrey chuckled nervously. "How are things with Braeden?"

She shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Aubrey demanded, laughing and giving Natalie a smack on the leg. "I thought you really liked him! You guys were hanging out, what's going on?"

Natalie looked away for a minute.

"Have you noticed I haven't really been with anybody the entire time I've been in college?"

Aubrey shrugged. "I mean I guess. But so what? Some people focus more on school than boys."

"I'm going back to Ohio after I finish school."

Aubrey looked at her nervously, "You've been afraid to get close to someone, you think?"

"I don't know. I mean just think about how hard it would be to be with somebody long distance... I don't know if I could do that. Be with somebody just to leave them?"

"You deserve to be happy, though. Maybe you should at least talk to Braeden about it. It seems like he really likes you."

"Yeah, maybe."

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The Next Day

Work was slow in the evening. Natalie was behind the counter in her apron, cleaning the counters down.

"Hey," a voice said.

She glanced up to see Braeden bearing a sheepish grin. She acknowledged he was there and continued cleaning.

"Are you upset at me? I don't know what I did..." he said softly.

She tried to ignore him, and moved to wiping down the other end of the counter. He followed.

"You didn't do anything." She said, still cleaning.

"Nat," he said trying to meet her eyes. "What is it? Can we talk about it?"

She sighed and tried to think of what to say.

Braeden broke the silence, "Why are you pushing me away? You've been ignoring me for days. I really care about you, can you at least tell me what's wrong?"

She finally looked up to take in his handsome features. His eyes were desperate and somewhat frantic. She felt herself get sucked in, and then dropped her eyes to the ground.

"I miss you," he said.

"My shift ends in 20 minutes. We can talk then."

"My house?"

"Sure, that's fine." She mumbled, with a small smile.

Braeden bit his cheek and watched her as she cleaned. He was confused and hurting. He wanted to do something, anything, to fix things. But he took a step back and turned around, walking away. Out of her peripheral vision she watched him leave. She choked back a tear and covered her mouth for a moment, trying to regain control over her emotions.

Natalie had been so confused anymore. She liked him. She wanted to share something special with someone, and inside she knew she deserved something nice. Yet she felt so many conflicting feelings.

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Braeden appeared at the door as soon as she knocked. He was anxious, trying to prepare for a hard conversation. He figured she'd let him down gently. Natalie had not been to his house since she'd accidentally fallen asleep there after getting drunk on his couch.

"Hi." She said softly.

"Hey." He smirked sadly.

They sat down on the couch. It was quiet for a moment as Natalie gathered her words.

"I'm sorry." She said and let out a sigh. Confrontation was always something she avoided. "I don't know what I'm doing. Ever since I came out here for school I have just been so laser focused on school. I go out sometimes, but only because that's what my friends wanna do. I dated a guy during my first semester here and it didn't last."

Braeden listened to her, heart pounding inside his chest.

"I'm afraid, honestly. I wear my heart on my sleeve. But I always push people away. I'm going back to Ohio after graduation. What am I supposed to do, date someone who's all the way across the country? Or just get close to them only to get hurt in the end because I have to leave? It would never work." She took a breath.

Braeden was biting his cheek and fighting back tears.

"Yeah," he said, voice hardly a whisper. "I understand. I totally get it."

She looked sad, suddenly regretting the tone she had taken. "I'm sorry," she said. "Maybe that was a little aggressive... I really like you. You are the first guy I've had real feelings for, maybe in my whole life. I really don't know what I'm doing. I'm sorry I'm all over the place."

He blushed, avoiding her gaze, and sniffled a little.

"I'm sorry." Natalie said. "I should have just told you how I was feeling. I guess I tend to run away from my problems. But you didn't deserve that. You did nothing wrong. You probably couldn't have done anything more right, actually." She smiled softly.

Braeden returned the smile as a tear streamed down his cheek.

"I think we just moved a little fast and that scared me. And I've just been thinking a lot. But I want you to know that I still care about you and I'm always here if you need anything."

They hugged for a long moment, Natalie gently caressing Braeden's head which was tucked into the crook of her neck. Tears quietly rolled down his cheeks. Then Natalie disappeared into the night.