Chance Encounter ➳ Drew Dirksen

10. guitars & kisses

Drew woke up to the terrifying sound of thunder, and he immediately shot up, not aware that Brandi's head was on his chest.

"Ouch!" Brandi winced as her head hit Drew's headboard. What a great way to wake up.

"I'm so sorry," Drew said, keeping his voice low, just in case his mom and dad were asleep in the next room. Drew placed a hand on the small of Brandi's back to support her as she rubbed the back of her head in pain.

"It's alright," Brandi reassured him. "It's my fault for placing my head there."

In a way, she was right, but Drew knew that this was partly his fault for being so jumpy. Now he felt really bad at three in the morning, which wasn't good.

"You're scared of thunder, huh?" Brandi asked, leaning against the headboard, making sure there was a pillow to support her head, as she pulled Drew down along with her, so that he was leaning against it too.

"Yeah," he replied, sheepishly. "I'm not scared of lightning, though, because lightning is cool."

"My mom used to say that thunder was just angels playing bowling in heaven," Brandi said, snuggling into Drew's side and he automatically wrapped his arms around her.

"That's silly," Drew laughed.

"Well, how else would you get a four year old girl to calm down?"

Drew contemplated on her question for a while, but then he realized that he didn't have a good answer, so he hid his face in the crook of Brandi's neck. It made her smile as his soft blonde hair brushed against her jawline.

"You're adorable," Brandi cooed, running a hand through his hair and down to the back of his neck.

Drew looked up at her for a moment, just admiring Brandi's beauty as long as she would let him, but then she turned away with a small smile on her lips.

"You tell me that everyday," he pointed out.

"Well, it's true."

There was a brief moment of silence, before Drew decided to speak up. "You're beautiful."

"Drew, you can't even see me right now."

"And so? You really are beautiful."

"And what makes you say that?" she questioned.

"You just are," Drew said, simply. "Has Nate ever told you that? That you're beautiful?"

"Well, yeah. Of course he has-"

"Did he mean it?" Drew asked, cutting her off. "Because, Brandi, please believe me when I say I mean it."

It was three in the morning and the storm was still raging on outside and rain usually made Drew think of dramatic things and he was sharing all of his dramatic thoughts with Brandi. They really did make her think, though. Brandi knew Nate loved her with everything he's got and she knew that he meant every wonderful thing he had ever said to her.

"I believe you, Drew," Brandi said, making him sit up straighter, so now they were both eye level with each other. "But I love Nate, and I know he loves me too."

"Of course you do," Drew replied, looking down at the wrinkled bed sheet.

Brandi didn't really pay attention to his last remark. She was scanning her eyes through his dark room and immediately spotted something that made them light up.