My Sister's Boyfriend

Chapter 5; The Hideout

"What was your biggest disappointment ?" Will asked as we lay under a sea of stars in my grandparent's back garden. 

"Me and my mum tried to build this hideout. It was by a waterfall. My mum would take me to this place that I called a jungle. It was a jungle to me when I was 9 years old. It was covered in trees, bushes and the wildlife was insane there. It was only a 5 minute walk from my house. For a good month, we would find stuff to build our hideout with. We had it all planned out. A little hut that looked onto the waterfall. She'd tell me that the hideout would be the place that we'd go whenever we were upset and if one of us noticed that the other was gone from the house, we'd know to go there.  We never got to finish it before my mum passed." 

"Why didn't you continue it?" he looked puzzled. 

"I couldn't bring myself to do it without her. It was something that we shared." 

I turned my head to see Will looking deep in thought. He had a soft frown that just showed how gentle he was. I adored that. 

                                                                                                      *

Over the summer, the usual routine for Will and I was fairly simple. We both mainly worked the same days and we'd spend the nights with each other. When it came to weekends, Will treated me to a romantic meal every Saturday night. And I don't mean taking me to a fancy restaurant. I mean that he would take me to a patch of grass with a box of pizza and a crate of beer. My dad would kill me if he ever thought that I was drinking alcohol. Oh how Will was a bad influence, so very bad yet made it feel so good. 

However half way through the summer, I started to notice Will becoming more distant. I thought I was being crazy. I honestly felt like I was being obsessive but to go from seeing someone mostly every day to suddenly only seeing them three times a week was quite a dramatic change.

"Sorry Vanessa, I've got a few things to do tonight, I'll make sure to see you soon."

He didn't sound like anything had changed on the phone but he was very vague with his excuses.

I really did sound obsessive. I just thought that he might have seen me too much and was growing sick of me so maybe it was best to give him space.

It became more and more frequent and I started to worry a little, so whilst we were eating our pizza on the Saturday night, I confronted him.

"What's been up with you lately?" I asked, putting my hand on his. I didn't want him to feel like I was angry. I definitely wasn't. Just confused.

"I've just been really busy," he said, looking down.

"You know we've went from seeing each other everyday to barely three nights a week?"

"I know that, Vanessa and I'm sorry."

"Is it me? Is it something I've done?" I asked, removing my hand from his in a quick  panic. 

"Absolutely not!" He jumped to his defence.

"Then what are you busy with?" 

"Listen, I've been an idiot and I'm just scared of getting too close to you but I know it's wrong. I promise you, I'll make sure that we get back to ourselves. I love you." 

I wasn't a fool and I certainly didn't believe that his reason was genuine but as long as we were getting back on track, that's all that mattered to me. Us being okay. 


                                                                                            * 

Later that night, I spoke with my good friend Elizabeth on the phone. I missed her jokes and advice. Over the summer, I felt so distant from her and that wasn't fair. 

"Are you sure he's not cheating?" she asked. 

"Positive he's not, it's a different kind of weird that he's being. Trust me, I know how people act when they are cheating." 

"Okay, Okay, just a thought." 

Why did Elizabeth plant that in my head? That's just more for me to over-think about whilst lying in bed.  

That's all I could think about in bed but deep down in my heart, I knew he wouldn't. I trusted him too much. 

I heard a knock at my door and my grandmother came in. 

"Are you awake?" she asked as she sat on the edge of my bed with her light night dress on.

"Yeah, are you okay?" 

"I was just wondering if you had any idea why Will quit working for me?" 

You know that sicky feeling you get where you think your heart has literally just sunk into your stomach? Yeah, well I felt that right then. 

"I had no idea. I'll talk to him about it," I said, acting as if it wasn't such a big deal. 

"Okay, night dear," she kissed my forehead before leaving. 

What was going on in that boys head? He's supposed to be able to tell me anything. Everything. 


                                                                                         *

It was half past 3 in the morning when I woke to a phone call. It was Will. 

"Hello?" 

"I'm outside, get dressed and come out." 

"Are you serious?" 

"Deadly, now hurry up," he laughed. 

I was thrilled that he was being spontaneous just not at half past 3 in the morning. 
In fact, as much as I say I was thrilled, I was rather frightened because of how different he had been lately. 

I was dressed in the most varied outfit in the world but at this moment in time, I really couldn't have cared less what I looked like. He was standing by his car and as soon as I approached, he opened the car door for me. 

"What is it?" I asked. 

"Just wait," he gave a scheming smirk. 

That's exactly what I did. I waited. 

With every twist in the road, with every dirt track, the place started to become less familiar. 

"Have you been plotting my murder? Is this what this is? Because I've not even finished my song on piano yet. You can't do this to me." 

"Shoosh, Vanessa," he laughed, giving me a quick glance. 

He slowed down as we approached a beautiful woodland. Not that I could see much at nearing 4am. 

We got out the car and I followed him into the depths of the woodland. 

I can't exactly recall what was going on in my head because I felt so excited yet terrified at the same time. Those mixed feelings aren't good for a girl's head, I'm telling you. 

In the near distance, I could see a bundle of little lights. We trekked through every possible obstacle. Small slithers of running water, thick mud and branches hitting me in the face left, right and centre. 

As I made my way through a massive bush, I witnessed the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. 

Before me stood a small hut. It was decorated with fairy lights around it's roof and stood on stilts. To my left was a small waterfall in which the hut was facing. 

"The inside's even better," he grabbed my hand and guided me. 

I walked up the wooden stairs and was amazed at the beauty of this. 

The hut was covered in pillows on the floor and fairy lights on the walls. To my surprise (like I could get any more surprised) , there wasn't just fairy lights, but pictures that me and Will had taken of us over the summer. I couldn't help but cry. It was the most romantic and beautiful atmosphere. 

"This is what I'd been doing all this time for you. This is our hideout and no one can take this away from us."