haunted

chapter 10

Arabella's pov:

When I look at the time on my phone I am shocked to see that we have been driving for three hours already. This was definitely the longest time Nathan and I have spent together without arguing. Well without having actual arguments. Of course knowing us we had several disagreements over silly things like over hockey and whose music we should listen to.

"Are you going tell me where we are going now? It's going to be dark soon." I say, after asking him about a million times already where we are going. Every time he says "No, you will see when we get there." So that's what I expect his answer to be.

"Don't worry, love. We will be there soon." He tells me, smirking. I roll my eyes at the nickname but I soon find myself blushing and quickly turn towards the window in order to hide it.

After a few minutes of silence I get impatient again and groan dramatically.

"Jonesssss. When are we going to get there?" I demand.

"We are there. Hernandez."

My head snaps towards him and I see a smirk of his face and a suspicious glint in his eye.

"You are lying." I accuse him. He shakes his head and laughs.

"Am I?" Nathan teases, pulling into an empty car park.

"Seriously? We have been driving for three hours just to go to a shitty car park." I say, looking around for anything remotely nice or special around us.

"You really don't know where we are, do you?" He asks, that stupid smirk still on his face.

"Nathan. Tell me where the hell we are, before I attack you." I threaten, glaring at him.

For a second I thought I saw a slight blush on his cheeks at my use of his name, but it's gone so quickly that I realise I must have imagined it.

"Just trust me." He says, getting out the car. I follow him and he grabs my hand, sending tingles all over my body. He leads me away from the car park towards a hill.

"Did you bring me all this way to kill me? Because I swear to god I've watched a lot of criminal minds with Riley and Lola. They will find you." I tell him as we near the top.

"Nope. I'm not here to kill you." He answers, with a chuckle.

"So-" I'm about to start another complaint but I cut myself off when I realise where we are. I open my mouth to say something but no words come out.

"You happy?" He asks me, smiling but I can see the slight nervousness in his eyes. I squeeze his hand and nod eagerly.

"Come on." He shouts as a runs towards the beach and pulls me with him. I laugh at his excitement and happily run with him.

He lets go off my hand and runs ahead of me, I speed up to reach him but I suddenly crash into his body when he stops causing me to fall to the sand.

"Ow" I complain and Nathan begins to laugh when he turns around to see me on the floor.

"Shut up, man." I shout at him, angrily. But a smile is still plastered on my face.

"You've got to admit, it's kind of funny." He says, laughing.

"Haha." I reply sarcastically.

"At least help me up please?" I ask, holding my hand out. He grabs it and I use the opportunity to pull him down and he falls on top of me.

"Ow" He says. Now it's my turn to laugh and his turn to scowl.

After a few seconds he props himself up on top of me and begins to smirk. He leans down towards my ear and whispers in it.

"You know, Arabella darling, if you wanted me on  top of you. You just had to ask." I freeze at his words and my face flushes red and hot.

"Shut up, Jones" I say, pushing him off me.

"Oh. So it's back to Jones, now. I was quite enjoying Nathan." He tells me, laughing.

"Oh I know you were." I tease, smirking when I see a slight blush on his cheeks.

I sit up and admire the beautiful view of the sunset on the beach in front of me. We sit in silence while the sun goes down, until it completely disappears.

"Thank you, for taking me here. It's so peaceful. I think- I think I needed this."

"My mom used to take me here as kid. It always was a peaceful safe haven for me. So I thought it might be the safe for you." He tells me, causing my heart to warm and a soft smile to appear on my face.

"You were right." I reply, as I reach for his hand and hold it tight.

"How come she doesn't take you anymore?" I ask, my curiosity taking over.

"She's dead." He answers bluntly.

Oh. I had no idea. Suddenly, I realised how little I knew about the boy that lived next door to me. He was always round our house and I never thought of why or what his home life was like.

"That really fucking sucks." I tell him, causing him to laugh.

Shit did I say the wrong thing?

He notices the nervous look on my face.

"Don't worry, I like your reaction. It's the truth not the same old useless sympathy I've gotten over the past few years." He says.

"Tell me about her."

"She was amazing. Everything about her was amazing. Sure, she wasn't perfect but all the stupid things I would complain about her seem silly now. Because she was a good person. She died when I was only 8 so a lot of my memories of her have faded. But I will always remember our trips to the beach. She used to bring a picnic basket and buckets to make sandcastles. We spent hours swimming in the sea. It was incredible. Holy fuck. The things I would do if it meant having another day with her, here at the beach." Nathan admits to me. I feel special to have heard his story and grateful enough that he trusted me enough to bring me here, to his special place.

"You're right. She sounds amazing." I tell him, smiling at the thought of the kind, warm women he was describing. I wonder how different my life would be if my own mother was like her.

"What was her name?" I ask.

"Julia. I think one day, if I have a daughter I'd like to make that her name." He says. I look at him and smile, admiring the strength inside him- I can't imagine have to go through what he went through at such a young age.

"That's a wonderful idea, Nathan. I think she would have really liked it. And I know that she would be proud of you. You're strong. It's a good trait to have." I tell him, wanting him to see himself like I do. He just nods, not fully believing me.

"Want to listen to some music?" He asks. I nod at his idea and take one of his AirPods when he offers it. He begins to play a song, that I recognise but cannot name.

"It's Florence and the machine. They were my moms favourite. I hope you don't mind, we can listen to something else if you want." He offers, kindly.

"No, it's perfect,"