Lock on my Heart.

11.

The raven-haired boy and platinum blonde walked on the sidewalk towards their tightly knit neighborhood side by side. The two talked for hours on end about their likes, dislikes, even what disturbed them. Even now as they were about to drop the platinum blonde off at their home they were talking about their favorite animals.

"My favorite animal is a silver seal. They're cute but dangerous." Miley spoke, their mint hues shining in the dimmed down sunset.

"Really? I wouldn't expect that for some reason. My favorite animal is an otter," Eli shrugged and saw Miley's surprised gaze, "I dunno they look cuddly and apparently they crawl into your arms theirselves and snuggle up if they are comfortable around you." He scratched his neck, shy about his answer.

"Aww Eli! I'd never expect you to love such a soft animal! I expect maybe a black mamba or a black panther." Miley giggled.

"Real funny, it's because I wear a lot of black." Eli let out a breath of content air as the two reached Miley's house.

Miley climbed the stairs to their door, hesitant to walk inside. They turned towards Eli and looked embarrassed, "Um.. thanks for asking to hang out with me today. I had a lot of fun, and um.. I hope we can hang out again."

Eli looked up at them from the sidewalk. A smile graced his lips, "Of course we can hang out again. I had a lot of fun too."

Miley smiled as well before walking towards him and stood on the 1st step in front of him, looking down at him.

Eli looked up at them, confused. But then suddenly Miley wrapped their arms around Eli, hugging him. His forehead rested just above their chest, their collarbone.

Eli's eyes widened before softening again. His eyebrows furrowed together as if he was thinking of what he should do.. his one hand slowly lifted up and gently laid on their lower back, causing Miley to flinch slightly but they became comfortable into his touch quickly.

They let each other go not too much later, only a few seconds passed. Miley gave a small wave before unlocking their door and walking into their home with a big smile on their face.

Eli's stomach did a little flip, but he didn't know what it meant so he ignored it. He began walking home right after Miley closed the front door.

--

A few months passed, the weather got colder and the leaves got prettier. It was fall now.. meaning almost everyone was either wearing sweaters, scarfs, hoodies, or winter coats with long pants.

It was also almost Halloween. This holiday happened to be Miley's and Eli's favorite one.

Eli's garage door was open, a table inside with pumpkin carving tools and the pumpkins themselves.

Eli, His mother, Father, and 2 sisters walked outside and then towards the garage.

Corinne and their father sat on the drive way and began to think of designs they wanted to do on their pumpkins. Eli, Chelsie, and their mother worked at the table also beginning to think of their pumpkin designs.

Meanwhile Miley was sat at their porch, drinking a coffee. Their pumpkin was uncarved still but they'd do it in a bit, they just woke up and it's their fall break off of school so why rush, breath in the moment.

Miley looked over at the raven-haired boy's house, watching them– almost all of them–begin to carve.

Across the street was the two gingers, Kamryn and Bobbie. Miley saw them walking around in their house earlier, maybe they don't celebrate Halloween.

They took a sip of their coffee, crossing their leg over the other. They had a small speaker next to them playing quiet Halloween music, Miley hummed the tunes they knew and tapped their foot to the ones they didnt.

A few hours pass, the Graves' have finished their pumpkins and so has the platinum blonde. Miley is now bundled up in a light winter coat and a light green scarf around their neck. They wore leggings and boots that looked brand new but definitely weren't.

Miley began walking towards the shopping area in their town since they didnt have a car and besides, it wasn't that far. They were going to go costume shopping with the Halloween money they had been saving up from side jobs like cleaning and helping Jackson at the bar on his shifts.

This year Miley was going to be a clown. Last year they had been the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, before they had parts of their hair dyed mint green.

The platinum blonde knew there would be a Halloween party at the bar this year and this honestly excited them. Maybe they'd even invite Eli just to hang out.

The thought brought a smile to their lips. They let out a breath of air, a cold mist coming from them and then they brought their hands to their lips, a shiver covering their skin.

The small crush Miley had on Eli was developing quickly and they didn't know what to do other than just tell him. The worst that could happen is he rejected them.. rejection is gonna suck. Miley has the confidence to tell him but the fear of ruining their new found friendship that started almost half a year ago made their heart squeeze and not in that good way they would feel when he would smile.

Miley frowned, hiding half of their face in their scarf. Their eyes flickered upwards, seeing the bright blue sky mixed with multiple other shades of blue, even purple. Beautiful was the only way Miley could describe it.

Their eyelids would open and close slowly as they admired the fall view, leaves falling from trees as the wind blew onto the branches softly, like you would blow out a birthday candle.

They huffed out another breath of air but it didn't turn into a haze in front of them this time because it was in their scarf.

Eli watched as Miley walked out of their house and down the sidewalk. He wondered where they were going but no matter how curious he was he wasn't going to leave just to satisfy his mind.

His eyes flickered over to Corinne on the driveway. She wiped hair out of her face with the back of her hand so she wouldn't get pumpkin in her hair. He smiled softly.

His mother rubbed his head softly, her hands were clean. I guess she went inside after she was done to clean herself up. "You are such a good brother." She held his cheeks and then kissed them both.

"Ugh mom stop." He laughed as he pushed her away.

Chelsie moved next to him, cleaning her hands on the apron she was wearing. She thought for a moment and then moved over to the garage wall to grab her camera. She snapped a picture of her pumpkin and then she took pictures of the family one by one.

Eli rolled his eyes and looked down at his pumpkin, a cat. Cute, simple, but cute. He liked it.