Strings (A Reed Deming Fan Fiction)

5

Song: Wonderwall - Oasis (Ryan Adams version)

I went back into my room and got ready to paint the tree house with Reed. I was so excited! Maybe Reed and I could have our own little place. A place where only we would go, a place only we would know existed. It gave me butterflies.

I put on an old Nirvana T-shirt and some ripped up shorts. I put on my black Vans, put my hair in a messy bun and slipped on my prescripted Ray Bans. I headed out the door and sat down on the step of my front porch. I took out my iPhone and texted Reed.

To: Reedy-Bear, From: Kaytie-Kat

Hey! I'm outside! You ready?

To: Kaytie-Kat, From: Reedy-Bear

Yea! I'm coming! x)

A few seconds later, Reed came out of his house and met me at my porch. He was wearing a plain, worn blue T-shirt, some white gym shorts with orange stripes on the sides, and some old, torn up grey Vans. He was holding buckets of paint and some brushes. I stood up and started walking with him.

"So, X Factor's coming up." I mentioned. "Yea. Two weeks." Reed stated, looking at his feet nervously. "You ready?" I looked at him. "Not really. I'm scared I'm gonna mess the whole thing up." he looked back at me. "Why? You won't! Your absolutely perfect! The judges will love you and you'll do sooo good!" I looked back at him, into his blue eyes. They were sparkling as they looked at me. I loved it when Reed's eyes sparkled. I didn't know what it meant, but it was beautiful. He rarely looks at me like that, but lately he's been doing it a lot. I think there's something he's not telling me...

We were now stopped and standing faced towards each other, looking into each other's eyes. I didn't really know what to do. Was it a moment? Were we having a moment?

No no no no no no. Why would we be having a moment? That makes no sense.

"Thanks, Kayleigh. You're a really good friend." Reed whispered softly. When he said that, I thought of Kristine. When she said that to me... The day before she left and died in the plane crash...

"You're a really good friend. Did you know that?" she said softly. "Yea. I'm pretty awesome." I said humorously. She threw her head back in laughter. Her laugh is the cutest laugh ever and it's so contagious! So of course I had to laugh too.

That was the last time I saw her. I realized I had been staring at Reed with my mouth slightly open in shock and my eyes were tearing up. "Kayleigh, a-are you okay?" he immediately looked worried. I shook my head and bit my lip as a tear slipped down my cheek. I wrapped my arms around his torso and cried as he embraced me in his arms.

"Those were the last words Kristine said to me before she left..." I sobbed into his chest. "Ohhh Kayleigh. No I didn't know... I'm so sorry... Sssshhhh..." Reed soothed me as he rubbed circles in my back. He grabbed my upper arms and pulled me away. He leveled his eyes with mine and looked at me.

"Kayleigh, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that, but you are. I know she said that because it's true. You are the best friend anyone in this whole entire world could ever have and I'm so lucky that you're mine. I don't want you to be sad, because you don't deserve to be sad." Reed said softly, inches away from my face.

He brought his thumb up to my face and wiped a falling tear off my cheek. I giggled when he did that because my mother always did that when I was crying. "There's that smile..." he whispered. We were inches away. Everything he just said was beautiful. He made my day, like he always does. Every time I see him, it just brings light through my day. He never makes me mad. All he can do is make me feel happy. Even if he wanted to make me feel bad, he couldn't. He's too sweet.

"You ready to paint that house?" he smirked and crinkled his eyes adorably. "Yeah." I smirked the same way. "Beat you there!" Reed started sprinting towards the tree house. "Hey! That's not fair!" I yelled, sprinting after him. He always races me! He's such a goof ball...

I was now right next to him, running. He looked at me surprised. I stuck my tongue out at him playfully and dashed in front of him. When I got to the tree house, panting, Reed came after me and stopped. We were both panting and laughing.

When we caught our breath, we climbed up the ladder and into the tree house.

The whole time we were painting, we were talking and laughing and throwing paint at each other... It was amazing. I was having so much fun. More fun than I've ever had with anyone before...

Reed Deming

I should tell her. I should just tell her how I feel about her.

But what if she doesn't like me back? What if our relationship gets all awkward and we never see each other again? I would do anything not to loose her. I would give up my life for her. That's how much I love her.

Why can't I just suck it up and tell her?

Kayleigh Pennel

Why can't I just suck it up and tell him?

I want to tell him how I feel... but what if he doesn't like me back? What if it gets awkward between us? I wouldn't ever want to loose him. I would do anything for him...

Soon enough, after all the fun we were having, the sun was setting and we were done! We got down from the tree house ladder and looked at it. We stood side by side. "It's..." Reed paused, speechless.

"Amazing." I blurted out. I smiled at our work. The outside of it was painted light blue with green trim around the windows. Each room was painted a different bright, happy color. The bedroom was yellow and the entry room was painted orange, but there were a bunch of different paint splatters everywhere because Reed and I were throwing paint at each other!

I felt Reed's hand slip into mine. It startled me at first and I looked up at him. His touch gave me chills and made my heart jump. He turned and looked at me, his cheeks a bright red and his blue eyes peering into mine. They were sparkling again. I grinned and rested my head on his shoulder. "You did amazing." Reed said softly. "No. We did amazing." I smiled softly back at him. I yawned widely and realized how tired I was.

"You tired?" Reed asked. "Mhhmm..." I shut my eyes.

Reed Deming

I guess Kayleigh was so tired that she just fell asleep on my shoulder, because she started fall but I caught her and laughed to myself. I picked her up and decided to carry her back to her house. She wrapped her arms around my neck and nuzzled her head in my shoulder.

I smiled at how beautiful she looked. She was the most amazing girl I've ever met.

I carried Kayleigh through the forest until I got to the sidewalk and carried her up the familiar street to her house. I struggled to open the door with my hand that was still holding her. I knew the rest of her family was already asleep, so I tried to be quiet so that I didn't wake them.

My eyes were starting to droop as I carried her up the stairs and into her room. I gently laid her on her bed, trying not to wake her. She shifted to her side and curled her legs up in the position that she always slept in. I pulled the covers over her cold body and sat next to her on her bed.

"You're so beautiful..." I trailed off softly. I was technically talking to myself, because she was asleep, but it felt like I was talking to her. "I just wish you were mine." I whispered, barely audible. I hesitated, but I leant down and kissed her. I knew she wouldn't feel it, but I felt it. It felt amazing.

I pulled away and looked at her. I sighed desperately and stood up. I was so tired that I took a pillow and blanket from her closet and set up a bed for me on her floor. I thought about what I did for a minute.

I kissed her.

I felt bad that I did, because she would never know... It kind of hurt, though. I just kissed her and she didn't feel it, she's never even gonna know that I did, and she probably wouldn't have even liked it.

I'm hopeless.