Natalie

Chapter 7

The past few days had been nothing but tiring.

I could hardly focus in class anymore. About a week had passed since the incident at Yellow Creek.
I didn't know who or what 'Amitabh' was, let alone if she was real.

Ashton was not any help either, he still couldn't shut up about the globe and that there had to be more than what I'd given him.

All I wanted was to forget everything that involved my uncle.

"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" Hunter asked when he found me crashing on his bed. Not bothering to look sexy or even appealing as I layed on my stomach with my limbs spread across the queen size bed.

"Sleeping," I muttered into the pillow.

He chuckled next to me. Laying next to me and stroking my back, lifting the hairs where his fingers touched.

"I wanted to take you out. You don't have the energy for a night out with your beloved boyfriend?" He said into my neck, making me blush.

I propped myself up on my elbows to face him. He smirked at me.

"A night out on the town huh?" I smiled at him.

"Well..." he said, letting his eyes wonder around the room, as if trying to find the words.

"Well?"

...

"A trip? Are you serious?" I said laughing. We were at the airport, looking for the earliest flight to anywhere.

"You need to get away from everything. Mentally and physically," he said, wrapping his arm around my neck and pulling me closer to kiss my forehead.

I wrapped my arm around his waist and smiled up at him.

"Thank you."

...

The trip from Washington DC to Falls Church City took about 45 minutes.

Hunter bought me dinner at the fanciest restaurant we could find. We disguised ourselves under the aliases of Raven Smith and Jake White. There was no real need for it, but Hunter declared we needed to completely step out of our previous and normal lives.
It was nearing 11 o' clock when I brought myself back to Earth.

"So, when do you plan on getting us back home?" I asked after finishing my last Italian kiss. The creamy ice-cream still melting in my mouth.

"When our night is over and all you have on your mind is the two of us," he signalled for the waiter to bring us our cheque.

I watched him without a sound. Realising everything he meant to me, and what I meant to him.

We left the restaurant, taking his advice for once I brought a jacket, and I was grateful for it.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders again.

"So I was scratching around my apartment the other day and I found pieces of chalk," he said, taking two chalk pieces out of his pocket.

"That's an interesting thing to find."

"So I was thinking..." he said, checking behind us to see if we were alone on the sidewalk.
Once he was satisfied, he went to the nearest building and drew a heart with letters "N+H" written in it.

"Oh good heavens no!" I said laughing. After drawing an arrow through the heart he grabbed my hand.

"Run!"

I could hardly keep up with him from my laughter. We turned a corner and he stopped abruptly, making me crash into him.

"Ssh! We just committed a crime!" He said, checking around the corner as if the police were after us.

"I love you," I said, the smile still fresh on my face from laughing. He looked back at me, pleased at my response.

"I love you. But the night isn't over yet," he took out the chalk again and drew the same heart with our initials on the new wall. "Run."

We made three more dashes from our petty crimes before I had to stop. My stomach hurting from laughing and running.

"What do you wanna do now?" He asked me. We were relaxing on a community bench, watching a street light flicker.

"Umm... I want to make a movie. A movie that'll be seen by more than just our friends."

He thought for a minute. I wanted to know what he would do with my suggestion.

"I got it," he said suddenly, pulling me off of the bench. We walked the streets, he kept glancing up after passing a few stores. We finally stopped outside an extravegant clothing store.

"Perfect, now what kind of movie do you want?" He asked me.

"What are we doing?" I asked in confusion.

"Just answer the question."

"An action?" I still wasn't sure what we were doing.

"Okay. Now you see up there?" He said, pointing up to a small red light. I registered it as a security camera. I nodded. "That's your camera. Now I know it's taken from only one angle and there's no sound, but we could make that movie. It wouldn't be seen by our friends but others would," he smiled at me, waiting for my approval.
I just nodded.

"Good, now fake punch me."

I got into a fighting stance and slow motion punch him in the face. He retaliated with a spinning kick, I responded by jumping back as if it was a power kick.

We carried on our little fight scene till finally I strangle him to death with his own jacket. We took a bow and casually strolled to our next destination.

It was nearing 2 o' clock when I started getting hungry again. After running, acting and fighting Hunter shared the same feeling.

We found a 24 hour diner close to the edge of town. The place was completely empty except for a waitress and chef conversing over the counter.

"Hello, what can I get for you early birds?" The waitress said with a smile even though she looked like she needed a bed.

I was about to order a pancake with ice-cream when Hunter chirped in before I could get a word out.

"Well kind lady, the woman sitting next to me is kind of the love of my life. And I wish the world for her and believe she deserves every good thing this Earth can give. So I was wondering if the good sir behind that counter could whip up something especially unique in her honour."

Both the waitress and I stared at Hunter in disbelief.

"You guys both over 21?" The chef said from the kitchen.

"Does it matter?" Hunter asked.

The chef chuckled, "Not really."

"Then we are as old as time itself."

I rolled my eyes, "Calm down, Shakespeare."

We ended up eating a chocolate rum omelette with bacon pieces inside, covered with syrup and strawberry ice-cream.
Yes, it sounds disgusting and filled with diabetes but it was my dish and I enjoyed it.

We said our goodbyes and left. We made our way to the airport again, seeing it was nearly dawn.

"I don't wanna leave," my tongue said lazily, I leaned into him as we walked.

"I know," he said, sighing. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the chalk pieces and held it out for me.

I giggled before taking it and walking to a big, blank wall. I drew the heart especially big this time, with the words "Hunter + Natalie 4eva"

"That's so High School Musical," he said once I stepped back to look at my work.

"And you're Zac Efron."