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Chapter Six - Tree House

As I walked to Jace's back yard I could see the top of the tree house, I'd noticed it from the bathroom window of my house and thought it was probably one of the younger kids. Nate led the way practically bouncing up and down in excitement. I felt my mouth twitch at the corner at his antics. Jace and deacon were walking either side of me, and with the closeness Jace's hand would brush against mine as we walked. He had a small smile, which led me to think it wasn't a exactly accidental touch. Deacon was looking up at the sky, seeming lost in thought and I wondered if her was all right. I reached up touching his shoulder and his head jerked towards me, surprised I tried to give him a reassuring look and then tilted my head to the side in silent question. He visibly relaxed and shook his own head, his hair flying about his face, then platted my hair a few times and sliding his hand down and off. I blushed a little embarrassed by the moment but glad he didn't seem so out of it.

We got to the back of the garden and then through a door, which blended into the wooden fence at the bottom. Noting my confusion Jace nudged at my shoulder, making me stumble into Deacon. Deacon steadied me and I shot Jace a scrunched up face, sticking my tongue out. He copied me and then laughed. Deacon snorted at our childishness.

"Ta da!" Nate sang, his hands out wide standing in front of their 'tree house.' Tree house was a very mild description of what lay before me. Sure, there was a tree, there was a house like building, but it was so much more than that. I would say cabin more than tree house. It looked as if there had one been a smaller wooden hut on the top of the massive tree, but since that first part renovation after renovation must have been made.

It looked almost like a mini house had a tree that had grown up through the middle of it. They had walls all around the base of the tree which reached up to the section on top, so it created a two levelled hut. A ladder led up to the top section and I could see a door, which I guessed was the way into the second floor. The roof had some sort of plastic fabric stapled to it, to make everything more water proof perhaps? The whole thing had been painted a dark burgundy and the plastic windows had white rims. I was speechless.

I glanced at the guys and they all had expectant grins, waiting for my reaction and pleased with it so far.

"Wow. This is just . . . I can't believe . . . wow." I said mouth unable to close and lost for words. Nate let out a belly laugh and put his arm around my neck pulling me in toward the front door, the others followed chuckling lightly. They had added a lock to the door, which Nate unlocked with his free hand.

The inside was just as remarkable; the homely feel combined with the secret clubhouse vibe made it feel like they had let me into some secret world of theirs. I bit my bottom lip to hide the giddy smile that wanted to escape. I saw they had set up a mini fridge and a kettle and I wondered how that worked away from the house.

"We connected the cables from the garage so we could get electricity." Deacon answered my unvoiced question, seeing what had my attention. 

I nodded, mutely.

There were a set of photos on a little desk in the corner, I moved away from Nate to get a closer look, and then picked one of the frames up. It was a younger version of the three boys. Jace, in the centre, had his arms around the other two. It looked as if he had jumped up putting his weight on the others and they were about to fall over, and all three were laughing. It had been taken at a great moment.

"Lets head upstairs." Nate suggested already heading round to the other side of the trunk.

I glanced at the other photos, noting one, I was pretty sure was a younger Jace and Deacon when they were probably about five to six years old, with a man and woman stood behind them, the mans arm rapped around the woman's waste. I could see Jace and the woman owned the same mischievous eyes, though hers held a peaceful softer quality that made me this of my dad and bright a sheen of tears to my eyes. Deacon held onto the woman's hand and Jace had his hands on his hips, posing for the camera. I blinked the unshed tears away and turned to follow the boys.

There was another ladder against the trunk and I watched Jace climb up, Nate had already disappeared ahead. Deacon indicated to the ladder with his head and so I moved in front of him and started up. At the top there was a handle, which I tried to reach to pull myself out with but I couldn't quite reach it with my shorter arms. I felt hands on my thighs push me up from underneath and then more grasping my out stretched hand. Soon I was through the hole and standing on the upper level, face pushed into a hard chest. I stepped back and saw the hands that had pulled were Nate's and he looked down at me with a tender half smirk.

"Thanks." I muttered to him and then pushed away. I expected the floorboards to creak under our weight but they stayed silent and sturdy.

Jace was sat on one of the mattresses that were dotted around, one for each of them. I went over and sat next to him crossed legged. He knocked his body into mine and I knocked back. He had turned on a TV and took out controllers for a game console, soon they were all arguing over what to play. Boys and their toys.

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HEYYY!!! WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE TREE HOUSE???

WILL BE MORE DESCRIPTIONS AND FUN TIMES IN THE BOYS HIDE OUT TO COME!! ;)

NEXT CHAPTER OUT LATER TODAY OR TOMORROW!! ;)