Island.

Chapter 17

Seventeen.

I watched as the wind blew the sand into waves that stretched for miles along the coast. It was a warm windy afternoon, the beach full of life. The water was a striking sapphire dotted with the black of the swimsuits  the surfers wore.

These past weeks had been better than I would have thought. My mum and I were beginning to spend more and more time together, and slowly learning each other’s habits. We were actually spending more time together, and it felt great to be able to say what I just wanted to, and not be afraid of her reaction. She was more carefree than ever, and I was hoping she would stay that way.

Keanu and I were getting closer too. It was nice to actually have someone that I could really talk to, and just vent if I wanted. He never talked back, he just listened. He was incredibly sweet too. He always did little things, like give me flowers, or take me out to eat. He even came over one day when no one was home and painted a mural on my bedroom wall.

Right now, I was at the beach, soaking up the wonderfully warm sun.

Next to me, a canvas laid facing the sun, the paint drying with the steady wind. Keanu was laid on his back, his eyes closed, facing the too bright sky. His long locks spilled out behind his head. He was clad in cargo shorts and a baby blue tee.

I gazed down at him, and couldn’t help but think of how beautiful he was. That was the only word that came to mind really, when I thought of him. His smooth, full lips were taunting me. His chiseled chest just barely defined under his shirt. I leaned over to him and pressed a small quick kiss on his lips. And that’s when his eyes snapped open.

I pulled back and smirked, while he just looked shocked, that I would even attempt something like that. It had been a month since we started going out. I learned a lot of things about him. Like his favorite food was peanut butter, and he had a lucky necklace that he always wore. It was an eagle made of silver.

 I also found out that he didn’t want anyone knowing about our relationship. Even Leia. He just didn’t want to cause any problems with anyone, and I respected that. We kept our relationship a secret, for a month, and I honestly don’t know how I lasted that long without spilling my guts.

As for Keanu, he constantly amazed me.

 We didn’t have to express all of our feelings by kissing each other all the time. He understood what I was feeling and vice versa. We could kind of sense what one another were feeling, if that makes sense. It was just one of the weird but amazing things about our relationship. And right now, I could hardly think. And it was all caused by the mere fact that he looked so damn good right now. I couldn’t help myself.

He smirked back and closed his eyes once again. Taking a lock of his hair and twirling it around with my fingers, I asked,

“What do you want to do today?”

He sighed, rather lightly and mumbled,

 “I don’t know, what do you feel like doing?”

The truth was, I was perfectly content with just sitting here and gazing at him all day. We didn’t have to go anywhere at all. But I wasn’t that obsessed. So instead I just said,

“Anything you want to do.”

We decided on going back to the cave, so he could place his most recent painting of a white rose. It was a beautiful painting. The rose was just barely kissed by the sunlight, and it emitted a subtle glow. My heart went into overdrive when he took my hand to lead me into the cave. It reminded me of the first time he brought me here.

As we stepped through, I noticed that there were more paintings placed all around the cave. When did he come back here and put these up? He led me to a blanket that was spread on the sandy floor and he came to sit next to me.

“I was wanting to ask you something” he said quietly. The way his eyes avoided mine, and how he bit his lip was so…hot.

“Sure”, I answered. I just hope it wasn’t something like him asking for a break. It felt like years until he finally spoke.

“Sam’s throwing another party,” he said, while looking up from under his full lashes. I waited for him to continue.

“He invited me, and I was uh…” he trailed off. We both knew where this was going. He was officially asking me out, and it was strange because this would be in public, with all of the people from school. And I was pretty sure Phoebe would be there.

“Yes”, I answered, knowing he was grateful that I didn’t make him spill his feelings. Once he even asked me about that. He said something about, “no use in speaking his mind, if I already knew what he was thinking”, but no one can ever really know what another person is thinking. Right?

~

Keanu’s POV.

“Shit”, I mumbled under my breath. I screwed up, yet another painting by using the wrong shade of blue. I guess its because I’ve had too much free time, and I let my mind wander. I decided to give up on this painting altogether. Taking a seat on the soft sand of the beach, I got out my sketch pad. I was going to attempt to finish a sketch of Ava, reading from her balcony.

No, I didn’t stalk her. This was just one of the many sketches of her that I imagined. I actually thought she would sit on her balcony, with a book rested on her lap. But instead of reading, her gaze would drift away from the book and out to the beach. Like there was something waiting for her there. Like she belonged to whatever was on the beach at that very moment.

I haven’t seen her this whole week. A part of me wished that I could spend all of my time with her. The other part thought she would disappear. Or get taken away, like every other important thing in my life. Like she would burst into flames, and turn to ash, and everything we ever had would just be a dream. A distant memory.

Even though we communicated in our own way, by looks and silence, she still knew me better than I knew myself. It was the little things she would do, that made me feel less guilty for the things that happened in my past. Like the way she would sense I was thinking about something and would gently take my hand. Or how just a hug was what I needed all along.

I’ve tried explaining what life was for me, before the fire. Before I was out of the stealing. But that part of my life was ugly, dangerous, and just not who I am. I didn’t want her to know that part of my life.

Going a full week without seeing her was torture. It was bad enough to keep our relationship a secret, (for my own reasons) but all of this guilt was eating away at me. I still felt that the fire was my fault. I felt that the monster everyone else saw, when they looked at me, was real.

I needed her to tell me it wasn’t real.



Ava’s POV.

Dressed in a dark purple tee and dark blue skinny jeans, I tied the lace to my black converse and waited patiently for him. The parents were out of town. They said something like they had business or whatever. Honestly, I was glad that no one was here. I didn’t want them to meet Keanu yet anyway. It would just be too awkward.

The knocking on my door interrupted my thoughts. I got up, and rushed my way to the door, and twisted the knob. There he was, making all my frustrated thoughts cease. It was like everything went still, the moment I saw him. Like the time was waiting for him to make it move again.

 He came in, and without a word, scooped me up in his arms, for a really long, and overdue hug. It was so good to feel him. To breathe in his familiar yet intoxicating scent. Its been a whole week.

It was getting harder and harder to act like I didn’t know him the way I did at school. It was almost unbearable to live and go through everyday, and listen to the rumors and trash talk about him. I just wished that people would stop. But being here, with him right now, suddenly made everything less important. They didn’t matter. Only him. He mattered.

“Ready to go?” He asked while pulling back. I swear the smile I had on my face right now made me look like a fool.

“You realize, that by going together, everyone will know, right?” I told him, while grabbing my jacket.

“I’m tired of hiding. I know you are too. I just want us to be happy. Together, without hiding. And they’ll just have to accept it.” Those were the words I was wishing for all along.

But I couldn’t help but think about this question. And repeating it over and over again inside my head. Would they accept it?

My stomach churned as I pulled on my jacket and grabbed my purse. The last thing I wanted was for people to shun and ignore me too. I actually liked the group of friends that I had. I knew that once they allowed themselves to get to know Keanu better, that they would like him too.

But I wasn’t sure if they would be as open minded as I was. After all, they had been around this rumor for years.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well I added a bit from Keanu's perspective, because I find that I sometimes like to know what the guy thinks, don't you? Oh and thank you everyone for your votes and really nice comments. :) I really appreciate the support. If you find any issues with the chapters, please tell me. I'm editing this story so I would appreciate it you guys pointed out some mistakes. -Jess