Heart Key (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 30: If Today Was Your Last Day

Song: If Today Was Your Last Day

By: Nickleback

"Thank you, ma'am." I tell Blake's aunt with a smile as she sets a hamburger in front of me, letting the warmth of it hit me along with the delectable smell. I feel my stomach rumble as I reach for the deliciousness in front of me.

I lift it to my mouth and devour it in moments before looking up to see Blake and his cousin, Luke, watching me. Blake looks amused while Luke looks impressed with his mouth hanging wide open. "Wow! You're like a Munchlax!" He tells me and Blake immediately busts out in laughter.

Luke looks confused about is his outburst and his aunt scolds him but I simply stare at him for a moment before replying, "The fact that you know what he's talking about gives me all the blackmail I need to kill your school cred." 

His laughter dies immediately and a dead look takes over in his eyes as he stares at me. "You. Wouldn't. Dare." His voice is serious and I have to fight to keep from laughing as I match his dead stare with my own and raise an eyebrow. "Watch me." 

We stare each other down and Blake slowly stands to his feet. "Aunt Dee, is it wrong to tackle an injured person?" He asks, not taking his eyes from mine as he comes closer. I don't look away either as she says, "That depends, how'd she end up falling in that pile of glass?" From the corner of my eye I notice her lean against the counter as she watches us both curiously.

Blake smiles and I quickly give him a slight shake of the head. His smile only grows at this and he immediately says, "We were making out and she fell off the bed." I feel my jaw drop at him and he grins as his aunt lets out a laugh. 

"I thought you were done being a bad boy." Aunt Bee says with a small chuckle as she turns to place her charred pie from yesterday on the table, discretely pushing it towards Luke. I glance at her and Blake lets out a triumphant shout. "I win!" He tells me and I shoot a glare at him.

"Cheater." I mutter and he raises an eyebrow at me. I look down at my hands innocently as he asks, "What was that? Is someone being a sore loser?" I smile at him cheekily as I tilt my head. He looks at me curiously as I say, "It's hard to lose to a cheater." 

He smiles at that before stepping forward and scooping me up. I let out a breath of surprise as he walks away with me, towards the front door. "Thanks for your help Aunt Dee! I'll take her from here!" He shouts and I stare up at him in confusion. 

"What's going on? Where are we going?" I ask as he takes me out to Chloe's truck. Why does he still have this? I wonder, briefly feeling bad that Chloe has gone truck-less for today while trying to get to school. "We'll go over to my place for a while." He tells me as he opens the passenger side door before going over to get in the driver's side.

"You could just take me home." I suggest but he shakes his head with a cheery smile as he starts up the truck before pulling away from the rows of houses. "Grandma's already expecting you. She closed the shop so she could make you cookies." He tells me and I smile with a small laugh.

"She really is sweet. Like the grandma I always wanted." I tell him softly as I stare out the window as we drive through a small stretch of trees. I glance over after some silence to see Blake staring at me. "Eyes on the road child!" I shout as he begins to dip into the opposite lane.

He jerks back as a car whizzes bye, honking its horn the entire way. I stare at Blake with wide eyes as he continues to drive calmly, as if this is an every day occurrence.  "You're insane." I tell him as I lean my head back against my seat.

"Insane about you." He says with an over exaggerated wink. I stare at him for a moment before letting out a laugh as I clutch my stomach to calm myself down. "That was the cheesiest thing I've ever heard!" I tell him and he grins to himself as he glances over at me.

"I try, I really try." He tells me and I smile at him before shaking my head. We sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until a dreadful thought pops into my head. You know how it is, you're nice and happy and then you're hit in the face with that one thought that makes you nervous and immediately ruins your current mood.

The kiss is what does it for me. The images of it and the feeling it left me with flood my brain and I feel my face burn bright red almost immediately. I squirm in my seat which only makes me more uncomfortable as the seat rubs my scratches.

"You're thinking about the kiss aren't you?" I look at him in surprise as he turns into a cute little cottage house. "W-What are you talking about?" I ask nervously as I turn away to stare at my hands. I hear him shut off the truck and I move to open my door when I hear the click of the lock, shutting me in. 

I slowly look at Blake fearfully as I ask, "Is this the part where you murder me and bury me in the woods?" He blinks at me before rolling his eyes and answering, "Why would I bother burying you? There's a river close by, I'd just throw you in that." 

It's my turn to roll my eyes as I go for the door once more, only to find it still locked. "We need to talk about yesterday." I look back to him with another of my famous cheeky smiles. "Which part? When you broke my  window, when I fell in the glass, or when you k-kissed me suddenly." I mentally smack myself for the stutter and quickly look away, discretely reaching to pull the lock open.

"Well, I'm obviously talking about the kiss and please don't touch that lock. I have a feeling that the cuts on your feet won't go well with walking." He tells me and I frown, dropping my hand away from the lock.

I slump back in my seat, sighing as all attempts of escaping this situation leave me and I feel utter defeat settle in. "What about it Blake?" I ask softly, not looking up from my hands as I wait for him to respond.

I nearly scream when instead of hearing him respond his hand slips under my chin, lifting my head to meet his eyes. We stare at one another, my heart beating faster as he smiles. "Marcy, will you be my girlfriend?" I pull back in surprise, his hand dropping away from me and his smile slips.

"I-I'm leaving soon. I've never even had a boyfriend, and I can't just get one and fall in love just to get hurt again." I talk quickly, not really caring whether or not I'm making sense as I look anywhere except his face and the eyes that have me stumbling over my words.

This is interrupted as Blake's hand reaches out and cups my face once more before pulling me forward and connecting his lips with mine. My heart skips a beat as my eyes shut and I lean into him as his arms reach farther and wrap around my waist, pulling me as close as possible with the middle console standing like a barrier between us.

After a moment he finally pulls away, smiling as he whispers, "I'm not asking you to fall in love. I'm asking you to be my girlfriend so I can see you and kiss you whenever I want. I want to have an excuse to love you even if you don't return the feelings. I want to be with you as much as possible before you leave." 

I stare at him, my heart beating rapidly as we stare at one another. "I don't know how having a boyfriend works." I tell him softly, panic rising as I try to look away again. He chuckles softly before taking my head in both hands and pulling me forward to kiss my forehead. 

"I know, and I don't care." He tells me and I let out a sigh. He won't let me out of this, and I don't know if I want to be let out of this. "Can I think about it?" I ask hopefully, hoping for some time to clear my head. He quickly shakes his head no as he laughs.

"When you're left to think by yourself you get extremely crazy ideas about being alone for the rest of your life. I think you have too much time sometimes. I want an answer soon, meaning before you leave my place." He tells me and I let out a sigh before nodding in agreement, knowing I won't get any better.

"Good, now come on. Grandma Cream is waiting."