Plucked

Chapter 4

     They woke up the morning after that and it was April's turn to cook. April started cooking while Natalie and Alex started talking. Alex decided to turn on some music to listen to so April can cook with a little background noise, and he sat back down on the couch with Natalie continuing their conversation. April chose to be a dork and slide out into the living room from the kitchen in her socks. She held a spoon to her mouth like a microphone, and sang along to the music. She started dancing, and eventually pulled Natalie up to dance with her. Alex got up and joined the fun too. The song ended and they laughed. April went to finish cooking breakfast while Natalie and Alex sat down on the couch still laughing.
"What the hell was that all about?" Alex asked still trying to catch his breath. "I have no clue." They were both still laughing as hard as they could and they finally settled down and stared their normal conversation again. As soon as breakfast was ready everyone got up and got something to eat. All three of them sat down on the couch and watching a movie while eating. When they were done, Alex wanted to take Natalie on a walk. Natalie talked with April about it and decided to go on the walk.
     She got dressed and so did Alex. When they were ready Alex walked Natalie out to the car to take her to his favorite place to go walking. "Where are we going? I've never seen this part of town." Natalie asked. "Just wait, you'll see. We're almost there." Alex replied. They started driving passed the woods, and there was an opening in the trees. Alex drove through the opening and parked in the woods. "Why are we in a forest?" Natalie asked. "It's not a forest...it's the woods." Alex replied. "Well it's creeping me out, I don't like it. Can we please go home now?" Natalie asked. "No! Not yet! Just follow me. I wanna show you something." Alex replied "Okay..." Natalie said.
     She followed him through the trees to a clearing. She looked out at the view and there was an amazing waterfall with a pond attached. Coy fish swam through the pond and so did many other creatures. "Oh...my...god." Natalie said. Natalie was amazed; she didn't know this place existed. "What do you think?" Alex asked. "I think it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. How come you've never shown me this" Natalie asked. "I never had the time. You were always working or busy or something." Alex replied. Natalie sat down to enjoy the view a little longer before they had to be on their way.
     "Beautiful, huh?" Alex asked. "Yeah, it is." Natalie replied. She looked over at Alex, and he was staring at her with eyes like the ocean, and a smile on his face like he's never seen anything so beautiful before. Natalie didn't want to look away because no one had ever looked at her like that before. Face to face they looked into each other's eyes. Alex closed his eyes and leaned in. Natalie didn't know what to do and froze up. She closed her eyes, and Alex kissed her.
     He pulled away, opened his eyes, and looked at Natalie. Natalie was in shock, and didn't know what else to do, but to kiss him back. She kissed him, stood up, and started walking to the car with a face as red as a tomato. She got to the car and started smiling like an idiot, until she saw Alex watching her freak out from afar. She tried to stop smiling, but it didn't work out so she just turned her head. Alex walked over to the car and started it.
     They started to drive home and Natalie looked over at Alex. Alex pretended like he didn't notice...and then she said something."So, what...happened back there?" Natalie asked. "Well...we kissed." Alex replied. His face started turning red ."Yeah, we did." Natalie said. She started smiling and looked away. She couldn't wait to tell April the news. But then Alex said something. "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have done that." he said. "No, it's fine. I didn't mind. It actually wasn't bad." Natalie replied. His face got even more red and he smiled a smile that Natalie hadn't seen before.
     They continued to drive home and Natalie couldn't stop smiling. Alex seemed he had the same problem. Natalie and Alex reach over to run on some music at the same time and their hands touch. They both jerk away startled. Alex reaches over and turns on the radio. They sang and had fun and forgot about the whole thing until they got home. They pulled into the driveway and as soon as the car turned off they started thinking about what happened. April came outside and walked out to the car. She knocked on the Alex's window and he rolled it down for her to talk to them. "So y'all gonna come inside and eat something or are you gonna sit out here?" They laughed and got out of the car to go inside and get some dinner. 
     As they walked inside April noticed that there had been some kind of tension between Alex and Natalie. She walked in and ignored it for a while, but after they got inside and they all sat down to eat, April brought it up. "So why are y'all actin' so distant?" she asked. "What? Nothing, it's fine." Alex replied. Natalie just sat there and started to smile. It was clear Alex didn't want April knowing about it, so she hadn't said anything while they were eating dinner. Alex put on a movie for them to watch while they eat and they all sat quietly, eating and watching the movie. After dinner April and Natalie went upstairs to Natalie's room. April shut the door behind her. "What is going on?" April asked. "He kissed me in the woods." Natalie said trying not to scream of excitement. "He did what?!" April yelled. Natalie snapped and they started to scream. 
     Alex heard the screaming and ran up to check on them. He thought someone had been hurt, and wanted to see if everything was okay. He got to Natalie's room and knocked on the door. "Hey, you guys okay in there?" he asked. "Yeah, everything's fine." April replied. He realized maybe he should get to know the sound of scared screams and excited screams. Although he doesn't want to get too used to the excited screams because one day they might be hurt. He feels as if he is now their protector, and to be there for them is all he wants to do. As he walked away from the door he felt as if he was doing his job right. He went back downstairs and sat down on the couch. He grabbed the remote and turned on the t.v. 
     The girls went back to talking, and it was all gossip about what happened in the woods. "You should totally just walk into his bedroom and lay down with him tonight. It would freak him out so bad." April suggested. "I don't know." Natalie replied. "Oh come on. Why not?" April asked. "Well for one, I think that would take a weird turn..." a smirk grew on April's face. "Two, I'm old enough to sleep in my own bed." April looked at her with a certain look. She knew Natalie wanted to...and that one look said it. "Alright, fine...but I'm telling him I had a nightmare so it's not as weird." "Yes!" April was proud of herself for getting her friend to do such things. They went downstairs and sat on the couch with Alex and watched a movie. "I think I'm gonna go make a few snacks." April said. She got up and went to the kitchen. Alex and Natalie sat there in silence.   
     Alex finally broke that silence. "I hope you had a good time today." he says. "I did. I couldn't have been happier today." Natalie says. She starts to smile as she tilts her head down. He looks over just to see the pure joy expressed through her smile and her eyes. He starts to smile as he looks back at the t.v. He wished that just for a second he could reach over and kiss her again, but he didn't. He sat there smiling, looking at the t.v and wishing he could. Only a moment later did she snuggle up on his chest. He out his arm around her and lay down keeping her on his chest. "Why did you kiss me earlier today?" Natalie asked. "Why did you kiss me back?" Alex replied. His reply seemed to answer her question and his, because there was no reply after that. When April walked in, Natalie had already fallen asleep. April set the snacks on the coffee table, and woke up Natalie. "Hey, hon. Snacks are here." Natalie was still waking up when April was talking, so she had no idea what was going on. 
     Alex sat up, sitting her upright with him. She was dependent on Alex for balance, seeing as she had just woken up. Natalie finally woke up fully, and she was able to sit up on her own. "Did I really fall asleep during that?" Natalie asked "Yeah, it was kinda cute" Alex replied.  Natalie started to blush and she started to smile. She liked it when he gave her compliments out of the blue like that. It made her feel as if she was his world, Which she was. They all ate snacks and watched movies until 3:05 in the morning. When the clock hit that time, April went up to bed. Soon afterwords, Alex followed. At 3:20 Natalie decided to shut off the television and get some rest. Alex had fallen asleep, and April was waiting in Natalie's room. The reason April was waiting is because she knew Natalie would go into her room and go to bed. "Where do you think you're going?" April asked. "Um...to bed?" Natalie responded. "Mm, not in here you're not. Get your butt in Alex's room." April said. Natalie gave in and walked into Alex's bedroom, trying not to wake him.
     She opened the door trying not to let too much light in. When she was in his room, she closed the door and walked over to his bed. She tried to crawl into his bed without waking him up, but that didn't go as planned. Alex woke up. Barely awake Alex said "Who...who's in here?" "It's just me." Natalie replied. Alex rolled over and turned on the lamp Natalie got him, which was placed next to his bed. "Oh, hey Nat. What are you doing in here?" Alex asked. "I had a ni--" Natalie stopped herself. She figured she would tell the truth instead of telling him a lie. "I didn't want to be alone tonight." she said. "Well...Why didn't you sleep in April's bed?" Alex asked. She felt as if he didn't want her there and that feeling showed. "No, please don't take that wrong. I was just asking, I don't mind you being in here. I'm actually glad you didn't go to April, cause I wanted to invite you to sleep in here tonight anyways. I was just too chicken to do it." Alex said. He once again made Natalie smile and he pulled up the covers inviting her to come lay down. She laid down and got comfortable and Alex did the same. 
     "Thanks for letting me sleep in here tonight." Natalie said. "No problem" Alex said as he turned off the light. Natalie wanted to snuggle up really close to him, but was afraid it would make things weird. Alex on the other hand, didn't think it would make things weird. Natalie was facing the wall the bed was up against, and Alex turned around to face her. He was behind her, and he knew she wanted to snuggle, cause she always does. He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him, and she got butterflies in her stomach. "I knew you wouldn't be able to sleep unless you had someone or something to cuddle. Well, I will gladly be the big teddy bear you sleep with tonight, if that's okay with you." Natalie rolled over to face him and gave him a hug. He laid flat on his back and Natalie wrapped herself around him. Within no time, they were both asleep. 
     They wake up and April's already cooking breakfast. They go downstairs, sit on the couch, and put on a movie. "Hey, y'all. How did you sleep last night?" April asked. "Pretty good." Natalie said. "Yeah, I haven't slept like that in a while." Alex agreed. "Well, I'm glad. By the way, don't be fooling yourselves. I know y'all slept together last night." April said. She winked at them and went back to the kitchen to continue cooking breakfast. They looked at each other and wanted to push it off and pretend that never happened. "Did you and April plan on you coming into my room last night?" Alex asked. "I told her that I didn't wanna be alone, and she suggested I say the night in your room." Natalie replied. "Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense." Alex said. Natalie snuggled up to Alex and they continued to watch t.v, waiting on breakfast. April walked out to the living room with a two trays in her hands, and one on her head. "Breakfast is served. Eat up, cause we all have a big day ahead of us." April said. "But I have to go into work today. I've taken way too long off, and my boss is gonna be pissed." Natalie said. 'Oh come on, Natalie. What's the harm in one more day?" April asked. "Less money to pay for this house with three people now living in it." Natalie replied.
     "Well...you don't have to worry about that anymore...I'm gonna get a job." Alex said. "Yeah, me too. We can all throw in a little. It's not fair for you to have to pay the bills and get food all on your own. Plus, I know that when you're done with all of that, you have nothing left over for yourself." April said. Natalie looked at both of them and gave in. "Alright, one more day, but you better be getting jobs instead of tricking me into this." Natalie said. "No, we're both pretty serious, aren't we Alex?" April said. "Hell yeah, we are. Let's go job hunting today." Alex said. "Well alright then." April replied. "Wait, didn't you make plans for us to do something else today?" Natalie asked. "Yeah, we can do that first, but then Alex and I will go job hunting." April replied. "Okay, sounds good. What exactly are we doing though?" Alex asked. "Wait and see, you impatient little boy!" April replied with a smile. Alex put his hands up in surrender, and they went out to April's truck. April told them to get in, and they did. April started up the truck, and they left. 
     About an hour into the ride, Natalie said something. "It's taking forever, where are we going?" she asked. "You'll have to be patient. It takes a few days to get there." April said. "A few days!" Alex and Natalie said. They said it at the same time, and they weren't happy about the news. "I'm kidding...you guys need to lighten up. We're almost there." April said. She started laughing at how gullible her friends were. Alex and Natalie sighed with relief and frustration, but eventually began laughing too. "Alright, y'all, how 'bout we turn on some music?" April said. "Oh hell yes! I've got the radio!" Natalie said. "Alright, go for it. Let's see what you've got." April said. Natalie turned on a song they hadn't heard in years, and played it on repeat 5 or 6 times. Alex finally got annoyed with it, and she had to change it.  "Alright April, it's been and hour 15 minutes. Where in the hell are we going?" Natalie asked "Wait a couple more hours, we'll get there." April said. Natalie wanted to take a nap, but knew she couldn't.
     "Well, I'm tired. I wanna go back home and take a nap." Natalie said. "April, she's tired and home is closer than where ever we're headed, so why don't we do this another day?" Alex said. It was at this point he knew where they were going. "She'll make it there. She'll love it, and so will you." April said. "Alright, well we've already been there, so you can take us home now." Alex said. "What? No you haven't." April said. "Yes, we have. But if you're gonna be that stubborn, the least we could do is let her lay down in the back and let her get some rest, cause when you take this road, it takes forever to get there." Alex said. "Alright, fine." April replied. She pulled over and let Natalie in the back seat so she could sleep. There was a blanket and some jackets back there, so she used the jackets as a pillow and she used the blanket to cover herself. "Why are there so many jackets and a blanket back there?" Alex asked. "Well, Natalie and I used to go on these long road trips, and we would have to take turns sleeping, and one of us would always get cold, so we keep the jackets back there in case we get cold, or for pillows. The blanket, you already know about." April replied. "Fair enough." Alex said. They kept driving. "April, now that Natalie's asleep I need to tell you something." Alex said. "Alright, that's chill. What's up, man?" April said. "You can't tell Natalie no matter what you do." Alex said. "Okay." April replied.