Strings (1 of 2)

Chapter 23 - Tell Me Something

[Nathan's POV]

Emily lays in front of me on her stomach, her chin resting lightly on the back of her hands on my chest.

"We have been in bed all day... let's go do something." she says, staring up at me with her big blue eyes that remind me of the ocean.

"You weren't complaining 10 minutes ago," I joke and smirk as her cheeks go pink. She shouldn't be embarrassed, I don't want her to feel that way, but she is so cute when she blushes I can't help but take every opportunity to make her do it.

She recovers quickly, as always, and rolls her eyes. "Neither were you."

Very true, little minx.

"What do you want to do?" I ask as I tuck a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear so I can see her face. I wait silently as she thinks it through for a moment.

She looks back up to me with a new light in her eyes and an excited smile. Whatever she is thinking, I already know I will say yes. I don't want to take this look off her face.

"Let's go for a drive and watch the sunset," she says, watching me closely to gauge my reaction.

I fake a groan to pretend to put up a fight.

"I know it seems lame but it will be fun. We can take my car." she adds, piquing my interest. I've seen her Mercedes... As much as I like having her wrapped around me on my bike, I wouldn't mind giving up the bike for a night to drive that.

"Only if I get to drive." I say and her beautiful smile grows instantly and she nods.

We get ready quickly, me in my favourite black jeans and a grey t-shirt and her in yesterday's jean shorts and flowy top. We head outside to where she parked and she tosses me her keys as promised as we approach her masterpiece of a car.

"If you crash my car, I will kill you." she says seriously before getting into the passenger seat. I chuckle and get into the driver's seat and click the push start button. The engine purrs as it comes to life and I smile.

This will be fun.

I back the SUV out of the parking spot and head towards the freeway. I'll take her to the beach she loves. We should be able to get there before the sunset hits. If not, I'll pull over so she can watch it.

Emily plugs in her phone and turns on a shuffle of songs by the band Bastille. I smile as I watch the traffic ahead. I like this band too. I move my right hand to rest on her soft thigh and keep my left on the steering wheel. I can feel her smile shyly up to me but I don't turn to look at her.

As the song Haunt blares from the speaker, she pulls a book from the glove department and opens it to the page she has marked off.

I keep quiet as the miles pass, drumming my fingers against the steering wheel with the music, and steal glances at her every couple minutes.

She doesn't seem to notice, fully engrossed in the book before her that I can't see the name of. A few times I hear her snort and giggle a little, seemingly finding whatever the book is saying funny. I watch her emotions change over the course of the drive as they change with each look. Her lips curve up when she likes it, frowns when she doesn't, and at point she looks like she is on the verge of tears. But I don't ask her why. I don't want to disturb her.

When we are close to the beach she lets out a sigh. I heard the book thud closed and she places it back in the glove department. Her left hand rests on mine on her thigh, her warm fingers tapping against my skin to the beat of the music. It's soothing in a way I don't quite understand.

I park in the beach parking lot, with the back of the car facing the sunset starting to go down. I can tell from the grin on her face she is pleased with my location choice, which makes me smile.

"Wanna sit in the back?" she asks and I nod.

We both climb out of the front seats and I open the trunk for us. I sit with my back against the back of the backseat and Emily climbs in beside me. She scouts back, crossing her legs, and I wrap my arm around her waist instinctively to pull her closer. She leans her cheek against my shoulder lightly.

She is usually so quiet I don't know what she is thinking. But I want to know what's going on in that pretty head of hers.

"Tell me something." I blurt out.

She lifts her head off my shoulder and looks up to me, confused. "What?" she asks.

"Tell me something. Anything. What are you thinking about?" I probably sound like a needy bitch, but I want to know too badly to care how it comes across.

She blinks at me for a second then smiles and leans back against my shoulder, looking out to the sky.

"I was thinking about my brother," she says quietly and my body tenses. I didn't expect her to bring him up. "I, uh, I used to watch sunsets with him. He was a photographer." she smiles sadly and I can see the memory in her head flashing across her eyes. I wait for her to continue. "He would drive us out to random places and I would wait with him as he took a billion photos. It was his favourite thing to do. Mine too."

"You miss him." I say as a statement more than a question. I don't need to ask, I know she does. I know the feeling...

She nods against my shoulder. "You probably saw some of his pictures around the house. My parents framed some of them."

I remember seeing a few in the hallway and dining room. "I did. They were really good."

She smiles but doesn't say anymore so I don't push, I just watch her silently.

I stare at her fascinated eyes watch the sunset, mesmerized by her. The more time I spend with her, the more I see how different she is. Different from what I expected, different from how people see her, and different from other girls. If I pay attention, I can see the sad girl behind the beams of sunshine she exudes, or tries to exude.

She doesn't seem to care about the spoiled life she has been given or her wealth, she sees the beauty in the small things. The beach. City lights. Sunsets. Books. She focuses on the little things I don't pay attention to. And that makes me see the beauty in her.

I know we said no feelings. No strings. She made that clear.

I don't want to like her. This was not part of the plan.

But how do I stop?

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading!!

I do have big plans for this story in my head, I just need to sit down and write it all out. Bear with me!

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