Disclaimer: These characters belong to C.L. Stone. I'm simply using them to fulfill my own writing fantasies. Thank you Ms. Stone for these wonderful stories and characters! 3
Nathan
Early morning sunlight creeps through the slats of my blinds. I let out a groan and pull the covers up over my head. Damn Academy training. Sometimes I really wish my internal alarm isn't so attuned to Mother Nature. The strain of the past couple of days of missions announces themselves on my sore body.
While I want nothing more than to stay in bed I know it'll be far better if I get my ass up and moving to relieve the stiffness and tiredness from my muscles.
Aw, hell.
Shoving back the blanket I rub a hand over my face. A quick shave's in order. And a morning run will help wake me up. Putting on my favorite red Nike T-shirt and shorts I'm freshened up, ready and out the door in ten minutes flat.
Even as early as it is, South Carolina summer doesn't disappoint. The sun barely up and already I feel humid air clinging to my skin. I'm in no mood to work up a sweat today so I set my pace at an easy jog, earbuds dangling on my neck as I set my playlist to shuffle mode.
Following the trail in the woods behind my house, the crunch of shoes treading over mucky branches makes me pause. And then something louder - a strange, strangled yelp. Who the hell else is up and about this early?
"Someone out there?" I continue towards the sound, spotting a large maple tree that fell in the storm a few nights back.
A slight pause before I hear a whispered, "Yeah."
I squint up, trying to locate the source of the voice. "Where?" I ask.
"In the tree," comes the reply, before coughing ensues.
"Didn't you see it was down?" I round the gargantuan thing, still trying to discover the source of the voice. "Why didn't you take the other path?" I stop after spotting a blonde girl staring down at me from her position up on a high branch.
At first I'm unable to put my finger on why she looks familiar, before realizing she arrived with the new family that just moved into the two-story gray house down the street, next to Kota's. I've seen her around a couple but never got the chance to properly introduce myself. Guess today is as good a time as any. Something inside me lights up at the fact that she came walking out here so early. Maybe she likes the outdoors as I do, and early morning walks as well.
Shit. Focus, Nathan!
"Can you get out?" I say, a hand over my eyes to block the sun. I try thinking of ways to help in case she is stuck.
"I think so," she whispers again. Why is she whispering? I can barely make out her words as it is. I ask if there's anything wrong with her voice and she just pats her hands over her throat.
"Your voice broke?" I assume.
The girl gives a funny little smile and nods. I watch as she moves around the tree, still trying to find a way out.
"Move left," I instruct, a plan forming. She moves to her left - my right, I realize belatedly. Wrong way. "Shit, sorry. I meant my left. Your right." She turns back and points to the trunk, questioning me with a glance. "Follow it down until you get past the branches." I manage to find my own way around, waiting until she stands where I want her, then tell her to jump down.
Her forehead creases. She looks like she was trying to decide what to do. Maybe she just needs some more convincing.
"You'll be fine. Come on." I lift up my arms. "Jump from there," I say.
I think she looks confused again. "Back up so I've got room," she says in that quiet voice.
What the hell? "No, it's fine. I'll get you." Is she insane, trying to make the jump on her own?
Her jaw drops. It gives her such a funny appearance, her small, delicate features buried within that mess of dirty blonde hair and too-large eyes. I try to hold back a grin, really I do, and fail fucking miserably. It's just too damn cute.
"Will you just listen to me?" I continue my attempt at persuasion. "Jump."
Still she hesitates. Argh. "Fuck thinking," I say finally, "thinking hurts the team. Jump." 'Thinking hurts the team'? Really, Nathan? I let out a snort at my own ineptitude. How long has it been since I've talked to a girl?
I open my arms again, wider this time. As she lands, I grip her tightly, spinning us around a bit to ease the momentum. She's much smaller than I expected, and her whole body shakes, thin, fragile. Delicate. I feel every tremor and every ragged breath she takes pressed up against my chest, and in that moment I don't want to let go. I have the desire to comfort her, let her know she is safe. So I rub at her shoulders.
"It's okay," I say, "you're fine. You made it." I repeat this a couple times, though unsure of whose benefit I'm really saying it more for.
She finally backs away, her eyes lowered and a deep red blush staining her pale cheeks. "Thank you," she says. "You're okay, right?"
She's worried about me? I nod, feeling my own face heat up at her concern. I attempt to play it cool, though, and revert the focus back to her. "What made you think you could climb over it like that?"
"It didn't look too bad from the other side. I guess I just wanted to see if I could."
So she's adventurous. I smirk. "You're not really dressed for climbing like that." I'm kidding, or think I am; she seems just too fun to tease. Predictably, her eyes widen a fraction before she checks herself over. I do the same and notice the bandage on her arm.
"What happened to your wrist?"
"I fell a couple days ago."
"You're accident prone. Come on." And before even realizing what I'm doing I've grabbed hold of her hand, leading us both back to the safety of the regular path. And then I let go, part of me wishing I can take it back, another part wondering why she didn't pull away or say anything, yet happy she didn't. Well, shit. That barely even made sense in my head.
"...down?"
"What?" I blurt out. Once again, real smooth. I missed her question while lost in my thoughts. I lower my face close to hear her better. She swallows before speaking again.
"How long has the tree been down?"
"A week, I think. I keep meaning to come back out here to clear it out from the path but I've been putting it off." I'm probably rambling. The girl watches me now with bright, curious green eyes like she's never heard someone say so much at once. "There was a bad storm before you moved in." Might as well add some more while I'm at it, then.
Then she blinks, suddenly started. "You know who I am?" Her tone reflects surprise. Did she think no one saw her move in? Practically everyone on the block saw the moving truck, or heard its rumbling towards the house. Everyone knows that house, at least. It's the only one in the neighborhood with the half court-sized driveway and the basketball net.
But she sounds as if she hasn't met anyone else yet. She really is shy. Shy, but sweet. For her sake I make it out like it's no big deal. "I've seen you around," I say. "I'm Nathan."
I lean in closer to hear better, but before I've barely moved she says again, "My name is Sang."
"Sang?" I repeat. She nods. I smile and motion in the direction of our houses. "Want me to walk you back?"
After another slight pause she says, "I don't mean to ruin your jog."
I shrug. "It's nothing." And I mean that. "Coming?" I add. We begin walking back towards the block and I try to engage her in conversation, wanting to know more about her. School seems like a safe bet.
"You're going to the public school, right?" She just nods again. I keep going, hoping I don't sound like a rambling idiot. "About time we had someone new around here. There's only a handful of kids on this street."
"I haven't seen them around."
Some part of me wants to jump up and down like a little kid at this announcement. I'm the first one she's met then, it seems. This shy, sweet, pretty girl.
"You will," I tell her, trying not to sound as smug as I feel. I swing my arms back and forth. She raises a pale brow at me, and it looks so comical on her small face with those large, expressive eyes of hers that I grin wide. "You've got the good basketball goal."
"The one hanging from the garage?"
"Yeah. Full height and that wide driveway that's at least half court, I think." I smirk. "Don't laugh, but I came over one night to jump on it, just to see if I could hang from it."
She smiles. "It's still there, so you must have made it."
"It's pretty strong," I agree. Then, after waiting awhile, "So what happened to your voice?"
She opens her mouth to reply but nothing comes out.
"You've been talking too much, huh? Girls always talk too much." I tease. She shoots me a friendly glare, and then we're both quiet as I lead us around a bent while I ask if she always goes for morning walks. If she says yes then I'm hoping to invite her out with me one day.
"I couldn't sleep and I hadn't followed this path yet, so I came to check it out."
"Did you try the woods on the other side of the street yet?"
"No. How do you get over there?"
I smile. I like this girl more and more by the minute. "I'll show you," I offer. There, that was casual, wasn't it? "It's a little easier to get lost over there though and there's some things you should see. Like there's a big ditch you may not see walking up to. I think that's how they drained the land around here, so they could develop it."
"I'll check it out," Sang says like an overeager kid. I let out a snort.
"On second thought, I ought to go with you over there. Don't go without me."
"I'll be fine."
"Uh huh." I turn to her, dead serious. Then I notice a maple leaf stuck to her hair, and, reaching over, pull it free from the strands before holding it up to her face. "You'll be fine, unless there's a fallen tree."
Her face flushes, mouth moving but no words coming out. She looks like a freaking fish out of water, trying to find something to say, it's hilarious. Man, I can't believe how much fun it is to tease Sang. The way her whole face just turns that adorable shade.
I add, "Think you could do it alone? As you wish. Next time I'll leave you." I let the leaf fall and start down the path again. Her footsteps quickly catch up to mine.
"How do you get over there?" she whispers.
"Nope. I'm not telling you now." I laugh.
She frowns, her lips forming a perfect pink pout. Damn. Before I blurt out anything stupid I make a face at her and a zipping motion with my fingers over my own mouth.
"Ugh. I'll figure it out."
"Sure."
The wooden fence of my backyard comes into view. "This is my stop." I wish the walk had been longer. I want more time with Sang but don't know how to ask without embarrassing myself or making her feel uncomfortable.
"You have a pool?" Sang suddenly asks.
I almost miss it, and after a startled pause, nod. Then she grins, wide, her features lighting up like she's discovered something insanely awesome. "Is it big?"
Whoa. Hmm, maybe this is my chance. "Come and look at it. You tell me." There's a piece of wood over a ditch in front that I cross about halfway before turning around. "Or do you want to do it yourself?"
She makes a funny face, but reaches out. I take her hand in mine and hold on it on it until we come to the other end. After I open the gate at the fence Sang bounds over to the edge of the pool, peering down into the water. Her face still looks eager, though at the same time scrunched in a way showing curiosity, eagerness.
"How deep is it?" she says.
A sudden, wicked idea blooms. I take my shoes off and sneak up to where Sang still stands with her back to me. Not to mention completely clueless of what I'm about to do. I put my hand on her back, and with one solid push, send her flying into the water. Quickly ripping off my shirt I dive in after her, touching the bottom before floating back up. Sang faces me, wide-eyed, clothes dripping, hair an adorable, wet, floppy mess.
I grin. "Did you find out?"
She's smiling, green eyes alight with pleasure. And then she splashes me. Hard.
I duck, half-heartedly lifting an arm to block the spray of water. "Hey there, little mermaid," I say, "you don't want to start that game with me. I win every time."
She pouts, splashing me again.
Well, then.
"As you wish." And I lunge towards her.
I see her jeans-clad legs desperately splashing underwater and trying to get away, but she's too slow with all that heavy clothing. And she's so adorably small, I can overtake her easily. Envelop her whole frame. With one lunge I'm at her side, my arms wrapping themselves around her tiny waist of their own accord. She stiffens momentarily, still splashing, before I lift us both out of the water and her onto my shoulder. I pause, waiting to see what she'll do.
Fuck it.
I throw her back in the water.
Sang lets out a yelp as she goes flying back into the pool not far from where I currently stand, hands on hips and a smug grin on my face. When Sang comes back up, sputtering, giggling, green eyes shut tight and cheeks flushed brightly, I burst out laughing.
She finally stops to give me a half-glare, shaking her head. "Not fair," she cries, pointing to her jeans and sneakers.
I stop and swim closer. "Take them off."
Sang's jaw drops, and the effect is comical enough on her soaked features to get me chuckling again. "What? No!" Her voice squeaks.
"Then lose," I challenge, staring her down. I inch closer, smug grin and all. One shoe goes flying out of the pool and lands with a thump on the concrete somewhere to my left. The other one joins it a moment later. And then she stops.
"I'm not taking my pants off," whispers Sang.
I can't help an eye roll at that. "You'll wear a bikini that has less material than you're wearing with that shirt and you won't take your pants off." I pause, a slow smirk working its way on my face. I can't help it. Teasing Sang is proving to be too much fun. "You are wearing underwear, right?"
And instantly Sang's face turns the color of sunburn. "Yeah..."
I feel a tad bit sorry now, so I say, "You could run back to your house and grab your bathing suit, I guess."
Sang is quiet, looking down. Her hands lift, lingering for a moment at her front. Then she does something totally unexpected. She goes to unzip her pants. My eyes widen involuntarily, and I start laughing again. I can't believe this girl!
"No!" I shout between chuckles, holding up a hand before she actually takes her pants off. "Stop it." God, she doesn't mind being in her underwear? I know what I said, but still. This girl is something. A part of me is disappointed for stopping her. Actually, maybe a bit more than disappointed. That part wants to see more of her. Thankfully, the better part is glad I didn't go through with it.
I swim to the edge of the pool and get out, making my way around to where she's situated and motion with my hands. "Come on. I've got an old pair of shorts that might fit you. If you tie them, they'll probably be okay." Right as Sang nears the edge I lower myself down to her eye-level and grab underneath her shoulders, pulling her up out of the water in one swift motion. She gives a little gasp, although I don't even think she realized it, but I heard and my heart gives a jerk.
She's panting hard, giving these breathy little gasps, and her cheeks are flushed a bright scarlet. The sight of it goes straight down to my groin, and I suppress a shudder. I've never been this affected by a girl.
I pull away after making sure she's steady on her feet before she can notice anything embarrassing. Going inside my house I rummage through old clothes Gabe sometimes leaves in our closets and return with a pair of green ones. I manage to calm myself enough to appear in front of her.
"Want to come in?" I ask.
She makes a face at me, then points down at herself. Eyes up, Nate, keep your goddamn eyes up. "I'm dripping," she whispers so low I nearly miss it in my internal conversation.
I give a snort. "So am I." I pull the sliding door open further and beckon to her. "There's a bathroom right there. You can put the shorts on if you want."
Sang nods.
"Do you want a T-shirt? It'll probably be big on you."
She nods again and tugs at her blouse. "It'll give time for this to dry."
"I'll toss them in the dryer after you're done." She goes inside and I close the door after, then rummage around in my closet for a tee. I find the dark blue one Dad brought back from a trip to New York, the one written in Japanese: Girls are stupid; Throw rocks at them.
I can't help a grin. Perfect.
I walk up to the bathroom door and knock. "I've got a shirt."
Sang pokes out her head and I hand her the shirt, glancing over the letters curiously. I have half a mind to tell her what it says then think better of it. I don't want her to think I'm making fun of her right off the bat and plus I wanna save it for a later time.
"Does your dad fly helicopters?" she asks.
"Yeah." I nod, closing the door, and lean with my back to the frame. "He makes trips between here and New York. Sometimes to Florida. He's gone a lot."
Sang reappears and I turn around, eyeing her up and down. "It fits?" She tied the shorts tight at her waist, although it goes all the way down to her knees. The shirt is too many sizes too big and stops at her upper thighs.
"I look weird."
I laugh, shaking my head. Nope, she looks fucking adorable. "You're actually kind of cute. You should totally wear that your first day of school." As quickly as the thought comes I'm surprised to feel a tingle of happiness at her wearing my clothes. Get a grip.
Sang's eyes narrow, but she lets out a giggle.
"Go jump in. I'll put these in the dryer."
I take the clothes from her and head back inside to go into the laundry room. By the time I come back out Sang is flitting beneath the water like a little mermaid, then shifts upward to go across the pool in a slow breaststroke before popping up at the surface and taking a breath. I stand at the edge of the pool, content to just watch her a while. "You could get faster," I say. Sang's head snaps in my direction, the start of a smile on her lips. She looks like she's about to say something by the glint in her eyes, but I continue on. "Pull your hands above your head as you do that thing where you bring your head up. Then as you're moving your feet, spread out your hands and pull like you're crawling through the water." I motion with my arms to show her exactly what I mean.
She takes it all in seriously, nodding every few times before she dives back in to do what I told her to do. I watch as she throws herself against the pool, curving into the water, her arms and legs following through the stroke movements perfectly, and she reaches the other side quicker than the first time.
I hoot loudly and congratulate her. She rubs at her arm. "You should do some weight training. Are you going to join the swim team?" I ask, sliding in to stand beside her.
"I'm not much a competitor."
"You're shitting me!"
She laughs. "I don't mind a short race."
"Should we race?" I ask. Say yes say yes say yes.
Sang's eyes widen slightly. For a second I think she's gonna say no. "I'll try," she whispers, and I feel my heart soar and the start of something devious start in me.
"Should we bet on the outcome?" I ask her, waggling my eyebrows.
"You'll win."
"You don't know that. You're pretty quick. You're smaller than me, too. You could probably move through the water faster than I could." Not exactly true, but hey, never hurts to boost a girl's ego. Especially a cute one's, I think, grinning to myself.
"What do you want?" she asks.
"If you win, what would you want?"
She doesn't hesitate. "I want to know the secret to getting into the back of woods."
I break into a wide grin. God this girl. "I was going to show you that anyway," I say. Sang purses her lips, quiet, considering. Then she points to the shirt.
"This?" she says.
She wants my shirt? She wants my shirt, I think, wonderingly. Huh. Don't know what to make of that. I just nod instead. "If I win…" I pause, glancing over her face again. Then I make a decision. "If I win, you promise that if we went up with a class together, you'll sit next to me."
Sang's brows lifted. "That's it?"
I have no idea what that means, but I decide to play it casual. "Hey, if I'm going to cheat off of someone, I'd like a willing participant," I say, grinning.
It works.
Her mouth pops open, her eyes widen, making them so large they seem to take up her whole face. Her fingers hover at the base of her throat. "Nathan?" she says softly.
"I'm kidding," I laugh. "I don't cheat."
Then she grins, the wicked gleam from before back in her eyes. "I do." And with that she positions herself up against the edge of the pool.
"Really?"
Instead of a reply, she shoots away from the wall under the water and swims a good distance away from before I manage to catch up. She's halfway across the pool before I reach her, though, and I'm pretty impressed. But I'm still fast for her, and now I want to win even more because of the bet. So I grab at her ankle and give a hard jerk. She sails backward, and I finish at the other end, chuckling.
She surfaces, gasping, sputtering, which only makes me laugh harder.
"Cheat!" she wheezes out.
"You can't cheat if you didn't set rules," I quip back smugly. I'm rewarded by her sticking out her tongue at me. She's so silly, I love it. "Don't go pulling that face on me. You owe me now."
She splashes at me.
"I warned you about splashing." Then I catch her before she can move away, and we play for about another pool, laughing and swimming and splashing about. Finally she holds up a hand and I stop in the middle of throwing water at her with my hands, poised to strike. She crawls out, falling on her stomach on the patio and taking in deep lungfuls of air.
"Give up?" I ask.
"You play rough." Her voice croaks. I laugh. "And here I thought I had my own little mermaid who could keep up," I challenge.
"You know she dies at the end of the original story."
I frown. "What? Why?"
"She sacrifices herself for the prince's happiness."
Well that fucking sucks. I didn't mean to put a damper on things. I let her know that it's fucked up. "Wasn't he happy with her?"
"He was in love with another girl."
"What an ass."
Sang stops speaking then and turns on her back. I watch, my eyes raking over her body like they're unable to help it. I can't help it. She's so cute, sweet, funny. I really hope we do have a few classes together. That would be awesome. But even if we don't we could still see each other every day since she lives so close by. I try to come up with more excuses to call her back, and not for the first time so glad that Dad decided to have the pool installed. Yeah, that's perfect, she'll want to come swim. Maybe we could even make a date of it, and then go to the movies, have dinner…
Whoa. Gotta slow down.
Although really, I don't want to. I like this girl. Not the usual type I go for. But maybe she's the exception. I don't care anyways. I like her. I'm really starting to like her. And we had so much fun together.
Sang shifts a little, and the breeze flicks open the side of her shirt. At first I notice the wet fabric sticking close to her body quickly avert my eyes so as not look like a pervert. But then I spot the dark purplish bruise at the side of her hip.
"Where'd you get that?" I ask, reaching out to lift the shirt to get a better look. Damn, it's a good one. I notice that Sang's suddenly still, rigid like she's trying to understand what I'm doing or something, but she doesn't protest so I pull down the shorts a bit more. And suck in a breath. "Jesus. What'd you do that for?"
"I fell," says Sang, softly.
"On to someone's foot?" I attempt a joking manner. I don't know if it's working.
"On to the concrete."
Concrete bruises never look that bad. At least, not in a way I've ever seen. And I know bruises. Gotten more than a few shares of them myself.
"How the hell did it get that bad on your hip?" I demand.
"It was the angle, I think." She's still so easy bout it all, like it doesn't matter. I'm actually surprised she didn't say anything before, while we were fooling around. Not a single word or wince or anything to indicate her hip was hurting that bad. And it has to be hurting her. No way it isn't.
What kind of a girl is she, exactly?
"It's fine," she says. "Looks worse than it feels."
Yeah, right. "Probably not." I shake my head, already starting to get up. I might have some arnica cream still left over somewhere. "I've had my share of bruises. That's a nasty one." I give her a hand up.
"I can't do anything for it."
"I've got something." I pull her toward the shed in the back, feeling a bit smug that I managed to hold her hand, even amidst my concern for her, and that she hasn't let go. I stop at the door and tell her to wait there before I unlock the latch and walk in, flicking on the overhead lights.
Despite my cautioning here that the floor could be slippery, I see Sang out of the corner my eye, hesitantly making her way in, looking around with a wondering expression. She's like an open book.
"You do karate?" she says.
"Kind of." I reply, coming up behind her.
She turns to face me, blinking, confusion written plain as day on her face.
"It's Jujitsu. And Taekwondo. And some other martial arts. Karate is just a different style."
Her mouths pops open in an 'o'. "That's really cool," she says, and I soften my smile.
"I know," I say, and lead her back outside. "Let me see that bruise again."
She lifts up her shirt, and I squirt out some cream into my hand before delicately pressing it onto the bruise. Her skin is soft, warmed up from the sun. I shut down my thoughts.
"What is this?" Sang says. She wrinkles her nose, and I can't help but laugh, thankful for the distraction. It comes out a bit low though, husky-sounding, and I hope she didn't notice the change.
"Arnica cream," I reply, "it's supposed to help with bruising and sore muscles." I wipe my hands off on my trunks before handing over the tube. "Put this on twice a day until it starts to turn green," I tell her.
"Thank you."
I fix my eyes on her face. "You know, you're pretty nice for a girl."
Sang's eyes widen again, giving her that startled deer appearance, and the faint tinge of reddish pink blankets across her cheeks. I never realized how much fun it could be to make a girl blush, but damn if it isn't probably the best thing I've ever seen so far.
"What?" Sang chokes.
"You know," I say, waving a hand over my head, "girls are all 'give me that' and usually want to get all cute on the couch and not get their hair wet and … yeah, indoor types." What am I saying? I was basing what I knew of girls so far from Danielle since we basically grew up together. She's always trying to get me to pay attention to her and whined every chance she got and fuck if that wasn't annoying. The other girls I've ever really known were all Academy, and I've hung around them a bit, kissed a few, but that was really how far I got. I was never interested before, since none really caught my interest.
Until Sang.
She's lifting a brow now, looking skeptical. "Girls don't like wet hair?"
"You're totally missing the point." I chuckle.
"Probably because I'm a girl," she says, a bit defensively. I just roll my eyes and laugh again. I'm about to say something else—I don't know what exactly, but something along the lines of if she wants to hang out with me—when my phone rings. I race over to pick it up. It's Kota.
"Hey! What's up?"
He sounds a little frantic, which worries me. He's asking if I can do something for him, a favor, but that he needs me to be quiet about it and not tell anyone else, not even Mr. B. Then he stops. Huffs out a breath. "Hold up, you busy? What are you doing right now?" he says.
"Uh, no. I was just swimming with Sang, she's the…" I was about to say, girl from up the street, but Kota beats me to it. He seems relieved, somehow. "You know her?" I ask, turning to Sang and arching a brow. Sang never mentioned she knew Kota.
"Yes, I know Sang. We met and—actually can you two come over right now? We need to talk."
This is weird. What's going on here? "Yeah, okay. We'll come over." I hang up the phone, unable to help the jab of regret I'm feeling inside as I watch Sang walk toward me. I didn't realize she's already met Kota. I was hoping I was the first one, that I could keep her to myself for a bit. Get to know her better. I should've approached her as soon as she moved in.
I check the watch at my wrist, stalling for time, trying to compose myself from the unexpected disappointment. "Have to be somewhere?" I ask quietly.
Sang shakes her head. Her expression changes slightly and now she looks unsure, like she doesn't know what to do. She looks lost.
"Let's get dressed. How'd you meet Kota?" I ask, ignoring the look in her eyes for now.
"Long story," she replies, a bit of warmth returning to her features. I give her a smile.
"Tell me on the way to his house."
A/N: Thought I'd extend this chapter all the way up until when Sang and Nathan are heading over to Kota's house. Before, I didn't write them playing in the pool but then I thought, why the hell not, and decided to go for it. Hope you enjoyed! Read, rate, and comment, please! I'm hoping to extend the other boys' soon when I get the chance, but no promises on the timing though, so you'll just have to bear with me and be patient.
