Chapter 2

I woke up and it was still pitch black in my room. I turned my head to look at the alarm clock on my nightstand and it was only 4:45 a.m. I tried to fall back asleep but twenty minutes later I was still up. I was at the point where I was wide-awake and I may as well start my day rather than just lay in bed like a lazy bum. I figured I might as well go for an early morning run and enjoy the sunrise this morning. So I got out of bed and put on a pair of running shorts, sport bra, tank top, socks and finally my running shoes. Once I was dressed I silently crept downstairs and tried not to wake anyone up. On my way down I accidently stepped on a squeaky step and hoped I didn't wake anyone up. Once I got downstairs I looked for something light to eat that would hold me over until I got back from my run. I finally settled on a banana. As I took my first bite out of it, I heard a noise from upstairs. It sounded like footsteps and they began getting louder as they lowered down the stairs. I wasn't sure who it was but then Kendall emerged from the dark hallway that the staircase led to.

"What are you doing down here so early?" he asked as he rubbed his tired eyes.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Well you not being able to sleep caused me to wake up. I heard you step on the squeaky step and that woke me up."

"Sorry," I apologized. "I tried really hard not to make any noise. I didn't want to disturb anyone's sleep." I took the final bite of my banana and threw the peel in the trash.

"Alright I'll see you later," I said as I waved to Kendall.

"Where are you going?" he asked frantically.

"Running."

"Lyss, it's still dark outside! You're not going by yourself," he quietly yelled.

"You sound like James, all over-protective."

"I'm going with you," he stated.

"What?"

"Yeah that's right. I'm going with you. Hang tight for a minute and I'm going to go change." Kendall went upstairs and just a couple minutes later he was all dressed in a white beater and a pair of red basketball shorts with his black Nike running shoes. "Alright let's go!" he said as he led the way out of the house. "So where are we running to?"

"I usually run 2.5 miles and stop at the stream and then turn around to run 2.5 back," I explained to him.

"Alright, lead the way!" I did as Kendall said and began running my usual route. We were a bit chilly because the sun wasn't up yet but after so much time running we began to work up a sweat. After about twenty minutes of running we finally reached the stream.

"I…thought…you…said…you…wouldn't…kill…me…" Kendall said between heavy breaths as I laughed at his reference to what I said last night. I was tired from the run too but clearly Kendall doesn't run much because he looked like he was going to die from exhaustion.

"If I was trying to kill you we would've ran 25 miles."

"Very funny," he said sarcastically as he laid down on the grass.

"Don't forget you insisted on coming with me," I reminded Kendall as I took a seat by him.

"Well I wasn't going to let you run around in the dark," he told me. "Plus it gave me an excuse to hangout with you." This made me blush and I had no idea what to say in response to that.

"Hey looks like the sun is coming up," I pointed out. The sun was slowly coming up behind the tall trees that lined the stream and the sunlight reflected off of the clear water of the stream. "It looks beautiful, doesn't it?"

"It sure does," Kendall said in awe as he took in the view.

"I don't usually get up early enough to run out here and see the sunrise but when the rare occasion of me waking up early occurs I take advantage of it and come out here," I told him. "And I feel like every time I see this view, I appreciate it more and more. It's something I never get sick of looking at." I turned to Kendall who was looking at me in a daze. "You ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he claimed as he snapped out of his trance. "Just exhausted still."

"That run wore you out didn't it?" I asked and he nodded. "How about we take it easy and just walk home so you're not dead by the time we get back?"

"I absolutely love that plan," Kendall said excitedly. He stood up and extended his hand for me to take. "Shall we, my lady?" I smiled and took his hand as he helped me up. Once we were up and walking I looked down and realized our hands were still intertwined. Kendall noticed the observation I made and his reaction wasn't what I expected. I thought he would've automatically let go of my hand. What he did was something better; he looked at me directly in the eye, smiled and squeezed my hand. This sent those good kinds of chills down my spine and butterflies in my stomach. It was at that moment I realized I had feelings for my brother's best friend, Kendall Knight.