Chapter Twelve

Lachlan would not have called it dating; what he and Serenity were doing, although many people seemed to have thought it was. His parents, his uncle, the door greeter, the cab drivers, basically everybody in New York, but the two people itself. It seemed that if two teenagers were together constantly, in every waking moment, then usually they would be in a love relationship. That's how the world saw them, and Lachlan was going to make it so. He knew he had to. He knew it from the night he kissed her on the cheek, he had made his decision when his lips were inches away from hers, and he was going to stick by it for better or worse.

He didn't care that he was leaving soon, something inside him was growing and started growing the night he met her. Was it courage? Or love? Somehow the two seem very similar. No matter. He had to go and see her, he thought as he slid over his new shirt that Serenity had bought him the other day, black: his favorite color.

He looked into his reflection again before leaving. He still looked the same as he did when he first arrived. Except for his eyes; they looked confident. Ready. The eyes of a man.

He took a flower from a vase in the hallway before getting into the elevator. It's now or never Lachlan thought repeatedly. This could either end well, Or disastrous. The elevator sprang open and he routinely walked up to her door to knock but noticed a piece of paper on it.

Meet me at our place

-Serenity

Knowing instantly where she was, he got back into the elevator and hit the button for the top floor. As he exited the moonlight was already flooding through the ceiling-high windows, the scene looked slightly eerie, as it was accompanied by music. He looked out the window and saw the city lights lit up; the sky itself was beautiful with not a single cloud in the air. As he followed the music up the stairs he came to see Serenity sitting in front of a large piano.

"I'm glad you watched your step this time." She said, still playing. He didn't answer her but placed the flower beside her and smiled.

"Thanks, its beautiful," she said still playing a soft tune. "Sorry about the note. It was kind of last minute. Your uncle told me that this piano was being removed tomorrow and I wanted to say goodbye." He looked down at the piano and realized that it had been its music that led him to her. Gently placing a hand on it he thought the word "thanks"

It could have been when she said the word "goodbye" that had triggered him to make his move now. He walked behind her and placed his arms on her shoulders suddenly, and began to speak.

"Serenity…. There's something that I have to tell you." She suddenly stopped playing. "These past weeks have been the most craziest of my life-"

"Why didn't you kiss me lat night?"

She looked back at him and he could see that her eyes were swelling with tears. She wasn't asleep after all. He didn't imagine it.

"You had your chance and you didn't take it! Why?" she said raising her voice, tears slowing coming down her beautiful face, making her look even more beautiful. She had taken him the wrong way

"Because…because I was afraid to." He said truthfully, he wanted it to be the right moment.

"Afraid?" she said coldly. Then suddenly she ran from the room hands in her face sobbing. How did it end up like this? He thought. She had misunderstood him; he was doing the exact opposite of what she was thinking. He saw her run up the stairs into the garden. He followed her slowly, knowing where she would be.