Dianna woke up the next morning a bit confused. The ceiling was higher than that of her California apartment, and in lieu of the usual rolling of wheels on pavement, she heard birds chirping happily outside of the window. Rolling over on her side, she checked out her surroundings. There was another bed adjacent to hers, and a mass of long blonde hair was draped over its pillow, covering a tan, skinny arm. The person's leg poked out from the sheets, and Dianna laughed as she heard a light snore coming from her direction.
Finally gaining recollection of where she was, she rose reluctantly from her bed, pacing over to the window and peeping through its shade, not wanting to let too much sun in from fear of waking Harmony. She could tell it was early morning by the sun's position, just barely poking over the hills. The room had a good view of the backyard, its fire pit and in ground swimming pool foreground to a picturesque scene of rolling hills dotted with scattered oak and willow trees.
Since she was the first up of the two, she took Harmony's advice from the previous night and shuffled to the bathroom, toting her hair supplies. It seemed as though she was the first to wake so she eagerly started the shower, ready to get going after fully recovering from her jet lag. When it started to steam she turned it down a bit, knowing from experience that boiling hot water created patches of red on her skin. The water felt good against her tired body, and as she washed she immediately woke from her early morning zombie state. When she was done, Dianna reached to the counter for her clothes. Not seeing them, she panicked. Internally, she retraced her steps, realizing she hadn't brought them at all. She wanted to kick herself for her stupidity, but instead she settled for wrapping herself in a towel, hoping nobody else was awake yet.
Chord woke early, unable to sleep with the sun poking in through his shades. He made a mental note to tell his parents, then got himself up. He was tired, but he knew that fact could be fixed easily. Grabbing his clothes for the day, he headed down the hall to the bathroom, pausing momentarily at the stairs. For a moment, Chord almost stopped to get coffee first, but he knew his weary body needed the shower first. As he came nearer to the bathroom, he felt himself bump into someone else. Thinking it was one of his sisters, he was about to scold the person for not watching where they were going. When he heard a noise of surprise come from the person, Chord looked up, recognizing her voice. He was glad he had not spoken up.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Dianna bent to pick up her dropped hair supplies and he helped, handing her the last bottle of shampoo and then getting back up again. His face turning scarlet, he tried to ignore the fact that she was only wearing a light blue towel, her short hair dripping beads of water onto her collarbone, where they trailed along her skin until they disappeared into her towel.
"No, I'm sorry. Um…" There was an awkward moment, both trying to go the same way to get past each other. They both gave a quiet chuckle and having figured out their situation, went their separate ways.
They had breakfast on the three season that morning, the air carrying a nice cool breeze in comparison to the sun's harsh heat. By the time Dianna and Harmony came down, Julie and the rest of the girls had already finished making large stacks of pancakes. They were greeted with the smell wafting through the hallway when they hit the bottom of the stairs, and Dianna suddenly realized how hungry she was. They all sat in the seats they ate dinner in, and she laughed as Julie began to anxiously ask her questions about her first night.
"Was the bed alright? Did you sleep well?"
"It was awesome. It was so nice waking up to birds chirping instead of traffic for a change." She and Chord didn't talk to each other during breakfast, only sharing occasional glances. They were still getting over the awkward events of the morning.
There was no clear moment of the uncomfortable barrier being broken. All Dianna knew is that Chord had come barreling into Harmony's room while she was helping her pick out an outfit for the day, suddenly over the awkward spell seeing her in only a towel had put over both of them that morning.
"I have an idea." His face was lit, and she could tell he was clearly much too excited with his new plan. Crossing the room, she left Harmony to her makeup and sat on the edge of her bed in front of Chord.
"And what would that be?"
"Oh, you'll see. Just dress comfortably and ask Harmony if you can borrow her helmet." Dianna merely shook her head, reaching below her bed to pull out her suitcase, sorting through it for comfortable clothes. She settled for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, throwing on her worn pair of faded black converse for good measure. Harmony smiled when Dianna asked for her helmet and led her to the garage, emerging with a plain black helmet."
"Do you have any idea where he's taking me?" Harmony mimed zipping her lips, dangling the face key in front of Dianna's face before throwing it out. Dianna groaned and grabbed the helmet from Harmony, heading over to the front porch where she'd meet Chord for their mystery adventure.
She sat on the swing while she waited, legs dangling over its edge because of her height. To the left of the house, their nearest neighbor was actually sort of far away. Dianna marveled at how easy life seemed here, where cars came lazily rolling down the street one by one, spread far apart from one another. When she looked to her right she noticed a familiar head of sandy blonde hair. Chord was finally coming, and he was pulling something along with him. When she realized what it was she laughed, putting her head in her hands and calling out to him.
"Really? I had no idea they even made those even more." He smirked and leaned the bike against the porch, climbing its stairs and holding out his hand for her to take.
"Have you ever ridden one of these before?" She shook her head and he smiled wider, his level of excitement reminding her of a golden retriever puppy. It was absolutely adorable. "Okay, so basically it's just like riding a bike, only better because you only really have to do half the work. Do you want front or back?"
"Back unless you want me to get us lost."
"Right, I forgot you had no idea where we're going."
"Which sucks, by the way. Your sister gave me this smile when I asked for her helmet and I haven't decided if it's a good thing or a bad thing yet." He smirked, getting on the bike first so it would be stable for her when she got on.
"You'll just have to wait and see." They pedaled through the road off of the driveway until they came to a dirt path, Chord steering them through it with expert direction. Dianna could tell that wherever they were going was somewhere he frequented when he was home. The path winded through pastures, horses and cows lazily grazing through them. Their heads barely even turned as they passed, and it was a peaceful ride. In one of the pastures, a man was grooming one of the horses and Chord called out to him, taking one hand off of the handlebars to wave hello. The man looked up and called back to him, making note of his return home.
"It's been a while!"
"Yeah, we're finally on break though." He stopped the bike near the fence to chat with the old man, telling him all about the places they saw while on tour. Dianna got into the conversation, liking how well acquainted Chord seemed to be with his neighbors. As they started to leave, the man gestured to her and smiled, and Chord nodded back to him. The old man said something she couldn't hear, the pair having gained too much distance for her to be able to catch it. It only took them twenty minutes to get to where Chord wanted, and he propped the tandem bike against an old tree, pulling its basket off and taking her hand.
They stopped at a field, its length seemingly stretching forever in a perfect picture of long green grass and spots of large, healthy trees. They stopped beneath a willow, where a blanket had already been spread out. Dianna looked over at him and smiled, Chord setting the basket in the middle of the blanket and sitting across from her. She sat on her knees, smiling as she took in the scenery. They were next to a hoard of pretty purple flowers, and birds nested in the tree above them. They were out of the sun's malicious rays, the tree's shade providing a perfect temperature. As he brought things out from the bag she shook her head.
"This is beautiful…I just wish I'd brought my camera." He grinned. The next thing he pulled from the basket was her Nikon. He handed it to her and she shook her head, her shy smile now reaching both of her ears. "Is there anything you didn't think of?"
"I've been planning this for a while, if you couldn't tell." He was bashful, moving the basket to the side of their blanket and catching her eye.
"Well, it's absolutely perfect. You're perfect." Dianna didn't realize what she said until it came out, and she immediately wished she could take it back. Blushing profusely, she brought her camera to eye level, looking at Chord through its lens. "In this light, I mean. With everything in the background, especially the tree. Look natural." He heard the camera click and didn't bother asking to look at the picture. For once he could see right through her little act. Deciding to take his chances, he brought his hand to her camera and lowered it, leaning forward on the blanket. Her breath caught in her throat and she kept her focus on her camera, mostly just trying to figure out what he was doing. His finger touched the bottom of her chin and he lifted it so her eyes met his. She hesitated, unsure of herself. She was the first to break their gaze, letting her eyes trail to his lips and then back at him, an open invitation. He gladly accepted it, leaning into her slowly.
Thunder clapped above them and they jumped, the noise having broken an almost perfect silence. The sky opened above them and rain began to pour down in buckets. Chord internally groaned, throwing their things back into the basket and pulling Dianna's hand. They ran across the field together, the rain's harsh drops hitting them hard and soaking through their clothes. By the time they reached the bike they were laughing, dripping with rain water. The bike was soaked too, and they decided that it would not be a good idea to try and ride back on it. Instead, they moved it and sat underneath the tree, wrapping themselves in their picnic blanket to wait out the storm. It would take Chord a lot longer than a day to do what he had planned. For the moment he didn't mind, his arm around Dianna under the blanket, her shivering and snuggling closer to him for warmth. He decided he could deal with a little delay.
They were coming through the front door of the house when the rain finally let up, laughing and shaking their hair. The blue picnic blanket still wrapped tight around Dianna, not doing much since it was now just as soaked as they were. Charity was the first to see them from her place in the great room and she paused the game she was playing, poking her head around the corner after hearing their laughter. Seeing them in their soaked state she was bemused, walking over to where they were standing.
"What the hell happened to you?" This just made them laugh more and they took their soaked shoes off, leaving them by the front door and heading into the kitchen.
"Random downpour. There weren't even any clouds in the sky either, it just sort of started raining." Chord brought over two fresh towels, handing one to Dianna and keeping the other for himself. He took the blanket from her and threw it in the wash. It was hopelessly beyond wet from the rain.
"Well you might want to get dried off and ready, mom's coming home in half an hour then we're going to Dale Hollow." Chord sighed, not ready to leave so soon. He had been hoping to talk with Dianna about what had happened back at their picnic, but he realized that she'd probably be cooped up in the bedroom with Harmony for the half hour wait. So far his guess was looking to be right, as Dianna squeezed his arm before heading upstairs.
When she got there Harmony was waiting for her, laying on her stomach on her bed, scrolling through Facebook on her laptop. She wore a bored expression, her chin resting on her left hand and her legs crossed, her face passive as she clicked between people's profiles. When she heard the door open her head immediately shot up, and upon seeing the now familiar face she tried to re-gain some of her composure.
"So…how was your picnic?" Her tone was light and filled with inflection, and she batted her eyelashes at Dianna. She stopped when she noticed that she was soaking wet, giving her a strange look. Dianna noticed and just laughed, tousling her hair before pulling her suit case back out from under her bed.
"We got rained out, literally. It just started down pouring out of nowhere. We couldn't bike back right away so we kind of just hung out under a tree while we waited for it to pass."
"You got rained out? I'll have to talk to my brother later, he's an idiot."
"No, it was nice. Even during the rain. Mostly before the rain, but yeah." She pulled a random top from her suitcase, flinging it over her shoulder. "What about this one?" Hiding her face, she kept her back to Harmony while she examined the top.
"I like it, but that's not the point. Look at me." Harmony was met with a tight lipped Dianna, red-faced and desperately trying (yet failing) to hide her smile. It was the first time she had really thought of what had happened on their little picnic.
"Why is your face so red? You're blushing!" She laughed and got down from her bed, sitting cross-legged against it so she was now across from Dianna. "Why are you blushing?"
"It's awkward, he's your brother!"
"I don't care, I want to know!"
"Well…" She mimicked Harmony's position, lowering her voice in case Chord decided to come upstairs too. "We almost kissed." She noticed that Harmony wasn't as excited as she had been before. Her face had fallen a bit in…was that disappointment?
"You only almost kissed?" Dianna felt the immediate need to redeem herself, not liking the reaction she was getting from her favorite of Chord's sisters.
"Well, it's kind of a big deal for someone who's so used to crappy relationships. Having your brother around has been such a nice change from people only pretending to like me. That's the thing about being an actress that gets old real fast, knowing that as soon as the director yells cut your character has somebody but you're still alone. It's just…different with him." Harmony's smile had returned to her face and she pulled Dianna into a hug.
"Oh stop you're going to make me cry!" They laughed and Dianna returned to changing out of her sopping wet clothes. They finally emerged from their room when they heard the garage door open, signaling Julie's return. They weren't the only ones who heard it, meeting the rest of the members of the house downstairs. They were dressed for colder weather now and Dianna was happy with her simple choice of clothing. She had help, of course, Harmony letting her know that it'd be colder than usual because they'd be near the water. She was wearing skinny jeans and comfortable tan flats, her hair naturally framing her face. The blue top she was wearing was collared, with buttons up its front and mid-arm sleeves she had rolled up a bit farther to accommodate to the weather. The outfit was simple and casual, yet she still seemed to pull it off without giving it anything but an air of her own style.
Because of the family's size, they piled into two cars, Paul driving one while Julie drove the other. It came as habit and the family didn't mind separating with the ease of a large family who was used to what would come as a huge inconvenience for others. Somewhere in the shuffle she ended up in between Chord and Harmony in the back of Julie's car, the passenger's seat soon to be occupied by Nash. Paul's car was less chaotic, only having Skye and Charity. Summer couldn't make the outing, working late on the other side of town.
As they pulled out of the driveway Julie cranked the radio, Dianna smiling at what it was. A family of musicians, it had been turned to a Pandora station of instrumentals, Dianna assuming the family did the vocal work to the songs they knew. Her assumption was right, as the beginning chords of a song she was unfamiliar with rang out the other three people in the car began to sing in perfect harmony with each other. As Chord noticed she didn't know the words, he turned and sang to her. She smiled and pretended to be incredibly shy, hiding her face in her hands and laughing. He pulled her hands from her face and held them, still singing to her. Harmony just looked on with interest, singing her part quietly and laughing along with them. This continued until Dianna recognized the song, singing along quiet and hesitant at first. As the song went on, she got into it, singing with Harmony while they held their fake microphones up. She decided it was her turn to embarrass Chord now, leaning up to him and sticking her fake microphone in his face. He laughed and sang along reluctantly, letting the girl's rendition of Sara Barielles fill the car until they finally reached their destination.
Chord got out of the car first and reached his hand out to help Dianna out of the car. She smirked and took it, but didn't let go after she got out. After the day's events she was confident, starting to pick up on the little things he did for her.
Dale Hollow was a little area surrounding a beautiful lake, hills around the lake making it look mysterious yet beautiful. They parked in an upper parking lot and met up with Paul and the other girls, deciding that everyone would do their own thing before meeting up for dinner. As the group split, Dianna looked to her guide, who smiled back at her.
"I have the perfect place. You brought your camera, right?" She tugged at the strap of her Nikon, secure around her shoulder and he led her down a worn path. As they continued traveling she noticed that they were coming closer to the sound of rushing water. "We used to come here all the time when we were little. Once my dad took Nash and I by ourselves down there and we fished for hours." He pointed to a little pond surrounded by trees, and Dianna could practically see a younger version of him fishing with his father and brother. "I never caught anything of course, but it was still fun because it was guy time." He turned them through another path and they were going uphill again, away from the water. When that path ended they were higher than she thought they would be, and he finally stopped when they reached a railing. They were overlooking most of the lake, including a little dam which explained the rushing water she had heard earlier.
Chord watched as her face lit up, Dianna pulling her camera up and beginning to take pictures of the beautiful scenery. She showed him the first one, a perfect shot of the scenery, and he complimented it. She wasn't pleased though, and began fooling around with the white balance on her camera. When she showed him the shot again he was twice as impressed as he was before. This time, the blues of the water stuck out against the dark greens of the trees. The water held lines of bright white foam from the speed it rushed through the dam, and she was smiling more than she had been before. When she was done with her pictures they sat on a nearby bench, Chord with his arm around her, listening to the water rush below them. Suddenly struck with something, he leaned over and kissed her gently, pulling back with a shy smile on his face. Dianna blushed, looking at him in curiosity.
"What was that for?"
"I don't know, I just really like you." He sounded like a five year old but neither of them cared, Dianna leaning into him while he kissed the top of her head gently.