Here it is guys chapter 2... again. I felt it wasnt long enough so I added a bit to it and now Im happy. Please review and if there is anything you would like me to put in the story feel free to pm me or leave it in the review section and I'll try to incorporate your ideas. Much Love xxx
Sarah POV
He must have thought I was crazy as I stood there staring at him but I couldn't help it, he was hot! He was no longer the young boy, I used to know, then again I wasn't the little girl either. His tanned skin looked darker and his face looked like it had been sculpted by the gods. His white shirt which showed his abs perfectly was starting to make me blush. "Elliot? Hey" I said casually, he didn't need to know that inside I felt like I wanted to just run away. Suddenly he scooped me up into hug in his big arms and I returned the gesture. "The lakes not the same without you baker" He said letting me go and laughing off his comment. "Don't tell me you missed me!" I laughed putting a shocked grin on my face. Although my comment came as a joke, I truly wanted to know the answer. His face grew serious and he just looked at me, making me look away shyly. Suddenly my mother appeared from around the corner. "Hey, are you ready, everybody wants to order" my mom said when her gaze suddenly shifted to Elliot. "Oh my god Elliot is that you? You've grown up so much since I last saw you" she said as she hugged him. "Right you two, come on" and with that we were all following her.
As we walked back into the dining room, many of our siblings look at us and whispered among themselves. I took my seat in between Henry and Jake. Jake leaned over and whispered in my ear "anything you'd like to share?". I didn't reply with words, I just rolled my eyes and picked up my menu. After two hours of eating, speeches and my dad and Jimmy trying to outdo each other it was time to leave. "Hey why don't we go home and freshen up and you bakers come join us for a barbecue later on this evening" Jimmy suggested. "Sounds great" dad agreed as he arose from his chair. Quickly we all got up from our chairs, said goodbye to the Murtaghs and left. To be honest I couldn't have gotten out of there sooner. Every now and then I caught Elliot looking at me but as soon as I looked at him he would turn away.
The drive home was silent. Everyone was hooked up to some sort of video game or staring at their phones except me. I've never been a one for mobile phones. They take time away from you being outside and they're a pain in the ass. As soon as I got home I ran inside put on my running gear, tied up my hair and headed for the front door once again. "Hey, where are you going?" mom asked strictly. "Dad said I could go for a run as soon as I got back" I pleaded with her, I needed to get out of the house, to clear my head, to get HIM out of my head. "Ok just be back by six!" she shouted after me as I ran out the door. Be back by six, that gives me two hours. I ran and ran for what seemed like ages until I got near the top of the rock hill overlooking the lake. With one last push I ran up the hill and breathed heavily. It was beautiful up here. I remember coming up here a few years ago with Charlie and I've always wanted to come back ever since. You could see for miles up here, it's so peaceful and quiet. I sat down on the edge of the big rock hanging over the lake.
Staring out into the lake, I found myself lost in my thoughts. Suddenly I heard the rustling of a bush. I jumped up and stared at the bush which was moving, please tell me its not a bear. A few seconds later Elliot ran out of the bush laughing. "You need to stop following me" he said now dressed in a casual shorts and t-shirt. "You scared the hell out of me" I said sternly, still shaking from what could have been a near death experience. "Sorry… it's beautiful up here huh?" he said walking past me to sit down on the edge of the rock. "It sure is something" I said walking over and taking my place where I was before Elliot tried to scare me. "So what's the life of Sarah Baker been like over the last four years?" He said still staring out at the sea. "Pretty boring, school, exams blah blah blah" I replied, I decided to keep the scholarship to myself. "What about guys? A gorgeous girl like you must have all the guys chasing after her?" he said looking at me for a brief moment but then turning his head towards the lake once again. "There's been a few I suppose" I said trying not to think about the drama I had left behind in Chicago. Up until about three months before we came to the lake I was in a relationship with a guy called Jack. He was the quarterback, gorgeous and I always found it strange how he'd been the one to come to me and ask me out, after all I wasn't anything special. We were together for about a year and a half and everything was going great until I found him making out with the head cheerleader under the bleachers at school. Honestly he broke my heart, but I didn't let him know that. Ever since then I haven't trusted any guy that came my way. "You okay?" Elliot said looking at me, I must have zoned out. "Yeah, I'd rather not talk about it actually… so Murtagh, what's the superstar life like?" I laughed quickly changing the subject to him. He laughed and looked me in the eye "Absolutely crap". He continued to laugh but when he caught the confused look on my face he started to explain himself. "Do you know what it's like to have to keep up the 'im good at everything' act. Sometimes I wish I could just run away, take a break from it all. Being school quarterback is great but everyone expects you to be the popular one, they want to know everything about your life, who you're dating, who you talk to, everything. Sometimes I wish I was invisible, that I could just blend into the background and go about my daily life without someone calling me a winner or having expectations loaded onto my shoulders and just when you think you've got enough problems you have cheerleaders throwing themselves at you left right and center" He ranted and when he stopped he let out a long breath. "Wow girls throwing themselves at you, must be so difficult" I joked trying to take the seriousness out of the conversation. "Yeah, half a brain cell blonde bimbo's with the personality of a wet mop" He ranted once more. "So now that you know my problems what's yours? Who is this guy you don't want to talk about…?" he asked like he actually cared.
I stopped hesitantly deciding whether or not to tell him. Holding back the emotions I decided to tell him. "Jack" I whispered "he cheated on me" I said as I looked at him "with a half a brain cell blonde bimbo cheerleader" I laughed as all the emotions of my break up came flooding back to me and I fought to keep the tears away. He just stared into my eyes until I looked away. "Anyway I should get back, gotta get ready for the barbecue later" I said standing up. "I'll walk you back" he said as he got up and brushed himself off. We walked side by side down the hill through the forest until we got to the turn off which lead to the house. "I guess i'll see you later then" I said as I kept walking. "Hey Sarah" Elliot shouted behind me. I turned around to face him, he was only a few yards away. "He's an idiot for cheating on a girl like you, he obviously didn't know how good he had it" he said sincerely. I gave him a small smile and whispered goodbye and continued on down the dusty dirt road. His words sat in my head and I played them over and over in my head. Elliot may be the quarterback but he was one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Too bad nothing could ever happen between us, I just don't know if I can put myself through that again.
As I got towards the house I could see a car outside. It was a strange car, one I'd never seen before but as I got closer I realised it was, Bud and Nora and little Tom. Tom was six years old now, small in size with brown hair, pale skin and big blue eyes. "Aunty Sarah!" he shouted as he spotted me and started sprinting down the driveway towards me. "Hey little buddy, how have you been?" I said holding my arms out to catch him. I walked up to Nora and Bud with Tom still in my arms and gave Nora a hug. "Hey sis, I missed you" she said squeezing me back and I put Tom down on his feet. I haven't seen them since they came for Christmas. "Can we go play soccer?" he asked eagerly. "Maybe later, okay" I said messing the hair on his head with my hand. "Oh hey we're going to the Murtaghs for a barbecue later, are you guys gonna come?" I asked curiously. "Hell yeah im starving" laughed Nora as we walked inside. The moment we got in Bud, Nora and Tom were greeted by the whole family so I took my chance and slipped off down to my room. I closed the door and leaned against it. I couldn't help thinking about Jack. I really missed him. He is constantly calling and texting my phone, how could I forget.
By the time I showered and got ready it was time to go to the barbecue. The Murtaghs house was only across the lake so instead of taking the car we all walked. I had a navy sun dress on with some navy sandals and left my hair down. Everyone was dressed up a little. The boys with shirts and jeans and the girls with dresses. We chatted lightly among ourselves as we walked until we reached the Boulders. Jimmy and his wife Serena were standing at their front door waiting for us and as soon as Jimmy spotted us, he beckoned at us to follow him and said "Come on you guys, hey Tom I bet you can't cook a steak like I can?" Jimmy challenged. Suddenly Dad took off in front of us "game on Murtagh" he replied. We headed inside and out the back to their garden which was of course massive. All the kids were sitting on wooden logs which had been strategically placed to surround a big camp fire. My siblings took off to sit beside their chosen friends and I suddenly found myself stood beside my parents. I saw Elliot sitting beside Jake and he looked at me and beckoned for me to come over. "Hey" I said shyly as I sat down beside him. "I'm gonna go get a drink, you guys want anything?" Jake asked winking at me in the process. "No im good, Sarah?" Elliot asked both of them now looking at me. "I'm good thanks, why don't you go ask Lisa does she want something to drink?" I asked slyly letting him know that I knew what he was up to. He didn't respond, he just walked away. Elliot and I sat in silence for a few seconds until he spoke. "I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to go off on such rant, I must have sounded like such a girl" he laughed leaning forward. Laughing with him, I punched him in the arm and replied "watch it". We continued laughing and talking about school for a full hour and by the time we took a break from our conversation it was dark and the place was lit up by lanterns.
Suddenly Elliot got up off the log and extended his hand out to me. "Come with me I want to show you something" he said. I looked at his hand hesitantly for a moment but I took his hand and got up off the log. Our siblings were all too busy to notice that he was holding my hand and just as well because I would get some serious slagging. I thought once I was up off the log he would have let go of my hand but he didn't. He led me inside and up four flights of stairs to what appeared to be a sky light window. He let go of my hand and opened the window and climbed out and I followed. I followed him around to the other side of the house where our families couldn't see us and he just stared out into the sky. I looked out too wondering what he was looking at and then it hit me. The sky was clear and there were teams of stars glittering in the night sky. "Stunning isn't it" he said sitting down on the roof. I just nodded in reply. "You look really nice by the way" he said now turning his attention to me. "Elliot Murtagh are you flirting with me" I said laughing as I sat down beside him. "Maybe a little, what's wrong with that?" He winked. Damn he was cocky, probably a trait he acquired from his father. Suddenly phone went off in my hand, a text from my mother saying:
Where are you? were leaving now.
"My parents are leaving now, I guess I better go" I said getting up from the roof top. "Sure" he said and followed me back inside. He closed the sky light and I suddenly found myself very close to him, enclosed between his giant torso and a stone wall behind me. He stared down into my eyes and raised a hand to brush one of my loose curls behind my ear. He was switching his gaze between my eyes and my lips and I was doing the same. Suddenly I could see him moving closer his hand now running down my arm and just when he was about to kiss me, I turned my head away. He pulled back, embarrassed and confused and all I could give him was an apologetic look. "See you around" I said as I walked away and down the stairs where I met my parents. "Where have you been?" my mother questioned. "Elliot was showing me around the house that's all" I explained knowing damn well she knew I was lying. "Mmmhm" was all she said and I walked on in front of her.
"Hey Sarah" I heard from behind me. It was Elliot. "You forgot this" he said handing me my phone. "I also took the liberty of putting my number in there" he said smiling at me. "Thanks" I said "See ya" and with that I was walking away. I can't believe he tried to kiss me, I wish I could let him but I can't risk getting hurt like that again. That night I lay in bed and cried. I cried because of what Jack did to me and I cried because I wanted to trust Elliot but Jack ruined my trust. He broke me and I'm struggling to fix myself.
