She took his hand, letting the older boy help her out of the truck once they were parked off a bank near the town's river. "So what are we doing here?"
Thankful that the younger girl didn't let go of his hand once the truck was locked, Aaron smiled down to her. "I come here a lot when there's too much on my mind or my family is suffocating me," he spoke quietly. "It's very peaceful here. I thought you'd like it."
Emily bit back her smile when she felt his hand tighten around hers.
He led her down a rocky path, helping her around a few graveled and uneven edges before standing just beside the calm water. "Do you want to sit?"
"Sure," she nodded, walking with Aaron a few more feet to their right to sit side by side on a large rock that dangled over the clear river water. "How'd you find this place?"
Aaron's chestnut eyes gazed out to the shedding trees on the other side of the stream. "After my mom died, I would go on walks around town just to be away from the house. I followed a stray dog down here once, it's about twenty minutes from my street, and I just played with him in the water for hours."
Emily watched his stare sadden as his story continued. "How did she die?" Even though she wanted to understand him further, the fifteen year old knew she had to choose her words carefully.
"Cancer." The once bitter word no longer gave the football player a sick feeling in his stomach. "It happened pretty slowly which definitely wasn't ideal, but it gave her time to say goodbye to everybody."
The brunette studied the softening features in the older boy's face. "I'm sorry."
Aaron just shook his head.
"My dad's mom died of cancer," Emily spoke quietly, as if she were telling the story to a napping baby boy. "It was from all her smoking she'd done, but even on her last day she was smiling. She never let anything defeat her."
Grinning down to the beautiful girl, the sixteen year old ran his thumb across her knuckles. "Must be nice to know that her spirit lives on in you."
Emily exploded in laughter, her body jolted forward and almost falling into the water before he reached out to catch her. "Yeah right," she snorted, slapping him playfully against the chest. "I was breaking down in your car like ten minutes ago."
"That doesn't mean you're not strong," Aaron frowned.
Just then the fifteen year old felt his arms tighten around her figure, registering for the first time that the older boy having her completely wrapped up in his hold. "Thank you," her whisper shyly stated, her hands on his arms to give herself some leverage. Quickly averting her eyes from his, Emily glanced down to the water and tried for a smile. "Look, the fish are coming up to us."
Aaron moved his eyes to where Emily's were directed and noticed the fish and tadpole in the river all circling around the tip of her shoe that had dipped into the river. "Hope your shoe is protected," he laughed.
The brown eyed girl smirked up to the older boy. "Girls don't buy leather boots without protectant spray," the fifteen year old snickered, sticking her tongue out to the football player.
"Oh well then, I obviously don't know much about girls."
Emily played it as if she were deep in thought, subconsciously leaning back against him when she turned to look out over the water. "We should test your skills."
The football player's eyes widened.
"If you were going on a first date, what would you bring her and where would you take her?"
There was so much and so little he could say, and answering incorrectly to the most beautiful girl he had ever laid his eyes on could easily kill him, making his chances very slim of ever getting to go on a date with her. "Well, it would all depend on the girl I had asked out or who asked me out," he said as slowly as he could, making sure to sound as certain as he could, his voice never trembling. "I could get her flowers and take her to dinner, or maybe give her chocolates or jewelry and take her to the movies."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Original."
"Well if it's a special girl then obviously I'd do something completely out of the box," he grinned against her hair. "Takes the most amazing type of person, you know? One of those that you'd be lucky enough to meet in a lifetime."
The brunette girl's breath caught in her throat when she heard his voice rumble in his chest, vibrating against her back. And when she felt his chin set atop her head, she knew the football player was talking about her.