Chapter 26

I spent my time lying awake in the dark
Can't live my life or the truth
Because I can be there for everyone except for you

~Nathaniel's Lyric Journal

"WHERE ARE YOU OFF TO THIS TIME?" Carlos asked me when I entered the living room.

I shrugged. "Just seeing friends," I lied easily, a habit I have gotten into when I was off to see Elise.

Carlos and I reached a routine after his return. Most of the time it was silence as I was out working or hanging out with Elise or David. We didn't speak about Mom after we had our awkward confrontation. I couldn't hear about Carlos moving on from Mom, leaving her behind like that. She deserves immortality, something more than being a reminder of the past.

He was angry at what she did. I was just sad she was gone.

"You're dressed well for once," he said from the coach. I looked at my white cotton shirt, dark jeans, and leather jacket covering my arms.

"I always dress like this," I responded lamely, darting my eyes away and focused on putting on my shoes again.

He didn't know about Elise, and not something I wanted to share right now. Not until I knew what was going on with her. It was gnawing at me when I see the hazy look in her eyes.

That was why I had a plan.

"I have never seen you wear a leather jacket since I have gotten here," Carlos snorted, flipping through the TV channels.

"Well that is in case if it gets chilly," I said, tying my black shoes. It was my favorite leather jacket from home and it made my arms look good. I watched Carlos frown at me before rolling his eyes.

"Whatever you say," he said. He lowered the TV volume and turned to look at me. "Hey. I need to talk about Dad. I think something is up with him," he asked.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Do you know where he is?" Carlos asked slowly.

I shook my head. "He's not here?"

"He hasn't been here for most of the day," Carlos pointed out, gesturing to the empty house with no care in the world. "Do you remember when we had family dinners and actually went out to do things together?"

I pulled back a pained smile. Mom was the one who organized these things together. Always planning the next adventure whether it was the beach or even a new store down the street. When she got sick, I watched the foundation of our family slowly crack and eventually the fissures collapsed when she died.

At times, it felt like my family were strangers to me.

"Yeah. Mom was the one who usually planned those types of things," I said softly, thinking about her. I thought about her, feeling the dull pang.

"I still think something is up with Dad," Carlos said out loud, his face morphing to concern.

"Why are you saying that?" I asked.

"He said he's at work but his work briefcase is over there," Carlos observed, using the remote to gesture to the Dad's worn, leather brief case that was sitting on the spare chair. I frowned at the object.

"It might be something minor," I suggested. It's just a brief case, but the comment felt weird in my mouth. Carlos nodded his head uncertainly, obviously not satisfied with my answer.

"Maybe. I don't know, we moved fast-very fast. Moving to a house takes months, but ours happened so quickly. Literally a few weeks after she died. No one mentioned moving before," Carlos further elaborated, rubbing the side of his head.

I looked down at my phone, and saw that I was suppose to meet Elise in ten minutes, and I had to go now. I let Carlos words sink in because he was right. It didn't seem to add up at the sudden announcement.

Or maybe it was my anxiety manifesting again.

Or maybe Carlos was right. Something was up.

"I'll be back in a bit," I decided, almost charging out the door without a further thought.

Making Elise happy is going to be my priority tonight. Dad is a problem for tomorrow.

"I have to head out right now. We can talk about it later," I said, opening the door to leave. I turned my head back to see Carlo looking at me with disappointment.

"Right," he muttered to myself, sinking into the couch and turn his full attention to the TV. He turned on the volume louder and I knew he was done talking about it. I wanted to reach out and talk, but I knew I had to see Elise.

And the last thing I needed was to let these thoughts ruin the rest of my night.

"Oh wow," I said when the door opened. "You look beautiful."

Her blonde hair was partially curled up while the rest was falling down her back. Her makeup was minimum expect her eyes seemed softer and her lips were a dark red. Her cheeks seem more pink, but I was guessing that was makeup. She was wearing a blue dress with printed white flowers, showing off her slender shoulders. The dress was tighter in the middle, showing off the curve of her hips before falling to her thighs.

Her eyes were widen open and her mouth was open with surprise.

"Nate. What are you doing here?" she asked. Unable to help myself, I put an arm around her waist to pull her close, a smile growing on my face to watch her surprised.

This makes the surprise worth it.

"To surprise you," I said, pushing a strand out hair out of her face. "What are you thinking about?"

She put a hand on my chest, trying to process that I was here. "We didn't make plans to see each other," she said with surprise.

I know. I wanted us to go out on a date, so I thought the best way to do it was to surprise her while she was at Sabrina's to take her out.

I traced a finger down her chin. "You look really pretty right now."

"Nate," Elise whispered, looking behind the open door and her neck turning a faint red. "You're staring at me too hard. This isn't my house."

I smiled, planting a soft kiss on her ear. "Mhm," I hummed, my hand going up and down her back.

She pulled back, running her hand down my leather sleeve. "You look good too. This leather jacket is a really good on you."

"Thanks princesa. You ready?" I asked her.

"Ready for what?" she asked.

"The date," Sabrina came out behind her, her hair piled on top of her head and in shorts. I took a step back from Elise, letting her go. Sabrina shoved a brown bag to Elise's hand. "She is good to go, Nate. Here is your bag."

Elise's eyes narrowed, flickering her vision between Sabrina and myself.

"You knew this was going to happen?" she asked Sabrina.

Sabrina nodded. "Of course. He texted me to get you dolled up," she said, giving me a wink. When I texted Sabrina what I wanted to do, she responded everything in capital letters and had no issues getting her ready for the date.

Elise glared at Sabrina. "You guys are sneaky," she mumbled before she slipped out a small laugh.

"Aw, don't worry. We should get going," I suggested, gesturing to the red pick up truck David insisted on taking for my date idea. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, sticking out her hand. I took her hand and led her to the car. I unlocked the car and opened the passage door. She quickly pecked her lips on my cheek for a quick kiss before she entered the car.

I looked at her. No bruises on her face, she seemed free. No worries appeared on her face. We were standing and smiling at each other, the worries that were in the back of my mind.

"You are staring again, Yankee," she commented.

I turned slightly at her observing me.

"So are you, princesa."

She smiled. "I can't help it."

I shut the passenger door, and walked to my driver's door. Getting into the car, I turned to capture another glimpse of her. Her eyes were glued on me- her eyes bright with excitement. She unbuckled her seatbelt, and she leaned in until her side was pressed against the gear shift.

I leaned over immediately, letting our lips touched. They were at first light pecks. I felt her smiling under my mouth, prompting me to lean in further. One hand was keeping me from falling over while another hand was on her hip. I let my hands trail up her body, around the curve of her breast, and to her neck where I could angle it for better access.

When my hands touched her neck, she stiffened and broke away. Slightly groaning with disappointment, I backed away. I was slightly panting, trying to catch my breath. She touched her lips. For a moment, I thought she was afraid of me until she started to snicker.

"What?" I asked her curiously. There was a loud rap on my window, breaking my attention from Elise. I turned around to see Sabrina knocking on my window loudly. She had a huge grin on her face. I rolled my windows down, and I could hear her laughing.

"Have fun kids," she wished us.

"Thanks, Sabrina."

She nodded. "Anything for my best friend."

"Aw. You think we are best friends?"

"No offense, but that is a hard pass from me. Advice though: wipe your mouth. There's a red lipstick all over your mouth," she advised, and made an air circle over my mouth. I stuck my head out of the window to look at my rear mirror. Sure enough, a red color was smeared over my mouth.

Before I could say anything, she was already walking away, laughing.

I wiped the red off my mouth, and rolled my windows up.

"You know red is your color," Elise joked.

"Shut up," I muttered. I saw her holding a napkin that came from nowhere, and began to wipe my mouth. I sat patiently, watching her bite her lip in thought while she was brushing around my lip area. Feeling tempted, I attempted to break away for a kiss, but Elise pushed my face back.

"I'm trying to fix the problem," she said, quickly dabbing my mouth more before she stood the napkin away. "So what's the plan, Yankee?"

I pulled the car out of the Sabrina's driveway, and turning into a major street. "It's a surprise." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elise glaring at me. "Relax, babe. We are going to be alone."

I felt her immediately relax next to me. Her fingers interlaced with my own on top of her thigh. "I just hate surprises. Then I overthink it and I don't know what to do with myself," she said, her voice getting a little more excited.

"Focus on the music then," I responded, refusing to give anything away.

It was a peaceful drive. My music was playing in the background while I was holding my girlfriend's hand. I smiled along the drive. Life was pretty good at the moment. On the highway, I peeked at Elise, who was nodding her head to the beat.

"I see you like the music I play in the car," I commented.

She shrugged.

"I don't know the music you like. It's catchy"

I took my phone and passed it to Elise. I felt her take the phone from my hands. "Just go through my music, and pick something you like." There was silence with my music playing before the music suddenly stopped. Then I heard guitar sounds strumming through the radio. Sugar, We're Goin Down by Fall Out Boy was playing through the car.

I grinned, wishing I could turn my head to look at her. "I didn't know you were a Fall Out Boy fan."

She laughed.

I was strumming my fingers on my stirring wheel while taking an exit to the beat. It was an old song that I downloaded while I was younger, but I guess I still had the song on my phone.

"Am I more than you bargained for yet? I've been dying to tell you anything you want to hear," I sang to the music.

"Wow. You're a really good singer, Yankee ," Elise complimented me, her voice becoming more lively. "We're going down, down in an earlier round. And Sugar, we're going down singing."

Her voice was horribly off-tune, causing my face to scrunch up with mild disgust.

"Oh my god. Make it stop," I groaned, smiling when I heard her laughing. Her hand was pushing mine away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Taylor turning her body to look at me.

"I'll be your number one with a bullet a loaded God complex, cock it and pull it-" Elise sang loudly, throwing her head back and laughing. Her voice was more off-key than the first time, and I knew then that she was just trying to mess with me.

"Spare my ears please," I jokingly groaned when she gasped.

"You're so rude," she muttered.

She started to laugh, and all of a sudden, I couldn't breathe. "Elise Grace Becker and Nathaniel- what is your full name?"

"Nathaniel Cristóbal Hernandez McCoy," I said in a heavy Spanish accent.

"You have two middle names?" she asked confusingly. At a red light, I turned to look at her.

"It's a Spanish thing," I explained. "Spanish people have two last names because they take both of their parents last name. Hernandez is my Mom's and McCoy is my Dad's. Technically Hernandez is my middle name, but it should really be my last name."

Elise nodded. "Interesting. So Elise Grace Becker and Nathaniel Cristóbal Hernandez McCoy. Sounds like a great duo."

I laughed at her lighthearted voice because it was true.

"Can I ask you something?"

She looked at me. "Sure. What's up?"

"Do you remember that bet we made to make you really laugh? All that time ago." She nodded her head to the question. "What you would've done if you win?"

She shrugged.

"I have no idea. I knew you were going to win because you haven't failed me yet."

And suddenly, I felt an intense pressure to not fail her that didn't leave the entire car ride.

Author's Note: I hope this new rewrite is going well. This will be my final rewrite and if you read this book before, then you know that they went to a restaurant for a date, but I took that out. I felt like this version made them have real chemistry and a genuine connection. Vote + comment if you are enjoying this story!