The fine lines blurred creating a shadow as I passed my hand over them. I loved how easy it was to create different shapes and textures by using graphite pencils. Dad had bought me a new set after we had dinner yesterday and I had been drawing most of the morning.

Pausing for a moment, I pulled back to see my drawing. For some strange reason, I started to draw a horse running. It was still half done since I'd began with the background, different blurred lines in the shapes of trees.

"Honey? Someone's at the door for you?" Dad's head peeked over the doorframe.

My heart flipped. "Who?" Is it a grey-eyed boy?

Dad's blue eyes sparkled mischievously as his lips tugged up, "A girl." Ugh. He scrunched his nose thinking it over. "Farah?"

"Oh! She's my best-friend! Remember I told you about her?"

He nodded, "What have you been up to all morning, by the way?"

I showed him my drawing pad. Already closed. I was very protective of my drawings and I would never show them to anyone incomplete. Sometimes not even finished.

He smiled sincerely. "I'm glad you liked the pencils. Hopefully, you'll show me your drawings to me?"

I passed next to him, "only if it's good, Dad."

"I'm sure it is!" he shouted as I opened the front door for my best friend.

"Hey!" She looked pretty in green army cargos and a white top. Her wavy blonde hair was loose and cascading over her shoulders.

"Hi! Come in." She grinned and passed beside me hitching her glasses. "What's up?"

She shrugged, "I was bored back at home and I kind of wanted to see why you haven't answered any of my calls or texts."

Frowning, I led the way to the kitchen, "I didn't hear anything." Opening the fridge, I offered her a bottle of water. She gladly took it and immediately opened it and gulfed it down.

"Did you walk?" She had almost finished it before she paused to nod.

"I really don't know how you enjoy running!" she wiped a sweaty trail over her forehead with the back of her palm.

"It's calming." I leaned on the counter as she sat on one of the stools.

She finished her water. I offered another bottle but she declined, "Do you want to hang out today?"

I blinked at her, "Did you walk all the way from your house to ask me that?"

She smiled radiantly, "Well, it's not just us hanging out!"

Warily, I shifted my feet, tracing the fine line between the kitchen's mosaics. "Do they know that you're tagging me along?"

"Obviously." She voiced in a duh tone.

I glanced at her for a moment. Scrunching my nose, I fought the urge to ask her to explain herself.

Did Nathan send her? Did he wanted to see me?

Ugh. Stop being so pathetic, Cassie.

"I have to ask Dad."

"Well, hurry up!" she shooed me with both hands, "the guys are already waiting for us at the mall!" My brows furrowed as I glanced at her. She narrowed her eyes and in a business-like tone she demanded, "Just go."

Rolling my eyes, I walked out of the kitchen towards my father's studio. It was his favorite room in the house. It was also the smallest. Yet, it was filled with different shelves jam-packed with books. He was sitting in front of his computer preparing a lecture for the week.

He'd been more than pleased to let me go out with Farah. He was probably grateful that I'd made a new friend. He gave me money and walked downstairs with me to officially introduce her to him.

The sun was hitting hard as we waited at the bus stop. I stared at my reflection over one of the glass panels wondering if I looked presentable at least. I had only washed my hands and brushed my hair before going out.

"You look nice" Farah blurt out innocently after watching me squinting my eyes on the glass panel. "Besides, Nathan should be the one worrying over you. Not the other way around." She raised an eyebrow.

The bus stopped and we hopped in, taking a seat on the back. I bit my lip nervously. I had no idea what would Nate's mood be today.

The guy was definitely obtuse.

As the bus stopped on a red light, I wondered if Mom would have had some kind of advice. She probably would. Talking about boys was definitely not something that I'd imagined doing with my father. Or Marie. That was completely out of question.

"Are you ok?" Farah asked with broody eyes. I nodded as she added unconvinced, "We're meeting at the Starbucks near the cinema."

We stayed in silence as the bus neared our stop. Before standing up, she looked at me. "Your Dad's cool."

A small smile drew on my face, "He is." Wish you'd known Mom, though.

We got off the bus and Farah grabbed my arm. "I'm going to ask you this one more time" her blue eyes looked at me sternly, "and I expect an honest answer. Are you ok? Do you actually want to see Nate?"

"Those are two questions" my lips twitched.

She rolled her eyes, "Seriously."

Her blue eyes looked at me evidently concerned. Sighing, I gazed at the bus who was already driving away. "I miss Mom every day. There are just times that I'd like to be able to talk to her, you know? And now there's Nate and I sort of feel guilty for thinking about him and not Mom." Shaking my head, "it's confusing and messed up."

A knowing smile played on her lips. "Well, I think it's cute." I grimaced. Farah's lips tightened in a straight line for a moment. "I wish I could so something to help you out with that, though. You seem to be going through so much," she murmured softly as her forehead creased.

"You are." My eyes softened as a warm feeling ran through me. "You're my friend, despite everything." Despite me. My eyes were about to tear up so I squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "Let's go meet the boys, shall we?"

Hesitantly, she added, "Do you want to see Nathan, though?"

Scrunching my nose, I nodded. "Isn't that a bit pathetic?"

Farah chuckled. "Come on, I'm sure he's even more desperate than you!" I took a deep breath, I hope so. Ugh.

I was definitely not liking how desperate that sounded.

The Starbucks was packed. There were no empty seats and the people's chatting was even louder than the music. We couldn't see nor Chris or Nathan. Farah took out her cell phone as I studied the coffee's menu. I'd always treat myself with the vanilla cappuccino but I wanted to try something new.

"What's so interesting?" A dark voice whispered by my ear, startling me.

"You're an idiot, Rivers." I deadpanned before turning away from him.

Inside, I was screaming and dancing in my head because he was there. My stomach was already on full fluttering mode. He was looking good in that red patterned shirt topped with a black leather jacket.

He chuckled, "Sorry. It's just that you seemed completely immersed on the menu."

"I was."

"What are you having, then?" His grey eyes watched me amused.

"Uhmm," I squinted my eyes to look at the menu again, since my brain had shut down completely, "I'm getting a caramel macchiato, as a matter of fact."

He raised an eyebrow, "and that was really hard to figure out?"

"It was." I huffed at him as I crossed my arms.

"Tsk. It's a shame that you'll have to wait to order that" he whispered by my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

Frowning, I glanced at him. He smiled smugly as he gestured to Chris and Farah. They were both waiting for us with cinema tickets in their hands.

"What are we watching?" I asked as we stepped outside of the coffee shop.

"Interstellar." He shrugged, "Chris picked it."

"I've been pinning for it for the last two months!" Chris explained mockingly offended. He was wearing a black Daft Punk t-shirt and a denim jacket.

Farah shook her head, "my boyfriend is in reality a complete nerd."

"I am not!" Chris placed a palm on his chest, "and that hurts, baby!"

I chuckled at them. We'd reached the theater's entrance and one of the employees was tearing our tickets apart. Farah asked Chris for popcorn, so the boys left for provisions.

"Is Nathan being nice to you?" She asked immediately after they walked away.

I laughed at her, "Did you talk to him?"

She shrugged as we reached our seats. The lights were still on. "I did tell him what an ass he was being."

I blinked at her. "Are you for real?" I slumped on my chair with wide eyes.

"You are my best friend, Cassie." Her eyes were warm as a soft smile played on her lips.

The thumping on my chest started to accelerate. "What did he say to that?"

She sighed, "Nothing, to be honest. He did, however, insisted me to try to get you to go out with us." She cupped her chin thoughtful, "He's really cryptic. I don't know how you keep up with him."

I smiled at that, "Gosh, I know."

Chris and Nate arrived with hands full. They were carrying popcorn, cokes and different candies. Each. "I hope you guys are hungry!" Chris exclaimed as he took a seat next to Farah. She smiled at him and grabbed a handful of popcorn.

Nate sat next to me and placed a mini marshmallows bag on my lap. "I hope you like those" he murmured absentmindedly as he looked to the screen. They were already dimming the lights and the ads were on.

"Thanks" I whispered as my heart fluttered.

He remembered that I like marshmallows! It felt kind of a peace offering of sorts.

"No problem." He gazed at me for a moment with a shy smile on his face.

The movie was good but I hadn't really paid attention to it.

I was acutely aware of the boy next to me.

Especially when our hands brushed as we both reached out for popcorn. I'd pulled off my hand but my skin was still tingling where he'd touched me.

Not to mention that my heart was racing too fast and probably too loud as well.

The lights came on as I was biting my lip nervously. Farah was all smiles as we stood up. I was happy for her and in some way, I envied her because Chris seemed a nice uncomplicated guy.

Unlike some other boy walking with me.

"Where to?" Chris asked.

"Are you guys still hungry?" Farah asked incredulously as we stepped out on the street.

"Hell yeah!" her boyfriend pinched her side and she yelped.

I looked at Nate, knowing that he'd probably answer the same thing. His lopsided smile appeared, "How does pizza sound?" he asked in a husky tone.

Oh God. That smile with that tone of voice would be the death of me.

An Italian pizza place was around the corner. We sat on a small terrace that overlooked the street. The steel rail was covered with different herbs on colorful ceramic pots. It was nice.

They ordered a four-cheese pizza and a salad. We ate talking about everything and nothing at all. Chris admitted to be a sci-fi nerd and threatened to tickle us to death if we ever commented anything about it. And Nate teased him all evening, making funny comments here and there. All in all, we had a great time.

After paying the check, Nate leaned on to me, "can I take you home?" My heart skipped a beat by having him so close. I nodded.

We said goodbye to Farah and Chris, who were more than happy to leave alone. Nate's car was parked a couple of blocks away. As we passed in front of the mall's entrance, he grabbed my hand. "Do you still want that coffee?" Nate's grey eyes bored into mine.

I shook my head at the same time butterflies fluttered in my stomach. "I'm full. Thank you."

"Are you sure?" his eyes darkened, "that coffee choice seemed like something important."

A small smile played on my lips, "No, that's okay. Really."

His eyes roamed all over my face. My mouth went dry. He nodded but didn't let go of my hand. In fact, he intertwined it with his.

I bit my lip as we reached his car. Reluctantly, he let go of my hand to open the door for me. Soft music played in his car as he drove me home. I did notice that he drove slowly.

Like too slowly.

We talked about different bands each of us liked. Turns out that we had more or less the same taste in music. We reached my house and he parked in front.

I really didn't want to leave the car just yet. My eyes glanced at my house and all lights were off. Dad was probably out. Nate noticed the same thing. "Do you want me to stay for a while?" he asked genuinely concerned.

I didn't have a problem with being alone in my house. I did, however, want to spend more time with him. I nodded shyly. He smiled.

He stood behind me as I unlocked the front door. "Do you want a coke or something?" I asked him as soon as we walked inside the house.

"Water is fine."

He followed me to the kitchen. He leaned on the counter as I took out two water bottles from the fridge. I uncapped mine as he took a large sip of his.

"Nate, can I ask you something?" I frowned.

"Sure."

"What's wrong with you?" He chuckled as I blushed. "Gosh, that came out wrong."

However, his smile faded a moment later. He gazed at the floor, averting his eyes. "I tend to hurt people." He murmured so softly that I barely heard him.

And I just knew how he felt. Because that was exactly what I feel.

"What do you mean?" I stared at my water bottle. He needed to open up. I needed that, too.

"Exactly that." His grey eyes stared at me for a moment. He ran a hand through his hair "Anyone who's ever been close to me has ended up hurt." He paused for a moment. "And that's the last thing I'd ever want for you."

My brows furrowed. I took a step closer to him. "You've never hurt me." I swallowed hard. "On the contrary, you've been there for me even if I hadn't noticed."

Nate's lips parted. His grey eyes snapped to my lips for a moment. "You remembered?"

I nodded, "Yeah." My eyes casted down as I grimaced. "I'm really sorry for not remembering before."

His hand cupped my cheek. "You've had a lot on your mind, Cass. I get it."

"It still doesn't make it all right," I trailed as I got lost in his eyes.

He leaned closer to me. My heart started to beat even faster as my breath caught in my breath. He swallowed hard and pulled away somewhat ashamed. "I'm not good enough for you." He looked to the side clearly conflicted.

I think you're the best thing that has ever happened to me.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" I closed the gap between us and slowly placed a palm on his chest without losing eye contact. His heart was beating as fast as mine. That gave me the necessary courage to lean closer to him and brush my lips over his.