.° ☀️₊˚ෆ ❝ LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE ❞
๋࣭ ⭑𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 ₊˚﹟📷' 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦 ˚‧｡⋆🫧⋆｡‧˚
⊹ ࣪ ˖  𝘪'𝘮 𝙢𝙮 𝘥𝘢𝘥 ‧₊˚ 🌻⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ "MADDIE." Nathan whispered as he crawled into the bed the girl was sleeping in. "Maddie, I gotta talk to you." The girl stirred, a groan leaving her lips. "Maddie!" He whisper-shouted and she sat up.

"What?" She nearly shouted back as the boy looked around to make sure he hadn't woken up any of the other kids.

"I gotta talk to you. Come on." He told her as he climbed off the bed and stepped over Josh who had been asleep on an air mattress on the floor.

"I'm really starting to hate you." The blonde mumbled as she followed him out of the room and down the hall. "Where are we going?"

"Outside." He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the stairs, past Marcus who was passed out on the couch then out the door.

"Nathan." She groaned as he sat on the steps and she sat next to him. "This couldn't have waited until morning?"

"Look, Mads, I care about you. You know that."

"If you cared about me, why'd you wake me up?" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest to cover up the fact that she didn't have a bra under the t-shirt she wore.

"So, your dad told me that the Feders are leaving tomorrow."

"Okay?"

"Josh is a Feder."

"Yeah, I know, but Nathan, why are you-"

"He's leaving." He cut her off. "And I need to know that you're gonna be okay. You don't do well with people leaving and I know you were starting to like him."

"Oh." She mumbled, her leg bouncing a little.

"I'm not trying to upset you, I just wanted you to know before they pack up and leave tomorrow."

"Okay."

"You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah." She nodded, giving him a smile. "I have the worst luck with guys." She let out a small chuckle and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Oh, God, I'm my dad." She stated, her eyes wide and Nathan couldn't help but laugh maybe a little too loud. "Jerk." She elbowed him in the chest and he grunted in pain.

"You said it." He laughed, pulled her closer to him. "But things will work out."

"But I could actually see myself liking him for real." She mumbled, laying her head on his shoulder. "Which makes me an idiot because I know he'd be leaving eventually."

"Hey, you still got me."

"I know." She smiled, letting her eyes fall closed.

"Alright, let's get you back to bed."

"Yeah, sounds like a good plan." She hummed, then the boy stood up and pulled her up with him. He made sure she was tucked into bed before he made his way back down stairs before laying out on the couch that Marcus wasn't on.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ JOSH YAWNED AND SCRATCHED HIS stomach as he made his way down the stairs the next morning, it had been the first morning he hadn't woken up for his usual morning run. He hadn't slept great the night before, he assumed it was the air mattress.

He walked over to the kitchen and stopped next to his mom who had been sitting at the counter. "Morning." He mumbled and she smiled up at him.

"Breakfast?" Rob asked, holding a plate of gray pancakes, or what he assumed was pancakes.

"I'll pass, thanks." He nodded before turning back to his mom. "Have you seen Maddie?"

"Um, I think she was outside." She told him and he mumbled a thank you before making his way towards the door. He stopped on the porch when he saw the blonde sitting at the end of the dock, her hair hanging down her back in long messy waves.

He took a breath then made his way down the stairs, passing Greg on his way across the yard and he couldn't help but laugh at the boy's clothes. But he didn't stop to tease him, he was on a mission.

"Come on, Maddie." Nathan called out as he swam over to the dock.

"In a little bit." She told him and he rolled his eyes before turning and swimming away from her, then she raised her camera and took a picture of the boy.

"Hey." She looked up to see Josh and she smiled as he sat next to her. "So, last night, when I got up to get a glass of water, I may have overheard a conversation-"

"Oh, God." She groaned, her nose scrunched up in embarrassment. "Look, Josh, it's-"

"I like you, too, Maddie." He chuckled a little. "At least, I feel like that's where we're going. And I'd really like to see where this could go. I wanna get to know you better."

"Aren't you leaving today?"

"Actually, mom agreed to us staying another day."

"Really?" She asked, trying not to let him see just how hopeful she really was.

"Yep." He nodded. "You're stuck with me for another day." She smiled up at him. "So, what else do you have to teach me about roughin' it?"

"Oh, it's a good one." She nodded, giving him a quick look up and down. "And you're already dressed." She grinned as his eyebrows creased but before he could ask she pushed him into the water. "The lake."

"Really?" He questioned once he resurfaced, wiping the water from his face. "What if I couldn't swim?"

"I knew you could." She shrugged.

"How would you know that?" He asked as he pulled himself up so his elbows were on the dock next to her.

"Kiethie told me you have a pool out in L.A." She shrugged. "You know, you have the cutest little brother."

"If you say so." He told her as he pushed off the dock and swam a little ways away from her before pulling his shirt off and tossing it onto the dock. "So, you actually gonna swim or just sit there."

"Hey, I'm not just sitting here." She told him as she waved her camera a little. "You alright if I take a couple of pictures?"

"Ah, I get it." He smirked. "You want pictures of me shirtless."

"Shut up and swim." She rolled her eyes and he laughed as he swam away and she snapped a few pictures. After she was satisfied, Maddie ran her camera back up to the house, it was her most prized possession and she didn't want anything to happen to it.

"Hey." Nathan swam over to where Josh had lifted himself onto the dock. "Josh, right?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Look, I don't want to overstep, but Maddie is pretty much my sister and I don't want to see her get hurt."

"And I don't want to hurt her."

"Just don't get her hopes up if you're not serious." Nathan told him and he nodded, then the ginger dove under the water and swam away.