Winning Hearts – 16 (Part 3) – Story

*Vanessa’s P.O.V*

“I’m bored.” I tell Justin.
“Mmhmm.” He doesn’t even appear up from the papers he’s correcting. I slowly tiptoe up to his chair and peek more than his shoulder.
“Vanessa.” He covers the papers with his hand.
“Sorry.” I curl up on his bed. “Justin tell me a story.”
“Which one?”
“About Cali.”

He turns around in his chair, “Again?” When I nod, he smiles. “You know how I left a week after your 13th birthday? Well a couple of days before that I’d gotten a letter in the mail from a college in California offering me a football scholarship. It was perfect. I called the guy and arranged a meeting in a week’s time. I used to watch you sleep the nights before I left and I did watch you the night I left. I wanted to tell you where I was going so badly, but I couldn’t. I left by car so that I couldn’t be tracked unless people had my license number. I got there several days later and went to the nearest hotel. The meeting in the uni went smoothly and in 2 days, I found myself moving in to my dorm room with Craig. We got along great from the beginning.” He shrugs. “There’s not much to tell after that. I worked after classes, studied and had football practice. I occasionally partied. Not too much. Made great friends by means of the years.”

“What about girls?”
Justin sighs, “They had been a problem in the beginning but after turning every one of them down, I guess they understood.” He shrugs, “I-” He reaches for his phone as it starts ringing. “Yeah?… okay, sure.. Okay. Bye.”
“What?”
“Mark wants you to go to his room.”
“Why?” I ask as we head downstairs.
He shrugs. “Beats me.” But I catch the smile he tries to hide.
In Mark’s room, I find my pink tube leading, black skinnies, my black sandals plus a note on his bed.

*Mark’s P.O.V*

I gulp before walking up to my front door. I take in a shaky breath as I unlock it and walk in. I can hear Brian, Nessa and Justin talking in the living room and duck into the kitchen for a glass of water. My mouth’s gone completely dry. As Mary walks by I suddenly get an idea and pull her into the kitchen and ask her to do me a favor. She nods, smiling and I head back to my car and wait for Nessa.
If I’d gone into the living room and called her myself, Brian and Justin would definitely have started teasing me. One thing I don’t need right now.
Vanessa walks out of the house and towards me, seeking stunning.
I take in a deep breath.

*Vanessa’s P.O.V*

I glance more than at Mark, who’s wearing a sleeveless white shirt and light blue jeans, “Where are we going?”
He shrugs, shooting me a smile, “Surprise.”
I turn back to my window and watch his reflection in the tinted glass. Something’s up. That I’m sure about. But what it is I have no idea. There’s this air of… nervousness around him that I have never ever noticed… or maybe it’s sensed before.
I appear out as the car stops and see that we’re in the meadow. He must have taken another route, I didn’t recognize the way we came.
He gets out and walks around the car toward me. Taking my arm, he leads me more than to the big oak tree.
I turn toward him and see him gazing in the sky.

“What is it Mark?”
He meets my gaze and takes the hand that I’ve reached up to his face in his. “Ness, there’s some thing I have to tell you.” He takes in a shaky breath. “Something I should have told you a while back.” His eyes trail back up to the sky.
“Okay.”
“Vanessa, when I said that you mean the world to me… I meant it. I can’t live without you.” His eyes meet mine, creating havoc with all the beat of my heart. “I don’t know if you feel the very same way or not, but I really like you. I’ve been hopelessly in adore with you ever considering that I set eyes on you. And that might sound weird considering we had been just 4, but you’ve had me under your spell considering that. I enjoy you Nessie.”

I appear up at him, my heart pounding, wondering how I’ve ended up standing so close to him. Either I’m dreaming or… yeah, that’s pretty much it. I must be dreaming. I pinch myself. Hm. That’s weird.
Wait a minute. If I’m not dreaming, then Mark just said he loved me.. Or I just imagined him saying it. And now he’s waiting expectantly for me to say one thing.
“Why now?” I ask softly.
He pales, but taking in a deep breath, answers, “I realized I had to tell you. I want you to know how I feel. And after everything that’s happened, I’m terrified that I’ll lose you and I can’t let that happen. I can’t live without you.”
I’ve in no way observed Mark so nervous.

I can’t believe he just said he loves me, that he can’t live without me. I’ve dreamed of this moment all my life and I’ve always had a perfectly phrased answer for him. But as I appear up at his stunning face, all words flee from my head.
Reaching up I wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips to his. He freezes, surprised, shocked, but then his arms come around my waist and he pulls me against him, kissing back. It’s nothing like the kiss we shared before. As his lips move against mine, there are sparks exploding inside me and I’m not able to stop the shivers that are running down my back.

He pulls back, breathing heavily, and I greedily take some air in. That was.. Wow. I gulp and appear up at him.
“What was that?” He asks.
I give him a small smile. “Me saying that I adore you too.”
He presses his forehead to mine. “Really?”
My smile widens, “Really.”
He captures my lips in a brief sweet kiss. “Thank God.”
I pull back, laughing. Turning around, I see the picnic laid out under the oak tree. I turn back to Mark, “You think of everything, don’t you?”
He laces his fingers via mine. “Only the best for you.”

I hold his gaze for a while, a lump rising in my throat. Smiling, I tug at his hand. “Come on. I’m hungry. Aren’t you?”
He shakes his head as I sit down. “I’m too happy. I could feast my eyes on you.”
I make a face, “Not much to see here.”
He rolls his eyes, “Sure.”
“Nessa, you said..” He trails away and I twist around to appear at him. We finished eating a while back and now Mark was sitting up, leaning against the tree and I was lying in his arms.
“What?”

He meets my gaze for a second before seeking away. “You said that you’ve… liked me for a long time as well. Then… what about Kevin and all the others?”
“Loved you, not just liked. Funny you should ask. I was thinking one thing similar several days back.” I let out a sigh. “I liked the guys… but mostly for who they had been. Even Kevin was a nice person, his player personality aside. But when I was with them, I realized that what I wanted, I couldn’t get from them, because they weren’t you. That’s why the relationships in no way lasted long.”

“Oh.” He kisses my hair.
“Where are you sleeping?” Mark asks, as we stand by my front door.
I shrug, “I’ll check with Dad. Don’t worry, I’ll call you in case no one wants me to sleep with them. I can’t stay in my room, they’ve started painting.”
He nods and leans in for a kiss. Just as our lips meet, the door flies open along with a camera flashes.
“Ugh. Justin.” I groan, burying my face in Mark’s shirt as our brothers laugh.

Posted in Baby Care Tips