Rough Roads (Beau Brooks Fanfic)

Enjoying The Little Things

I sat next to Luke, Beau's younger brother, and stared out the window smiling. I used to love long car rides so I could stare out the window and look at everything that surrounded me, listen to my music, and let my day dreams consume me for a little while. Luke nudged my arm a little, "Oi! What are you smiling about?" He said giggling. "Oh nothing, im just admiring Australia" I said grinning. I tried not to think about it but I couldnt contain the memory, my dad and brother used to say oi all the time when we watched Top Gear together. They knew it was an Australian think and I couldnt help but laugh every time.

**"Oi! What do you think youre doing?!" My brother, Danny, shouted in my dads ear. "Well I was watching Top Gear but now I think im gonna have to kick your ass!" He shouted and put Danny in a headlock. "Natalie! Natalie help! Some old guy is beating me up for his prune juice and sponge bath!" I loved his attempt at making jokes, sometimes the joke itself wasnt funny but the attempt of it was. "Smack him with his walker!" I giggled. "Hey! I may be old but im still the finest dad around! Look at these arms!" He said flexing. "Yeah, and look! Theres only a couple patches of grey hairs!" I said as I punched his arm lightly. "HAHA very funny, you know you got the coolest daddy around!" He said smugly. I laughed and exchanged looks with my brother before jumping on him.**

Snapping back to reality, I felt my eyes filling with tears. Pretending to fix my makeup, I took out my mirror and blotted my eyes. I loved the memories they had left but hated the reality I was stuck with. Pushing the thoughts back into my mind, I looked over at Luke who was playing the air guitar and bouncing up and down, swaying side to side. I giggled and looked at Jai in the front seat. He looked back at his twin and threw a piece of candy at him. He suddenly looked up at us laughing at him, and made his movements more exaggerated. I couldnt help but join in with the twins. Not realizing how strange we looked, we pulled into a parking lot, recieving stares from the people around us. James and Daniel (Skip) pulled in next to us and we all made our way to the shops. "So where to first?" I asked the boys with a smile. "Well first I think we should pick me out a dress for me!" Luke said in a girls voice. I looked at him shocked, I didnt think he was serious. Playing along I said "Well im sure we can find you an adorable pink dress to show off those curves!" I said giggling. "Yay!!" He exclaimed skipping around the shopping centre. He grabbed my hand and led me into a store that had alot of casual summer dresses and high-waisted shorts. I liked it. The boys trailed behind, taking out a camera, to watch the customers reactions. "Ooh what about this one!" He said holding up a yellow dress, with a floral pattern and ruffles on the ends of it. "Hunny, you're not gonna catch a man in that!" I said with a serious face, trying not to laugh. We looked around until I found a bright pink, spagetti strapped dress, that was short and had a built-in bra. "YES!" He exclaimed as the customers watched him in disbelief, run into the dressing room. Minutes later I turned to the boys who were laughing behind the camera, giving me a thumbs up. Luke walked out actually wearing the dress and swaying his hips as he walked. "Does this make my bum look big?" He asked me with a straight face. Almost bursting out in laughter I said "Girl, I think we found our dress!" He walked around in his bright pink dress, and hit on people who passed us. Once Luke changed, we casually walked around. We stopped at a nearby fast food resturaunt and had lunch. "SO, Natalie, tell us something about yourself, that we dont already know" James said staring directly at me. "Uhh... Well..." I began, trying to think of something that didnt have to do with my family or past. "I dont really know, im kind of a boring person" I laughed. "What about any hidden talents?" Beau asked, looking at me with puppy dog eyes. I couldnt resist those amazing green eyes. "Talents? Uh not really, I mean I... Uh..." I said trailing off, and pretending to be distracted by something going on in the other direction. "Oh come on! You cant just start telling us and expect us to forget it!" Skip pouted. "Ugh okay fine, I sing and dance but im not very good at it." I said quickly, hoping they wouldnt ask for proof. "Sing something for us then!" Luke shouted. Shit. "Here? No way! Thered no music, and I didnt warm up and..." I said trying to think of every excuse. "Fine, come to the bonfire tonight and Luke will play the guitar, no excuses!" Jai said with a grin. "Bonfire?" I asked "How many people will be there?" I swallowed hard. "I dunno, maybe 20, 30 people?" Skip said. My heart dropped, I had never sang in front of actual people before, it was always just a camera because it never felt real, it was always just a fantasy, or dream to me. "Uhh...sure" I said without thinking. Wow youre on a roll Nat, any other things you want to embarass yourself while youre at it? I thought. "Woooo!" Skip and Luke cheered. The rest of the day was pretty fun, I got to watch them film for their youtube channel thing, and they were insanely funny. They screamed as loud as they could in stores, groped random people, casually ate other customers food, and didnt care how silly they looked. "Hey, you were really funny before when you got the dress with Luke, you should be in the video with us!" Beau suggested. My heart skipped when he said I was funny, and I couldnt help but blush. I decided instead of looking like a freak id respond as casually as possible, "Oh I dont know, what would I do?" I said to them. "Just be yourself! Hug strangers, eat their food, I dont know!" James said emmnthusiastically. "Okay!" I said giggling and looking around for my first victim. I soon spotted an older gentleman reading a newspaper on a bench. Grinning, I looked over at the boys and they nodded, and started filming me. I was nervous but put on a brave face. I sat down next to him and slowly moved closer to him. I leaned my head on him and threw my arms around him, giving him a bear hug whilst my eyes were closed. For a few seconds I didnt let go, and the man was stunned, and didnt know what to do. He patted my arm and stared at me until I casually got up and walked away. The boys laughed and gave me high-fives and this went on for hours. I hugged random people, held hands with strangers, and even got into peoples shopping carts while some pushed me around and others walked away from the carts. I felt like I was actually part of their group and like they accepted me. A feeling that I hadnt felt in a long time. Soon enough, it got dark and we packed up our things and headed home, or so I thought. "So ill run into my house, grab our stuff and my guitar and youll go change into your beachwear" Luke said to me. "Uhh... Oh, okay" I said nervously. I got changed as slowly as possible, freaking out about what was going to happen. I started to warm up and push the negative thoughts away as I got dressed. I put on a white bikini, faded demim shorts and a strapless, light blue cover-up with a pair of black vans. I shook the nerves away and began humming to myself to prepare. I started walking out and bumped into Veronica, who was wearing sandals, a pink see-through dress and a pink bikini underneath. "Oh hey girl! Are you going to the bonfire tonight too?" She said with an excited smile. "Yeah, the boys invited me last minute" I said returning the excitement. "Oh yay! Its gonna be so much fun, you'll make so many new friends!" She said as she walked me downstairs. We parted ways and I walked over to the boys who were leaning on their cars, staring at me."You look nice" Beau said winking at me. I couldnt help but blush. "Thanks" I said giving him one of my 'cute smiles'. Beau let me sit in front with him and kept looking over at me the entire way there. I pretended not to notice and smiled to myself, and tried to act cute. We soon arrived at the beach and the sun was just about to set. The boys took chairs, coolers, and wood out of the trunk, while I carried the towels. We made our way over to a few people who were putting big logs into a circle around a short metal bin with wood in it. We set up the coolers on the outside of the circle and lit the fire. I sat down on one of the logs and stared out into the ocean, watching the sun set. It was absolutely beautiful. I had never watched the sun set before and I had an overwhelming sense of warmth, serenity and overall happiness. I felt someone sit down next to me, and as I looked over, I found Beau casually smiling at me. My heart melted just at the sight of him. "You know, from this point on, theres no backing out" He said winking at me. "Oh right" I said rolling my eyes, giggling, "thanks for reminding me" I said laughing and hitting his arm playfully. We laughed and talked for a while until it got dark, and the only things that kept us from being in complete darkness was the moon and the blazing fire. Luke pulled out his guitar and smiled at me. Oh boy. "So what do you want to sing for us?" He said with the face of a child getting ready to open his christmas presents. "Uhh.. Well what can you play?" I said hoping he didnt know many songs. To my surprise he knew alot, and began listing them, all of which I knew. One of them stuck out to me though, Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars. "Yeah I can sing that one" I said. "Okay!" Luke said with a grin. I took a deep breath, and knew there was no backing out. I closed my eyes and cleared my throat, my heart racing and palms sweating as he began tuning his guitar. I kept my eyes closed and imagined myself in front of my camera as he began playing the opening notes. "Oh her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like theyre not shining, her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying, shes so beautiful, and I tell her every day." I started to sing, and opened my eyes to see Beau smiling at me with so much excitement that it was contagious. I started feeling so much more relaxed as I just focused on him. "Yeah, I know, I know, when I compliment her she wont believe me. Its so its so sad to think she dont see what I see, but every time she asks me do I look okay, i say-" I finally opened up and sang as best as I could "when I see your face, theres not a thing that I would change, 'cus you're amazing, just the way you are! And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while, 'cuz girl you're amazing, just the way you are!" Soon, the others joined in and sang and danced around in the sand. The others stopped singing to hear me finish the song, and I ended with what I thought was a strong finish. Nervous to hear what the others thought, I looked around as they all started clapping and cheering. I had such a rush and before I knew it Beau trapped me in a tight hug, followed by the other guys, who tackled us into the sand. "That was amazing!" Skip shouted in my ear. "Thankyou!" I shouted back giggling. "You said you werent good you liar!" Luke said as Jai nodded a as if he was saying, "yeah, what he said". "aww thanks guys!" I said with a smile that wouldnt leave my face. "You have a beautiful voice Nat" Beau said as he looked into my eyes, as we laid in the sand. "Thankyou" I said as I looked at him, with desire. We stayed there for a few moments before James shouted "lets get drunk!" to Beau and I, ruening our moment. We got up and played it off, mingling with other people that were there. People would come up to me and compliment me and I couldnt help but glance over at Beau, who was staring at me smiling. Veronica gave me a hug and pretty much stayed by my side the majority of the time. We drank vodka mixed with fruity drinks or coke, beer, whiskey, and wine coolers all night. We danced around like idiots listening to music on James' iPod speakers, and I occasionally sang along while Luke played the guitar. A few of the guys came up to me, trying out a few cheezy pickup lines on me. I let them down easy and pretended to not realize that they were hitting on me. I had my eye on Beau, and was not interested in any drunken player that stumbled my way, trying to compliment their way into my pants. I looked over at Beau who seemed, annoyed maybe? I wasnt sure but every guy that came over to me seemed to be Beaus worst enemy. Maybe he was jealous... No probabally not, why would Beau be jealous? I mean its not like he likes me, right? Dont get your hopes up Nat, noone would want someone as damaged as you. I thought to myself. I talked with Veronica and others who seemed really nice, maybe I fell into a really good crowd, I wasnt sure but I loved the people here. I watched Beau as a few girls walked over to him, laughing and flirting. He didnt look over at me once, probabally because he had his eye on the easy girls with bleach blonde hair and big boobs. They had so much confidence and seemed to get whoever they wanted. I couldnt compete. My self-esteem was 6 feet under and I hadnt been in the dating game since my last bad break-up. As an attempt at getting Beau's attention I whispered to Veronica that we should get in the water. I slowly took off my shoes, socks and shorts, then looked over to Beau who was still distracted, but I did have the attention of the rest of the boys. I took off my top, happy that I worked out every day before I moved here. My white bikini was my favorite for many reasons, it was small enough to show off my butt and boobs, but not small enough to be slutty or show anything accidentally. The boys jaws dropped as they looked at me and I hoped Beau was looking. Finally. "Alright lets go!" I said giggling to Veronica. We ran down to the cold water with a few of the guys following behind. I decided that this shouldnt be about making Beau like me, but having fun. Out of nowhere I felt someone lift me up and bring me deeper into the cold water. "Us girls gotta stick together!" Luke said in his girly voice. "AAH Luke! No its cold!" I squealed laughing. "Oh dont be a baby!" He said dumping me in laughing. We swam around for a while and had alot of fun. Beau came in after a few minutes, leaving the blonde bimbos behind. I jumped on his back, almost knocking him over, and shouted, "guys look who came in!" Giggling like a drunken idiot. "HOLY FUCK! Its cold!" Beau shouted as I guided him further into the water. His arms and back were perfectly toned and tan and I stayed lached onto him for a little while. The boys always seemed to stick together and before I knew it we were all together. "Skeeeeeppp" James said in his australian accent, clearly drunk. "Yes Jamsieboo" Skip said back to him. "Will you be my bestfrieeeeeeeeeend?" He said dragging out the word. "No he cant because he's MY bestfriend!" Luke shouted, jumping on Skip, "You can have Jai!" He said. "Jai!" James shouted before running (swimming) over to him and hugging him. "Aww dont I get a bestfriend?" I said almost slurring my words. "We all know you're my bestfriend Nat!" Luke shouted. "You cant have two bestfriends!" Beau shouted as he walked closer to me, "Natalie's MY bestfriend! I called it" he said as he stood next to me with his arm around my shoulder. "Yay!" I said as I wrapped my arms around him and looked at him. He turned to me slowly and looked into my eyes. I could see him smiling in the faint light from the moon and wrapped my arms around his neck. He let out a breath and smiled, pulling me in for a hug, eliminating the space between our bodies. We stood there for a moment, not saying anything, just looking at one another, and it wasnt awkward at all for once. Beau began to lean in closer, keeping a grip on my hips. Just as our foreheads touched, a wave sent us tumbling into the water. I jumped up and sqealed from the shock of the ice cold water and ran back to the shore with Beau following behind, with the boys slowly following. I had forgotten they were with us and hoped they didnt see. Veronica soon after came up to me and said, "oh my gosh are you and Beau like a thing now?" She said excitedly. "Uh, I dont know, I kinda hope so!" I whispered a little loudly to her. Our moment, once again, had been ruened but atleast it had actually happened. I knew deep down that Beau had interest in me, whether it was for sex or because he actually liked me, he still had an interest. We dried off and sat by the fire to warm up, and I began to shake from the cold. "Here put this on" Skip said to me, handing me a sweatshirt. "Oh thanks!" I said giggling, taking a sip of beer and looking around for Beau. As soon as I saw him, my heart dropped. Maybe I was just over reacting, but I got up and walked over torwards the water, letting a single tear escape from my eyes. How could he just start hooking up with one of the bimbos after our almost kiss? Maybe I was imagining it, maybe he just considered me as a friend... No we deffinitely had a moment. I couldnt let my self-esteem tell me wrong again. I shook the thoughts out of my head as someone came running up behind me. "Oi you alright?" Skip said, putting his arm around me. "Yeah im okay, I just wanted to take a walk, I might've had too much to drink" I said laughing. I had become really good at acting and faking my emotions ever since I changed myself. "Oh okay, well I'll keep you company" he said smiling. Damn, why was he so nice? I said to myself, "Oh okay, thanks" I said reluctantly. We walked along the shore and talked for a while, joking around, drinking our beer and acting as if we had been friends for years. He took my mind off Beau for a little while, and soon we returned to the bonfire. We looked around for the boys but couldnt find them, "V, where did the boys go?" I asked Veronica. "Oh theyre by the parking lot, Beau threw up on one of the bimbos!" She said with a beaming smile. We all burst into laughter and made our way over to the parking lot to find the boys putting an unconsious Beau in the passengers seat of his car. I felt bad for being happy but it felt like fate. "Nat! Thank God you're here! Do you have a liscence?!" Jai said in a panic. "Of course I do, why?" I asked him. "Because none of us have a liscense and Beau's way too drunk to drive!" Luke said almost shouting. "Alright calm down, give me a few minutes and ill drive us home, im not that drunk" I said trying to get them to stop freaking out. They let out a deep breath and each gave me a hug before we began packing everything up. I got in the car and pulled out, being extra careful as to what I was doing, and looked over to see Beau sleeping, hair messed up, and wearing a shirt covered in sand. He looked so peaceful and I had almost completely forgotten about the blonde sucking his face earlier. Once I pulled into the Brooks' driveway, I let out a sigh of relief and helped the boys unpack the car. Now came the hard part, getting Beau out. Luke and I stood on opposite sides of Beau and pretty much carried him in while he occasionally took a step. We put him down on his bed and he opened his eyes that were bloodshot and glassy. "ihh dunn fe...." He slurred almost inaudibly. "What?" I said as I looked over at Luke who was staring at Beau giggling. "i don feel gooh..." Beau said. "I think hes trying to say he doesnt feel good" Luke interpreted for me. "Should we-" I said, being interrupted by Beau making gaging noises. We rushed him to the bathroom and he threw up for a couple minutes. I grabbed a cloth and wet it with warm water, and put it on the back of his neck, and rubbed his back, trying to comfort him. He leaned back onto me and I wiped his mouth with tissues ad he watched my movements. He laid his head on my chest and wrapped his arms around me as I moved the hair away from his face. Luke got up and left to get a glass of water and Beau didnt look away from me once. His blinking got slower and I knew he was falling asleep, so I hugged him tighter, and ran my fingers through his hair slowly. Even though he was drunk, this made me think of what it would be like if I was his girlfriend. Late at night, snuggling, laughing, kissing, as I scratched his back and stroked his hair, looking deep into eachothers eyes, without worrying about jealousy or heartbreak. Beau's eyes were just about to shut as he whispered, "so beautiful", and attempted to lift his hand, soon overcome by sleep. Luke soon walked in to find Beau passed out, and helped me carry him to his bed. Luke changed him and I tucked him into his blankets, I kissed his forehead and let my hand graze his cheek. His eyelids fluttered for a moment, and I gave goodbye hugs to the boys, and started walking home, not realizing I had Skips sweatshirt. Hopefully he wouldnt mind. I showered and couldnt even make it to my bed before passing out, so I fell asleep on my living room floor. Much too exausted from my long day.

***Please let me know what you guys think! I would love some feedback and/or ideas for upcoming chapters! Also if youd like me to use your name for a character let me know, and if you'd wrather be Natalies new friend, rival or Beaus friend, ex, rival, etcc (: Thankyou so much for reading! <333 ***