Changing Tune

33. Set out to

Chapter 33: Set out to

Ellie's POV

*****

I was surprised as Blake parked his car in front of our destination. That was certainly the last place I had imagined him taking me, and I was unsure of what we were even doing there. I turned to look at Blake, and couldn't help but smile the moment I caught sight of his facial features. He was looking at the building, a faint smile on his face. 

He turned to look at me shortly after, as if having sensed me looking at me. There was an unreadable expression in his eyes, and I was itching to ask him what made him think of that place, but instead, I just decided to go with it. 

We got out of the car and made our way up the front steps of the huge building, probably the biggest around. The local orphanage was certainly well kept. One could even say that it somewhat resembled a castle. I remembered walking past it when I was younger, imagining all of the things which the building had seen and heard. The more I grew up, the more that building came to mean to me, and every time I merely glanced at it, my heart clenched for all of the children living in it. 

I had no idea why Blake had decided to take me to the orphanage for our first date, or even how he was so confident walking up the steps and knocking the door. No matter how much the building provoked my thoughts, I had always been petrified of it. 

"What are we doing here?" I whispered, suddenly started to feel anxious. 

Normally, people had dates in the park, or at the movies, or at a restaurant. Blake and I could do none of those things, but an orphanage was the last place I would have ever imagined having a date in. 

"Do you trust me?" He asked, looking at me with a soft smile. 

I sucked in a breath and nodded. Blake was one of the people whom I trusted the most, and I knew that if he brought me there, he had to have a good reason to. 

My heart stopped as I heard the door unlock and slowly opening. A petite woman opened the door, her chestnut hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her crystal blue eyes widened as she caught sight of Blake, a grin making its way on her crimson red painted lips. 

"Blake, I'm so glad you came," she told him, opening the door wider for us. 

Her eyes landed on me as she looked me up and down, her hand flying to her chest as she smiled at me. I could feel my cheeks heating up as I felt under scrutiny, my social anxiety starting to get the best of me. 

"Who is this beauty?" She asked him, her sweet voice making my anxiety dissipate slightly.

"She's Ellie," he said, looking at me with a smile. "My girlfriend."

My eyes widened at how easily that word slipped from his mouth. We hadn't even directly told Adam and Dylan about us, even if I had the feeling that they were already aware of it. I did not know how I felt about Blake telling a stranger about the status of our relationship. 

The woman seemed nice and friendly, and I instantly felt drawn to her. I had no idea who she was, or why she seemed like she had been expecting us, but a part of me could not wait to find out. 

"Oh, that's wonderful," she said, clapping her hands together in glee. "I knew that someday you'd finally decide to let someone in that stone cold heart of yours." Blake rolled his eyes, albeit smiling at her. 

"I'm Marie, and it's lovely to meet you," she said, outreaching her hand to me. 

I gently shook her head, my eyes widening as she pulled me in for a tight hug. Much like Kyla, I was not much of a close contact person, especially not with people I did not know, yet I let her.