Brake My Bones ✓

07 | Just Watch

"That was completely my fault. I was pushed, and I grabbed onto you-" Serenity shook her head, and I felt disgusted with the guilt on her face. She shouldn't have to feel like that around me. "It's my fault for even being here."

"Stop it," I told her, surprising myself with how serious I sounded. "I'm alright. I promise. You did nothing wrong."

Something was wrong with her. The vacant way she stared at my chest jostled with my mind. I knew she was thinking about how she touched me again, and I chuckled - more out of nerves than anger.

"Serenity, stop thinking about it," I lowered my head, and her angelic eyes met mine. They were wide, still full of worry. I thought I saw them glisten with tears. "Please."

She nodded, and her hair rustled against the wind that blew between us. Flowers. Her hair smelt like flowers and the scent alone made my heart race. The sight of her made me feel so warm. Serenity was here.

Wait, here?

"Are you here to see the race?" I asked, thinking how this was the last place I expected her to be. But then again, I was here. It wasn't like me at all.

"Yes- Actually, no. I needed to get out of the house for a second," She sounded out of breath as she spoke and turned her head to see the cars revving.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No."

Harloe's voice erupted again, marking the start of the race. I heard Indigo sigh beside me, and I knew she'd be watching Chancey. Cheers broke out, and the engines roared louder. Serenity shifted her feet and kept her eyes on the cars, biting on the inside of her cheeks.

I couldn't stop looking at her.

"Who are you rooting for?" I waited for an answer, wanting to hear her voice again.

"Not sure," She replied, a little too quiet for my liking.

"She's here to watch Harloe," Indigo almost yelled over the crowd, talking to me.

I faced her, noticing how her grey eyes looked out in the direction of the cars as they sped off. When they were out of her sight, she glanced at me, her stoic face starting to appear menacing. Surely, she didn't mean to say that. Surely she didn't know how her words made my heart wrench.

I didn't even know it would make me feel so torn. Serenity had a thing for Harloe? Harloe of all people. He was a jerk. A jock with no sense of intelligence or stability. I mean, that described me too, but he was Harloe!

"That was a lie, Gabriel," Indigo dead-panned, smirking at the frown on my lips. "She ran into me when I got here. I was just as surprised to see her as she was seeing me."

Oh. Okay. Right. Right, right, right.

"Looked a little heartbroken right then," She snorted, and I looked away, feeling my face heat up at her loud comment.

The next half hour went by in a blur. I spent the slow minutes tapping my foot on the ground, glancing around the crowd, oddly feeling less paranoid than usual, and gazing off to the sight of Serenity beside me. She didn't do much either. Her eyes kept low, her dainty fingers played with the sleeves of her shirt, and, every time she shuffled closer to me, the floral scent reached my nose, and I almost passed out.

"As if his ego isn't big enough," Indigo murmured as Chancey sped past the finish line first.

Serenity turned her head to face me so suddenly, I barely heard anything else of what Indigo had to say.

"This is going to sound so incredibly reckless, and so unexpected of me," Her doe eyes widened as she spoke. "And I get it if you don't want to, but I kinda want to."