Capturing Them

Chapter Twenty One

Another tap and a "Calm down, Sang. It's Nathan" coming through the window has me pausing. I tilt my head, narrowing my eyes at the window. My throat finally loosens with the lodged in scream, when Nathan moves his head a little to the left, giving me the perfect view of his face.

My shoulders drop as I go over and unlock the window, quickly sliding it up. I stare at Nathan is disbelief, wondering how he could do something like this to me. His grin is sheepish. "Sorry, we didn't mean to scare you."

"We?" I repeat quietly.

"Yeah," he turns his head. "I'm going in, you follow," he says to his companion. I step out of the way as Nathan brings his big frame through the window. First his leg and this his body. His head follows and he brings the other leg in after him. His eyes dart around my room and I do the same, wondering what he sees.

My heart drops when I see the photo album I was looking at laying open on the bed. I bite my lip and slowly start moving to my bed but a grunt and followed by a quiet 'shit' has me turning around, as Victor comes head first in the window. Nathan lets out a laugh. "What are you doing?"

"Breaking and entering isn't my strongest suit." Victor says, pushing himself to his feet. When he straightens, he pushes back some of his wavy hair away from his eyes and those beautiful pools of fire land on me. "Hey, Princess."

"Technically, we're not breaking in. Sang let us in," Nathan grins.

"Why are you here?" I whisper, tilting my head in curiosity.

Nathan looks to Victor who gives me a soft smile as he reaches into the back pocket of his slacks. A second later, a phone lays in his palm and it's being handed to me. "What's this?" I ask softly, my voice rising just a little with each sentence I speak. It's so easy to speak with them.

"It's your phone." Victor says and I blink my eyes to his, my lips parting. "We went back through the CCTV footage from the events that took place today, and we saw your phone go sliding across the floor and into an opened classroom door. We went to see if it was still there and it was. The screen was smashed but I replaced that for you."

I gently pick up the phone, my fingers skimming across his sets off the butterflies in my stomach. I clutch the phone in my hand and press that circular button at the bottom. The familiar photo of a sunset with the city of New York comes up and I smile. "Thank you."

I gently place the phone on my desk. "So, this your room, huh?" Nathan asks as Victor's eyes start dancing from one thing to another.

I nod my head. "It is."

"What's all these?" He asks, crouching down to the stack of photo albums on the floor. I remember the one on my bed and start moving towards it.

"Photos," I murmur.

"Ones you've taken?" I make some sort of sound that means 'yes' to Victor's question. I make it to my bed and quickly flip the book closed before opening a drawer in my bedside table and shoving it inside.

"Can we have a look?" Nathan asks, picking up a beige one. I tilt my head, looking at the cover. 'Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn' is written on the front. They're safe. I nod my head and watch as he flips open the first page, Victor moving to stand at his side.

I watch their reactions; wonder, awe, amazement. They flip from one page to another, their eyes darting over one picture. before taking in the next. I wonder what they see; if they see what I see.

"Where was this one taken?" Nathan asks, turning the album towards me so I can see the photo. An array of blue, purple and orange greet me, the setting sun reflecting in the yellow water of the ocean. What I love about this photo though, is the single dolphin emerging out of the water, right in front of the sun.

"Florida," I tell them. "A couple of years back." Dad has a business trip and I asked if I could come along. Every day  I walked the beach, taking photos of whatever caught my eyes, which was pretty much everything. Out of the thousands of photos I took though, this one is my favorite.

"It's amazing," Victor smiles, his fire eyes an inferno as he gazes at me. "I'd buy this from you."

"Have you ever sold any of your work?" Nathan asks.

I shake my head. "No." I don't expand on my simple one worded answer. Truth is, I've never honestly thought about it. I mean, I've given photos to people who have asked for them, but have never sold any. This is something I do for me, not for anyone else.

I purse my lips when they both look back at me. I feel my cheeks heat so I turn away, needing to find something to do. The screensaver on my laptop catches my attention and I go over to it, swiping my finger over the mouse mat so I can shut it down. Only, I make a mistake because right there on the screen is a picture of Mr Blackbourne.

Nathan gasps and Victor moves to stand at my side, his head tilted just slightly. "Wow, that's amazing. He looks so different, so carefree and young."

I quickly shake my head and exit the program and any others that are running before shutting the laptop down and closing the screen. "I think you should leave."

I push some hair out of my face, folding my arms across my chest. "Thank you for returning my phone, and fixing it. But please leave."

"Don't shut us out, Sang," Nathan murmurs, gently wrapping his fingers around my wrist when I start pushing at my bottom lip with my fingers. I swallow hard at the contact, unsure of the sensations and the feelings just a simple touch has done to me. "Please."

I breathe in a deep breath. "Please, Nathan. Leave." I whisper, my throat tightening with each word I say as my eyes sting.

"C'mon, Nate," Victor says, wrapping a hand around his bicep. "Let's go."

Nathan stares at me for a long moment, his eyes searching my face for something. Eventually, he sighs and releases the gentle grip he had on my wrist. "Goodnight, Sang," He says and goes to the window, immediately climbing through.

Victor moves towards it, putting one leg out before looking back to me. "You've opened up to us a little tonight. That's something." His lips curve up into a smile and my heart stutters. "Goodnight, Princess."

I watch him climb out before rushing over to the window, just in time to watch both he and Nathan jump from the roof off the porch, and onto my front lawn. They land on their feet and look back at me, both giving me a small wave before jogging off and down the street.

I look up to the sky and to the stars, noting each one shining but finding the brightest one. "Goodnight," I murmur to the darkness.