Almost Famous: The Next Phase

Chapter 5

As I waited for him to confess his feelings to me the way he was holding my hand began to feel overwhelmingly different. His grasp around my digits was as if he was holding on tight for a reason. Like he was trying not to fall from a high place but couldn't fight against the gravity. The light gave his Afro a little bit of an angelic glow as his face was screaming despair and sadness. Prince was still holding the photo of he and I as our eight year old selves with Mr. John next door in the back yard playing what looked like a game of badminton. We were smiling big holding our rackets high in the air like swords while Mr john stood between us with each of his hands resting on our shoulders with a smile also on his face. Weeks after that things took a horrible turn. The Nelson household became a dark and angry place to be once his parents decided to split. Poor Prince would come to my house and sit in my treehouse all alone. Sometimes I'd find him there or he'd signal me with a flashlight if it was late at night. Other times he would just be there and I would have never known it until he would tell me a week or two later. I knew it was best not to rush him into explaining what had happened between the time he took the leap of faith out my bedroom window to the time he reached the top of my treehouse. So we just sat silently until he felt he was ready. Prince would intermittently give my hand a gentle squeeze as we sat quietly. The only thing that would break the serenity of it all was a soft sigh mixed with a deep moan from his chest. A few moment later prince reached in his pocket and pulled out the necklace that I threw at him.

"Regan?" He said softly.

"Yeah Skipper?" I asked.

"I really don't wanna lose you." He replied.

He dangled the music note charm in front of us as we once again fell silent.

Lifting my head from his shoulder I looked at the side of his face. I knew that me telling him that our friendship was over was just words of anger but now that he said that he didn't want to lose me must mean that now that something bad had happened those words cut him deeper than I realized.

  "Skipper you couldn't lose me if you tried. I guess.....I guess I was just going off of my own emotions."

  "What do you me?" He said turning to face me.

His masculine chin graze softly over my forehead.

  "Maybe we spend so much time alone together that i.....i might not be ready to share you with anybody."

  "Anybody like who? Denise?" He questioned.

My heart jumped and I stopped breathing for a few seconds as his gentle words hit my ears. I couldn't lie to him now so I better just go ahead and keep the honesty train on the track while I still can.

  "Well.....yeah. I mean....what happens if the two of you do get together? I won't get to see you again and I'll be stuck with and Andre and Morris."

  "There's always Dez. And your little.....friend." Prince giggled as he thought of Rachel falling flat on her face.

  "Yeah but....they're not you though."

  "And my dad's not like you."

Finally we're getting to the root of the problem!

  "Tell me what happened then." I said to him as I took his hand and squeezed it tightly.

He looked me in my eyes and with his other hand still clasping the gold necklace he dangled it in between us with a small smile.

  "If you put this back on and say you're sorry I'll tell you."

With a cheeky grin I rolled my eyes and snatched the chain from in between his fingers. Prince took his free hand and lifted my hair out of the way while I put the charm back around my neck. The note fell perfectly center on my chest and Prince admired it being back in its home.

  "Don't ever take that off again." He whispered as he kissed my forehead.

The soft touch of his lips made me turn a bright pink and with wide eyes I looked at him as if I had just met him for the first time.

  "Why?" Was all I could ask him as he sat on the floor smiling at me.

  "Because I love you that's why."

  "You.....love me?"

I wasn't sure where this was going but my heart was racing like a free stallion in a green meadow.

  "C'mon Mouse I've always loved you! You're like.....the sister that I wish my real sister was."

My smile dropped a little and my heart finally came to a drastic slow rhythm and my face returned back to its natural light brown color.

  "Oh.....that kind of love." I said almost in a sad tone.

  "How else did you want me to love you? You sound a little disappointed."

  "No! No.....I'm not. Sorry.....I guess I'm just overthinking things. Since Wilson just....well..."

  "Hey. He's not the kind of guy I would want you to be with anyway."

  "Then who would you want me with?"

Prince sat quietly as he thought about my question. He couldn't help but stare in my eyes a little too deeply for my comfort level.

  "Don't know. But who ever he is.....he should love you so hard that he would be afraid to lose you....just like I am."

My heart once again started to pick up its pace as I smiled. Prince ran a hand through my hair as he stared at me. The silence between us was beginning to drown out the sound of the world around us and I had to do something to get us back to earth without crashing. I was soon reminded by the sound of the wooden fence door slamming closed below us that he never told what had happened between him and his dad. I broke our gaze and cleared my throat before turning back to him.

  "So....about what happened with you and your dad." I said bringing him back to the reason why he was sitting all alone.

  "Oh....yeah...just promise you won't say anything to the guys. At least until I'm ready for them to know." He said nearly pleading.

  "You have my word I won't tell a soul. Now spill it. I don't want you going on stage looking miserable. Then your guitar playing is gonna suck and I don't want you to make me look bad. My mom is coming." I giggled and nudged him with my fist in the chest.

Prince took my hands and let out a deep sigh. He was finally ready to talk.