Rising Stars [H.S]

42.

"Are you taking me somewhere to kill me?" She asks and I glance over at her to see a small smile on her face. I smile too, a little relieved she's feeling better. She was really upset when her mom left.

"If I kill you who do I have to write music with?" I smile, and she shakes her head, chucking a little and looking back out the window.

I continue to drive down the gravel road, turning the music down as I focus more on where I was going. It was hard to see considering it was probably 1am, but I keep my eyes out ahead of us until I finally see the familiar palm tree with a bird house on it.

I smirk to myself and realize we were close, and it's only seconds before I feel the bumpy gravel turn into a soft smooth texture beneath the tires. The tree line that we were just driving through stops, and we were now driving on the shore of a private beach.

"Woah..." Olivia says barely above a whisper. I look over to see Olivia staring at awe at the dark ocean ahead of us, the only light coming from the moon and the stars. Her eyes were twinkling with excitement and I couldn't help but smile at her reaction to my secret place.

I continue to drive on the shore until we were about six feet away from where the waves were crashing onto the sand. I turn off the headlights and put the car into park before opening my car door and hopping out. I slip off my shoes so I was barefoot, feeling the soft sand beneath me was a feeling I'd never get tired of.

I look over at Olivia to see her staring out in the distance at the black, endless ocean ahead of us. She looked extremely tired, but at the same time relaxed.

"You ready, sunflower?" I ask her, surprising myself with my own words.

Sunflower. Sunflower? Have I ever called her sunflower? Fuck— have I ever even said that word before? Why did I just call her that? It just slipped out— and for some reason I loved the way it sounded when I was talking to her. It suited her. I don't know why, but something about the way she looked right now reminded me of a sunflower. She looked quiet, and very classy. But, even in the middle of the night in the pale moon light, she was bright, like a yellow sunflower.

"Ready for what, mon chéri?" She says, a smile sneaking up on her lips as she called me "my darling" in French. I smile at the nickname and lightly chuckle, shaking my head a bit before walking over to her side of the car and opening the door for her.

I guess since I called her a cheesy pet name, she can call me a cheesy pet name.

I reach my hand out for her to take, and she looks up at me before taking her hand in mine and pulling herself up out of the old convertible. She slips off her sandals too, letting her feet bury themselves into the soft sand.