Natalie stood by herself, starting to pace back and forth as she tried to contemplate what she should do to make it up to Brandy. "Nat! Where is he?! Is he in his room?" Chuck demanded as he ran into the house, the women startling a bit. She hadn't been expecting him for another few days, but she figured Brandy had called him, nodding some. She watched as he sprinted up the stairs, jumping two stairs at a time before disappearing at the top of the stairs, Natalie shaking her head some and sitting down on the couch in the living room, burying her head in her hands.
She sat like this for a good few hours till she heard footsteps again, these walking downstairs. This was Chuck who heaved a sigh but went over to Natalie and sat down beside her. Silently, he pulled her into a big hug, the natural smell of sandalwood he carried that she had so quickly gotten used to flooding her senses again. She was frozen in the hug but gradually started to break down, her hands clinging onto his shirt helpless as she cried into his shoulder. He said nothing, merely embraced her before gradually pulling away to press a soft kiss to her forehead and brush his thumb over her cheek, gently wiping away her tears.
"Hey... Beautiful, look... Look at me... There's those pretty eyes of yours... Take a deep breath... It's okay... It's... Okay... Brandy is fine... Lil shaken up but he'll manage... It's just a sore spot for him, aight?...He just needs some time to himself... Then y'all can talk things out, okay?... Please... Don't cry now... It hurts me to see such a pretty lil lady in pain" he murmured to her softly, staring deep into her eyes with his own hazel brown ones, giving her a soft smile.
Natalie stared back at him and sniffed a bit, letting herself rest inside of the hug with a heavy sigh. Her tension eased into concern for Brandy, though Chuck's comforting words and his hand slowly rubbing her back helped her to stay calm, the women slowly pulling out of the hug.
"Thank you Chuck, I needed that..."
"It ain't a problem, Nat... I figured as much... Say, Brandy's gonna be by himself for awhile, to clear his head. Do you wanna explore a bit of the farm? I can take ya to a really special spot of ours..."
Natalie blinked a bit and looked up, smiling as she realised the ginger had been blushing. "Sure Chuck, we can do that" she replied, getting up and helping him up too, following him out of the house. She hesitated as she saw him go into the barn, rather relieved to see him come back outside again, pushing a quad bike infront of him.
She was thankful that he didn't say much, though she gave an embarrassed squeak as he lifted her up by the waist and placing her on the quad bike with ease, climbing on behind her. She found him pressed against her back as he leaned forward to start driving, the women silently taking in the sights as they drove along a dirt path that went off behind the house.
As she watched, they passed many various pastures on their left, the edge of the woods on their right. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the treeline, pressing more against Chuck as she could have sworn she saw something in the woods... Snapping back to reality, Natalie stared up at the giant oak tree he had brought her too, hundreds of swings hanging from its branches, leaving her in complete awe.
Parking the quad bike, Chuck hopped off and helped her off too, taking her to one of the swings where he gently helped her up. "What is this place?" She asked in disbelief, Chuck smiling some up at her. "This place is a place of traditions... Every dad in our family has placed a swing here with his sons.... My... My dad wasn't here when I was of age to do it, so... So Brandy did it with me.... Man... Brandy practically raised me..." He murmured as he sat down on a swing next to her, rocking on it slowly.
"... My big brother... Is basically like a dad to me..." He murmured this slowly as he realised it, coming to a halt. Natalie didn't notice it at first, his hat tipped low to hide his face, though he still couldn't hide the tears that fell into his lap.
"Chuck... Come here..." She said softly, getting out of the swing and going to hug Chuck who in turn hugged her back, crying softly into his chest. She sagged a bit under his weight before the both of them fall into the grass, the women still holding him tightly into her embrace, putting his hat aside to gently run her fingers through his hair as he wept into her chest.
' So this is what it's really like for them... Brandy suffering through his trauma without anyone really knowing while Chuck was forced to sit idly by and watch as his brother lost his childhood... ' She thought to herself before shaking her head, her gaze narrowing with determination as she held the ginger close. ' No... Now that I'm here, I'll make sure these two angels won't have to suffer like this anymore!...'
"Hey Chuck, look at me... Shhh... It's okay to cry... You and your brother have been through so much... You're allowed to cry, okay?... You and your brother are absolutely amazing people Chuck... I mean look at you! You're giving a women you met roughly a day ago a home when you didn't have to!... Just breath okay? Ive got you... And I'm not going anywhere..." She soothed, his posture slowly relaxing in her embrace, his tears coming to a halt.
He tilted his head to look at her, smiling some with a happy blush. "Thank you Natalie... I needed that... Come, let's get off this grass. I wanna give you a push." Getting up, he picked her up with ease and placed her back down on the swing she had sat on before giving her a strong push. She shrieked with laughter as she went soaring, blushing some though as she noticed Chuck staring at her with a dreamy look. She was too distracted to notice that her grip was too loose, screaming as she was suddenly flung off the swing.
"NATALIE!!"
She found her world spinning as she went flying just to tumble down a hill she found softer than she could ever imagined. It was rather peaceful actually, like rolling through a cloud before she came to a stop at the bottom, Chuck quickly rushing down to her, going on his hands and knees and bending over her to make sure she was okay.
"Nat! Are you aight?! Nothin' broken, all in one piece?!" He demanded, his hat falling off onto her face. Natalie merely giggled some and put his hat aside, sitting up. "I'm perfectly fine Chuck, I swear! Nothings broken!" She assured him, putting his hat back on his head for him, the ginger regardless pulling her in close and gently checking her over, just to pause and look at her, blushing heavily as he realised they were so close their noses were nearly touching.
"OH MY LORD, I'M SO SORRY NATALIE!"
He yelped and quickly let go of her, the city girl laughing her head off and lightly smacking his arm. "Relax Chuck it's okay! You were only worried!" She giggled.
This time it was her turn to yelp as ue suddenly picked her up and placed her on his shoulders with a big laugh, the women then laughing her head off too as he carried her like this back up the hill. Chuck paused some though as he saw the quad bike, walking over to his and kicking the wheels with his boot. All four had been slashed. "Well shit. That's a bummer. Welp! Guess I gotta carry the lil lady back!" He chuckled and started to walk home, Natalie rolling her eyes.
"Chuck I do know how to walk you know."
"I do, but I like the feeling of your thighs on either side of my face."
This remark managed to shut her up, her face practically steaming as he chuckled some, gently placing her down once they reached the house. He made a sandwhich for her and for him out of some leftovers, the two comfortably cuddled up on the couch together as they ate their meals.
Eventually, Natalie called it a night and went up to her room, closing the door behind her just to shiver a little. "Hm. That's strange. I don't remember opening the window." Going over, she shut the window and locked it with a shrug, going to get her pajamas and going into her bathroom. Once she closed the door, she could have sworn she heard the floorboards creak under someones foot, unease starting to creep in.
Peeking her head around the door, her face paled some. No one was there. "Okay... Things are starting to get creepy..." Quickly showering up, she then hastily climbed into bed, pulling the blankets high over herself before switching off the light.
Tossing and turning for awhile, she paused as she heard a scratching sound. "It's... It's probably just an animal..." She assured herself, squeezing her eyes shut. The scratching slowly turned to soft tapping on her window. The longer she ignored it, the worse it got till there was full on banging on her window, the slams against the window so hard it shook.
Natalie felt something wet dripping down her cheeks, just to realise these were her own tears of fear. She wanted to call for Chuck, or Brandy, but felt as if she couldn't speak, her voice stuck in throat. There was an abrupt silence as the banging stopped, soon followed by a rather mutilated sounding growl.
"Help... Please... Let me in... It hurts.. It hurts... Let me in... It's all so cold... Let me in... Please... It's so cold outside..."
Natalie curled up under her blankets, shaking her head. That sounded like a child. But it couldn't be. She was on the second story of the house, no child could possibly be outside of her window. This wasn't real. It had to be a nightmare... A piercing, frustrated scream rang out, shaking her windows before there was a deadly silence once more, Natalie daring to peak out from under her blankets.
Her throat finally found her scream as it left her lips, her door swinging open.