Arabella led Tyler into her room by the hand. She started toward the window and dropped his hand to open it up. When she started to climb out the window his jaw dropped.
“Ella!”
“It’s fine” she smiled, “Follow me.”
He looked nervous but did as she said. He climbed into the tree and sat down beside her, obviously stunned. “What is all this?”
Arabella lightly touched the oldest carving in the tree. A big heart with her mom and dad’s initials inside and hers added in later underneath. “One day when I was little my mom brought me up here. This was there without my initials. She told me a story about when she moved here with my dad and found this tree. They got all cheesy and carved their initials into it. Then she carved my mine into the heart, too. We spent a lot of time together up here. When I have a flashback I want to go to the place I feel closest to her, which is here. I get so nervous and anxious because I’m afraid I’ll forget it so I carve something into the tree for each memory to remind me.”
He started pointing to carvings and asking what they meant. After a few he pointed to the little heart and she blushed. “Just a reminder from my mom that some things might be more important than ballet.”
“Is that from today?” he grinned and her blush answered.
“What about this one?” he asked, thankfully changing the subject. He was looking at the ballerina holding a book. She recounted the story. When she was done he said, “So that’s how it all started.”
“She always supported me so much.”
He looked deeply into her eyes, making her catch her breath. “I want to see you dance.”
“OK” she managed, breathless. He still smelled deliciously like cinnamon.
“There’s something I need to show you first.”
They left the tree and Arabella quickly changed into her ballet clothes with a light pair of sweatpants over. He went to help her into the truck but stopped her before she got in. He put his hands on her waist and just held her there for a second. her heart was beating out of her chest.
Tyler leaned in and sweetly pressed his forehead to hers. “Thank you for letting me in, Ella.” She smiled brightly.
When he started the truck classical began to play and he hummed along. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, how do you know all these classical songs? Aren’t you a country kind of guy?” she asked. He just smiled mischievously and wouldn’t answer.
They pulled up to a two story town house just outside the congested part of the city. “Wait, is this your house?”
“Yes ma’am” he said. She loved it when he called her that. Almost as much as when he called her Ella.
“Is your family home?” she asked nervously. She wasn’t good around new people. Too shy.
“Probably” he shrugged and jumped out. He saw her nerves as he helped her out. “You’ll be fine.”
It turned out to be just his mom. “Tyler?” she called out from the next room.
“Yeah, Mom, it’s me. We have company!”
A woman only about an inch shorter than Arabella walked around the corner. She had jeans and a flannel shirt on and hair exactly the color of Tyler’s to her shoulders. Her eyes were big like his, but blue instead of brown and she had a dash of freckles across her nose that somehow didn’t make her look too young. Arabella could see where Tyler got his good looks, his mom was beautiful.
“You must be Arabella! I’ve heard so much about you!” she said and Tyler blushed.
“Hi” Arabella managed.
“Mom we’re going to go upstairs” he said, giving her a pointed look. Her mind went crazy and her heart sped up. He couldn’t be suggesting to his mom to leave them along because they were going to... do anything. No, he hadn’t even kissed her yet! Her mind raced and her nerves shot though the roof. Did he want to mess around in his room? He hadn’t tried anything when he slept over. Then she thought of his sexy morning voice again, which absolutely didn’t help anything.
“Are you going to play for her?” his mom asked.
Arabella’s thoughts came to an abrupt stop. What? He nodded and dragged her upstairs. “Nice to meet you Mrs. McKinney” Arabella called down, remembering her manners.
Tyler sat her down on the bed. His room wasn’t big, but it was big enough for a queen sized bed and a few dressers. There were a few posters on the walls, but the room was otherwise decorated simply. It was actually pretty clean for a boy’s room, too.
“Just sit right there, OK?” he asked, cupping her face and brushing his thumbs across her cheeks. She forgot how to speak so she just nodded. He walked over to a big, black case in the corner, unzipped it, and pulled out a cello.
As he was taking out his bow, Arabella was picking her jaw up off the floor. He ran his fingers though his hair like he did when he was stressed or nervous. Adorable and hot as hell.
Tyler set up and slid his hand up and down the strings slowly, taking a deep breath. She guessed it was something he did before every time he played. When he actually began to play she melted. First of all because she thought guys playing instruments were downright sexy. Second because he was amazing. She didn’t know much about the cello specifically, but he sounded just as good as what she heard on professional recordings of classical songs.
As he played he smiled and closed his eyes. The melody went into her head and she closed her eyes, too. Without even thinking about it, choreography began to run though her mind. Each phrase he played corresponded perfectly with a ballet move in her mind.
He finished playing the last chord and opened his eyes, blushing.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
“Never came up” he shrugged. She could tell he was just an extremely humble person. “So can I see you dance now?”
“Only if you bring that” she said, pointing to his cello. He gave her a puzzled look, but did what she said.
“It was nice to meet you” Arabella said to Tyler’s mom as they left.
“You, too. Come back any time!” Mrs. McKinney was such a polite southern woman.
Once at the studio Arabella went straight to one of the practice studio rooms. She stripped off her sweatpants, laced up her shoes, and turned to him. He was standing awkwardly holding his cello in the case.
“What was the piece you were playing earlier?”
“That was an original”
“Play it again” she ordered, and he looked surprised at her bossiness. He was in her territory now.
He began to play and she let the music move her like she had done in her mind before. It was effortless. Everything felt to right with the song and the moves. Arabella knew she was executing the moves flawlessly. It was like she was in her own world, in her element. She made a few minor mistakes that needed cleaning in transitions, but she knew it was the piece she had to do for her audition. He was playing the song she had been looking for. It was magical how it all fit together.
He played the last chord and she snapped out of her ballet world, looking at him. He was looking into her eyes like he was looking straight into her soul from across the room. Without breaking eye contact he set down his cello and began walking toward her. She caught her breath as he got closer. Without the slightest hesitation he took her face into his hands and pressed his lips to hers. Her senses exploded. Tingles shot through her entire body. She responded almost immediately, reaching out with both arms winding around his neck. Her fingers grasped a the hair above his neck, pulling him closer.
When they broke apart he moved his hands to her hips but kept his forehead pressed against hers. They were both breathing heavily.
“To hell with the rule?” he asked.
“To hell with the rule” she confirmed.
A/N: AHHHHHHH<3 Thank you for reading, I'm really proud of this one. Please tell me what you think! If you couldn't tell, I was planning this for a long time:) I don't have anything else to say but VOTE/COMMENT/SHARE!:)
xoxo
Hannah Rose