"What do you wanna do now?" He asked me. We were sitting in the basement-transformed-into-game room. We had already played Billiards and monopoly, and I had won in monopoly, since Dani had no clue how to play and kept having to explain everything. Dani did win in Billiards however.
I had picked all of the pins and took out the elastics from my hair, and my head finally stopped hurting.
Franny stopped by to offer Dani something to drink earlier, and Clark, Uncle Alex and Uncle Robert had all arrived ages ago.
That left only my parents, Cayden and Jessica, who would arrive right on time for dinner; about two hours from now.
"How about a movie?"
He shrugged. "Sure."
I took out the CDs. "Umm, Harry Potter?"
He shook his head. "Too fantasy-ish." I personally enjoyed Harry Potter. I had read every book in the series, and the movies hadn't disappointed either. Up until Cedric's death though. That boy was so fine.
"The Fault in our Stars?"
He rolled his eyes. "Is that even an option. Because I know how this will go down. Guy dies. You end up Crying. Then I have to clean up the mess." Hm, he did have a point there.
"James Bond?"
"Seen 'em all."
"You're so picky." I said to him, throwing a bag of Cheetos at him. Note that it was not opened.
"How about Riddick?" he asked. "Do you have that one?"
"What is it with you guys and action movies?"
"What is it with you girls and all the chick-flicks?" He mocked, emphasizing on the last word to explain his point.
"Hey! You're stereo-typing me!" I said it like it was a crime. Personally, I loved romance movies. He didn't need to know that though.
"You started it." I let the argument die there, not pointing out that he was the one who wanted to watch an action movie in the first place.
"Right." I muttered. I put in the CD and switched on the television.
When I walked back to the couch, Dani asked, "So what did you choose?"
"This means war." I told him. It was a good movie. Plenty of guns and explosions and stuff, but lots of romance too.
Dani opened the packet of Cheetos, and offered some to me. I shook my head, having devoured a bowl of popcorn earlier.
Then, as the movie started, Dani leaned back and put his arm around me. "I hope you don't mind." He said softly.
"Um." I blinked. I didn't have a problem with it at all. In fact, I liked it. "No problem." And since we were so close already, I went ahead and leaned my head into his shoulder.
Hey, I liked the warmth that his body gave off, okay?
Crappy reason, I know.
But did I even need one?
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and he went back to watching the movie.
About a quarter through, when Chris Pine and that other guy -Why couldn't I remember his name? - started fighting over Reese Witherspoon, I got a text from Cayden.
We'll be there in an hour. He wrote. BTW, mom and dad just started fighting again.
Great. I switched off my phone. Mom and dad had such perfect timing.
Note the sarcasm.
I looked up at Dani to see if he had seen anything, but he hadn't. He was focusing on the movie. I did the same, trying to distract myself from my thoughts.
I had never watched the ending of this movie before, and personally hoped that FDR- that was Chris Pine's character- ended up with Reese. He was super-hot. And 'dem eyes... Damn.
An hour later when the movie ended, my wish actually did come true. FDR ended up with Reese, and the conclusion was actually satisfactory.
"That was nice." I concluded.
"Mhm." He agreed. I shifted a little to the left so we could both get up.
Everyone was seated in the living room, except Franny, who was doing the last of the preparations. I offered to help, but she shooed me away. Dani stayed in the living room, talking to Shawn and Uncle Alex, who had grown quite fond of his -and his mother's- work.
A doorbell signaled Cayden's arrival, and sure enough, he walked in with Jessica.
"Where are mom and dad?" was the first thing I asked him.
Plastering on a fake smile for the rest of the family present, Cayden leaned in and whispered, "Getting their own ride."
I nodded and turned to Jessica, throwing my arms around her in a bear-hug. I couldn't help it. She looked so cute. She was wearing a light blue dress and had flowers in her hair.
Once Cayden had introduced her to half of the family she hadn't met yet, she took a seat beside me in one of the sofas.
This was the best time to talk to her. I hadn't yet, about the whole Eli thing. And now, with everyone engrossed in their own conversations, now seemed to be an okay time.
"I never thanked you for what you did." I said with a smile. She looked confused, so I added, "For Eli."
"He told you?"
"Yeah, he did. And I think he's very lucky to have you."
Jess flashed me a sudden grin "Hush, Val. We both know that's not true. We fight like 24/7."
"But you had his back." I tried to explain.
She nodded. "I couldn't just leave him there with mom and dad alone." Then she laughed. "I mean, have you met my parents?" Oh darling, you haven't seen mine. And at least your parents are a single unit. Mine couldn't be further apart.
Mom and dad finally arrived just as Franny was setting up the dinner table. Dad smiled and hugged everyone, and mom well, stood on the side refusing any sort of contact except a simple handshake.
When she saw Jessica, she yanked Cayden by the arm and started scolding him. "What is she doing here?" Mom snapped.
Cayden pulled his arm back and flashed her a scowl. "Leave me alone." He muttered.
Fortunately, nobody except me and dad noticed. Dad threw her a disappointed look, but didn't say anything.
Franny called us to dinner shortly afterwards.
~.~.~
To say that dinner was amazing would be an understatement. Margaret and Franny had prepared the food perfectly, and I went back for seconds.
It would have been even better if Mom and Dad had tried to get along. But nope. They sat across each other, and ignored each other as much as they could.
Dad conversed with everyone, telling his parents about the brother's future business plans and in turn, asking about Florida, even though he had been there a short time ago.
Mom couldn't be more different. She hated everyone in the room, especially Franny. Don't even ask me why. Franny was the coolest old-person I had ever met.
One person she did show a slight interest in though, was my Uncle Robert. Robert being the youngest- 28- had definitely inherited the good looks and the hundred-watt smile.
And mom had caught onto that.
Frankly, it was disgusting. I was even tempted to make some snarky remark about it. Fortunately, Robert paid no attention to her, which I was very happy to know.
He told us he had girlfriend- Marie, I think. Or was it Maria? - and couldn't wait for us to meet her.
Jessica and Cayden were in their own little world, holding hands under the table and whispering stuff in each other's ears. If he hadn't been my brother, I would have found them very cute.
And me and Dani? Well, that was a different story. We kept kicking each other under the table. It was all his fault; because he had started it.
Now that dinner was over, we had all gone back to the living room. Shawn had brought some board games from the basement and everybody except Mom, Jessica and Cayden were participating. Jess and my brother because they had gone upstairs, and Mom because, well, she was mom.
Half an hour later, I was starting to get a little bored. Dani too, by the looks of it. Before we started the next round, Dani told us he was going to sit this one out and got up and took a seat on the sofa. Unlike everyone else, who were playing on the carpet.
"Getting bored, are we?" I got up and went to him.
Dani shrugged. "C'mon." I said to him, extending my hand. He grabbed it and got up.
"Where to?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I lead him up the stairs.
"I like where this is going." He smirked. He was close, so his breath tickled the exposed skin of my neck. "You think they have another guest bedroom, since your brother and-"
"One, no way in hell are we spending any time in a bedroom." I pushed him away a little. "And two, gross."
Instead of stopping at the top of the stairs like we were supposed to, we made our way to the little door at the end of the hallway and I opened it.
More stairs, like expected.
"Attic?" he asked me as we began climbing. "Gosh, you're so slow." He muttered. "Climb faster."
"Nope, the roof." I shot him a scowl. "And I would if my legs hadn't been permanently injured by all that kicking."
We reached the top and there was another door. I unlocked it with the key hanging besides it, and walked out.
Their roof was really spacious, but there was no railing on the edges, which was why Franny and uncle Alex didn't let their children come up here.
And the view wasn't half bad too. Miles and Miles of darkness that stretched on above us, illuminated only by the moon's pale glow and the stars.
"Now you don't have to paint them." I said.
He looked up, completely mesmerized for a minute. Alex and Franny lived on the edge of town, away from all the lights and crowds. Which was one of the reasons this view was so great. It was peaceful, and there were no noisy interruptions.
His eyes turned to me, almost as grey as the moon above us. "Thank you." He said. He walked over to the edge and took a seat, his legs dangling on the edge as his head craned upwards.
I joined him. "No need." I said with a wave of my hand.
There was a surging warmth between the two of us, even though the autumn's cold wind swept in the night air.
He reached forward and enveloped my hand in his own warm one.
I glanced up at him as he stared up at the night sky. His lean, muscular frame, his broad shoulders. I took in his perfectly chiseled face and the way his eyes glinted so brightly. The way he smiled. The way he said my name.
We were here now, and gone tomorrow. It was our memories that made us who we are, our memories, our little habits and our influences that were either given or taken.
It was a single moment, one like many others. Above, the stars remained untouched. Eternal. Pure. The wind blew again, and I leaned into him.
It was a single moment, but somehow, it was so much more than that.
And like a shooting star, I fell for him.