♡Tiffany's POV
He's mad at me? Why? What did I ever do? If anything, I'm the one that has most rights to be angry. He never tells me the whole truth. He keeps secrets, goes on mysterious places and returns with bruises. He's the one that doesn't want to be called my boyfriend but yet he keeps pulling me with him, not letting me go. And the beat part is- I allowed that. I didn't even doubt a word he said. Never.
"Hey." A door opens and he steps in. I choose to ignore. I'll let him know how it feels to be left behind.
He approaches the bed and leans to give me a kiss on the forehead but I move back.
"What's wrong?" He asks.
What's wrong?
...WHAT'S WRONG?!...
Oh noting baby you just yelled at me fifteen minutes ago without a single reason and then left me alone with no clue about where you are going or what you're about to do.
Instead of snapping that, I- ignore.
"Barbie?" He asks. He looks like he really has no idea what he did.
"Tiffany talk to me!" He says louder.
Ignore him.
He shakes my arm "Why are you ignoring me?" He says again.
Ignore.
"Tiffany... have I done someth-" I cut him off, pissed because I really want to throw a bucket a cold water on him and I want to argue and I want to ignore him at the same time.
"NO... You know what? Why don't you just go and continue doing whatever the fuck you're doing and leave me alone?! Because I don't need someone to yell at me for no god damn reason! And I sure as hell don't need a bipolar bad boy to break my heart over again okay?" I yell out. After a few breaths my brain welcomes the words I just said.
"Shit." He mutters and runs his hand though dark hair. "You know I didn't mean it like that?!" He says desperately.
"Oh really? Than why did you just yell at me out of nowhere?!" I'm the one who is going to yell this time. The boss...Yeah right.
"I didn't mean to okay! I was stressed." He says sadly.
I get that he was stressed and all, but that still doesn't mean he can yell it all out on me!
"That's not an excuse." I say stubbornly.
"I know." He says immediately like he's scared that I'll go away if he doesn't hurry with answer.
I'm so naive. What if he's using me. I mean he doesn't want to be my boyfriend yet he keeps kissing me and acting like one. And I- what do I do? I freaking fall for him. Too soon. Too dumb. And too strong. Whatever he does to me, I know I'll keep loving him. I can't choose what I feel for him, heart wants what it wants.
Looks like it's Selena time again huh.
"What?" He says calmly.
"What?" I ask.
"What are you thinking?" He asks frowning.
"Nothing." I say turning my head to look at the window.
"It's not nothing." He says stubbornly.
"Fine it's...." I look around to quickly find excuse. Hell I'm not gonna tell him what I was really thinking, no way.
"About my parents." I say quickly.
He chuckles "Let this be the last time you lied in my face."
I sigh. How did he know? Am I that transparent? Oh my.
"Now tell me." He says patiently.
"No it's stupid." I say.
"Weather it's stupid or not, you were deep into it and I'd like to know what is it."
"Fine!" I say loudly.
"I was thinking about us." I admit.
"What abou-" Noah is cut off by loud noise coming from the door. We watch Ethan who is entering the room frightened.
"He found us!" He yells at Noah.
"HE FUCKING FOUND US!" He yells again. "AND DO YOU KNOW WHY?! BECAUSE OF THE STUPID HOTEL RECEPTION! OUR NAMES AND ALL- HE'S NOT DUMB NOAH!"
Noah is speechless and white. Literally white. How ironic- because his last name is White but now his face is pale which means white and- Drop it Tiffany!
"Noah?" Ethan says calmly, approaching us.
"Ethan this better be some of your stupid pranks!" Noah yells.
"THIS BETTER BE A JOKE!" He says standing up and running his hands trough hair in frustration.
Ethan stands next to him and whispers loud enough for me to hear "We won't let him."
Noah doesn't move. His body is stiff and face cold. I think this is the first time he's actually scared.
"We have to go." Noah says but Ethan doesn't reply.
"Did you tell her?" Ethan says looking at me.
"I'm not stupid." Noah says, still watching worried Ethan.
"Uh hello? I'm right here!" I say and they both turn to look at me.
If they want to go all secret spy then they better do it away from me because this way I'm just getting more curious. Noah groans.
"You said you have to go? Where?" I ask. Who knows- maybe they will actually tell me this time.
"Oh, you are going too." Noah says in 'by the way' voice, giving Ethan worried acknowledging look.
"What?" I ask. They better not drag me on their secret mission. Or should they? I want to go and I want to understand, but obviously it's not something safe or fun, considering Noah's face expression and all the yelling from two seconds ago.
"We are all going. Pack your things, we're leaving in fifteen minutes." He says now calmly, facing me.
"Fifteen minutes? Are you out of your mind?! We were supposed to go tomorrow morning!"
Does he know what's he saying? He expects me to jump in the car- God knows where he will actually find a car to give him a ride in fifteen minutes. This is not real. This whole summer is a dream, it's the total opposite of my ordinary life. This is adventure, this is adrenaline.
I'm scared. But I feel alive. Like I'm right where I need to be and do right what I need to do.
"Are you already packed?" He asks ignoring my yelling. I nod. I already packed my stuff because we were supposed to leave tomorrow morning.
"Good. Calvin, go check on Sophie and help her pack up. We are leaving as soon as possible." Noah says while Ethan is already walking to the door and out of the room with one final nod.
"What's going on?" I demand to know. I bet my parents didn't see me doing this when they decided to send me in summer camp.
"We're going." He answers.
Well no shit Sherlock.
"Where are we going?" I ask slowly so he can't say anything else than the real answer this time.
"Home." He says.
What?... "WHAT?" I ask with wide eyes "Why?!"
He looks at me studying my face. I do the same and after a few moments of staring like idiots, he looks away. To tell the truth, I just love to win those small things like staring, stupid, I know.
"Because it's not safe anymore." He says.
"Why? You never tell me the whole truth!" I say taking a step back "And you expect me to follow you blindly and forget the bruises you get!" I take a deep breath.
"You don't need to worry about that." He says approaching me but I stop his chest with my hand before his body meets mine. He looks away.
"I don't. I just care about you okay, and there's a lots of proof telling me I should." I explain.
"And this one is saying that you shouldn't" he says before grabbing my face and pulling me closer to him, his lips finding mine immediately. I close my eyes and let him entrance. He kisses passionately, rough but sweet. I return, taking all my previous anger in the kiss. His hands went down from my cheeks to shoulders, than slowly to my hips, holding me close.
He's mine. I'm his. - That's all that matters. I know he will keep me safe, I know because I trust him. Is it a stupid decision? Yes. But I know he would do anything for me, as much as I'd do anything for him.
He may not call himself my boyfriend- but he's definitely my keeper. My protector.
If I could pull him closer than this, I would. But there's no space anymore so It's physically impossible. He continues to kiss me gently as I enjoy his warm lips on mine. I put my hands on his chest, feeling the beautiful strong body which is hidden under shirt. He groans but another kiss follows. We pull away for breath and he smiles at me.
Not a smirk. It's an actual smile. "As much as I'd love to continue this, we really have to hurry." he says breathlessly. I can't help but giggle.
"Are you okay?" he says and I give him confused look "With going back home and everything?" he finishes.
I sigh. Am I okay? I don't know. I would like to stay. To hang out with Melody and Zoe, with Jason, and everyone else. I'd like to be better to them and to sing these lame country songs. I'd like to filter lake water and climb the mountain again. To sleep in tent with my little tent-buddy, or on the grass under the stars.
I would like to watch stunned faces as I wear heels. Okay, that was kind of odd, but they needed a little fun in their lives anyway. I'd like to meet new kids out there, to help, to listen to their problems, I would even stop myself from interrupting Mrs. Smith.
I would look around. And maybe just then- I'd realize it's not all about me. I'm part of something bigger, something that keeps us all close. The feeling of being part of the group, being able to help, to contributeto something that is useful not only for you, but for good of others. That's worth fighting for.
"I am." I finally answer. "How are we going to get home anyway? And what about luggage? We left some in the camp!" I say hysterically.
I AM NOT READY TO KISS MY GUCCI BABIES GOODBYE!
I mentally scream and Noah watches me amazed "You should've seen your face. Like I took a toy from a baby."
I narrow my eyes at him and then shake my head in disbelief "Whatever."
I enter my bathroom packing hair brush along with tooth brush and past, tampons, mascara and lip gloss. I stopped using makeup since we got here but I put it in my makeup bag just in case.
"I'll be right back Barbie!" Noah said from the bedroom and I replied with simple okay.
Finally, I took my phone and checked messages, realizing the mail box is empty, except from a few missed calls from my daddy.
Noah exited the room, I don't know when. I dial the number and put it on speaker because I still have my pajamas to pack, so It's easier if I don't have to hold phone on my ear.
"Hello?" My dad's voice breaks the silence of the hotel room.
"Dad! Hey, how are you?" I say in a little rush from all the hurry about packing.
"Oh it's my baby! I'm super-mega cool sweetie! How are you? Met any new friends?"
Super-mega cool? *sighs defeated* It's just too funny when parents try to be cool.
"Yeah, a few." I shrug.
"Oh that's great. They better not be boys honey." He says in threatening but sweet voice. Don't ask me how- he's the only one who can pull it off.
"Don't worry dad, I made super-mega cool friends." I say chuckling.
I really love my dad. He's protective just enough about boys and everything else. The only funny thing about my parents is that they're constantly trying to sound like teenagers these days.
And let's face it- it doesn't sound cool. At all.
"Hehe, that is great Tiffany, but may I ask why exactly are you calling me at four in the morning?" He asks in sleepy voice.
"Right. Sorry." I take a deep breath.
So how do I say this? Hey daddy, it's just me, your loving daughter in fancy hotel room with my bad boy who is not really my boyfriend and all, but we kind of make out sometimes. So anyways, he keeps a secret and fights and now we kinda have to run away. Oh yeah, and one guy almost sexually abused me at the party- you know, just my usual life.
Nah. I don't think so.
"So um... you know how you always say that every good thing must come to an end?" I say. Keep going Tiffany. He may yell at you, he may not.
"Yes..." he encourages me to continue and I sigh.
"And you know how people can change and..." I start but he interrupts.
"Tiffany, where's this going?" He asks.
Oh. Okay...
I mentally count to three before saying it all in one breath.
"I'm going back home 'cause my bo- uhh my friend needs to get back home and I kinda need too. But we had a great time here and I would like to stay, but that's not an option now."
"Wait wait wait. I get that she has to get home, but why you?" He says.
She? He thinks Noah is a girl...Oh... okay. Quickly Tiffany, think of something. Something believable.
"Victoria's turtles died." I say.
What? Seriously, idiot. You could've thought of anything and you said Vikki's turtles died. I really doubt my brain skills sometimes.
"What?" He says and I slap my forehead. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
"Uh... I meant..." I look around the room searching for inspiration for answer.
"Cole needs me daddy!" I shoot right after brilliant idea hits me. It's not a lie either, I'll be spending a lot of time with Cole. He means everything to me and I know I have to be there for him. I also know calling my dad 'daddy' will give me anything I want. Everyone has weak spots.
"Tiffany darling..." he sighs and I take that moment to cut him.
"Please daddy! You know what happened with him don't you?! He needs his best friend for goodness sake! And I already learned a lot in the camp, my group even won a tournament!"
He sighs. Please God, please let him agree to this.
"I don't think that's a good idea." He says.
Crap. Plan B. You didn't think I'm just going to give up, did you?
"'Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked innn." I start singing loudly and my dad groans. He knows what this means.
"So shame on me now flew me to places I'd never been, NOW I'M LYING ON THE COLD HARD GROUND!"
"Tiffany..." he tries but no use, I continue.
"AH! AAAH! TROUBLE, TROUBLE, TROUBLE!" Last few words I yell to irritate him. I can sing good when I really try but most of the times I really suck at it.
"Fine!" He cuts my wonderful performance.
"You have my permission, but you better take care of yourself, young lady." He says and I start jump8ng around and then notice smirking Noah standing at the door of the room.
"I will, bye dad, love you!" We say our goodbyes and he hangs up.
"Um... how long have you been standing there?" I ask embarrassed.
Please tell me he didn't see or hear any of that. Turtles, singing, praying. I'm probably red as a tomato.
"Long enough." He says smirking. I'd like to slap that smirk out of his face right now!
"You..." I say giving him a weak punch on the chest "You suck." I add, walking to get my bags, ready to leave this heaven called hotel.
I look around the room. I'm gonna miss this place. But I'm gonna miss the camp even more, because of the people I met there. "Are we stopping to the camp?" I ask frowning.
"Uh... maybe why?" Noah answers.
"I need my stuff and I need to say a few goodbyes." I say simply, starting to get tired, It's 1 am after all.
"We seriously can't wait until tomorrow?" I ask sadly. I like to sleep. Really like to sleep. Cole used to throw me in the pool in the mornings during summer break because I never wanted to get up. It was quiet annoying for him but I'm just not a morning person - more like three in the afternoon person. He also let May pee on me sometimes, which was effective since I jumped immediately every single time. -Eh, the perks of owning a cat.
"Nope." He says popping the 'p'.
"Aw, but why?" I continue my annoying puppy prays.
"You can sleep in the car okay?" he says more gently this time.
"But it's not that comfortable! And look, would you rather sleep on the pillow and fluffy bed or in the truck huh!?" I say, hysterically throwing myself on the bed.
He approaches the bed and his hands grab my waist, pulling me on the side with him as he joins me on the bed. He's on the top of me, my legs between his and our bodies connected. He smirks leaning forwards for a kiss, but I place my hand so he kisses it instead of my lips.
He opens his eyes studying my face carefully. Ha! You're not the only one who can tease!
"Nuh-uh, we have to hurry, remember?" I say smirking at his confused but yet so cute face. He sighs standing up from the bed, leaving me to lay in the middle.
"You ruin all the fun, babe." He says and grabs my suitcases along with his.
I swear, this boy is crazy. But I'm willing to follow him wherever he goes, whatever he chooses, I'll be there. I know that for sure. I couldn't let him go, not now when we got so close.