okay, so I wanted to use Stomach Tied in Knots by SWS because I think it correlates to this chapter but when I looked to find the acoustic version from the ep I found two different videos. the one above is a live acoustic version of the original song before it was actually turned acoustic for their ep two years later. the one below is the studio version. there are some subtle differences between the two. although I could easily pick one or the other, I felt like putting both and you can pick whichever version you want to listen to. I will warn that the above version has a weird scream laugh thing at the beginning.
by the way, I started writing this story literally a year ago according to wattpad.
The place that Zion was talking about was the top of the parking garage. Haven had never been there before considering she didn't know that the parking garage existed. It was near all the bars, an area of downtown Haven avoided.
After climbing four flights of stairs, the group reached the top. It was practically empty besides a few cars in the corner. Light posts stood tall in between parking spaces. there was a wall that lined the car entrance to the top. Haven stared out at the view. The old buildings grew from the ground. She could see the setting sun peeking between the buildings. It was absolutely gorgeous.
The sunset wasn't the usual bright colors she would see from her view on her rooftop. Tonight they were softer. The pink was paler than usual and turned into a dark shade of lavender. There was only a slim amount of orange that seemed to instantly fade to pink. Haven turned on her camera and captured the landscape. Her coffee eyes roamed away to the group of teens. all of their eyes were on the setting sun.
Lifting her camera, she took a photo of Brandon and Char. His arms wrapped around her while she leaned into him. His chin rested on her head. Her eyes closed as a smile spread across her face. Brandon looked down at her in admiration and love. Haven instantly looked away. She felt like she was interrupting their moment.
Instead, she turned to her two best friends who leaned against the edge of the building. The girl squeezed in between Tyler and Austin. Her camera focused on V and Ty's profiles getting a glimpse of the sunset. Letting the camera drop from her eye, Haven looked at her photos of her friends.
"It's stunning," Venus said. Haven lifted her head to look at her best friend. Venus' green eyes stared out at the view.
"Just like you." Her eyes turned away to look at Austin. He was already smiling at the curly haired girl. All she did was smile at him. The whispered words made her heart flutter. But only for a moment.
That's when she noticed his position. "Be careful!" Austin was sat next to Zion. Both boys sat on the edge of the building; their legs dangling against the wall.
Austin just laughed and pointed below him. "Don't worry there's a ledge." Haven leaned over only to see another ledge beneath them. The sun was setting a bit faster and the sky was growing darker. Haven had yet to get the picture. The wheels in her head started to turn.
"Could you hold this?" she asked Ty. He just nodded, taking the camera out of Haven's hands. Slowly, the photographer lifted her body up onto the edge. Her legs straddled the edge while her body faced the two boys. She could feel everyone's eyes on her.
"What are you doing?" Elom asked standing where she once did.
"Trying to get down there." She pointed at the ledge that Austin had just pointed out.
"Are you crazy? What if you fall?" Kékéli's older sister instincts kicked in.
Haven ignored her as gripped the edge tighter. Everybody's eyes stayed on the girl. She swung her leg over the side. With the little muscle she had in her arms, Haven held herself up against the wall. As her body slid down to the ledge, her mustard colored top lifted causing the stucco wall to scratch up her stomach. Her feet barely touched the ledge as her fingertips slowly lifted away from the edge.
"Are you good?" a voice called down to her. She recognized it as Nick's.
"Yeah." Haven dusted a bit of stucco from her clothes. Her stomach was a bit scratched but not as bad as she expected. Tyler started to lower her camera down to her. By the time she had adjusted it. Everyone seemed to be back to their original conversations.
She got a few shots of Nick and Edwin. There was a picture of Kékéli smacking Elom while laughing at something stupid he said. Slowly she turned to look at Zion. Although she was right by them, she was so focused on the camera and not falling to her death that she couldn't tell what he and Austin were talking about. She twisted her lens a few times. Holding down on the shudder, she captured the moment.
Zion's whole face seemed to be lit up as he laughed at whatever Austin said. His hands lifted to clap together. His smile was wider than it usually was. This was the photo.
After Brandon and Nick helped to lift Haven back onto the roof, the group decided to end the day. Venus and Austin both looked at some of the photos Hay had gotten. They each complimented her on her work. Haven promised to send Venus the photos of her. Then the car was silent.
She was the first one dropped off, along with the Kuwonus. The girl with wild curls waved goodbye to the cars and started to walk up the pathway to her porch. But he stopped her.
"Haven," Zion called, "could we talk?"
Kékéli disappeared into the house, dragging Elom along with her. Biting down on her bottom lip, Haven reluctantly nodded. The fence became the only barrier between the two.
"Before you start. I just wanted to say thanks for helping out," the girl muttered.
"No problem." He looked down at his shoes for a moment. "Are you still mad?"
Rolling her eyes, her fingers gripped tighter onto her camera. "Yeah, Caleb, I am."
"I'm sorry." He lifted his eyes to meet hers. She could see that he was a little hurt, but the anger she once had this morning seemed to ignite once again. Haven wasn't an evil person, however, all she wanted to do was hurt Zion how she hurt him. She wanted to forgive him.
But she could never forget.
"I didn't mean to hurt you that much. I was just tired of you constantly bugging me. I really regret my words and don't think that anymore." Z's eyes drifted past her. Before she could respond, he looked her in the eyes once again. "I miss you."
Haven's own eyes widened. She had never expected Zion to ever say that to her. Not after what he had told her. "You missed me?"
"Yeah, I have." He paused to look back down at his shoes. Zion couldn't look at her admitting all of his feelings. "I've been noticing you more. You never leave my head. It's like I see you everywhere."
"Really?" The girl was in utter disbelief. Never in a million years would she think that the boy she's had a crush on for the past eleven years say this to her. Only in her dreams.
"I've noticed changes. Especially with you. You're different. Not that I mind it, but you don't have to change for me."
Then the dream came crumbling down.
"You think I changed for you?" Haven stared, wide-eyed, at the boy. Her finger pointed between them. She was shocked. She thought Zion would be different. But he wasn't. He wasn't the Zion she once thought he was. He was worse. "God, you are such a narcissist. I didn't change for you, Caleb. If that's all you've noticed about me then take back your apology. I don't want to hear it."
With that, the girl turned on her heel and started to walk up to her porch. She couldn't believe his words. She couldn't believe him. She couldn't believe that she ever loved him.
"But-"
"Not everything is so surface level, Caleb." She interrupted him from saying anything more. Facing him once again, she continued, "There is so much more to the world. So much more." The photographer paused. Her mother's words from when she got her very first camera on her eighth birthday repeated in her head. "You might be able to see something, but you will never be able to really see it."
Without another word, Haven disappeared into her own house leaving Zion in his thoughts.