It had been a few weeks since the altercation with Samantha and no one had seen or heard from her since. As Celeste walked from her car to Nate’s front door she couldn’t help but take a look at her surroundings. Something was going to happen, she knew it. There was no way that Samantha would just give up especially since the sheriff had yet to tell them anything. So far it had seemed like she had fallen off the face of the earth. In the back of Celeste’s mind she had a feeling that Sam was planning something but, didn’t have the slightest clue as to what that was.
Celeste knocked on the front door and waited for someone to come and open it. No matter how many times Nate’s mother and father told her the she could just go right in, it didn’t feel right. The only house that Celeste ever did that at were the twin’s and Hunters. They were her best friends and had been in her life forever so it was natural for her to just waltz right into their homes. They did the same at her house as well.
A clicking of a tongue brought Celeste attention back to the door. “Celeste,” Mrs. Anderson sighed “How many times do I have to tell you that you can come right on in?” she asked with a disapproving stare.
“I’m sorry,” Celeste murmured “I’m just not comfortable with doing so yet,”
Mrs. Anderson sighed and shook her head. “Come on in,” she said ushering Celeste into the house. “So, what do you have planned for Spring Break? Friday is the last day of school.”
“Um, well my friends and I are taking a trip down to Cancun from Friday till Thursday,” Celeste replied. She had just learned from the Twins where they were headed for Spring Break just before she had gotten to Nate’s house. Celeste had been ready to decline the trip knowing that it was going to be a crazy week with her friends.
“Isn’t you’re birthday on Friday?” Mrs. Anderson asked
“Yes, it is” Celeste nodded. It was the one reason that the twins had chosen Mexico, their legal drinking age was 18.
“Is Nate going along as well? He hasn’t mentioned it,” his mother said
“Ah, he doesn’t know yet,” Celeste muttered “I actually just found out myself.”
“Oh, well I bet he would love to tag along if it’s alright with you and your friends.” Mrs. Anderson beamed. Lord knew that her son could use a break.
“I wasn’t sure if I should ask or not considering he has Brooklyn to take care of,” said Celeste.
“Nonsense,” Mrs. Anderson scoffed “That boy could use a break and we’ll be up visiting with his grandparents during the break and they love Brook,”
“Oh,” Celeste said dumbly.
“Why don’t you go and ask him while I finish getting dinner ready,” Mrs. Anderson said waving Celeste toward the stairs.
Celeste nodded and hastened up the stairs and straight to Nate’s room. When she walked into the room Nate was no where to be seen, that is, until he walked out of his bathroom with only his towel wrapped around his waist. Celeste was sure that she had forgotten how to breath. She would never understand how he could take her breath away and make her heart skip a beat. It’s not like it was the first time she had ever seen him without a shirt on. Nate was busying drying his hair and had yet to see her sitting there on his bed. Celeste took the time to follow the drops of water as they trailed down his chest and stomach. It was a very nice torso.
Nate looked up and grinned as he spotted Celeste sitting on his bed. “Hey, Baby” he said
Celeste jumped and looked up at him with wide eyes, “H-hey,” she stuttered, her cheeks heating up with that embarrassing blush. Was it just her or did Nate always seem to catch her while she was in the middle of checking him out?
“You are so cute when you blush,” Nate chuckled, walking over to his dresser to pull out some clothes.
“S-shut up,” she muttered ever more embarrassed then before. Deciding to change the subject Celeste blurted out the first thing that she could think of. “The twins, Hunter and I are going to Cancun for Spring Break,”
Nate stopped on the way to the bathroom and looked over at her. “Mexico?” he questioned.
“Um, yeah” Celeste nodded “I just found out.”
“Hm,” Nate nodded before proceeding into the bathroom.
Celeste sat there on the bed fiddling her fingers. She didn’t know if Nate would want to go with them. Would he really be willing to spend a week away from his daughter? Celeste knew that if she had a child of her own she wouldn’t want to be away for so long. As much as she wanted Nate to come along, she wasn’t going to force him. It was Nate’s decision and if he chose to stay back then she would understand. A few minutes later Nate wandered back into the room dressed in a pair of jeans and a white tee. He was looking rather edible in Celeste’s eyes and she couldn’t help but give him another once over.
“So. . .um, I was wondering. . .would you like to come with us?” Celeste asked as she looked down at her hands.
“Where?” asked Nate
“To Cancun. During Spring Break.”
“Oh,”
Celeste bit her lip. What did that mean? ‘Oh’ was that a bad thing or good thing. She couldn’t decide. She decided not to push it and stood from his bed.
“We should probably get downstairs, dinner is almost ready,” she whispered, heading for the door.
“Wait,” said Nate taking hold of Celeste’s wrist. “You didn’t let me answer.”
“No, it’s fine. I know you have to take care of Brooklyn. I can’t just expect you to up and leave her for a week.”
“Can I answer, please?” he chuckled “I’d love to go with you guys, wouldn’t want you all partying it up in Mexico for your birthday without me.”
Celeste looked up at Nate who was grinning. “Really?”
“Really,” he nodded
Celeste smiled and threw her arms around his neck. She murmured a thank you before pressing her lips against his. What started out as a kiss of thanks, soon turned into more. One second Celeste was on her tip-toes and the next her legs were wrapped around Nate’s waist, her back against the room door. Nate’s lips pulled away from her’s as he left kisses along her jaw and down her neck. Celeste’s breathing was ragged, it felt so good. She never knew that kisses could be so. . .well good. Not like she had kissed anyone before Nate, that wasn’t the point though.
Nate hadn’t been able to stop himself from hoisting Celeste into his arms. It was getting harder and harder for him to control himself around her. It had been hard enough when he had walked out of his bathroom in only a towel and see Celeste eyeing up his body. It was a good thing that she had looked away when she had, if not then she would have seen just what her looks did to him. As soon as she kissed him though, he was done for. Nate had scooped her up into his arms and pressed her body between him and his door. He couldn’t get over how good her tiny body felt against his own. Nate could feel every inch of her against him.
His lips made a path from Celeste’s lips, across her jaw and down her neck. She tasted so good, mouth watering. Nate knew that he should stop since they weren’t exactly alone in the house but, he couldn’t. His body was screaming for him to take her and take her in that moment. Moving away from the wall, Nate walked them over to his bed and laid Celeste down. Hovering over her with his forearms rested on either side of her head to hold his weight, Nate swooped in for another kiss.
Celeste felt like she was on cloud nine. Nate’s lips moving against hers, coaxing her in a rhythm only he knew. His scent invaded her senses making her even more light headed then she already was. His kisses always took her breath away and she knew that they always would. Her hands, having a mind of their own wandered down the front of his torso. She could feel his muscles rippling beneath her fingers. Celeste often wondered when he worked out since she had never seen him do so. Celeste wound her arms around Nate’s waist, slipping her fingers up the back of his shirt. His skin was so soft.
Her breath caught as one of Nate’s hands wandered up the front of her shirt. His fingers skimming along the skin of her stomach, pushing her shirt up as he went. This was the farthest they had ever gone and Celeste just didn’t have it in her to tell him to stop. Was it wrong for her to want him to keep going? Probably. That was only because they were at his house and his family was home. That was like a bucket of cold water being thrown on her. They couldn’t continue you with this. Just before Celeste was able to voice her thoughts, a shout came from downstairs.
“Come on kids, dinner is ready!” Mrs. Anderson shouted.
Nate buried his face on the side of Celeste’s neck and groaned. “Worst timing ever,”
“Actually, I think that was the perfect time,” Celeste chuckled
Nate leaned up and looked down at her with a raised brow. “How so?” he asked
“We wouldn’t want to be up to no good with everyone home, now would we?” she slipped her arms up his back and gripped his shoulders. “What would your family think if they walked in on us, in this position?”
“They would think that even though I’m a dad, I still got game.” Nate grinned. Celeste rolled her eyes, leave it to him to make a joke out of it.
Shaking her head, Celeste pushed Nate off of her and scooted off the bed. “Time for dinner,”
Dinner at the Anderson was the same as it usually was when Celeste was over. She loved every dinner she had with them. It was so rare for her to sit a table for dinner with others around as well. She and Aaron didn’t have dinner together that often so it was nice. Nate had told her that she was more then welcome to join them for dinner every night but, Celeste didn’t want to intrude. A few times a week (maybe) but not every single night. Most nights Celeste was holed up in her room with take out and her homework or on the phone with Nate. Those were her favorite nights, the nights they would just stay up and talk on the phone. Sure they both saw each other everyday but, it was still nice. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about.
“So, Celeste” Mrs. Anderson began. “I’ve been thinking a lot about this – for a long time – and if I’m over stepping please let me know. I know that when your parents passed your brother was of legal age to take care of you. Do you not have any other family that could have taken you in since Aaron was so young?”
“Aaron is all I have left. As far as I know we have no other family left. There was none mention in my parent’s will’s, all they requested should anything happed was that Aaron and I would stay together. If he was old enough to take care of me then he would be my sole guardian.” Celeste replied not at all bothered by the turn in conversation.
“I see,” Mrs. Anderson nodded with a small smile. “He is an amazing young man to take on such a big responsibility.”
“He is,” she agreed. That was something that Celeste would always agree with. Sometimes she wondered what it would have been like if they had family that could have taken them in. Celeste didn’t think that it would be the same as it was now, she didn’t know why though. Maybe it was because of the fact that she was so used to it just being the two of them that just the thought of having more family just didn’t work in her mind. It would be nice though. To have more family but, not having to live with them.
During dessert Mrs. Anderson had brought up Spring Break and asked Nate if he had decided to tag along. Nate of course said that he was and thanked his parents in advance for taking care of Brooklyn for him while they went away. He had told them that if it was too much trouble that he would stay and take of his daughter. Celeste almost laughed at the expression on his mother face when he said that. It was the look that said ‘You’re going and that’s final’. She hadn’t expect to see that look when they were talking about going to Mexico (of all places).
“Can’t you stay a little longer?” Nate groaned as leaned against Celeste’s car.
“No, we have school tomorrow and I still have to pack and book the flights and room.” she replied standing between him legs with her arms wrapped loosely around his neck.
“Do the twins have a tendency for making last minutes plans?”
“Yeah, pretty much”
“All of this should have been finalized weeks ago not days before.”
“Yes, I know that” Celeste agreed
“I don’t want you to leave,”
“You’ll see me tomorrow,” Celeste chuckled
“That’s not soon enough,” Nate grumbled “Skype with me tonight,”
“Seriously?”
“Dead serious,” he nodded
Celeste sighed “Okay, fine” she reached up and pressed her lips against his. “I’ll see you in a bit then.”
Nate stepped away from the car allowing Celeste to get in. Once she was buckled in Celeste waved at Nate and drove away from his house. They had never Skyped with one another before, never had a need to. Once in a while she would Skype with the girls but, that was it. It didn’t happen all that often though. When Celeste got home Aaron’s car still wasn’t there. Another late night at the store, she thought to herself as she walked into the house.
Going up to her room Celeste took a shower and dressed in her pj’s before logging onto the Skype. She hadn’t been on for more then a minute when a video call came through from Nate. Accepting the video call, Celeste sat at her desk with a smile on her face.
“Hello beautiful,” Nate said with a grin.
“Hello yourself, handsome,”
“You don’t look like you’re packing,”
“I just got out of the shower,” she shrugged “I was going to start packing as soon as I had you on.”
“Well, I’m on” he chuckled
“I can see that,” she rolled her eyes playfully “You should be packing too.”
“I can pack on Friday, it wont take long anyway.”
“Why, because all you’ll do is throw a bunch of clothes into a duffle and call it a day?” Celeste questioned
“You know it, babe,” he smiled widely.
“You are just the same as Hunter,” Celeste chuckled “I’m going to get to booking.”
Celeste spent the next hour or so trying to find the best prices on vacation packages. Though she couldn’t see Nate she could hear him through the speakers. Once in a while she would check to see what he was doing. A few times it was like she was looking up at him because of the angle of the camera, he had been playing some kind of game if the controller in his hand was anything to go by. After a while she heard him playing with Brooklyn. Celeste’s cell phone rang so she paused her search and dug around in her bag for the phone.
“Guess who’s going to Mexico?!” Jay’s overly excited voice shouted when Celeste answered.
“You’re going too?” she asked with a smile on her face.
“Who’s that?” Nate asked in the background.
“It’s Jay,” she replied at the same time Jay asked who she was talking to. “I’m Skyping with Nate. So, anyway, you’re coming along as well?”
“Yup, I just got the okay.” Jay squealed then sighed “This is going to be so much fun. Is your little boy toy coming too?”
“Yes, Nate is coming with us.” Celeste chuckled. Jay never used Nate’s name, always opting for some pet name that she would never use. “I’ll talk to you later, I’ve gotta get everything booked.”
“Okay, love you! Tootles!” Jay sang
“Love you to, toots to you.” Celeste said and cut the call.
“You guys are weird,” Nate chuckled. Celeste minimized all the windows she had up on her laptop and saw him shaking his head with a smile on his face.
“Being weird is better then being just like everyone else,” Celeste shrugged.
She had never really been the kind of person who wanted to be just like everyone else. Not even when her parents were alive. That was probably why she was so close to the group of friends she had. None of them followed societies rules or followed others, they all did their own thing, no matter what others thought. Each and every one of her friends were in their own way well. . .weird. Nate was in his own was just like them as well. Everyone thought of him as a field-playing-trouble-maker but, behind that Celeste knew who he really was, how he really was. Nate was a young man you cared more his daughter then anything else in the world and worked hard to take care of her all the while excelling in his academics.
With Nate lingering in the back ground, Celeste went about finishing up with booking their vacation. Now that she knew that Jay was joining them she had to alter their rooming plans. There really wasn’t much to alter considering she hadn’t figured out how they were going to go about the whole rooming situation. She had voiced her thoughts to Nate who quickly stated that he wasn’t staying with anyone else other then her. Celeste had laughed at that but, agreed. There was no one else she would rather be rooming with either. She knew that the twins would definitely have something to say about that but, in the end would probably end up teasing the hell out of her.
When Celeste had finished up booking the flights and hotel rooms she went about packing her bags. Every time she would pull something out of her closet or dresser Nate would whistle his approval. She spent more time laughing at the things that he would say then actually getting any packing done. He had been adamant about her packing the few skirts that she had along with the bikinis that the twins had insisted she buy during one of the shopping adventures she had been force to join them on. Celeste wasn’t all the sure about the bikinis but packed them anyway. They still had tags on them because she had never gotten up enough nerve to actually wear them in public. Celeste often opted for more coverage when she wore two pieces and she almost always wore shorts with them.
“It’s getting late,” Nate murmured. Celeste looked over to her laptop to see Nate cradling a sleeping Brooklyn in his arms. She smiled at the sight wishing that she was there with them.
“I’m not tired,” she shrugged. She really wasn’t. “You go on, I’ll talk to you later.”
“I’m fine, just let me put her down,” Nate disappeared for a moment. “I’m back”
Celeste and Nate spent the rest of the night just talking. It seemed as if neither of them could get enough of the other. They both knew they would be dead on their feet at school the next day but it didn’t matter. By the time they logged off and went to bed it was well after two in the morning. As Celeste laid in bed, her mind whirling with thoughts of the up and coming vacation. She couldn’t stop the smile from forming on her face, a whole week with Nate. Alone. Well as alone as they could be with their friends. They were going to have one hell of a time in Mexico, she just knew it. It would be the most memorable Spring Break ever.