His heart dropped at the sight of Mattie with tears filling her eyes. It was much different seeing it up close than from window to window, it was more saddening. For he wanted her to smile, especially when she was with him.

"Mattie, are you hurt?" Jaxson asked with worry filling his eyes that didn't blink once from fearing that she would vanish with one split second of darkness.

She shook her head in reply, not wanting to release her arms from around the warm skin of his neck.

"It's nothing," she answered. "Its just, it never works when I try to hold it back."

Jaxson remembered the times he had seen her crying in her bedroom. She would often have her face pressed into her white pillow, and even though he could not hear her, he knew sobs were escaping from her lips.

"Then don't."

Mattie closed her eyes after hearing his whispered words, and he watched with a heavy heart as another hot tear fell down her cheek and down the curve of her lips.

"Come here." He placed his large hand on the back of her neck before pulling her to him, and she buried her face in the crook of his neck while admiring the sudden contact from a boy that she has never experienced before. It was a feeling that had her weak at the knees, but Jaxson's hold on her kept her up on her feet.

There was the mental hold that he had on her, just as the one that she had on him. It was like a rope was tied around the two. It held them together, but was painful to separate.

A comfortable silence sunk in between them, and Mattie's light sobs that she tried to maintain vibrated against Jaxson's skin. Her tears wet his neck, but he didn't mind, he welcomed it.

"Come on, let's get you away from here for a while." He whispered in her ear, feeling her nod against him afterward.

He looked at her eyes that were ringed with red and her cheeks that were moist with tears, and it made him feel a type of way that he only experienced when he was a mixture of angry and upset.

Angry for who ever caused her tears, and upset for her tears.

They walked through his front yard slowly, not caring about who saw any longer.

Mattie wiped her last tear with the heel of her hand as Jaxson's fingertips pressed slightly deeper into the skin of her hip. She loved his touch, and even found it lingering when he released his arm from around her.

"But, my mom-"

"Don't think of her, don't think of anyone right now." He paused for a moment, falling into her eyes that he's already desperately fell for. "Just follow me."

She took in his words in silence, nodding in reply and ignoring her minds protests to turn her head towards her bedroom window.

And instead, she kept her eyes and mind on Jaxson.

His rough hands on her smooth ones collided together as Jaxson guided her towards the dark streets that were only lit by the yellow street lights.

It was a mystery to her as to where he was taking her, but she also couldn't help but be silently excited. For anywhere with the mysterious boy would be exciting.

About twenty minutes of walking passed, and all the two talked about were things not involving their daily lives. For reality that's what they desired to forget for the night.

They spoke about their interests. Jaxson said nothing except that he likes to draw dark landscapes, but Mattie went on and on.

She liked dancing and writing, not to mention cooking and baking whenever she had time to kill.

She said her homes kitchen was always filled with baked goods made by herself.

It varied from cakes to cookies, and even to brownies, which was a favorite that her mother had stopped making for her after bad times erupted her life like a lava-spilling volcano.

The only thing Jaxson could think of for his interests was drawing, music and the girl next door that he loved so much. He didn't tell her that last one for obvious reasons.

"Here it is." He said, pointing at a small apartment complex. Mattie's brows pinches together in confusion.

"You took me," she hesitated, "to an apartment complex." Mattie told him in a worried tone, regretting her decision to follow Jaxson by the second.

"It's what's in it that matters, come on." He walked across the empty street that led to the complex, and then to a broken piece of wooden fence.

He lifted two lines of fence and quietly and squeezed through before turning to look at her through them, still holding her hand.

"Jaxson, I don't know." Mattie said quietly, afraid that somebody was watching them practically break the law by trespassing.

"I do it all the time, just trust me." He sent her a comforting smile, and it sent a feeling through her body that made her want to do anything as long as it were with him.

Why was he making me feel like this? She thought.

She lightly nodded and went through the two pieces of broke fence before looking at the sight before her.

It was a swimming pool.

There was colored lights in the pool, making the water change colors. It varied from blue, to red, and even to purple before starting all over again.

The calm water moved along with the soft wind, and the sight was beautiful to Mattie. To Jaxson though, it was only beautiful when she had stood next to it.

The way her eyes lit up with the colors of the pool each time it changed, the way her eyes widened when she saw it, as if she'd never seen anything like it before.

And to Mattie's shock, Jaxson was slipping his dark T-shirt off, revealing his toned body that had her weak at the knees.

"What are you-"

"Take a guess." He interrupted and smiled at her, throwing his shirt to the concrete ground before taking a full speed run towards the glistening pool.

Water splashed into the air as Jaxson plunged into the pool, and Mattie found herself laughing as cool water splashed upon her face and clothes.

"Your turn." He hollered in a high toned whisper so that no real residents would hear.

"What? I don't have a bathing suit." Mattie replied, crossing her arms and laughing quietly to herself.

"Neither did I, just jump in and afterward I'll give you my dry shirt to wear."

Mattie looked at the pool and at Jaxson. His dark hair was deliciously down his forehead and water trickled down his tanned face in a way that had her breathless.

After a few moments of debating to herself about wether or not she had the guts to jump in the pool, she did exactly that right into Jaxson's arms.

____