Nathan's POV

~edited~

I could not sleep at all last night. Only because of Vanessa. I was so nervous, thinking about what I was going to do today, worried about her response.

I was tired of saying nothing now. It had been over a month and I didn't think I could be able to endure being stuck in this friend zone any longer.

At the moment, I could only hope she would react positively. Another thing, I didn't want to ruin our friendship, but if she happened to not like me back then that could happen.

However, it was a risk I was willing to take.

I just wanted to call her my girlfriend already. Being only her 'friend' didn't work for me. So that was why I asked her if we should hang out.

This was what I was going to tell her but, I didn't think it would take long. We were just going to go for a stroll on the beach and then I'd tell her everything.

It wouldn't take any longer than an hour. After that, we were going to meet the group at West Mall. That's where we'd be shopping for my birthday.

I wasn't not looking forward to it at all, honestly. I could hear the workers busy downstairs, in our ballroom, where my 'birthday' would be held.

What ticked me off, was that my parents were planning it. Which meant that they would invite a bunch of people in the business world their own age.

I didn't even know them! And I wasn't interested in knowing them either.

So, I was already concluding how the party, or should I say ball, would be like for me. Horrible.

Maybe Vanessa would be the only person who saves the day with her carefree and genuinely crazy self. I'd never met a girl like her before.

It was one of the many things I liked about her. I checked the time on my watch, to see it was 09:45. Maybe I should leave now.

I took my wallet before I left my room and walked downstairs, going straight out. We already had breakfast and it was just like all the others.

Quiet.

With only my dad and my mom as a source of sound. Of course, they asked me about my studies but that's all they cared about so I kept my mouth shut, mostly.

I took my other car today. Yes, I had another car but this one was way more simple. It was the famous Audi TT. It was an old car, I knew that.

I entered my car, and left the place I called my home. I drove to Vanessa's place, for once turning on the radio. Centuries by Fallout Boy was playing and I loved that song, eventually found myself singing along.

"Mummified my teenage dreams. But there's nothing wrong with me. The kids are all wrong. The stories are off. Heavy metal broke my...heart. Come on, come on and let me in. The bruises on your thighs like my fingerprints..."

I kept tapping my fingers on the steering wheel as I continued to sing. The music was so loud, that the other people in other cars could hear it.

I noticed that, because on one of the red lights I encountered, an old woman on another car scowled at me and shook her head.

I had given her a sheepish smile and turned down the music. That was only until the lights were green again, obviously.

I sped to Vanessa's quiet neighborhood. It would be so nice to live there, far away from mansions and really big houses.

I sped up the car as I drove down the road. Soon enough, I was parked in front of Vanessa's gate. I took out my phone and checked the time. It was ten o'clock. I was just on time.

I entered WhatsApp and texted her.

hey, Princess

i'm here

you ready?

A few minutes of waiting after, she texted me back.

yeah

i'm coming

I got out of WhatsApp and turned off my phone. I was suddenly nervous again and bounced my knee up and down.

How will she react?

What will she think about me?

Does she really like me back?

What if she doesn't?

What if this all backfires?

What if–

I was interrupted from my thoughts by a tap on the passenger window. I guessed it was Vanessa and I was right.

I took a deep breath in and out. It's too late to back out now. I opened her door and she got in, greeting me with a smile, "Hey, Blue Eyes."

I loved the nickname she gave me. Just like I nicknamed her. It was just unique and she was the only one who got to call me that.

Not like anyone else would call me that besides her, anyway.

"Hi," I greeted back. She closed her door and I drove up the road. My hands started shaking slightly and I gripped the steering wheel tightly.

My heart was pounding in my chest. "So, where are we going?" She asked. I cleared my throat and swallowed the lump in my throat.

"To the beach. We're just going to take a small walk," I responded. She nodded from the corner of my eye and leaned back in her seat.

How wonderful it would be, calling her my girlfriend.

I knew what I was getting myself into. After this, my family would probably want nothing to do with me. But it was worth the risk. She was worth the risk.

I knew for a fact nobody was going to be willing to accept our relationship. If we would have one. They thought of it as forbidden, since it had never happened before in our town.

White and black people were not allowed to be in relation to each other, let alone get married. It was an 'abomination' in the whites society.

I was not sure about the black side. I continued driving, glancing at Vanessa from time to time. As we neared North S Beach, I got ten times more nervous.

I started shaking both legs and gripped the steering wheel even tighter. I had never been this nervous because of a girl ever before.

"Why are you so nervous?" Vanessa suddenly asked. I cleared my throat and shook my head frantically. "I...I'm not nervous, Princess," I lied.

"You know I can see right through you, Blue Eyes. What's wrong?" She asked, leaning closer. I gulped, all of a sudden feeling hot. "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?"

She eyed me curiously. "Yeah. It's just you. The aircon is on."

"Oh," was my response. She kept quiet after that but still looked at me.

I acted like I didn't notice.

I parked the car near the beach. Finally, we arrived. I wanted to get this over with. "Yes! I haven't been to the beach in ages. Thanks for bringing me here," she chirped excitedly.

I smirked because I knew this would be the perfect place. "No problem. Let's go," I said to her and got out of the car first.

That very minute, the cold breeze and smell of salt water engulfed me. The sound of the waves was heard. I closed the car door and walked to Vanessa taking deep breaths.

Okay, this is it.

I held out my hand and she placed hers in mine. I intertwined our hands and rocked them back and forth as we walked.

We didn't even take off our shoes. "Give me your shoes," I said to her.

She gave me a weird look. "What?"

I sighed, trying to rephrase my sentence in my head.

"I meant, let's take off our shoes. It will be better if we walk on the sand with our bare feet. I'll go back to the car and put them inside," I explained.

She nodded and bent down to take off her shoes. Good thing I managed to not glance at her butt. I bent down and took off my own sneakers.

When we were both done, I took both mine and her shoes. "Wait here," I told her and sprinted to the car. I threw the shoes in the backseat and closed the door, locking it after.

I ran back to where I left Vanessa. I found her walking by the shore. I stepped closer to her and walked by her side.

She kept quiet, but I knew she knew I was back. We started walking in silence, nothing was said. We were just listening to the waves, water splashing on our feet.

Our hands intertwined again, we rocked them back and forth. A lot of people were staring at us, but Vanessa either didn't notice, or didn't care.

I was betting on the latter. She seemed to care less about the stares we got when we were together ever since we hung out more. I guess she got used to it.

I looked at her and saw her deep in thought. Her face was blank and she was staring at the ocean. I smiled at how beautiful she was. She always was.

I was broke out of my trance by her speaking. "You know, I have always loved the beach. I just didn't know how much I missed it."

"Why do you love it?" I asked. I saw a smile form on her face. "Well, it's just a calm place to me. A place where I come to think. A place where I can get back my sanity," she laughed at the last sentence.

I laughed with her and then let her continue,"I usually came here when my dad got me angry or when I was sad. I used to be depressed a lot when I was a teen."

She was slowly opening up to me and the thought almost made me smile.

"Why? What happened?" I inquired.

"Which part? Dad or sad?" She asked. I was about to reply when she beamed and her glistening brown eyes met mine. "Hey! That rhymed!"

I laughed at her usual childish actions. "Sad," I finally answered.

"Well, it was the high school period. To cut my stories short, a few of my friends betrayed me. I used to be bullied at school and um...my best friend died," she responded.

Her voice was starting to get shaky. "What happened to her?" I whispered. She let out a shaky breath and looked away to the ocean again.

"Suicide. And she didn't tell me anything. She was the only person who understood me. She knew everything and anything about me. And she just died. Died, Nathan. Without any explanation. I thought everything was okay with her. She was smiling, she seemed happy. I was such a bad friend. I didn't see that she was hurting. I didn't..." she paused right there and started crying.

I immediately engulfed her in a comforting hug. "I was a bad friend, Blue Eyes. Bad," she whispered as she started wailing. It was the second time I've seen her cry. And it hurt me every time.

"You were not a bad friend, Princess," I whispered to her, firmly. She pulled away, just enough for me to see her tear-stained face.

"I was, Nathan. I was. I know it. I didn't see through her smiles like she did with me. I didn–" I cut her off and cupped her cheeks with both my hands, wiping her tears with my thumb.

"No. No, Princess. You. Were. Not. A. Bad. Friend, okay? You didn't know. You didn't know and that's that," I assured her.

"But–"

"No buts, Princess. Now, wipe those tears of yours and smile. I hate it when you cry, my princess. It really pains me. It's literally like I can feel your pain. Now please do us both a favour and be the strong princess we both know. You were not a bad friend, Vanessa. It will all be okay. I'm here now. And I will be for as long as I can."

I continued wiping her tears as they fell. She placed her head on my chest again and sobbed lighter than before. I kept whispering in her ear, calming her down.

Soon enough, I noticed her breaths go back to normal and her sobs came to an abrupt stop. After a few minutes, she pulled away and wiped the tears left.

She gave me a weak smile as she spoke,"Thank you, Nathan. I uh...I honestly thought I was over that now." She chuckled lightly in the end.

"There are some things we just can't move on from, Princess," I said softly.

She nodded as she sniffled for the last time. "I know that now. Thanks, again."

I nodded and smiled. "Anytime." She took my hand with a playful look on her face and intertwined them.

Without warning, she started pulling me further in the water. She giggled as she kept on pulling me. "What are you doing? Our clothes are going to get wet!" I exclaimed.

She looked at me for a brief moment and turned back to the water. The water now reached my waist. Too late. "I don't care! We'll just buy other clothes when we leave. Come on, Blue Eyes. Loosen up!"

I smiled, knowing she was back to her old self again. She let go of my hand and ran toward a coming wave. The water covered her whole.

She reappeared again, all wet. She walked back to me with a big smile on her face. "That was so much fun!" She yelled in delight.

"I bet it was," I said, staring at her amusedly.

"Okay, we can go now," she told me and wiped her eyes, followed by her face. We started walking out of the water, but didn't notice a wave coming from behind us.

It hit us full force, but I managed to stay standing. I couldn't say the same about Vanessa, though. She fell as the force was probably too much for her to handle.

Before she fell though, I quickly caught her and she stared at me with wide eyes. I helped her up and she was still panick-y.

I hugged her a little, just for comfort. She slowly wrapped her arms around my neck and I felt her short breaths tickling my neck.

"This once happened before," she started whispering. I had a feeling she was going to continue, so I didn't say anything.

"When I was little. I was running away from this uh...wave and didn't see it coming. It hit me right on the knees and I fell in the water almost drowning to death. If my sister didn't pull me up, I would be dead," she continued with chuckles here and there.

I pulled away from the hug and she looked a little disappointed. I shrugged it off. "You think it's funny?" I asked her.

She laughed and shrugged. "Well, yeah."

"Well, who am I kidding? You laugh at almost everything," I joked, snorting.

She laughed at that, too. After a moment, I took her hand and led us out of the water before another harsh wave.

We reached the sand and I stopped walking, turning to look at her. She stopped after me and stood in front of me.

It was time.

I took a deep breath in and out before I started my speech.

"Princess, I uh...have something to tell you," I started off. She nodded her head, trying to say I should continue.

I took another deep breath. Just let it all out, Nathan. Doesn't matter if you're not making any sense–as long as she knows the bottom line.

I mastered the courage to look into her eyes, before speaking,"I...I think I'm going to be honest with you, Princess." Pause. "The thing is...I think about you a lot. All of the time, actually."

"In the morning, at night, in the middle of the day. It's you. It's just always you." That seemed to make her blush. So far, I was doing good.

"I get so amazed by looking at you sometimes. Not just because of your looks but because of the fact that everything I've ever wanted is right in front of me."

She smiled.

"The truth is...I-I like you, Princess. A lot. You make me happy. You make me laugh. You're smart. You're different. You're a little crazy and awkward. Scratch that, a whole lot crazy." She laughed at my last statement.

Her eyes were brimming with tears. I hoped they were happy tears.

"Your smile alone can make my day, Princess. I don't think I like you, I know I do. So that's what I wanted to tell you," I finished.

That was when she broke. A tear fell down her cheek, followed by another and another. I reached out to hug her but she stopped me.

"Nobody has ever said those things to me before. I'm just so overwhelmed with happiness and disbelief right now. I don't need comfort this time," she told me with a laugh in the end.

I waited for her as she wiped her tears. "Well, I have got something to say to you too, Blue Eyes," she informed me.

"And what would that be?" I inquired. "You know, you're my favorite. My favorite pair of eyes to look into. My favorite name I want to appear on my phone. My favorite way to spend an afternoon. My favorite everything."

I couldn't help but smile from happiness. "Really?" I asked her, completely surprised. She chuckled. "Just let me finish like I let you," she said and I held up my hands, agreeing.

"Before I met you, I never really knew what it was like to look at someone and smile for no reason. Also, you're kinda, sorta, basically, pretty much always on my mind."

I felt like I was feeling butterflies in my stomach at what she said. It made my heart flutter. I didn't know all of this. I didn't know this was how she felt about me.

I could've told her I liked her a long time ago, for crying out loud!

"The bottom line is, I like you too. I like you more than pizza and I really like pizza," she finished off. I laughed at her sentence.

I placed my hands on both of her sides and lifted her up, spinning her around in the air. Her giggles brought a big smile on my face.

I showered her face with kisses as she continued to laugh. I finally put her down, and immediately cupped her cheeks. I'm pretty sure I was grinning like an idiot.

"That was the best news I've ever heard in my life," I whispered to her. She laughed. "You look so happy," she commented.

"Of course I'm happy, Princess! I just found out you liked me too!" I exclaimed. She laughed again and placed her hands on mine.

"So, what happens now?" She asked. "Well, I am taking you out on a date later on. I will pick you up at seven sharp. Wear something formal," I told her.

She gave me an incredulous look. "But you didn't even ask me!"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, it's not like you were going to say no."

"Hmm...touché. Now, let's go to the mall. It's time to shop for tomorrow's outfits," she said and took my hand, dragging me back to the car. We got inside with damp clothes.

"What are we going to do with our clothes?" I asked her as I started the car. She was searching for her phone. "Meh. I'm sure the shop workers won't mind. We'll do absolutely nothing about them," she replied.

I raised an eyebrow in question. "And what if we get chased out of a store?" She shrugged and answered,"We get chased out together."

I chuckled before I drove out of the parking lot. "Of course," I muttered.

I entered WhatsApp and instantly looked for our group chat.

Black+White❤️❤️❤️

heyo, guys!

meet at the mall by 11

already on our way

good

meetcha by the entrance

I got out of WhatsApp and turned off my phone. I couldn't believe how eventful my morning was. Finding out that the guy you like, likes you back was the most wonderful thing ever.

I was so ecstatic and elated at that moment. I still was, since I couldn't seem to wipe the big smile off of my face. Seemingly, Nathan couldn't too.

Out of the blue, he placed his left hand on my thigh. I looked at him and he was focused on the road. I dropped my gaze to his hand again, and decided to play with it. With that big smile still present.

That was the only thing I did until we reached West Mall. He parked the car, we got out of the car and walked to the entrance.

Luckily, the others were already there. Seeing our intertwined hands and the way we were smiling, they eyed us skeptically.

"Why are you guys so lovey-dovey this morning?" Joe asked, with a playful tone.

Bella snorted,"When are they not?"