LOVE ME (BWWM)

C H A P T E R 3

Ebony couldn't believe that she'd had that much confidence to tell him what she really thought, but something about him brought that confident side out of her, even though she said that they weren't besties, she was secretly hoping that he wouldn't give up on her and that he would fight back if she tried to push him out.

"I knew it!" He said with a smirk on his face, "I mean you're bound to get a crush on me sooner or later" he said nonchalantly, she whipped her head around so fast that she could have gotten whiplash, she needed to see if he was joking or not but from the look on his face, even though he was driving, she knew that he wasn't joking.

"Well I wish you luck with that, I haven't had a crush on anyone since" she stopped to think about how long ago it was, quite a long time if we're honest.

"Year 6, so I was around 11 years old probably" she said kind of embarrassed by it.

"So you're now 17 and you haven't had a crush on anyone for 6 years... I hardly believe that" he said while driving with one hand on the wheel and the other one hanging outside of the window. 

"No feelings whatsoever, I mean I've had the occasional attraction like to some famous people, but that's about it" she said while fiddling with her fingers on her lap. 

He stayed silent until they pulled into the entrance of her favourite spot, she quickly jumped out of the car and started running through the woods "catch me if you can!" She shouted over her shoulder while avoiding trees as she ran, the wind slapping her face because of how fast she was running. She came to a stop so she could see if Max was behind her.

Snap!

"Ha ha, I know that's you Max, you can't scare me" she said jokingly, but deep down she was the biggest softie and an easy scare.

Instead of running again, she decided to walk to her spot, seeing as it was through the Willow trees leaves, all of a sudden she was lifted up and carried away from the entrance of the Willow tree, "LET ME GO, PLEASE, MAX PUT ME DOWN" she screamed with all her might, trying to get him to drop her in any way, she knew that it was him because of the cologne he was wearing. 

When she started to hyperventilate, that's when he knew to put her down, he sat her down on a tree stump. 

"Whoa, I didn't know you'd react like that, I'm sorry, it was just a joke" he said while leaning on his knees in front of her.

"You can't just do that, I was scared for my life" she said, one of her biggest anxieties was her weight, and when he picked her up she couldn't shake the feeling of him thinking she was extremely heavy, yes he could pick her up but he could have been using all his strength just to get her off the ground, all these things were going round and round in her head. 

"My bad I didn't mean to scare you that much, I was just messing with you" he said while standing the both of them up.

"Right now that, that's over, let's go" she said while looking around and realising that it was the perfect opportunity to scare him back.

"Um you know where we're going right?" he asked with an undertone of nervousness.

This is gonna be great! She thought.

"Well I knew where I was going until you scared me... bad news is: we're lost, and we won't get service all the way out here" she said sounding believable.

"It's starting to get dark, what are we gonna do?" He asked while grabbing her hand and walking aimlessly around the forest.

His hands were warmer than she expected, it was comforting to know that his first instinct was to hold her hand and try to figure something out.

"I'm just messing with you, I know this forest like the back of my hand" he looked at her dead in the eyes and bust out laughing.

"Dude I thought we were gonna die out here" he said while nudging her but never letting go of her hand.

"I had to get you back somehow, even this little joke wasn't good enough, it's either go big or go home" she said while leading them both to the entrance of her treehouse.

As she dragged him up the steps of the treehouse, she unlocked the door and let go of his hand so he could look around, due to his height, his head almost touched the ceiling but not all the way, just a few inches short of touching.

The inside of the main tree house room was rather roomy but cozy enough for two people, it connected to other rooms by a couple of bridges in the shape of a circle, with a net at the bottom.

She was always there by herself because she never really had anyone to take and she didn't trust anyone enough to take them there, there was something about Max that made Ebony want to trust him.

The fairy lights above the tapestry fluttered with life as Max ran his hands along the trunk of the tree. The tree house was wrapped around the willow tree, Ebony's grandfather chose to build the treehouse in this spot because Willow trees represent balance, learning, growth and harmony, before he passed he gave her the key to the tree house and said that it was a safe place for her, if she ever needed to escape from the world.

"This place is amazing" Max said while laying down on the swinging chair.

"Thanks, my grandad passed it down to me before he died" she hadn't realised how blunt she had been until Max's face dropped.

"Oh I'm sorry for your loss, he must've been a great man" he said.

"He really was, I'm glad that you find the place so amazing like I do" she said while sitting next to him on the swinging chair.

They spent the rest of their time switching from the swinging chair, to the bean bags and the tiny kitchen to get snacks.

Once it was pitch black outside Ebony turned the rest of the lights on, and laid on the bean bag face up so she could look at the stars from the glass ceiling, her grandfather knew how much she loved the sky so all of the ceilings in the treehouse were glass, but if she wanted complete darkness she could put the ceiling blinds on. Ebony and Max talked until they could clearly see the stars shining.

"We should get going, we have college tomorrow" she said while stretching and revealing some of her stomach by accident, she hastily pulled her shirt down before Max could see.

"Yeah we should, could I get your number so we can carry on talking when we both get home" he asked while climbing down.

"Sure, my phones in your car" she said while jumping off the last step.

Once they made their way back to Max's car, she directed him to her house, she was torn on whether she should invite him in or not but her final choice was that she wouldn't because she was way too tired.

"It was really nice meeting you Max, text me when you get home so I know you got there safely okay, see you tomorrow?" She asked, while opening her front door in the process.

"Definitely" he said while jumping into his car and driving off.

Home.

A house should feel like a home, it should be somewhere you feel safe and comfortable, but Ebony didn't feel at home, her house was just a place where two people lived, they were both barely there; Ebony spent all her time in her treehouse or at college and her mum spent her time at work, but that was understandable, she was trying to make a living for the both of them.

"Ebony is that you?" Her mother shouts from the kitchen.

"No it's Simon Cowell, yes it's me mum", she walked into the kitchen to see her mum in scrubs preparing dinner, that was one thing she could admire, even when her mum was extremely tired she still managed to cook for the both of them before she went to work. They decided to sit down and eat together while making small talk, even thought there was nothing they could have talked about, Ebony made the choice not to tell her mum about Max, because she knew she would freak out about her making friends, especially if it was a boy.

They both finished eating, Ebony began to wash the little dishes they had used and the pots and pans just so she wouldn't have to worry about it later, her mum left for her night shift.

After finishing the dishes she went up to her room, she started to think about her day with Max, at first she thought he was quite annoying but then she started to see how persistent he was and he didn't try to give up on her. 

She really didn't want him to be like the others, the ones who just gave up on her; she tried not to compare him to the people of her past but it was hard not to when you've been screwed over so many times. 

We'll just have to see.