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"I'm sorry," I apologize, pulling them away quickly, but he grabs my hands and places them back on his chest.
"It's okay; let me warm them up," he says, holding my hands again and wrapping me up in a big, tight hug.
I lie in his arms, feeling safe and cozy, until I hear his breathing settle and realize he's fallen back asleep. I snuggle into him, hoping to drift off, but I can't. I can't stop thinking about Gabe, wondering what happened and why he got so mad at me when we were just getting along so well for once. For the first time in years, he actually seemed to be having fun with me, and then I ruined everything by not thinking and letting my sassy mouth run wild. I toss and turn and can't sleep until I decide I need to clear the air, for Nate's sake as much as my own. I access his cell phone and copy Gabe's number. I consider texting him, but I know he'll just ignore me, so I decide to call instead, sneaking out the door and calling from the backyard.
"Hello?" I hear Gabe say.
"Gabe, it's Izzy."
"Goodbye Iz—"
"Wait, wait, don't go," I interrupt. I don't hear the line go dead, so I assume he's still listening and continue, "I really don't understand what I did to upset you. I thought we were having fun, like friends do. Until you ran off and left me. I'm home safe, in case you were wondering," I add, a little too sassily.
"I know you are," Gabe says, sounding bored.
He knows I am? How? He ran off and left me.
"Look, I don't know if you thought I was trying to flirt with you; I honestly wasn't, by the way. I just spoke without realizing what I was saying. I thought you could take a joke. Or can your fragile male ego only handle dishing them out?" I snap with far more attitude than necessary. I hear no reply or the sound of the line going dead, so I continue. "We both love Nate, so we owe it to him to at least try to get along. I don't have a problem with you, apart from you acting like an asshole and calling me a whore. I'm absolutely not, by the way, not even close. Plus, from what I've heard, you're not a saint yourself, so you have no right to judge me. I don't have to explain myself to you anyway." I fumble awkwardly for the right words to say and have completely forgotten where I was going with this call. Nevertheless, I decided to continue, as I don’t know the next time I’ll get to say anything again. "All I'm asking is that you at least try to meet me halfway, for Nate's sake. After all, I did save you from spending the rest of your life in a cold, dark prison," I joke, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
"It still wasn't a prison," I hear Gabe mumble before the line goes dead. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought he was even smiling because it sounded much more light-hearted than his usual cold tone. Well, he didn't hang up right away. He actually listened and responded.That's got to be progress, I think, before heading back inside and making myself a warm drink. I find one of Tucker's sports thermoses that he uses to keep his drinks ice-cold and pour some hot chocolate into it. I grab a blanket and some pillows and head back outside. Deciding that since it's almost morning and there's no point in sleeping now, I'm going to just sit down and watch the sunrise while I do some sketches.
I find a comfortable reclining deck chair and begin sketching my surroundings, ready for the sunrise. It's starting to get light, but I'm fully in the zone when I feel a soft kiss on my neck, followed by a very sexy, husky voice: "Hey, beautiful, mind if I join you?"
I turn my head and look into those big, beautiful blue eyes that I love to get lost in. I lift my blanket, so he can take a seat next to me, before realizing the chair is far too small for the two of us to sit side by side.
" I woke up and couldn't find you," Nate says, hugging me from behind and placing his head on my shoulder.
I'm tempted to tell him all about his stupid brother and how rude he was to me. But I think twice, not wanting to be the cause of any conflict between Nate and Gabe. Not when they're both trying so hard to work on things. It's not worth it. If I told Nate, his first instinct would be to leave and confront Gabe. But selfishly, I just want him here with me.
"What's on your mind, baby?" Nate questions, kissing me on the shoulder and breaking me out of my own thoughts.
"Nothing really, I was just wondering what to draw next," I lie.
"Can I see?" Nate asks, leaning forward to look at the drawing pad over my shoulder."
"Don't, it's not very good,'' I cringe, trying to cover the paper with my hand, but he reaches around and moves my hand away.
"I told you it wasn't very good."
"Bella, it's amazing, as I knew it would be. Your drawings are always amazing."
"How would you know?" I ask, unconvinced.
"Bella, I've seen your drawings lots of times" he laughs.
"How? Why?"
"Well, I used to see the little drawing you sometimes added to the bottom of our letters as kids. I saw the chalk pictures you drew when we used to play in your grandparents' garden. You once brought me a sketch pad from school. I loved looking at those; even though it was full of vases of flowers and bowls of fruit, it was still beautiful because you drew it. The best I've ever drawn was a stick man." He giggles, reaching his arms around me and hugging tighter.How did I forget about that? How embarrassing!
Feeling braver, I slowly lift the pad, so he can see my pictures. It's of the sun rising above the trees at the end of the garden, and then it has the shadowing of the tree down to the edge of the house.
"Wow, that's amazing. You have such an eye for beauty, Bella. How do you even see all those small details?"
"I don't know, just a talent, I guess." I shrug.
"Can I have it? I'd love to keep it on my bedroom wall and look at it every morning." Nate asks, reaching out to try and touch it.
"Noo, that is so embarrassing. It's not even my best work. It's just a doodle, really,'' I fuss.
