Chapter 39

“What the hell, Natalie?” Bruno asked himself as he brought the phone down from his ear, hanging up for the fifth time in ten minutes. He shook his head as he let out a small sigh, sitting down in the living room chair.

“Still not answering?” Eric asked as he walked into the living room with a glass of water.

Bruno shook his head. “She’s just ignoring me on purpose,” he said with another sigh. “And she says I’m stubborn.”

“I’m sure she’ll get over it,” Eric simply replied, shrugging it off.

“No, I’m going to be the one at fault,” Bruno said, rubbing the side of his head. “I can’t even get a point across to her without getting into an argument. It’s pointless trying.”

Eric moved over, sitting down in a chair opposite from Bruno, setting down his glass. “Then stop calling her. Take a break or something. It’s not like you can’t live without talking to her for a couple of days until she figures her shit out.”

Bruno let out another sigh, putting his head in his hands for a moment in thought. “Yeah but tomorrow we’ll have been dating for a year. I don’t want to be fighting over stupid stuff right now.”

“Then break up with her,” Eric laughed, shaking his head at his younger brother.

Bruno turned his head towards him, sending a small glare for a moment. After a few seconds of thought, he let out another sigh, dropping his shoulders. “I should try calling her again, shouldn’t I?”

Eric laughed again, shaking his head. “No. Obviously she doesn’t want to talk to you. Don’t piss her off further.”

“But what if she’s really serious about moving to California?” Bruno suddenly asked out of the blue, questioning on how dedicated she was to the idea.

“Then that’s her decision and you should respect it. But don’t go flipping shit on her again about it.”

“But I didn’t,” Bruno sighed. Did I? “I just don’t understand why she has to do things right now. Like she can’t wait a year until graduation, she has to jump on the first offer of getting out of here. I don’t get it.”

Eric lifted his hands, shrugging his shoulders without a clue. “Well I don’t know what to tell you, but you might want to work things out before tomorrow,” he simply stated as he stood up, walking out of the room.

—

“I’m sorryyyyy,” Natalie said as she threw her arms around Bruno’s shoulders, hugging him. She felt him jump slightly at her touch before returning the hug back to her.

“Well that was easy enough,” he replied simply, leaning back from her.

“No, it’s stupid, isn’t it,” she said with a sad sigh, running a hand through her hair.

“Well I’m sorry for making you cry,” Bruno said, softening his gaze at her.

“But I’m alright,” she reassured, grabbing both his hands. Bruno resulted in picking her up from the ground, holding her and running to the backside of Natalie’s house until they were on the beach.

“Can we just forget about all of this?” Natalie asked him after she stopped laughing.

“Which part?” Bruno asked, still holding her.

“Everything from the past few days. Just for tomorrow at least,” Natalie replied. “I don’t want to be stressing over anything.”

Bruno gave her a confused look as he set her down, not quite understanding her. “What do you mean? Why would you be stressing over anything?”

Natalie simply shook her head at him, not wanting to elaborate. “It’s nothing,” she said, grabbing his hand lightly. “I just want to get through a day without either of us fighting each other.”

Bruno slightly took his hand back from hers. “No,” he said, the same look on his face as she glanced at him. “I know you’re not telling me something. Natalie you and I both know you’re a horrible liar.”

Natalie glanced at her feet for a second. “I’m not trying to lie about anything,” she replied giving him a strange look.

“Oh come on,” Bruno said with a deep breath. “Yesterday you were mad as shit at me and today you hardly returned my calls and now all of a sudden you want toforget about it. Something’s up. Just tell me,” he said in a pleading tone.

Natalie bit her lip, contemplating. Either way he’ll be mad anyways, she thought, deciding to tell him. “I talked to that Collin Eckley guy again,” she said, loosening her shoulders.

Bruno let out a noticeable sigh, closing his eyes for a second. ”Why?” He asked slightly angry, shaking his head.

Natalie shrugged her shoulders, looking up at him with an honest expression. “I think…” she began, letting out a sigh as she tried to find the right words to explain without him exploding. “I think the odds of me moving are higher than of me staying,” she added in a quiet tone, preparing herself for what might come out of his mouth.

He let out another tense sigh. “Of course,” he said, shaking his head, glancing at the ground behind her head.

“What do you really want to say?” she asked as she scanned his eyes, knowing he was holding himself back. Bruno shook his head, not replying. “You might as well say it now anyways.”

“I think it’s stupid,” he simply stated, turning his eyes onto hers.

“Oh well thanks for the support,” Natalie replied, crossing her arms uncomfortably.

“You asked,” Bruno shrugged. “But Nat,” he said, changing his tone for a moment. “You know how much I love you and you know that I’m here for you one hundred percent, but really, do you really want to drop everything you have here just to go out to someplace because it’s a different experience?”

“Yeah but there’s that school I told you about and it’s like the first step to the rest of my life right now and everything just seems to be so perfect and Bruno it’s an opportunity of a lifetime. I know you would do the same thing for music.”

“But what about everything here?” he asked, lifting his hands and glancing around the beach. “Is none of this perfect enough? Because I thought things were pretty perfect.”

Natalie ran a hand through her hair. “Bruno you know that’s not what I meant. I love it here. I love every person here, and I love everything about you and I. But really, even in a year’s time from now, you and I are going to be on completely different paths. Whether or not I decide on mine now or later isn’t going to affect the outcome.”

Bruno paused for a moment before shaking his head. “Well I’m glad to you have a bright outlook for our future,” he stated sarcastically. “Maybe a year is too long.”

Natalie softened her look on him, feeling her eyes burn slightly. “Don’t say that,” she said, feeling hurt suddenly. “I never said anything like that and now you’re brining up this shit.”

Bruno let out another sigh, bringing his hand up to his head. “I’m sorry Nat,” he said with a soft tone. “I’m just, I don’t know…” he added, shaking his head.

Natalie felt herself sniffle before she could hide the fact that her eyes were watering. She bit back her lips, staring at the ground.

“Please don’t cry,” Bruno said in a sad voice, moving in closer to her. He touched her chin gently, lifting it up so that she was looking at him. pressing his forehead against hers as he wiped away a few of her tears, he looked in her eyes. “We’ll work all of this out,” he added softly. “But not today or tomorrow.”

Natalie nodded her head with a deep sigh, allowing a small silence to fill around them. After a few minutes Bruno spoke again, lifting his eyes back up to hers as their heads still touched. “What do you want to do tomorrow?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t really mind. You can decide.”

“No, because anything I’ll pick you’ll probably choose opposite,” Bruno said with a small smile.

“Well honestly,” Natalie said, returning his soft smile. “I just want it to be us two without anything or anyone bothering either of us. And actually be stress-free tomorrow.”

Bruno smiled back brighter at her, grabbing her hands. “I think we can do that. Is sushi alright with you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I suppose,” she said with a shrug. “And Bruno,” she added, locking her eyes back onto his.

“Hmm?” he asked, slightly distracted in thought for a moment.

“I want to go away from everyone else and literally be with just you,” she said, giving him a soft kiss.

“Mmhmm?” Bruno softly hummed against her lips.

“And I want all of you. Even if my parents lock me down, I will still manage to get away from them and proudly announce that I am going to fuck you,” she laughed, feeling him smile slightly.

“You’re adorable when you try to sound badass, Nat,” Bruno laughed. “And I think we could maybe manage that too.”