Estrellas: Book 2

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: FALLING APART

(told in perspective of Danny)

We all stood there, looking at Matthew, disappointed.

"Well we have some of our own plans to do right now, especially without you Matthew." Cassandra sneered, "Now come on Brutus, you owe me a picnic." He smiled and she smiled as well. They both pushed past Matthew as he walked through the door. "Don't do it again!" Cassandra called out after them. I laughed, typical Cassandra.

Pandal looked around, looking like he was wondering what to do, I went to go offer to hang out for the day when Woody suggested working in the woodshop to learn how he could make things with gears and things like that. Matthew left to the room, probably to go over some new course changes and the new change in plan, which left me and Draco, alone. "So, did you want to go do something? Everyone else has seemed to find something." Draco asked me, slightly fidgeting. I suddenly remembered something and smiled.

"Don't you still owe me that joyride?" I gave him a nudge and he rolled his eyes.

"I never actually promised that!" He laughed and I gave him a pleading look.

"Pleeeeeease." I begged him.

"Fine, but we're not going over 50 mph, I don't want to crash the only vehicle that we have." He finally gave in and I gave him a hug. He tensed up at first, and then relaxed, I pushed myself away and he gave a sort of disappointed look.

"So! Let's go find us a joyride!" I tried to distract myself from the hug. I grabbed ahold of his hand and dragged him along with me to the car, he ran behind, struggling to keep up. We both laughed. When we made it to the car, Draco opened the doors and we both hopped in. Then Draco put in the key and the car started.

"Ready? And for the record, I don't owe you any joyrides after this." Draco joked.

"100%." I laughed. Then Draco pressed on the gas and we took off, flying past the town and into the abandoned rodes. "Where are we going?" I looked over at Draco who had his eyes focused on the road ahead.

"A place I saw a few miles from here, it was sort of like a nature trail, I thought it could be fun." He slightly looked over at me and smiled. He stared into my eyes, longingly, then he snapped back to the road.

"Yeah, that does sound fun." I gave a faint laugh and watched the trees pass by the car, one after another one after another. Then Draco slowed the car down and we passed by a sign that read: Saddle-burgh nature trails. Draco slowed the car down and parked in a beaten down dirt parking lot. He got out and walked over to my side, opening the door and gesturing outside towards the nature trails.

"After you m'lady." He said, doing a fake bow.

"Why thank you kind sir." I laughed and got out. We followed a sign that read: start here. Then we walked down a well beaten trail that had become a bit over-grown with a few weeds over the years.

"I'm sure this place hasn't been used in years, considering the war and everything." I said sadly.

"Yeah, but it's still beautiful." I felt him stare at me and I almost blushed. Pull yourself together Danny.

"Yeah... I still wonder though, you know? I mean, the war affected everyone and everything, but I just sorta wonder what it would be like if everything was normal again." I looked up at Draco and he looked at me and smiled.

"So what do you want to do after the war?" He asked intrigued.

"I was hoping to open up a martial arts studio. You know, actually use my talents for something other than fighting. You?"

"I don't exactly have any plans yet, but I do hope you can fit me in for some lessons." He gave me a playful nudge and laughed.

"Any time." I told him. We made it to a beautifully lit clearing where the wildflowers were blooming and a small bench sat off in the corner of the clearing, vines slowly wrapping around the worn wood.

"Wanna take a break?" Draco laughed and started over towards the bench, I nodded and followed him, realizing I was a bit tired myself. We sat down on the bench and I realized it was only meant for two people, meaning we were sitting super close. Draco leaned back and stretched, and I did some arm stretches to help make the hike ahead easier. I felt Draco's arm rest behind me and I turned around to notice he was looking at me. He stared into my eyes, causing my stomach to churn, he started to inch forward, and I didn't move, sitting there frozen. That's when I figured out why he had taken me here.

"This was a date, wasn't it?" I said sadly, he pulled away.

"Maybe..." He started and stared into my eyes sorrowfully.

I gave a sigh, "You know if I ever went out with a guy it would be you Draco..." I nudged him, and he smiled, "... but you need to respect the fact that I don't want to date until this war ends, until this whole fiasco is over with." He gave a sad nod and I took his hand and pulled him up off of the bench. "Why don't we head back, it's about lunch time, right?" I said, slowly walking back where we had first came. That's when I felt Draco grab my hand and I looked back at him, he was directly behind me, his eyes lined up with mine, he continued to hold his longing look. "Draco, I told you, n..." He didn't let me finish the sentence, gently holding onto my hand still, relaxing his grip, his other hand gently wrapped around my waist and his eyes were closed, he then slowly pulled away and gave me an apologetic look, leaving me speechless.

"Sorry, it won't happen again." He gave me one last longing stare and ran back to the car.

"Wait!" I called after him, but he didn't hear me. I sighed and slowly trailed him from behind. What have I done? I started jogging back to the car. Every step Draco's words echoed in my head, again, and again, sorry, it won't happen again. I slowed down and started crying, I'm sorry too, I really didn't mean to do this to you. I wiped my tears and started to full out run, my hair waving back and forth in the wind, every step feeling more guilty, every tear drop being lost in the wind.

After a minute or two, I had made it back to the car, and Draco was sitting in the driver's seat, his eyes almost as red as mine probably were. His face wet and he avoided looking at me. I hopped into the passenger's seat, and he wiped his tears with his sleeve. "Let's just go." He said as his voice was breaking up from crying. We drove home in silence, not talking, not crying, not doing anything. As we got out of the car Cassandra and Brutus had already come back from their date and they were waiting for us. We hopped out of the car and Cassandra gave us a disappointed look.

"You went for a joyride I see? Just wonderful, I..." She suddenly saw both my face and Draco's face, "Wha-what happened?" Cassandra stuttered, putting her hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Nothing." He said, this time giving me an angry look, then running off to Woody's house.

"What did you do?" Cassandra asked sternly, looking at me.

"ME? What did I do? Why don't you ask your precious brother?" I shoved her and ran off.