For You

chapter 7

As we ride along in the car, Ruel suddenly reaches his arm out and around my shoulders. I am surprised by this action and don't know what to make of it. Is he trying to be protective? I can tell he is tired and a little sketched out by our driver, so I scoot in closer to him, praying he doesn't move away. When he doesn't move away, I let out a thankful sigh. I know I admitted to thinking about how attractive Ruel is, but seeing him being protective about me is making him even more charming. Taking a risk, I lean my head onto his shoulder and without a second thought he rests his head upon mine. I keep telling myself I can't catch feelings and that it has only been two days but I haven't had something like this in a long time so my brain doesn't know how to react.

When we reach the hotel it's already 6:30 and our food was thankfully waiting for us in the hotel room. Jenny ordered the food while we were on our way back from the beach so it could be ready for us when we got there. We were both starving and devoured our food in minutes. Jenny stared at us like we were crazy and I'm pretty sure Ruel ate his whole burger in one bite. I mean that's what you get when you have two teenagers who haven't eaten since breakfast!

Throughout the whole meal I tried to keep hinting at Jenny to leave the room so I could have more alone time with Ruel before we had to leave. She got the message and finally left, leaving the newly tuned guitar she was working on next to the bed.

"Can I play you a song?" Ruel asks pointing to the guitar.

"Of course you can!" I say, handing the guitar to him.

When he takes the instrument out of my hands, he sits still examining every ounce of it. He then gestures for me to come sit across from him on the same bed and I do exactly what he says. As I sit down, he starts playing and singing a very familiar tune.

I just want to be somebody to someone oh
I never had nobody and no road home
I just want to be somebody to someone

As the lyrics left Ruel's mouth, I couldn't help but tear up. He is singing "Somebody to You" by the Banners, aka my favorite song in the whole entire universe. For some reason the song holds a special place in my heart and every time I hear it I either want to cry or dance. With everything going on right now, I just cry. Not because I'm sad but because Ruel just makes the song sound so much better. Between his raspy, tired voice and the way his hands strum the string to my guitar, I realize that this is the only version of the song I want to hear.

"You like the song huh?" Ruel asks, just now noticing I was crying.

Wiping the tears from my cheeks I tell him how it is my favorite song and how it means so much to me that he sang it.

Suspending the nice moment, Jenny bursts through the door and looks at us on the bed. Ruel is holding the guitar and I'm across from him crying. She gently says "I'm gonna get our suitcases together but unfortunately it is time to say your goodbyes."