Beautiful Soul - cash au -

Deep Water

That night is a quiet night at the Grier home. Nash's father stays in his room while the 3 siblings played Monopoly in the living room. It's a very old set, they're missing a lot of pieces but they make it work.

They go to bed early, anxious to sleep and wake up for their exciting day. Nash lies on his bed, his mind wanders to Cameron and their hug. Maybe it's just his imagination but that hug wasn't strictly friendly. He thinks about how Cameron's arms felt around him, he felt safe in his arms, like nothing could hurt him. He thinks about how Cameron caressed his cheek when he pulled away. He feels butterflies in the pit of his stomach, his excitement building, he can't wait to see Cameron again.

Nash falls asleep with Cameron on his mind, he sleeps perfectly that night. There was no tossing and turning, no nightmares.

He is surprised to be woken up by his siblings the next morning. Skylynn bounces happily on Nash's bed and Hayes is gently shaking Nash. He sits up and stretchers, he still feels the soreness from the beating he took but it's bearable.

They all quickly get ready and head out to the living room to wait for Cameron. Nash stops short when he see's his father sitting at their small kitchen table.

His eyes are bloodshot, he's unshaven and quite frankly looks pathetic. Nash hopes that Chad won't give them any problems this morning. They sit on the raggedy couch and no one acknowledges his presence, not even little Skylynn.

"Where you all going? " Chad grunts out. Nash hesitates and is torn between telling him the truth or lying to him. He decides with the truth, maybe the knowledge that they're doing something that their mother used to love will make Chad leave them alone.

"We're going horseback riding." Nash replies flatly, he leaves out the fact they're going to eat at a diner, he wants to surprise the kids.

Chad grunts again but doesn't say anything. Nash relaxes a little bit, he knows they're in the clear for now. He hears a horn beep and he quickly gathers Skylynn and he and Hayes head out before Chad can question who they're going with.
Nash opens the back door of the range rover and smiles at Cameron who had turned to smile at them. He straps Skylynn in and Hayes slides into the car from the other side. He shuts the door and gets in the front, smiling at Cameron.

"Hey," Cameron says, smiling back at Nash.
"Hi," Nash responds shyly. Cameron puts the car into drive and they head to the diner for breakfast. Nash is excited not only for his siblings but for himself as well, he hasn't had a good meal in so long.

They pull into the parking lot of the diner and Hayes eyes widen when he realizes where they are.

He begins to bounce in excitement. Nash gets out and picks up Skylynn from the back seat, Hayes is out of the car faster than anyone, Nash grins at his childish excitement. They haven't been happy in so long, it's refreshing to see happiness on their faces instead of sadness, hunger or anger.

They follow Cameron inside and are lead to a booth by the hostess. Hayes and Sky sit next to each other with Cameron and Nash across from them. The hostess brings Skylynn crayons and some pictures she can color.

Skylynn giggles happily, she loves to color.

They're handed their menus and Nash opens it, perusing it quietly. He literally wants to get everything on the menu, it all sounds so good.

"Can... can I have a milkshake?" Hayes asks shyly, he has that hopeful smile on his face.

"You can get whatever you want, buddy. Anything at all," Cameron answers for Nash, Nash smiles gratefully at him. He doesn't want to take advantage of Cameron's kindness. The waitress comes around and takes their orders, before long Hayes is sipping on a cookies n cream milkshake. He closes his eyes savoring the sweetness of the milkshake. Candy is a luxury, they rarely are able to afford getting anything sweet, sometimes Mrs. Kaplan would have cookies for them, but it wasn't very often