Roots - h.s

21.

             She's underwater again...
        Somebody's daughter and friend.

STERLING'S POV:

    After we ate dinner that day I left him to rest. To think, and to write if he needed to. To call Gemma, or do whatever felt right. I made him promise on everything, pinky swear and all that he'd call me if he needed me and he did. He never called though. The night was fine, and today we worked on the treehouse, but we were easily distracted when my dad suggested we watch a movie with him.

We did just that, and I was shocked at how easily he persuaded us.. What can I say I'm a sucker for a good suspense movie. Anne asked if Harry and I would eat dinner with her and Robin so we agreed, ate dinner with Anne, and we talked with the two of them for a while... I feel lucky knowing they both like me, and I really hope they continue to do so.. Parents scare me. They scare the absolute shit out of me. Which brings us to now, the two of us are on his bed, the door cracked as Anne and Robin sit downstairs.

    "Favorite book." He asks.

    "The Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone." I tell him softly, the two of us looking up at the ceiling.

    "Ooooh. Good choice." He sucks in between his teeth. "I actually read that last year." He tells me, and I'm not surprised.

    "I thought you didn't read fictional books." I laugh.

    "Last year I read anything I could get my hands on.. Anything within arms reach. Gemma had it, I stole it and read it." He tells me, and I nod.

    "I really like the Hunger Games too.. Maybe I should read Harry Potter. I assume you've read all of those." I laugh.

    "The Hunger Games books were incredible... But Harry Potter is better. I read those when I was pretty young, but I loved them." He smiles. "Simpler times back then."

    "Yeah before you became a weirdo who enjoys the most boring non fiction books ever." I laugh, and he sits up.

    "Don't be an ass." He pushes me to the side.

    "I'm not being an ass, I'm telling the truth." I laugh.

    "No you're being an ass. You know you are.. Stop making fun of my brain." He scolds, and I laugh.

    "I love your brain. I make fun only in joking terms. You have a beautiful brain." I remind him.

    "Thank you baby.. But I know."

    "Such an aquarius." I sigh, and shake my head.

    "Favorite place you've ever visited?" He asks.

    "Never left the US.. But I love New York. I remember one time me and my dad and..." I trail off, thinking of Lee, and I shut down instantly. "I just remember going there, and loving the city.. But I don't think I could ever live there." I tell him. "What about you?" I ask.

    "We took a trip to Italy.. Stayed there a while, and it was incredible. I think I'd live there one day.. The coast of italy, where you can hear the ocean, and you can look out and see it too." He speaks out, and I can imagine it. Him being some giant research journalist, living off of the coast somewhere. Maybe a travel journalist.. He'd thrive that way.. Though he claims it's not what he wants anymore. "I'm going to steal you away, and take you to Italy one day." He turns on his side so he can look at me, and I do the same.

    "Steal me away? What would my father think?" I ask jokingly, and he smiles.

    "To hell with your father... But don't tell him I said that." He warns me, and I smirk. "That's a dangerous look." He tells me.