7. Melting Harts

"Alec where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Chloe, Alec's sister, stood over his towel, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked like an angry but still cute little pixie with her cropped auburn hair and scattering of freckles over her nose and cheeks. He was in trouble.

"Hey Chloe," I stifled a giggle and yanked the towel from under her feet, passing it to a dripping wet Alec.

"Well, you obviously didn't look hard enough. I was right there, swimming." He waved his arm out to the lake, not caring about the area he was pointing out.

Chloe was Alec's younger sister. She was seventeen, like my sister, and they both had similar classes at the same college. Unlike her brother and myself, Chloe and Rosie were not friends. In fact, they despised each other. There were rumours a few years ago about Daniel liking Chloe, which instantly made Rosie take a disliking to her. It wasn't always that way. When they were little, they were forced to spend time together each time Alec and I did.

"Hey Nat," Chloe gave me a brief squeeze while shooting daggers at her brother.

"Seriously, you just dumped Lily on her friend's family and ran off. They had to leave and then she was stuck with me. She's eight! So not cool!"

"Where the hell is she now?" Alec growled at her.

"Ben has her. You have to take her home. We don't want her around our friends. It's embarrassing."

"Get over yourself, Clo! As you said, she's eight."

I swatted Alec on the back of the head. "What's wrong with you? I can't believe Lily was here the whole time, and you left her with other people. Your mum will kill you."

"Ouch, psycho! No need to get handsy," he whined, rubbing the back of his head. "She's fine. I made sure I knew the friends first. They have Lily round all the time. And now she's with her own brother. He's fifteen and more than capable of taking care of her. Clo, go grab them and we can leave."

"We don't want to leave. We'll get a lift home with some friends, I've checked. If you let us stay, I won't tell on you to mum," Chloe negotiated.

"Very grown up. Tattling on your brother. Just go grab her and make sure you're home by eight tonight or mum will kill me."

Chloe stuck her tongue out at her brother and ran off to find her siblings.

A mere five minutes went by before Chloe was dragging a reluctant Lily back to us.

"I don't want to go home," Lily whined.

Her shoulder-length chestnut coloured hair was a matted mess, no doubt from a mixture of lake water and sunscreen. The scattering of freckles on her face was hidden behind dirty dried sand. Lily looked wild and unkempt, just as an eight-year-old at the lake should.

As they approached, I could tell Lily was ready to put on a show and Alec was going to fall for it hook, line, and sinker. Her big round green eyes zeroed in on her brother and her bottom lip stuck out in a pout.

"Pwease Alec, don't make me go. I want to stay with Ben. Chloe's just mean. It's not fair," she pleaded.

"You've been out in the sun long enough. Mum said you need to go home."

Lily huffed and stomped her foot. "I. DON'T.WANT.TO.GO!"

"Lily, that's enough. We're going home."

On cue, her eyes filled with tears. "Pwease Alec," she sobbed.

"Oh Lily, don't cry. I'll get you an ice-cream?"

Sucker.

"Okay." All of a sudden the tears were gone and she had forgotten how upset she was.

"I want Nat to come too."

Finally noticing I was standing there, Lily threw herself at me for a hug.

Chloe had already left us, probably out of fear that Alec would change his mind and drag her home too, so the three of us packed up our stuff and headed to his car, a white Audi A3, a gift from his parents when he got accepted into Cambridge University.

Luckily for Alec, an ice-cream van had just pulled into the car park. We wouldn't have to hunt one of them down to satisfy the wild child.

Once we demolished our Cornettos, Alec buckled Lily into her booster seat and we drove back to his house.

***

The whole drive home, Alec played awful Pop music, chart classics covered by a group of kids. I honestly couldn't think of anything worse. Apparently, it was Lily's favourite playlist and Alec would do anything to make Lily smile. She knew every single word to every song. Not that all of them were terrible. I even caught myself humming along to a few of my guilty pleasures. But those voices! Who wanted to listen to a bunch of high pitched ten-year-olds butcher mediocre, sickly sweet pop songs?

"Sing, Nat, sing!" Lily shouted over the loud music blasting through the speakers.

"Yeah Nat, sing! You know you love it," Alec teased, a cheeky grin playing on his lips.

His mesmerising jewelled eyes were focused on the road so I could openly stare at the side of his face.

"You know I love a bit of classic Britney as much as the next person, but I can't sing along with a bunch of kids to the words: the taste of your lips, I'm on a ride," I internally cringed. "It's so wrong. Who let them preform these songs? Don't they realise what the lyrics mean?"

Alec laughed at me for a good five minutes.

"What? You know I'm right. It's just ridiculous!" I continued.

"Oh lighten up, Nattie! It's harmless fun. Listen to our own Britney in the back. She's killing it," he chuckled. "I'll let you pick the music later." He reached over the centre console and gave my knee a brief squeeze, sending a warm fuzzy rush to the pit of my stomach.

We had always been very tactile towards each other. Lately, however, each touch felt slightly more charged.

I shifted myself round to look out the passenger window, repeating Sian's words to myself as if reciting a mantra: 'You have known him for too long. Don't do anything you will regret.'

Shortly afterwards, we pulled up to the Hart's family home. It was a gorgeous farmhouse, set just outside of the small village I lived in. The walk to mine would take me only fifteen minutes, even less if I decided to run the short distance back.

Lily unbuckled herself from her car seat and impatiently waited for Alec to open her door. As soon as he did, she rushed towards the house to find her mother.

The farmhouse was much bigger than my home. It would have to be with four children living in it, three of them already of adult size. As well as the main house, they had a self-contained annexe where Alec was staying while he was home. Alec had told me his mum, having gained a recent admiration for art, rented it out to artists while he was at Uni. She would charge them a lower rent than the local holiday homes, in exchange for a few art lessons.

The area was an artist's paradise with its vast woodlands and scenic views. Their home alone was worth painting.

They also had a swimming pool, which I never understood. We were hardly known for our prolonged warm climate. At least it was covered and reasonably heated. It definitely could be warmer, but even rich parents moaned about their kids wasting electricity.

Joining Alec by his side of the car, we watched Lily disappear into the house. "Thanks for the lift. I'll be off now."

"Can't you stay for a little bit? I need to make sure Lily found Mum, but we can hang out in the annexe or the pool? Then I will drive you back."

"I'd like that, but you don't have to give me a lift. It's a short run home."

"You can't run in flip-flops, nutter. Come on let's go say hi to Mum. She's missed you." Alec swung his arm around my shoulders and guided me into the house.

Sarah Hart stood in her kitchen, watching an animated Lily tell her all about her day at the lake.

Mrs Hart was the definition of a classic beauty, medium length, sleek chocolate brown hair, large eyes like her son and delicate features.

Her form-fitting tops and high-waisted skirts accentuated her hourglass figure. I had never seen Mrs Hart without her beloved heels. Her walk-in wardrobe was filled with her extensive shoe collection. Alec would often let me wander in there so I could admire them.

Mrs Hart interrupted Lily to greet me.

"Natasha, my darling, haven't you grown in just a year?" She strolled over and air kissed me on both cheeks. "Always so beautiful! Alec has filled us in on your year in France. What a gorgeous country! We have spent many a summer in St Tropez, as you know. Did you manage to see St Tropez? Or even Cannes? Another of our favourite destinations."

"No, I didn't. I stayed closer to Marseille."

"Oh, okay. That's nice too, I guess. You will have to visit the other places next time you go. Although, promise not to leave anytime soon. I don't think we could handle another summer with a brooding Alec. This one really didn't cope well without you. Sulked up until he left for Cambridge."

Alec was scarlet red by the time his mother finished. "Mum! Stop it!" He muttered through gritted teeth.

"Oh Alec, why are you embarrassed? If anything she should be flattered. Besides, Natasha shouldn't be shocked. You used to follow her everywhere."

"Like a puppy!" Lily butted in with a loud chuckle.

Mrs Hart and I joined her in laughter. Alec wasn't as amused as the rest of us.

"Enough! Come on, Nat. Let's go." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the kitchen.

"Bye. Catch up soon." I waved back at her with my free hand. "Alec, not so fast. What's up with you? You mum was just teasing you. She didn't mean anything by it."

"She always does it though. Every time I mention your name, they have to make a comment. Why can't they get that I can have friends that are girls without it meaning something?"

"Defensive much? You've blowing this way out of proportion. You should've just laughed with us. Maybe that's why they do it. Because you're so touchy." I poked him in the side to loosen him up.

Alec glanced at me with a half smile on his face, pulled me to him and trudged to his annexe with his arm now back over my shoulders. I wrapped my arm around his waist, leaning into him as we continued on.

The annexe wasn't as glamorous as the farmhouse, but held its own charm. It was modern and bright without feeling cold. Set on two floors, the downstairs comprised an open-plan kitchen and lounge and a small toilet/utility room. Upstairs had a spacious master bedroom and a decent-sized bathroom.

The views from the bedroom were breathtaking. Alec and I used to spend many days on the balcony, admiring the fields surrounding their property or laying on his bed at night, staring at the stars through the large roof window.

"Do you want a drink at all? I have a few beers in the fridge or some Diet Pepsi?" Alec called over to me as he inspected the fridge.

"Pepsi? Alec, you know me better than that. Coca Cola all the way, you heathen."

"It tastes the same."

"Take that back! But I don't want beer, so I'll take the Pepsi."

"Seriously, could have just said yes please to start with if you were going to drink it, anyway."

Alec handed me my Pepsi and ambled up the stairs without a word.

"You going to the toilet or am I meant to be following you up there?" I shouted after him.

He turned midway up the stairs and gestured for me to follow him. "Balcony."

"Not a mind reader, last time I checked," I mumbled to myself while following him up to his bedroom.

Alec's room was as tidy as always. The opposite of my bedroom, which was covered in clothes and accessories.

On the balcony, Alec had placed two large beanbags so we could relax while gazing out onto the countryside. The glass handrail, his parents had recently added, was ideal as it wouldn't hinder our view.

Relaxing into my seat, I took a swig of my drink and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Alec did the same from his beanbag.

"Sian and I were talking about you today?" Why had I just blurted that out? I wasn't about to tell him we were discussing my recent views on his body.

"Oh yeah? Anything interesting?"

"Not really." I could hardly avoid the subject now as I had brought it up. "Well maybe. We were talking about your girlfriends. Or rather your lack of girlfriends."

"I have girlfriends," he rushed.

"I'm sure you do, you just never tell us about them so we were curious."

"About?"

"Well–" What could I ask without sounding like I was interested? "Are you seeing someone at the moment?" Way to go, Natasha! That definitely didn't sound like you were interested. I mentally facepalmed myself and took another big gulp of my Pepsi so my face wouldn't give anything away.

"No–, well, not yet. Nothing's happened. She doesn't know." Alec downed his drink and set his can aside.

"So, tell her. You've nothing to lose and if she doesn't feel the same, she's an idiot. You, Alec Hart, are a catch and she'd be blind not to see it."

"She's not an idiot–," Alec snapped.

"Oof, protective! You know I didn't mean it that way. You're my friend and I only want good things for you."

"I know. She likes someone else, so it's not the right time to tell her. I will when she's ready to hear it."

"Do I know her?" My stomach twisted in knots. I really hoped I didn't which was selfish of me, considering Alec knew my exes.

"No! Can we stop talking about it? I'm probably not ready either."

"Okay. Well, maybe when you're both back at Uni, you can tell her how you feel. You deserve to be happy."

Although I meant it, I felt uncomfortable thinking about him with someone. I should've been happy, but I knew deep down, I was slightly jealous. I had no reason to be. He had his new life in Cambridge, and I hadn't been part of it for the past year.

***