Chapter 14: Chapter Fourteen

Hey. I know, author's note in the beginning? I just want to tell you guys that you should play the link on the side when they start singing. It's Hunter Hayes. He's such a good singer. (: Oh, and it's one of my favorite covers. And coz it's a duet

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Started With a Lie - Chapter Fourteen

The first thing I notice when I wake up is the empty space next to me. Where’s Lee? I run my hands over the empty space—my hands getting caught in the tangled sheets. He really shouldn’t be out of bed: he’s sick.

Groaning, I get out of bed. I don’t want to get out of bed, though. I mean, who would leave the warmth of the soft covers just to get out in the freezing outside. I must’ve fallen asleep at some point during the movie.

I suddenly hear a guitar playing.

I wrap my sweatshirt around me tighter as I make my way to the living room. The tune gets louder. Is Lee playing guitar? That seems so… weird. To confirm my thought, I tiptoe into the living room where Lee’s sitting—his back to me—and his fingers strumming the guitar while he softly sings.

“Everything that don’t make sense about me, makes sense when I’m with you,” Lee sings. I think I know this song. It’s so familiar. I try to place the thought. Lee continues singing.

“I wanna wrap you up, wanna kiss your lips, I… wanna make you feel wanted,” he sings. “I wanna call you mine, wanna hold your hand forever. Never let you forget it.”

And then I know.

Wanted by Hunter Hayes—one of my ultimate favorite songs.

I must’ve made some sort of noise because Lee stops mid-way through a word. The guitar stops and he turns to me, his eyes widening. I take a step back—as if I can still hide so he can keep playing because honestly, his voice is actually good.

“What’re you doing?” Lee asks, narrowing his eyes down at me. “When did you get here?” I think he’s more embarrassed than mad. His cheeks are turning a bit red.

“J-Just now,” I stutter. He gets up with his guitar and heads to his room to put it away. I follow him. “You sing really good, you know?”

Lee puts his guitar in his closet before turning to me. I expect him to say something close to, “I know,” but he actually says, “Thanks.” I’m taken back. Lee has manners? Since when?

He heads to the kitchen. The orange, afternoon shine is radiating the room. I bet it’s around three. That means I must’ve slept more than two hours. Lee makes himself a sandwich. “Want one?”

“Yeah,” I reply as I take a seat. “Hey, why didn’t you wake me up?”

“What do you mean?”

“I slept over a couple hours, and you were sick. Something could’ve happened to you while I was asleep,” I argue.

“I’m not even that sick anymore. The fever’s gone down and all I have is a cough and a couple of sneezes. Stop worrying. If anything, you’re acting like my girlfriend,” Lee says nonchalantly. It doesn’t affect him but it makes my heart pound a little faster.

“Whatever.” I try to sound cool as possible. “So, when’d you learn guitar? I didn’t take you for a sensitive type of guy who played guitar.”

“Well, before I had to take over the business, I wanted to be a guitarist. I even had a band in college. It was amazing. A couple of my friends and me started up our own band and we had gigs.”

I’ve never seen Lee so excited talking about something. And then I remember he’s twenty. He was pushed into the real world faster than anyone else. He was pushed into business—without choice or consent—but just because he had to. He had to give up everything for his family.

It was something I probably never would’ve had the guts to do.

“What was the name of your band?” I ask, intrigued. I rest my face on the palm of my hand as Lee continues making us sandwiches.

“Red Burritos,” Lee replies, scratching the back of his head. I break out laughing—like full out laughing. I was toppling over my seat, clutching my burning stomach as I laugh. Why would they name it that? It’s such a hilarious name. If anything, I would’ve thought it was a restaurant.

“Red—Burrito?” I repeat in between laughs. “W-Why would you name it R-Red Burritos?” I continue chuckling, but stop when I see Lee glaring straight at me. I start coughing to make it look like I wasn’t laughing.

“Yes, Red Burrito,” Lee says, clearly irritated that I thought the name was hilarious. “I didn’t pick the name, okay? My stupid band mates did.” He pushes a plate to me. The sandwich was cut in half. Lee took one half.

“Hey!” I protest. “Why can’t I have the whole thing?”

“Because I’m too lazy to make another one. Besides, you shouldn’t ruin your appetite for dinner, but  I hardly doubt anything could ruin your appetite,” Lee says as he bites his sandwich.

“Hey!” I protest again. “You’re so rude.”

“Why thank you,” he says.

I groan. He’s so frustrating. How could anyone put up with him? Instead of arguing again—which would be pointless—I grab my half of the sandwich. It is grilled cheese, my favorite. My anger subsides as I chew on my sandwich.

“Lee,” I say. “You should play a song for me.”

He scoffs. “Yeah? And why’s that?”

“Because you’re a good person,” I reply. “Right?”

“No,” he replies, chuckling. “You even said yourself that I was a rude person. I’m definitely singing for you, either—out of all the people.”

“Please?” I plead. “I’ll sing with you. And I’m leaving for Brownwood anyways. This could be my farewell present!”

“Last time you said it would be the last time I saw you but here you are now. You just keep coming back,” Lee says. “So therefore, your statement is invalid.”

“You made me come!” I argue. “I left my home just to come to you, man! My mom would kill me if she noticed I was gone. See, I’m such a good friend. I sacrificed my week for you.”

“Friends?” Lee raises an eyebrow. “Since when were we friends?”

“Since we had each other’s backs,” I respond. “I mean, you had my back with Karen and I had your back with Madam Jin. That’s what friends do.” I nudge his shoulder. “I bet I’m one of the best friends you’ve ever had.”

Lee scoots away from me. “If I play guitar, will you please stop calling me your friend and touching me?”

“I didn’t touch—fine!” I cross my arms. “Go get your guitar.”

“Don’t order me around in my own home, you stupid commoner,” Lee scoffs. He puts his plate in the sink before he disappears to go get his guitar. I put my plate in the sink and go take a seat on the loveseat in the living room and wait for Lee to show.

He appears with his guitar. Taking a seat, he checks if everything’s in tune. I notice his guitar has stickers and things stuck on it. The edges look rusty, too. He must’ve had this guitar for a long time.

“Okay, all good to go,” Lee says. “What song?”

“The song you were singing earlier,” I say. “I think it was Wanted by Hunter Hayes?” Lee nods. “He’s so hot.”

He puts his hand up. “Stop right there. I’m already playing guitar. Don’t go all girly on me about how good he looks.”

“Fine,” I pout. Suddenly, an idea springs in my head. “How about we do a duet?” I’m smiling so wide I think I might be scaring Lee.

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“You’re going to regret this, Lee.” I cross my arms. “We’ll be best friends forever and ever and I’ll call you up every night to talk about how hot Hunter Hayes and Ed Sheeran are. And I won’t stop there. I’ll send you letters and emails with pictures attached and everything. I’ll even—”

“Okay!” Lee says abruptly. “We can do a duet.”

I grin and Lee starts strumming his guitar, the melody coming out softly. Lee’s face is concentrated on the guitar—his eyebrows together and his lips pressed together. I’m mesmerized by this look. He looks so innocent and calm. Lee looks up and indicates that I should start.

I’m a little nervous singing in front of Lee but I love the song so much I ignore it and just sing. “You know I’d fall apart without you. I don’t know how you do what you do.”

Lee grins and starts singing, also. “’Cause everything that don’t make sense about me… makes sense when I’m with you.”

His voice is so deep it almost surprises me. It’s actually good. He wasn’t kidding when he said he was in a band. I could imagine girls fawning over him as he sang.  He continues singing and I pitch in when I’m needed. I grin as we sing together.

We sing together, “Put aside the math and the logic of it, you gotta know you’re wanted, too.” My favorite lines come up. “’Cause I wanna wrap you up, wanna kiss your lips… I wanna make you feel wanted. I wanna call you mine, wanna hold your hand forever. Never let you forget it. Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted.”

Our voices sync together and Lee’s staring at me with his blue eyes. Our mouths are moving but  our eyes are so focused on each other’s. There’s an electric feeling in the air. Is it me or are we getting closer?

Lee’s voice gets louder with mine. “’Cause I just wanna wrap you up, wanna kiss your lips… I wanna make you feel wanted. I wanna call you mine, wanna hold your hand forever, never let you forget it. Yeah, I… I wanna make you feel wanted.”

Our voices get louder as the song gets louder. We reach the end and soften our voices—fading out. And the guitar’s quiet, the room’s quiet. The only loud thing is my heartbeat. It’s pounding really loud. We’re both panting heavily—thanks to the high notes.

I suddenly get off the couch and I’m on my knees in front of Lee. His hands find my cheeks and I place mine on his forearms.

What’s going on?

“Lee,” I breathe. “I… I think I like you.” I say it. Just like that. Weight has been lifted off my shoulder. And then the regret comes in. Did I say it too fast? Maybe I should’ve waited until I knew him more.

“Ivory,” Lee whispers. He’s moving closer and closer. I can smell his aftershave. It smells strong and fresh. “Ivory,” he repeats.

He’s not responding to my confession.

“H-How do you feel about me?” I ask. He’s dodging my questions. That’s not a good thing. This is bad. This means he doesn’t feel the same. He ignores me and just moves his lips closer to mine.

Maybe… he’s just a lonely businessman who’s horny so all he needs me for is sex. Wait, what? Could I be right? That he doesn’t actually like me but he just hasn’t been this close to a woman for a while?

Our lips are about to touch—

Ding Dong!

The suite’s doorbell rings. Our eyes widen at the same time and I back away—hitting the back of my head in the process—and Lee runs to the door. I groan in pain as I get up as well. Who could be at the door?

Lee is looking through the peephole of the door when I reach the door. He gets a glimpse and suddenly backs away. His face is pale—all color gone and it looks like he’s seen a ghost.

“You okay?” I shrug him, but he won’t budge. Lee’s frozen into place. His mind is somewhere else. “Lee!”

His eyes suddenly refocus on me. He takes my shoulders. “Ivory. What happened earlier and what happened at your house—it was a mistake. I’m sorry. I just got carried away. I’m sorry if I led you on… but I don’t feel any romantic feelings to you.” My heart shatters. “I’m sorry.”

“W-What?” I manage to say.

“I didn’t mean to try to kiss you and lead you on. It was in the spur of the moment. I shouldn’t have done what I’ve done.” Lee is shaking.

“Lee, what’s wrong?” I ask. “Why are you acting like this? Who’s at the door?” That’s right. He only started acting so frantic after seeing who was at the door. “Who’s got you so shaken up?”

I try to peek through the peephole but Lee grabs my wrist. “No! Don’t. Don’t look. I-It’s some important business. Go wait in my room.”

“Lee! Who is it?” I try to ask as he pushes me into his room.

He’s about to lock his bedroom door, but he looks up straight at me in the eyes. His eyes aren’t soft anymore. Beads of sweat are trailing down his head. “It’s… my fiancé.”

Hey hey. Lots of bubbling drama at the end. Isn't Lee hilarious when he's panicked? LOL. His kick-ass fiance is in the story now. I hate Lee right now. Psh, leading a girl on when he already has someone. Don't you hate when people do that? Lead you on and then throw you down? Okay I'm getting too dramatic, haha.

Hope you enjoyed the song & this chapter.

VOTE. COMMENT. FAN. ANYTHING <3 I can't believe I'm in top ten Humor and Teen Fiction right now. It's still surprising to see myself and my story up in people's libraries.