I Left My Heart In Huntington Beach

Nicole's Pov:

I awoke in the morning to feel a breeze lightly graze my lower back. I hadn't remembered leaving a window open. I let out a yawn, stretching out my arms until a soft wall blocked my left arm from stretching any further. Confused, my eyebrows knitted together and I opened my eyes slowly. I turned my head even slower to see what my arm had just hit. I was relieved when I saw that it was just Brian. I wondered at first why he was in my bed though. But as I looked around, I saw the room was different, bigger. I was in Brian's house...and bed!

I sat up quickly, from my realization, and gasped. Brian stirred and opened his eyes. A soft smile appeared on his lips, but it faded as he read the look on my face, and confusion lit up his eyes. Oh god, please tell me we didn't do what I think we did.

I closed my eyes and bit my lip, slowly lowering my head in the process. I opened my eyes to see I still had my pajamas on. Thank god, I thought as I breathed out a sigh of relief, and let my shoulders drop. I looked up after minute remembering that Brian was still in the bed next to me. He was still staring at me like I was crazy, but there was no more confusion
in his face. He looked hurt.

"Hi." I smiled at him, running my fingers through my hair.

"Hey there." He propped himself up on his elbow.

It was silent for a moment. I let my head drop again as my cheeks began to flush from the awkward moment.

"Do you really think I'm that bad?"

I looked up from his bed sheets to see him staring intently at me.

"What?"

"You heard me. Do you really think I'm that terrible?" He let out a little chuckle, but his eyes were still tight.

"No, no of course not. Why would you say that?" I scooted closer to him and lazily ran my fingers through his messy hair.

He snorted. "Nicole, I'm not blind."

"I, I was just worried." I stumbled over my words, hoping he would understand. I waited for a response, but he never opened his mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

He sighed, his muscular chest deflating. "It's okay. But I wish you'd trust me more."

Now he was the one running his fingers through my hair. A little smile appeared on my lips and I lay my head on his shoulder. I let my eyes wander around his room. It was a pretty normal room. Except for the fact that it was huge. His room had to be at least the size of my living room.

It was warm and made me feel oddly safe. He had a row of CD's on a shelf above the TV and a little table underneath it that had magazines and a few framed pictures on top of it as well.

Brian kissed the top of my head before standing up and walking to the window to open the blinds. As the sun shot it's way into the room, something shined and caught my eye. I turned my eyes back towards the table by the TV and saw an acoustic guitar next to it, standing tall on a stand.

"You play guitar?" I smiled widely and jumped from the bed to get a closer look. Why hadn't I noticed it before? I picked it up admiring it's beauty. It was a classic, simple design, but it looked priceless. I took it back to the bed with me, handling it as gently as a newborn baby.

"Yeah," He sounded hesitant and nervous, like a little kid who'd been caught eating a cookie before dinner. "Do you play?" His words came out rushed. He must have wanted the attention off of him.

"Very, very little." I said as I began placing my fingers around the neck of the guitar, making a C chord. At least, that's what I think I was making.

"Where did you learn?" I felt the bed shit as he sat down next to me.

"Heather." I simply said, positioning my fingers again, strumming a chord I hoped I had just made right.

"Look's like she's a good teacher." He softly jabbed my arm with his elbow.

The heat returned to my cheeks again and I felt proud that I could impress Biker Boy. After a few minutes, I soon became bored with my playing and was curious as to why Brian owned the guitar.

"Do you play?" I felt his body stiffen next to me as I set the guitar in his hands, not bothering to wait for an answer. Was he just learning and still not the greatest at it? Or was he amazing and just not comfortable playing in front of other people? I smiled encouragingly, hoping it would help. He sighed and set his fingers on the strings.

Before I could even blink his fingers flew effortlessly across the strings. Even when his fingers looked like they were in tangled in impossible positions, his face remained at ease. Playing the guitar, to him, seemed as easy as breathing. It went silent again for a minute when he finished playing. So much for making an impression.

"Wow. You are definitely better than me." I laughed, hoping he wouldn't hear the disappointment in my voice. He laughed with me for a second before rising from his seat again to set the guitar back on it's overly padded stand.

"Is there anything you can't do? I mean seriously." I asked.

"Hmm," he pretended to stroke a beard that wasn't there. "Ah! I can't play Sudoku."

I had to hold back a laugh. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, it's tricky for me. I'm not very good with numbers."

"But there's no math involved. It's just strategy. I mean your just rearranging them." I retorted.

He sighed and suddenly his hands were on both sides of my face. He pressed his warm lips gently to mine. I was beginning to take a liking to these spontaneous kisses. Just as my brain began to register what was happening, he pulled away.

"What was that for?" I gasped, trying to find my breath.

"So you'd stop picking on me." He smirked.

"I wasn't-" His lips were on mine again before I could argue any further. His lips lingered on mine for a second; his sweet, honey breath making my head spin and my heart speed up.
This was the best punishment I had ever received by far.

"Sorry." I mumbled while smiling sheepishly as he chuckled a little.

"Come on, let's get ready."

"What, why?" Disappointment colored my tone. I didn't want to go home yet, or worse, back to the library. Never thought I'd say that in a million years, but it was true.

"I'm gonna take you out to lunch. There really isn't anything here except beer." He scratched the back of his neck and stretched his arms while I breathed a mental sigh of relief.

"Oh, okay. I'll just wear my clothes from yesterday again, I guess." I grimaced. I never wore anything twice without washing it first. But I also didn't sleep over at sexy, motorcycle riding, leather wearing, guitar playing boy's houses either. Who was I becoming?

"We can drop by your place if you want." He must have noticed my hesitation. But I didn't want to come off as needy. I'd already messed up my chances of impressing him with my lame guitar playing skills.

"No, that's alright. I'll survive."

"Alright." He didn't quite sound convinced, but he didn't push any further, which I was thankful for. He smiled anyway and kissed my forehead before quickly picking out an outfit and walking into the bathroom.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The restaurant was on Main Street in Huntington. The main strip looked like the place to be if you were 16 years old and had nothing better to do than just hang out with friends. I wish I had been here when I was 16, I would have lived at the beach too.

Our server, a tall, fake chested blond, led us out to the patio. We were the only ones outside.

She smiled sweetly at Brian as she bent over and set his menu in front of him. He smiled a little and nodded before handing me my menu, which Barbie had forgotten to do.

"Thanks." I mumbled, burying my head into the menu, waiting for Blondie to hit the road. Or at least retreat back to the kitchen. Brian ordered us two Cokes. As she walked past me I got a sniff of the perfume she was wearing, which was so strong I thought she had bathed in it. I coughed a little, the scent sticking in my throat.

"You alright?" He asked looking concerned.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I'm good."

"You know, I think you look just as good in those clothes today as you did yesterday."

My cheeks immediately turned red. "Thanks." I mumbled, looking up at his face briefly. He smiled a little and looked above my head. I already knew he was watching the baseball game on the TV behind me, but I turned my head just to make sure it wasn't
Blondie he was starting at.

The coast was clear. The only people I could spot was an elderly couple reading their menus. I turned back around to see Brian still hadn't opened his menu.

"Aren't you going to look at your menu?"

"No." He smirked and his eyes dropped to meet mine. "I come here all the time with my buddies." His eyes returned to the baseball game.

"Oh." I pursed my lips and stared back down at the sandwiches section of the menu.
Blondie was back in a flash with our drinks. She faced Brian while setting our drinks on the table. Not paying any attention to me, she set mine directly on top of the menu I was trying to read. I pushed my lips into a straight line and took a deep breath, staring up at her.

Before I could wrap my fingers around my cup to pour it over her bleached blond head,
she walked away. I took another deep breath before taking a long, slow sip of my Coke. I saw Brian eying me suspiciously as he took a sip of his drink.

I quickly looked down before he could read my face. Finally, I decided on the pastrami sandwich. I was going to ask Brian what he was ordering, but he looked deep into the baseball game, and I didn't want to bother him. So I began to play mindlessly
with the wrapper that had come off my straw.

"You alright there Minnie Mouse?" I kept my eyes down and simply nodded my head. "You know I'm not gonna run off with Barbie.” I was about to look up at him and smile until a wall of blond hair blocked my view of him. I gritted my teeth together. Brian must have sensed that Blondie and I were not getting along to well because he ordered for me.

“Thank you.” I mouthed as she walked away. He winked at me before returning his attention back to the TV.

Our food arrived quickly and it was pretty tasty. Our meal was peaceful, except when Blondie would come by and check on us, which was about every 5 seconds. My fingers ached for my Coke every time she came around just so I could toss it on her. I ignored her the best I could and took a big bite out of my sandwich.

I swallowed and turned my head to the left to watch the TV. The news was on and the weather man was explaining how it would be rainy over the weekend. I chuckled in my head. Yeah, right. I’ll believe that when I see it. Huntington was like the sun’s second home.

Just as I was about to take another bite of my sandwich, a set of flashes went off out of the corner of my eye. I whipped around in my sea to see if it was Blondie standing there with a camera. I kinda hoped it was her just so I could finally throw the sugary soda in her clown make up face. But it was still just the elderly couple behind us. I turned around just in
time for another round of flashes to go off. Brian must have noticed them this time, because he too turned around to see where the flashes were coming from.

I stood from my seat to get a better look. Over his shoulder, there was man with a huge camera around his neck--like the ones the paparazzi use--and one in his hands, lenses pointed directly at us. More specifically at Brian it looked like.

“Is that guy taking pictures of you?” I asked, sitting back down in my seat.

“Oh, No baby, he’s not taking a picture of me.” He turned back around to face me, pulling his sunglasses over his eyes.

“Really, cause it looked like the camera was pointed at you.” The sentence came out more like a question.

“No he’s taking a picture of the restaurant sign babe. See how his camera is tilted up? I bet he works for the newspaper.” He shrugged and went back to eating his hamburger. But I wasn't convinced. I craned my neck to look back over his shoulder and check, but the guy was gone.