A soft knocking on the door woke me up. I muttered quietly and snuggled into my pillow more. My brows furrowed when I realized that my pillow was harder then usual and it was moving. I slowly peeled my eyelids opened and saw Blake’s face. His eyes were still closed, but his lips were turned up into a smile.

            When I heard the door open, I turned my attention to it. Sophie poked her head in and her eyes widened when she saw me curled up against Blake’s side. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

            Blake shifted underneath me a little. “I was already awake.”

            I looked back up at him. “How long have you been awake for?”

            He shrugged. “I don’t know. Not long.”

            I turned to Sophie again. “Is something wrong?”

            She shook her head. “No, I just wanted to see how things were going, that’s all.”

            I sat up and stretched my arms over my head, wincing when the muscles in my back protested the movement. “Well, I got him calmed down,” I said.

            Blake sat up as well, his hand going to my back. He started lightly massaging the sore muscles as he turned his head in his cousin’s direction. “Thanks for calling her, Soph.”

Surprise flitted across her features. “No problem. But I thought you’d be angry with me for doing that.”

He shrugged. “I am kind of annoyed that you went behind my back, but in this case it worked out for the best. So thanks.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome. Hailey, are you staying here for the day?”

I glanced at Blake. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t have anything planned, so you can stay if you want,” he told me as he dropped his hand back to his side.

“I suppose that’s the closest thing to an invitation that I’ll be getting from you,” I said jokingly.

He grinned. “You’re probably right. So, are you going to stay?”

“Sure. But you have to take me and Sophie out for dinner later.”

The smile left his face. “Why do I have to do that?”

“Because we want you too. Right Sophie?”

Sophie bit her lip, but the look on my face must have convinced her. “Yeah, that would be fun.”

When I looked back at Blake, I saw that he was scowling, but I could also detect a bit of fear. Without looking away from him, I spoke to Sophie. “Sophie, why don’t you go take Abby out in the yard? We’ll be there shortly.”

Sophie looked between the two of us once, before nodding and closing the door behind her. I waited until I was sure she was gone before speaking again. “You haven’t been out to dinner since the accident, have you?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want everyone staring at me,” he snapped.

“Don’t get all snarky with me. Why would everyone stare at you?”

“Because I’m blind,” he said in voice that indicated I wasn’t too smart.

“Yeah, but it’s not like it’s easy to see that. You look like every other teenage boy that I’ve ever seen.”

“Why are you being so damn pushy about this?”

“Because you need to get the hell out of this house. It’s not good for you to keep yourself so cut off. Stop being such a damn wimp!”

He bristled. “I am not a wimp.”

“Well, you sure as hell act like one a lot of the time. Come out to dinner with Sophie and me tonight. It might end up being fun.”

Blake sat with a blank face for a few minutes, his jaw tense. Finally, he blew out a breath. “Fine,” he said grudgingly.

I grinned and bumped his shoulder with mine lightly. “Don’t be such a sourpuss.” I looked around his room and spotted his guitar sitting in the corner. “Are you any good on the guitar?”

            “I guess so.”

            “Will you play something for me?”

            He debated for a moment. “Sure.” He climbed off the bed and made his way to his guitar. He picked it up and walked back to the bed, sitting on the edge. “What do you want me to play?”

            “Something happy.”

            “Okay.” He positioned his fingers over the strings and strummed it a few times before starting the song.

I've got some big news
The bank finally came through
And I'm holdin' the keys to a brand new Chevrolet
Have you been outside it sure is a nice night
How about a little test drive
Down by the lake

There's a place I know about where the dirt road runs out
And we can try out the four-wheel drive
Come on now what do you say
Girl, I can hardly wait to get a little mud on the tires

I closed my eyes as I listened to him sing. His voice was deep and beautiful, and it sent shivers through my body.

'Cause it's a good night
To be out there soakin' up the moonlight
Stake out a little piece of shoreline
I've got the perfect place in mind
It's in the middle of nowhere

Only one way to get there
You got to get a little mud on the tires

Moonlight on a duck blind
Catfish on a trot line
Sun sets about nine this time of year
We can throw a blanket down
Crickets singin' in the background
And more stars than you can count on a night this clear

I tell you what we need to do is grab a sleepin' bag or two
And build us a little campfire
And then with a little luck we might just get stuck
Let's get a little mud on the tires

'Cause it's a good night
To be out there soakin' up the moonlight
Stake out a little piece of shoreline
I've got the perfect place in mind
It's in the middle of nowhere

Only one way to get there
You got to get a little mud on the tires

And then with a little luck we might just get stuck
Let's get a little mud on the tires
 

            After the last note, I opened my eyes again. Blake had a look of utter peace on his face, and I understood it completely. The feeling after I sang a song was always one of contentment and it was clear that he felt the same thing. “Well, you aren’t horrible,” I told him.

            He grinned. “Thanks. Should we go outside now? Sophie is probably wondering what’s taking us so long.”

            “Sure. You going to get dressed? Or are you going to go around in just you pajama pants all day?”

            He smirked. “Well, I know you like my body, so I just figured I’d let you ogle me for a little longer.”

            Heat crept into my face, because I had been discreetly checking him out. I wasn’t about to admit it thought. “It’s not bad, but I’ve seen better,” I said with a shrug.

            He chuckled. “You keep telling yourself that. I’ll meet you outside in a few minutes.”

            I muttered under my breath about egotistical jerks as I left the room, the sound of his laughter following me.

            That evening, the three of us got into my car to go to the restaurant. Blake decided to leave Abby at home, because he figured that would just draw attention to him, which he didn’t want.

            When we got to the restaurant, we all got out of the car and I walked to Blake’s side, laying my hand on his arm. “You ready for this?”

            “No, but let’s do it anyways.”

            I slid my hand down his arm and linked my fingers with his. I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before lightly tugging on him, leading him forwards. Sophie fell into step on my other side, and the three of us entered the building together. We’d chosen a fairly casual restaurant, because none of us had the desire to dress up.

            The hostess quickly seated us in a fairly private booth, and I was grateful for that. I knew Blake would be more comfortable if there weren’t as many people around. We settled into the booth, Blake and I on one side, and Sophie sitting across from us. Blake had asked me to sit beside him, because he knew I wouldn’t try to help him unless it was needed.

            Once the hostess had made sure we were settled, she told us that our waitress would be here shortly, and then she disappeared. I turned to Blake. “We’re in a pretty private part of the restaurant, so you can relax a little.”

            He nodded. “I could tell it wasn’t too crowded, because there aren’t a lot of voices around. Can you describe the layout of the table to me?”

            I nodded and quickly told him where everything was. He used his hands to feel everything and by the time the waitress arrived to take our drink order, he was fairly comfortable with where everything was.

            The waitress stopped at our table and smiled brightly. “Hi! I’m Shannon and I’ll be your server tonight. Can I get everyone something to drink?” She was on the small side, with light brown hair and hazel eyes. She looked to be around our age, but I didn’t recognize her.

            Sophie and I ordered coke and Blake ordered ice tea. Shannon gave us another smile, her eyes lingering on Blake for a second, before she flounced away to get our drinks. Sophie and I grinned at each other.

            “Blake, I think you have an admirer,” Sophie said.

            He frowned. “What do you mean?”

            “The waitress was checking you out. It was subtle, but we both caught it,” I explained.

            “Really? What does she look like?”

            I rolled my eyes. “Typical guy, worried about looks over personality.”

            “Aw, don’t be jealous Hailey,” Blake said in a fake sweet voice. “I’m sure she’s not as pretty as you.”

            “You think I’m pretty?”

            His face turned to stone immediately. “I never said that.”

            “Hate to break it to you Blake, but you kind of did,” Sophie said with a grin.

            Blake scowled. “Shut up,” he grumbled.

            I laughed. “You obviously didn’t read that book I got for you, if that’s the best you can come up with.”

            “Just read the damn menu to me, will you?”

            I chuckled again, but obliged. The rest of the evening went really well. The three of us had a lot of fun, and Blake stayed relaxed for the most part.

            When I dropped them off at their place, Sophie got out of the car quickly and practically ran to the front door. I watched her go with a slight frown. “What’s her hurry?”

            “I think she has a crush on a guy and she’s probably going to stalk him on Facebook like she does every night.”

            “That’s cute, in a creepy kind of way.” I turned my gaze to him. “So, did you have fun?”

            “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” he admitted.

            “Told you so.”

            “Yeah, yeah, no need to rub it in.” He was quiet for a moment. “Thanks.”

            “What for?”

            “For everything. For trusting me with your story, for calming me down this morning and for forcing me to go out tonight.”

            “Hmm, I seem to have done a lot for you. I’m thinking you might owe me in the future.”

            He shook his head in amusement. “I was trying to be serious.”

            “I know. But you don’t need to thank me for anything. I’ll be here for you no matter what.”

            “And I’ll be there for you as well. I may not be the nicest person around, but even I’m capable of compassion.” He reached over and brushed his finger over my cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

            “Sure. Have a good night.” After he had gotten out of the car, I blew out a long breath and laid my head on the steering wheel. The few times he had touched me today had set my body on fire, and that worried me. Was it possible I was falling for him? 

**********************************************************************

This is unedited. My brain apparently won't let me do any editing today. Anyways, it's short, but it's important because Hailey gets Blake to go out in public with them.

I'm thinking of doing this chapter in Blake's POV as well, as a bonus chapter. Let me know what you think of the idea :-)