A few hours later I'm dressed in the outfit Isla picked out for me with gold smoke around my eyes bringing out the blue in them, done by Robyn. She even did my hair, adding texture to my usually wavy hair with a Dutch waterfall braid on one side of my head. My two friends taking pride in my appearance before heading out, demanding that I call them the second I get home from my date.

The person staring back at me in the mirror doesn't look like me, but somehow it is. It's me and I wonder if this will change things. I look like a completely different person, done up and purposeful. And yet, I know it's still me. It still feels like me. My usual style the exact opposite and my thoughts send me spiralling, wondering if Felix will care.

If he'll prefer this version of me.

The picture perfect creation of my friends.

The version with smooth edges instead of cracks.

I wonder if it'll change things for him.

I worry that it will.

"Stevie," Greyson says my name as he knocks on my door, already slightly ajar. "Felix is downstairs."

"Okay," I nod, my heart hammering as I take one last glance at my reflection. I smooth my hand over my outfit, adjusting the fabric that crosses over my chest. "How do I look?"

"You look nice, Vee," he smiles. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," I tell him. "Why? Should I not be?"

"No," he shakes his head. "Ike just mentioned you were a little freaked out this morning."

"I was, but he talked me down," I say as I walk towards the door, grabbing my phone from the nightstand and tossing it into my bag as I put it on my shoulder. "We should give him more credit. He gives good advice."

"I think it runs in the family," Greyson smiles at me and moves his arm around my shoulder when I join him in the hallway. "You've got the gene too."

"I know," I teasingly grin at him when I notice the scene at the bottom of the stairs.

My eyes immediately widen when I spot each of them giving Felix a death glare, telling him if he does anything to hurt me – he's dead. Just without the words and I immediately break away from Greyson's arm to save him from them. Not only is my mom home, but Riker and Isaac are both here rather than out with Lena and Mika. And on top of all of it, my dad's here too.

"Dad?" I ask as I step between them, turning on my toes to face him. "What are you doing here?"

"I wasn't about to not be here to send you off on your first date, little bird," he hums out and my lips curl up slightly, my chest twisting in confusion and happiness over seeing everyone together.

A laugh falls from my lips. "This isn't my first date."

"It's the first one that matters," I hear Riker mutter under his breath and it makes my heart speed up slightly as I ignore the comment and turn around to face Felix. "Hi."

"Hi," Felix laughs lightly. "You look..." He starts to say before surveying the room, choosing his words wisely around the people who mean the most to me. "Wow."

"Wow, huh?" I smile at him before looking over his body and grinning brightly. "You're alright."

"Funny," he smirks before pulling out something out from behind his back and holding it up for me to see. "I was going to bring you flowers, but I figured this might be of a bit more use to you."

My lips curl up into a grin when I see the packages of film he holds in his hand for my single-lens reflex camera. My favourite camera. I reach up and take them from him, running my thumb over the cylinder casings.

"You got me film?" I ask and let out a small laugh. "It's perfect. Thank you."

"Yeah, you like it?" He asks. "I got the right one?"

I look down at them and read over the label, bobbing my head to confirm his question. I'm suddenly painfully aware of the face that we have an audience and look up from them, slipping the film into my bag to look over at the staring eyes.

"We should go."

"I couldn't agree more," he whispers back to me and I nudge him toward the door, turning my head to glare at my family who seem oblivious to the fact that they're invading my personal space.

"Bye!"

"Be home by ten," my mom shouts as I shut the door with a thud, inhaling slowly.

"I'm sorry about them," I frown, pressing into the door. "They're not usually so-."

"Protective?" He asks before smiling. "I find that hard to believe. I like how close your family is, you don't have to apologize for them caring."

"Really?" I ask. "It doesn't make you want to run for the hills?"

"No, if anything it makes me want to stay right where I am."

My lips curl up as I lean forward, kissing him gently before leaning back and meeting his eyes. "Where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise," he grins. "Think you can be patient?"

"No, not at all," I shake my head before laughing. "But for you, I'll try."

"Good," he offers me his arm and walks me towards his car, opening the passenger door for me. He waits until I'm inside and closes the door behind me before walking around to the driver side door, starting the engine before speaking. "So, tell me Miss. Alexander, what's your favourite camera?"

My eyes light up at the mention of a camera and I immediately straighten up in my seat, looking over at him as the gate to our property opens for us to leave. Resting my bag on my lap, I open the leather and reach inside, pulling out my old Canon AE-1.

"This one," I hum. "It's a film SLR and it's my absolute favourite."

"You're speaking gibberish to me, Nicks," he chuckles. "I need a little more than that."

"Right," I nod, letting out a quiet laughter. "Basically, this is a film camera meaning I have to develop them myself or try and find a place that still develops film. Opposed to my DSLR which is the camera I use when I'm shooting for school."

"Digital's easier, isn't it?"

I shrug, "I mean, to get prints for them. Absolutely but I wouldn't say it's easier to use. I love my DSLR too, and the technology for them is amazing. I can do so much with it but there's something special about having to work for it with my film cameras. I like the whole process, not just shooting. I like developing the photos and waiting for my final product over putting an SD card in a computer and printing photos in a few minutes."

"I get that," he nods. "So, you really know how to develop your own photos?"

"Yeah, I have a make shift darkroom at home but the one at school is so much better," I explain, and I can tell my eyes are wide with excitement.

I love getting to talk about this. The photos. The cameras. The production and development. My whole heart poured into photography. My biggest passion in life being able to hold moments forever.

"You're cute when you're excited," Felix suddenly says and my lips curl up wider, if possible as I pop open the door on my camera to check for film.

When I see I still have some room for photos, I shut the small door. Turning it on, I bring it up to my eye and adjust the lens slightly as I point the barrel in his direction. The sun from outside beaming into the car and lighting up his face as we drive by the water.

"Nicks, what are you doing?" He asks me, a sly smile curling up on his lips.

"Making a memory," I tell him before snapping a photo of him. "And capturing your beauty. You're kind of hot."

"Just kind of?" He smirks and pulls of the road.

My eyes turn with the road as I examine where he's taking me, noticing the white sand and miles of water just feet away from us. Giving me the instant urge to run towards it and dip my toes in the sea water.

"You're taking me to the beach?"

"Yeah, that okay?" He asks as he turns into the empty side lot that backs right onto the busy road. I nod my head in response, my lips curling up as I climb out of his car and bring my camera back up to snap a picture of the view. "So, tell me more about this darkroom. Does the school really have one?"

I nod my head. "It's just off the newsroom in the library. It was out of use for ages but when Ms. Arthur saw I was interested in film photography, she showed me how to use the room and gave me a key so I can use it whenever I want."

"And you use it often?"

"Not as much as I'd like to," I shake my head and follow him down to the beach, taking his hand when he offers it to me. "I'll show you it sometime, if you want."

"I'd love that," he nods and my lips curl up as I come to a stop in front of a beach picnic.

My heart jumps in my chest in surprise by the arrangement of pillows and blankets in the small section of rocks on a secluded part of the beach. Away from everything. Close enough to the water that we still get a strong sense of salt, but not close enough that we'll get wet.

It's beautiful and perfect and too much. A basket of more blankets close by, with a picnic basket and cooler but what surprises me the most is the guitar leaned against the grey pallet with unlit candles sitting on top the cloth covering the wooden planks.

"This is for me?" I ask quietly.

"All for you," he nods, leaning over to kiss my cheek. "Too much?"

I shake my head. "It's amazing...but how did you get the time to do all of this?"

"I may have recruited some help," he smiles. "Seemed only far after what they said about you. A little extra apology."

"That was nice of them," I laugh lightly before exhaling. "Felix, this is incredible. Thank you for doing this. I'm a little starstruck right now."

"It's good, not that good," he laughs and leans over, kissing me gently. "You hungry?"

"Starving," I hum as I nod my head, tucking my camera back into my bag before leaning down to undo the straps on my sandals. I step onto the blanket and turn to Felix with a grin on my face. "What are you feeding me?"

"I know you told me if I had questions about you, to come to you instead of your brothers but I may have got some help," he chuckles as he kicks his shoes off and joins me, sitting down near the picnic basket. "And Riker said this was your favourite."

I kneel down next to him, taking a seat on the blanket when he pulls a pizza box out of the basket. When he opens it the corners of my lips curl up when I see my favourite kind of pizza inside.

"God, I love him," I laugh as I hold my hands out for the box. "So good!"

"It's disgusting! Who puts alferdo sauce on a pizza?" He asks, his nose scrunched up as he looks it over.

"Have you ever tried it?" I arch an eyebrow at him as I pick a slice out, turning it around for him to taste. "It's good. I promise."

He meets my eyes before leaning forward and taking a bite. It takes him a second to swallow before speaking, his facial features set in stone.

"It's not as terrible as I thought it'd be," he admits, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth. "It's still a pizza sin."

I roll my eyes at the comment before taking a big bite from the slice, moaning in satisfaction causing him to laugh at me. We fall into comfortable conversation as we eat, Felix opening the box to his own pizza box after getting us drinks from the cooler. It's easy to talk to him. Comfortable, like I've found my missing piece. A piece I didn't know was missing in the first place.

It scares me how easily I open up to him. And at the same time, it sends a thrill down my spine knowing just how at ease I am when I'm around him. Like he's too good to be true, and yet he is. Real, and he's here being just as open with me as I am with him.

"Okay, I have to ask," I say as I toss a piece of crust into the empty box of pizza. "What's with the guitar?"

Felix reaches into empty pizza box and grabs the crust, taking a bite before bringing his hand up to cover his mouth. "It's mine. I had it in the back of my car and Gavin grabbed it when we were setting up. He was playing around with is and must have left it here."

"I didn't know you played."

He laughs at that, tossing the crust back into the box before reaching for the neck of the guitar. Resting it in his lap, he fiddles with the tuning before placing his fingers over the strings. "I don't really play. I want to learn but I haven't exactly had the time to dedicate myself to it."

My lips curl up as he tries to play a C note, failing miserably. The noise coming from the acoustic instrument sounding a little more like an off tune cat.

"See! I told you, it's bad," he laughs when he sees the reaction.

"Let me help," I tell him as I crawl closer to him, sitting on my knees as I reach for his fingers. I move them to the right positions on the neck of the guitar before sitting back. "There. Try that."

He looks at me skeptically, but does as I ask and runs the pick over the strings. A perfect C note leaving the instrument and when he looks back at me, there's a smile on his face that could stop my heart.

"I take it you play?"

"A little," I nod. "I have the best teacher in the world."

Felix nods before holding it out to me. "Would you play something for me?"

My eyes linger on the string instrument, knowing that the only people I've ever played for are the members of my family. Not even Robyn and Isla have seen me play, but when Felix offers me the guitar I'm not nervous to play. I don't want to run and hide. I don't feel the need to say no.

"You don't have to," he goes to pull it back when I reach for it, sitting back to crisscross my legs.

"No, it's fine," I tell him as I rest the wood in my lap, grabbing the tuning peg to adjust the strings before holding my hand out for the pick. "Any requests?"

"Surprise me," he chuckles as he sets the teal pick in my hand.

I bite down on my bottom lip as I think through all the songs I know before landing on one without even thinking. My fingers immediately falling into place like it's a dance only I know the steps to. I could play this song with my eyes closed, my heart settled in the lyrics of the song my dad wrote my mom when he was twenty-five. The song that makes my heart sing in happiness.

The words leave my mouth before I can stop them and it's like the world stops. There's no one around to disturb this perfect world. Just me and Felix, and that's it. Nothing else and in the moment, I don't need anything else. Just him and the look his face when I start to sing. A mixture of awe and surprise, sending a shiver up my spine.

And I wonder if this is what my dad feels like when he sings for my mom. Every single Rock Salt album basically a big love letter to her. When he struggles to find the right words, he always finds the right music and pours every ounce of his heart into it. Which is why I know that no one else will ever have his heart.

It's hers. And will only ever belong to my mom.

"You sing too?" Felix asks when I stop the song.

"A little bit," I smile gently. "I've never sung in front of anyone other than Greyson and my dad."

"Seriously?"

I shrug.

"You're amazing, Nicks," he shakes his head in awe. "You should do the talent show."

A laugh falls form my lips. "Like hell. I rather die than be on a stage."

Felix laughs when I hold the guitar back out for him to take, leaning forward and giving me a kiss after he sets it aside. "Thank you."

"For what?" I ask.

"For being comfortable enough to play for me," he smiles. "You're kind of incredible. You know that?"

"You're going to give me a big head," I laugh and kiss him again before moving to lay down, the sky now dark and lit up with stars. "Lay down with me."

It only takes him a second to lay down next to me after moving everything off to the side, but when he does it's not the stars he looks at. His eyes are rested solely on me and when I turn my head, I see the corners of his mouth curl up – not even trying to hide the fact that he's staring at me.

"You have a sky full of stars and you're staring at me?" I question.

He shrugs, "And somehow you're the most beautiful thing out here."

I press my lips together to keep from grinning at him and instead let out a small laugh as I nudge his arm, moving over to rest my head on his shoulder. "Nerd."

"Yours," he hums out in response and I feel his lips against my forehead as he wraps his arm around my back, holding me to his chest. The single word sending a surge of fire through my whole body, knowing he's telling me the truth.

a/n;

It's been way longer than I wanted since I last updated, but hopefully the fact that this is a longer chapter will make up for it :)