• 67: Amsterdam •

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Song for the chapter! Let me know what you think:

Melody

Monday went by quickly and quietly, though I was pretty tired and unfocused for most of the day. Sunday's events had taken a lot more out of me than I had thought, and I knew Carson could tell because he kept asking if I was okay. However, the positive was that people were a little more relaxed when it came to the rumour mill and whispers seemed to be calmer. It might have had something to do with all the festivities for Christmas and the holidays, or that I was last week's news. Either way, I was certainly grateful to go about my day peacefully.

On Tuesday, I went to the art room at lunch, to work on my painting, as I knew I wouldn't finish it on Thursday because of the shoot. As I continued with my grey colour scheme, Ms. Foster leaned back in her chair, watching me.

"Not excited for the holidays?" she asked, pulling her dark ringlets into a ponytail. I shrugged.

"It's no different than any other time of year – just more people and clutter," I replied. It came out a tad melancholier than I intended it to. "I mean... even with all the family, it's still..."

"Lonely," Ms. Foster finished, looking at my painting. While it was abstract, it did have a figure in the middle surrounded, but separate from the Christmas chaos. The figure was more of a shadow, but it was vaguely a little girl, that seemed to emit darkness towards the brighter corners of the page.

Ms. Foster was right. That little girl was surrounded but lonely. It was what a typical Christmas looked like in the Reese-Allen household. It sucked, but it wasn't going to change, so there was no point in getting excited for the Christmas break. That way there'd be no room for disappointment.

"Would you... would you consider entering this in an art competition?" Ms. Foster asked. "I think it would do really well."

"Sure," I mumbled. It wasn't like I'd win, but she's been so kind to me that I might as well make someone happy. Ms. Foster smiled, her perfect white teeth glistening.

"Thank you."

***

After school, Carson took me over to his house. While I knew his sister would be there, I was still nervous to meet her. I didn't seem to have the best record with sisters – if Mia was anything to go by – and most girls hated me, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

We pulled into the driveway and I felt my heartbeat accelerating as Carson turned the engine off. We got out of the car and walked up the front steps. As the door opened, I heard two excited voices inside.

"They're here!" It sounded like Harper.

"Yaaaay!" It was dragged out and similar to the first, but slightly higher pitched.

"Okay, but we can't be weird," Harper said.

"Okay," the second voice laughed.

Carson and I stepped into the foyer and closed the door behind us. As we took off our shoes, we saw Harper and a girl I assumed to be Chloe come walking from the kitchen. She had tanned skin like her mother, but dark hair and eyes like her father. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and she wore printed leggings and a pink, oversized crewneck. She was really pretty which was intimidating, but I tried not to let it show.

Harper smiled widely at me as she immediately pulled me in for a hug. "How are you doll?"

"Good, how are you?" I replied.

"Good!" Harper exclaimed. "Hello, my son!" she said hugging him.

"Melody! It's good to finally meet you! I'm Chloe, Carson's older – and cooler – sister... though he'll deny that." She gave me a hug as well.

"Nice to meet you," I said shyly.

"Are you staying for dinner tonight Melody?" Harper asked.

"Sure – um, if you'd like me to," I replied. I'd have to make sure to jog it off later... I couldn't afford to gain even half an ounce of weight before Thursday.

"Of course!" Harper grinned.

"Amazing! It'll give me a chance to get to know you!" Chloe grinned wrapping her arm around one of mine. She pulled me into the living room. "So, I know the cute 'how you came to be' story, but I want your life story. What's your favourite colour and why?" We sat down on the couch.

"I don't have one... I like blues and purples though. They're calm, yet stormy at the same time... like water," I said, quietly. Chloe smiled at that.

"Okay, favourite song?" Chloe asked.

"I don't have one," I answered. Chloe sent a shocked look towards Carson who walked in after she asked the first question.

"She doesn't," he laughed. "Don't worry, I've been force-feeding her as many songs as I can in the hope that she'll pick one."

"And here I thought you were being sweet and thinking of me," I pouted playfully. Carson laughed and winked at me before sitting next to me.

"Okay, TV show?" Chloe asked.

"Oh! I know this!" Carson exclaimed. "Project Runway!"

"Ah, he's trying to redeem himself," I laughed, poking Carson's side.

"It's one of her few favourites, of course I know," Carson grinned, poking me back.

"You guys are so cute I could squeeze you!" Chloe squealed. "Okay, so on to more serious questions..."

"Oh! Would you look at the time... it's time to take my girlfriend away from my sister before she's scared away," Carson said taking my hand. Chloe and I laughed as Carson guided me towards the stairs. "We'll be in my room."

"Ooh-kay!" Chloe said in a singsong voice. I pretended not to notice her wiggle her eyebrows suggestively at him. Carson wrinkled his nose at his sister before leading the way up the stairs.

In his room, I automatically went to the seat by window. As December passed, more snow had fallen, making the view even more stunning than when I had first seen it.

"Okay, I have another record for you to listen to," Carson grinned.

"What?" I mumbled, my lips pulling up at the corners.

"Remember the guy we were listening to last time, Gregory Alan Isakov?" Carson asked. I nodded. "It's another one of his albums." Carson held up the cover. "The Weatherman." He moved the needle to the record and drums were the first sound to ring out of the speaker, followed by the delicate fingerpicking of a guitar.

"What's this song called?" I asked as he walked towards me with the album case in his hands.

"Amsterdam," Carson read, sitting next to me.

"I like it," I said, resting against his shoulder, my head fitting in the crook of his neck, like perfect puzzle piece. He wrapped his arm around me as I tucked my legs underneath me.

"I thought you would," Carson replied. We sat there quietly listening to the song.

"Did I do okay down there? With your sister? She'll like me, right?" I asked. It all came out in a rush.

"Of course. I think she's already obsessed with you, so you have nothing to worry about," Carson said brushing the hair out of my face.

"Do you know what's for dinner?" I mumbled.

"I don't know, but there will be salad. I made sure of that," Carson responded. I felt my lips spread into a small smile. It was nice to have someone around who was so caring and considerate.

"Thank you," I whispered, feeling suddenly emotional.

"Always." Carson pressed his lips to my forehead in response as the next song poured out of the record player. I swallowed hard, my eyes flickering to the mini basketball on the floor. Blinking away my emotions I stood up and walked over to the ball and picked it up. I stared at the basketball net hanging on his closet door.

"Think I can score from here?" I asked standing across the room from the net. Carson laughed.

"Hmm... yes?"

"Oh, so convincing," I teased. "If I score this, you owe me a trip to Sephora." Carson's face pulled into a grimace at the mention of the makeup store.

"If you miss, I'm going to tickle you for five minutes straight," Carson replied, a wicked grin on his face.

"Deal," I said laughing.

I took my time aiming, trying to steady my arms. I shot the ball and it went hurling towards the closet door, hitting the backboard first and down to the rim before missing the net itself.

I pouted as Carson laughed, standing up and then walked towards me.

"You know what that means," Carson sang, tauntingly.

"If you can catch me!" I said, pushing his firm chest and darting across the room. Carson burst into laughter and chased after me as I ran towards his desk.

"That won't be hard," Carson replied.

"You're not a track star, go away mister!" I chuckled, narrowly avoiding him. I dashed from his desk towards his closet. Carson ran to the other side of the bed watching which direction I moved in. Laughing, I hid in the closet and tried to hold the door closed from the inside.

"Knock, knock!" Carson called, tapping on the wood dividing us.

"No one's home!" I replied.

Suddenly, the door opened, and I squealed in surprise. Carson reached into the closet, pulled me out and started poking my side, making me jump with every touch. I tried to run away, falling onto the bed and Carson gave me a wicked smile. He stood over me, cutting off any way of getting out away, before tickling my stomach. My giggles ripped through the air and seemed to echo across the room.

"Your laugh sounds like music," Carson said softly, as he stopped tickling me.

My breath hitched in my throat in response, leading me to bring a hand to his cheek. I slowly brought his face towards mine, pressing my lips to his. He reacted quickly, one of his hands found my waist, while the other supported his weight as he leaned towards me. Our lips moved in synchrony as the soft vocals, accompanied by a guitar, filled the room.

Carson's hand moved from my waist and tangled in my hair, as I gripped his shirt and pulled him closer with the hand that wasn't against his cheek. It was like he was oxygen and I couldn't breathe without him. I felt my back press against the bed, and we stayed like that for a few moments, before breaking away from each other.

Carson sat next to me as I pulled my legs up onto the bed, and we sat there grinning at each other like idiots for a moment. I ran a hand through my Carson-tussled hair, trying to settle it along with my heartbeat.

"It scares me... how much you mean to me," I murmured. Carson smiled; his gaze softened as I spoke. "I feel like – like you're too good to be true. Like you could just disappear if I'm not careful."

"I'm not going anywhere Mellie," he said, brushing a hand across my cheek.

"Good, neither am I," I said, a small smile on my lips as my cheeks heated.

There was a knock on the door, which ended the little moment we were having. Carson got up and opened the door, revealing his sister standing there with a sly grin on her face.

"Hate to break up the love fest, but dinner is ready," Chloe told him.

"Sweet," Carson said before turning to me and extending his hand. I got off of his bed and took his hand, hoping that I would do well at dinner.



_______________

Author's Note: Okay, so the plan was to post this on Monday,  but I was really excited so here you go! I tried to make it fun and light with a twinge of sadness... also wanted to spend a little more time with Carson and Melody without everything else going on!

I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know what you think! Shout out this chapter goes to ssuggaa for voting and to matchamacaroons for your kind comments! :) Thank you all for reading!

Ps. Hella excited about the name of this chapter because I want to go to Amsterdam soo badly lol and the song is so pretty!

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