Capture the Moment (Moments #1)

16. Cleo

sixteen

Cleo

“Are you sure I can come in? I don’t want to ruin the whole ‘no flirting just working’ thing.” Blake's voice is muffled as he covers his face with his hands, shielding himself from my apartment.

I roll my eyes at his antics for the fourth time in twenty minutes. We were originally going to work on our project at his place since it’s bigger but Jace and Alec are home with some of the guys from the team so we figured my apartment would be the better option. With Georgia being out and about, and Sienna at the dance studio with the kids, there is no quieter place within a ten-mile radius.

“Dude, would you stop acting like you lost your mind and come in?” I ask with a small laugh as I take off my shoes and drop my bag on the kitchen island.

Blake’s movements are stiff and skeptical as his eyes wander around the warm space. He visibly relaxes and a teasing smirk replaces his once frozen in place lips.

“You come here often, Princess?” He winks, leaning an elbow on the kitchen island.

“I will kick you out if you don’t shut up. Now go sit in my room and wait for me.” I sigh, shooing him off as he smiles down at me.

Blake stalks off towards the hall and I question if he'll know which room is mine as he stops to stare at each door. With a nod, I watch as the man reaches for the handle to the middle room before opening it, walking into my bedroom.

While he’s getting situated in there, I decide to prepare some snacks with the leftover donuts from this morning and some of the fruit I’d bought yesterday when Sienna and I went grocery shopping. I’m entranced with cutting strawberries, the act soothing my tension from today’s lecture when Blake shrieks like a scared school girl. I flinch at the loud noise, almost cutting myself in the process.

“You have Princess North panties?!” Blake’s deep voice shouts, my spine goes ramrod straight, the sound of footsteps are loud as they draw near. I gasp and whirl around to find him holding up the pink and purple Princess North underwear that Georgia had bought me yesterday as a joke.

I jump as Blake embarrassingly holds my fucking princess panties in the air, laughing his butt off.

“How did you find that?!” I shriek, dropping the knife as I run up to him, jumping to grab the embarrassing material from his hands.

My attitude seems to be hilarious to this psychopath because all he does is laugh harder, holding the underwear higher.

“You laid it out on your bed!”

I’m going to kill Georgia.

I pause in my action of reaching above him as awareness of just how close we are prickles in my mind.

Our chests are flushed together, with Blake and I both breathing so heavy, we’re in sync. He looks down at me with soft eyes before coughing, taking a step back. I repeat the action and break our eye contact.

For the first time, he was the one to break contact. Not me. I don’t know why my chest feels so weird at the thought of him breaking it but I hope it stops.

“Here.” He smiles softly as he gently places the monstrosity of fabric in my hand. He turns on his heels to walk away smoothly but trips halfway to my door. I snicker as he throws his middle finger up at me before re-entering the bedroom.

The two of us sit in a comfortable silence for about ten minutes until the antsy man beside decides to break it. He’d been tapping his pencil on his computer for eight of those ten minutes, whilst staring at me for the full ten.

“You want pizza?” he asks, and that is not what I expected to come from his mouth. I look up at him and shrug.

“It doesn’t sound bad— ”

“Good. I already ordered a cheese, pepperoni, and a sausage one just in case you like a little sausage.” He winks, making clicking sound as he leans back against my bed, smirking smugly.

“What if I don’t like any of those flavors?” I tease lying through my teeth as I lean in close to him. I could honestly eat a cow right now; I haven’t had any real food all day. I’ve just been snacking until now.

Blake frowns for a second, tilting his head like a lost puppy. “Then what do you like?”

“Well, it depends on the pizza place. If it’s from Cooke’s, then I get their barbecue chicken pizza. But I also love the chicken supreme without mushroom and olives from Logan’s or the Cheesesteak Galore from Mika’s—”

“We don’t have Mika's in Maryland, Princess. That’s a New York thing,” he interrupts with a small, amused smile.

“And how do you know that?” I frown, folding my arms under my chest.

“Because I grew up there. Manhattan, probably born, mostly raised.” He shrugs.

“Probably?” I question him, setting down my computer. Looks like work will get done later.

Blake shrugs yet again. “Yeah, probably. I was adopted a little after I was born so whenever I talk about where I was born, I always add a probably,” He chuckles, ears and neck burning red. “When I was a kid, my older sister Jules would say I was born on Pluto and my parents found me because I was ugly and left on their doorstep.”

“Well, were you?”

“Was I what? Ugly, or left on the step?” he questions, amusement laced in his tone.

“Both?” I respond hesitantly as he throws his head back in laughter.

“No, Princess, I was not ugly.” He chuckles, pretending to flick away a tear from his eye. “But I was left on the doorstep.”

My heart drops as he continues with his small chuckles that don’t feel quite as humorous anymore. Blake seems like this energetic guy who doesn’t care about anything other than hockey and himself, but I’m starting to learn that he’s more like an onion than anything. He isn’t shallow like I'd wrongfully thought, he has layers. So intricate and detailed that the average person would overlook. I want to study his layers.

I want to understand him.

So, instead of changing the subject, I dig deeper. “Does it make you—”

“Feel a type of way? Nah. If they were cowardly enough to leave me on a doorstep, then they’d be too cowardly to take good care of me, Cleo.” He shrugs and for the first time, I’m stunned by the use of my own name.

Instead of calling him out on it, I try to formulate a sentence, but he interrupts yet again.

“I don’t want to meet my birth parents if that’s your next question. I love my parents and I thank my birth parents for leaving me on that doorstep because had they kept me, I would be living a completely different life.” He gives me a small smile. A smile so soft and innocently different from his usually cocky smirks.

My chest tightens as Blake reaches into his bag, pulling out the small silver camcorder assigned to us. With a grin, Blake flicks the power button on but pauses before recording me.

“I want to know why you’re scared of cameras,” he says, playing with the camera’s controls and I stiffen as his words process fully.

Does he know about what happened in New York? How does he know that I’m scared? I’m not scared! I just can’t—I don’t like… Fuck.

His eyes widen, Blake pulls the camera from his eye as the tips of his ears burn a bright red.

“I don’t mean it like that! I just mean—”

I take a deep breath looking up at him before plastering on a smile, he winces at the action but I brush him off as I blink twice.

“I’m not scared of cameras. I’m scared of the monsters that are behind them.”

At that, Blake tilts his head and I have a feeling that he wants to dig deeper but the doorbell chime pauses any further interrogations.

“I’ll get it. ”

I watch as he leaves, my gaze lingering on his tight ass for a second longer than appropriate as he strides out the room. As soon as I hear him open the door, I smack a hand to my head.

I almost told a complete stranger about a past that not even my closest friends know.

Fuck me…

The brunette man enters the room with his back to me, I can tell he has a large stupid grin on his face even before he turns around. And when he does, I’m stunned to see five boxes in his arms instead of three.

Did he buy more pizzas because of me? No… I doubt that—

“I couldn’t choose between barbecue and the chicken supreme so I got both since I’ve never tried them and I trust your opinion on food—”

My stomach growls silently, a soft moan escapes my mouth as the sweet and savory smells wafts around the air creating an intoxicating aroma. My mouth waters.

“Blake, I could seriously kiss you right now.” The thought I’d been having is vocalized so loud in the now silent room.

He visibly gulps as he looks down at me on the floor. “Princess, you’re making it so hard for me to do the whole just friends thing when you say things like that, looking at me like that .” He groans.

“Looking at you? Baby, I’m looking at the five large pies in your hand.” Rolling my eyes, I hop up from my seat on the floor and snatch two of the boxes from the top of the stack. Blake chuckles plopping down across from me on the spacious floor.

“Baby?” He says quietly just as I plant a slice of supreme chicken in my mouth.

This is fucking nirvana.

“Hm?” I hum at the taste of the savory slice, groaning silently as the flavor expels on my tongue.

“So, you like that nickname, too? Noted.” He smirks as I flip him the bird.

“Oh, hush… you’re interrupting precious C and P time.” I frown my mouth full of food .

“C and P?”

“Cleo and Pizza… duh.” I shrug as I continue to devour the slice.

We continue to eat the pizza in a comfortable conversation about TV when my and Blake’s phones ring. We eye each other carefully before turning the screens to each other. His screen read Jace while mine read Georgia.

Uh oh…

Without further questioning, we both answer our phones.

“I fucked up!” I can hear Jace yell through the line on Blake's phone as Georgia’s voice flows through mine.

“I made a horrible mistake, Cleo.”

What the hell happened to them?

“Did you call fucking Cleo?!” I can hear Jace in the background of both lines.

“Yes! Because you’re a fucking bleach blonde sociopath who won’t leave me the hell alone! You—”

“I’m a sociopath?! Have you looked in the mirror, Peach? I’m pretty sure your name is plastered beside the definition in the dictionary!” Jace cuts her off as she scoffs… loudly.

“You’re such a fucking cunt, asshole!” Georgia responds with a sharp edge in her tone.

“Take one to know one, dick!”

Ohh-kaay.

“Why are you two even around each other?” I ask as Blake chuckles in front of me.

The line goes dead silent and for a moment, I don’t think either of them heard me until Jace screeches.

“You fuckers are together without me?!”

Blake and I look up at each other, both of us still holding the phones to our ears before smiling.

One, he mouths, holding the phone out showing me the call screen as Jace yells through the speaker.

Two, I mouth back, doing the same .

We chuckle silently as both our pointer fingers hover over the ‘end call’ button.

Three, we mouth together proceeding to hang up on both of our friends. They’ll probably have something to say about it later but right now, I could care less.

“We’ve gotta do that again! Can you imagine their faces?!” he asks, doubling over in laughter. is contagious, it’s so addictive and sweet that I crack up with him. He’s like a kid, figuring out how to prank call for the first time. Giddy and excited for mischief. I can’t say that I don’t like the idea of more mischief with him–

Nope . See that’s where I almost fucked up. But, you saw me catch myself, right? Right.

Anyways…

I sober up my laughter and begin pulling out the vintage 1999 camcorder we were assigned. I chuckle as the camera makes a low beeping sound, coming to life. This camera reminds me so much of the ones Gloria and Dad used to record Ryan and I with when we were younger. They’d follow us around and record everything, from us playing video games to arguing over our shared bathroom. I think they even captured Ryan and Georgia spraining their wrists on video.

“You ready?” I ask, pointing my own camera up to face him. We’d decided earlier this week that we’d intertwine our footage to make one large collage of videos. It was Blake’s idea to record each other and capture the moments when we’re not paying attention. The small smiles when no one's watching, and the little things we sometimes don’t notice about ourselves. He told me he notices things about me but I highly doubt it.

There’s not much to notice.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, Princess.”

“What’s your biggest life regret so far?” I ask him, holding the camera to my eye as I focus on the man in front of me.

Blake shifts in his seat on the ground and blows out a huff of air. “You sure know how to start a conversation, Jones.” He chuckles airily, looking everywhere but at the camera .

The fairy lights around the back of my room's wall twinkle in anticipation of what he’s going to say. I lean forward just a bit, in hopes of capturing his every breath on film.

“My biggest regret today is how I acted last year after my nana died.” He sighs, scratching the back of his neck.

Blake’s eyes wander around my room and I think he won’t elaborate but he turns back to me with a small watery smile.

“She passed away before I got the chance to apologize to her. We’d been on a winning streak and she was supposed to come to one of our games but didn’t make it. Hell, no one did if I'm being honest.” He chuckles dryly, his eyes lock with mine and I instantly want to turn off the camera.

His voice sounds so raw and unfiltered, completely contrasting from his flirty cocky persona that I’m constantly around. For some reason, I want to protect this version of him. I want to protect the Blake who sounds so hurt and ashamed of his own actions. I want to be there for him and I have no idea why.

“My dad wanted to be there but he and my mom were in Milan for my sister's show with Asteri. She was the opening model and Nana volunteered to be the family member that showed up for me. She forgot to set her alarm and I was so mad that I iced her out.” He shrugs, sniffling quietly.

“You don’t have to go on if you don’t feel comfortable–”

“No, I do… it’s fine. I’ve grown up since then.” He chuckles softly, interrupting me. “A few days after that, she died from a stroke. I was heartbroken, so I turned to alcohol and sex–I’m not proud of it. No. But, it was a rough time for…for me.” He sighs. And the sound of his voice cracking, chips away at my heart a bit.

I don’t push Blake to continue with his biggest regret, instead I watch him as he composes himself and masks his true feelings with a lopsided grin.

“I regret my actions before and after her death but I’m thankful for my friends and Coach. They helped me pick up my broken pieces.”

“Would you say that they’re your family as well?” I ask, holding the camera from my eye a bit as he gives me a small genuine smile .

“They’re like my brothers. I’m happy they saved me when I couldn’t save myself.”

We finished recording our first questions with him asking me something a little more tame along the lines of “Would I rather be a rock or a worm?” After filming, we decided that since it wasn’t too late and that we could watch a friendly movie.

I let Blake choose since he’s the "movie connoisseur" and he ended up picking a movie about a talking cat and car duo.

“You know Svetlana is a spy, right?” he asks, pointing at the purple car on the screen.

“I’m sorry, how are you a film major again? We’re watching a movie about a purple car named Svetlana and Cat called Mr. Giggles–”

“Don’t hate on greatness, Jones.” He tosses a small piece of popcorn my way. He’d been laying across our pink living room rug, while I took the couch. He'd said our couch was too small for all of his ‘manliness’ and decided to camp out on the ground.

I laugh as the popcorn hits my cheek. “I’m serious! Aren’t we supposed to be watching a Psychological Thriller or something?” I ask, cracking a smile as he rolls his eyes.

“Look at you feeding into stereotypes! Not all film majors are brooding dickheads. Some of us like spending time watching cartoons.” He smiles wide at me as I’m now the one rolling my eyes.

The apartment alarm goes off signaling the front door opening, mine and Blake’s heads snap simultaneously to the front door as a grumpy pink-haired girl enters the house.

“I need a drink and some serious girl talk.” Sienna frowns, stalking towards the couch. She plops down on it and lays across my lap before pulling my hand into her hair, moving it to massage her curls .

“Long day?”

“That guy will be the death of me!” she exclaims, shooting up from my lap.

“Spill, girl!” Blake quips in a mock valley girl accent, I snort at his tone but Sienna ignores him and continues.

“He won’t freaking leave me alone! I’m a freaking dance teacher, not a mind reader. I love the kid, she’s amazing but him? He’s so annoying. Why should I be the one to initiate a conversation with a parent? The parent should want to know about their kid. He should want to know how his daughter is doing in dance! Hell, he’s only ever picked her up from practice once, CJ!” She scoffs, running a shaky hand through her hair, clearly frustrated.

My heart hurts for Sienna as she groans. I can see her inner child hurting for the young girl in her dance class because, in a way, I think Sienna sees herself.

When we were younger, my aunt and uncle were never around for Si Si, which was why she was always at my house. They would always be on the road, whether on tour or traveling for work.

We come from a music family, with most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins being in the music industry due to my grandparents holding the torch as Jazz legends. My dad and aunt Lyric were the only two of their four siblings that hadn’t gone into the music industry but Sienna’s dad, Uncle Major is a super famous DJ. While her mom is a popstar.

Uncle Major and Aunt Eloisa supported Sienna in every way except emotionally. They’d send money for clothes and made sure she had the finest shoes and bags. But when it came to showing up for a recital or play, they were nowhere to be found.

“What a dick.” Blake scoffs, rubbing Sienna’s shoulder as she chuckles. I hadn’t even noticed he’d moved to the couch.

“Do you maybe think you’re projecting your feelings about auntie and uncle onto him?” I ask, bracing myself for anger as she groans.

“I don’t know, honestly. But it feels shitty knowing that another little girl is out there being treated how I was.” She hangs her head with a sigh .

“Then be the person you needed when you were a kid, for her.” Blake shrugs as if that's the easiest thing in the world. I’m about to interject when Sienna brightens up, jumping off the couch with a large smile.

“You’re so right! Thanks, Jake!” She squeals before skipping… yes, I said it, skipping to her bedroom.

Blake tilts his neck at the name and turns his head to me.

“Who the hell is Jake?”