TO YOU ;

Cece walked along Beau’s wake, closing the Santos’ front door once she had stepped out and into the chilly night air. A chuckle had unconsciously left her lips at his assumption. The feisty Latina would often like to think that she was fearless; and a creep on the way home would be nothing to her. It was far from the reality of things. If Cecelia Castillo disappear, no one would bother to look for a lot of factors. First, she was poor. Second, the police would most likely assume that she had runaway. Third and lastly, her family would believe them. The girl was pretty much an easy target in case any foreign, elite pimps would come into their town and start kidnapping girls for their transactions. She was a cautious and terrified little thing when it came to that. “Thank you, and I wouldn’t worry about you. You look as harmless as a baby.” She joked as she approached the car. “You didn’t ask.” She mumbled, smiling coyly by her own response.

There really was no way for him to convince her of letting him just drive her to his house, Beau had concluded. He wasn’t certain if it was a matter of pride or she simply just didn’t want to owe anybody anything. Although whichever was the case, he asked one last time, “Are you sure you’re going to let a free ride pass?” He began to drive, and pressed his lips together and mumbled, “If that’s what you want...” And with that Beau had fallen silent.

Cece could barely hide the expression of relief that crossed her face when Beau mentioned about her pay. It was not that she was greedy, or cheap, and the like; it was just that she was actually tight on money, and she could use it even if it was just a few dollars for a babysitting job. “That would be great, thank you.” She said with a tiny hint of a smile. Her gratitude at that moment towards Beau was meaningful, despite their unconventional way of meeting for the first time. After giving him a nod in response, she braced herself to wait, but then she too had heard the car pulling up at the Santos’ garage, and the door opening. Upon hearing Beau greet his mother by the door, Cece pushed herself off of the kitchen island and stood up straighter than usual. Though hesitant to interrupt the family reunion, Cece made her way to where they were and stood by the sidelines. Obviously bashful, the brunette only stammered her greeting and smiled at the couple. When Mr. Santos handed her the incentive, she received it with a courteous “Thank you.”. She was about to protest when he ordered Beau to drive her home, to convince that she was used to getting home by herself and  that it was already too much to drive her. Before she the words could even leave her mouth, Mr. and Mrs. Santos had already bid their goodbyes. Once they had disappeared, she returned her attention to Beau.

A small smile appeared on Beau’s face upon hearing that teasing from her, which he could only reply with “I really thought that was me being smooth,” of course in a joking manner. Then he waited for her to get back to him before he headed for the door, expecting her to follow him outside. “I do have to drive you back home, who knows what kind of actual creep is out there who you might bump into.” He rolled his shoulders into a shrug, and then he looked over. “Unless you think of me as an actual creep and I could just get you a cab or something.” He then offered her a kind smile, “Don’t worry, it’s not like you’re going to owe me a date for this.”

Cece’s well-defined natural brows shot up in response to his playfulness. In return, she curled one side of her lips into a taunting smirk and said, “D’oh, too bad,” She paused to shrug in such a casual manner. “I was about to actually kiss it better but since you’re only kidding then…” She trailed off and slowly walked around to stand on the other side of the kitchen island. Leaning over the island-top, she slid her forearms onto it and clasped her hands together. Her back arched as she shifted her weight on one leg in position. “Hmm?” She hummed as she met his gaze. “Yes! It’s my first time as you have observed I don’t know much about Reyna’s family.” She replied, snorting as she recalled her weird first encounter with Beau earlier in the evening. For a brief moment, she shifted her gaze downwards as she fiddled with her own fingers. His offer surprised her, so she definitely looked taken aback. “Oh uhm..” She began and pushed herself off of the island. “I don’t know if I should still be here honestly since a responsible adult such as yourself is already around.” She responded with a sheepish chuckle.  “I’m assuming you’ve got this covered since you’re Reyna’s big brother and you’ve done this more times than I have.” She added. Deep down, Cece was actually worried about loosing that gig because Beau was back in town.

“Oh.” Well, there goes his chance with hanging out with the cute babysitter. “My parents will kill me for kicking you out without even paying you,” He said and a chuckled had rolled off of his tongue, he then reached for his phone in his pocket and began to shoot a quick text to his mama and papa asking about how much he should pay her and that they don’t have to worry about reimbursing him. “Just wait for a sec.,” He shoot her a smile and then to his surprised he heard the garage door opening, he turned around and saw that his mother already opened the door and had gotten in already, there was a smile painted on her red lips and he mirrored it. “Mama,” He moved towards her and left a kiss on her cheek as they hugged. “Mijo, did you just arrive?” she asked and he answered her by telling her he had been fifteen minutes ago and Cece had kept him company for a while, soon enough his father joined them and paid Cece, and handing the car keys to Beau saying, “You should drive her home, it’s too late already.” And after a few exchanges of words, he watched his parents go upstairs and then he finally faced her once again.

Unable to keep herself from noticing, Cece thought that Beau had what she liked to call ‘little-kid-curls’. Unable to contain it, she chuckled then looked to the side, biting her bottom lip. Somehow, as if by magic, Beau was making himself seem less of a stereotypical ‘douchebag college boy’ that she first assumed him to be, and more like an actual sweetheart. If she wasn’t mistaken, she may even see a little Reyna in Beau, or earlier in the evening, a little Beau in Reyna. She wasn’t sure if Beau was only putting an act for someone like her who is of the opposite sex and outside his circle of family and friends, or if he’s just being himself. Either way, Beau was doing a great job at being somewhat adorable, but never would Cece say that out loud, or admit it to herself.

With her brows knitted close together, Cece watched as Beau casually opened the microwave and take the hot plate in his bare hands. She inhaled as if to remind him that it would be too hot to handle, but just clamped her mouth shut when he managed to carry it across towards the island. Exhaling a breath she didn’t even know she was holding, she unfolded her arms and examined Beau’s fingers from afar. They had become a bit swollen, and very pink, so she pushed herself off the counter and went to the fridge to get him some ice. 

Perhaps she did take the ‘babysitting’ job seriously since she seemed to be taking care of him even if he didn’t ask her to. He could ask his papa to raise up the cash that they were going to give her once they would arrive from wherever because of this. He pushed his curls back (but they still had fallen back on to his face anyway) and then dipped his fingers into the bowl, following what she had instructed. He suddenly felt like he was suddenly ten years old again, being taken care of a really pretty babysitter, and yeah, like his ten year old self he was slightly crushing on the babysitter because he was that typical. Dios mio, when would he stop being typical? And crushing on Cece (in the slightest bit) sounded so odd and creepy in his head. She really had nice long lashes though, and her lips---they looked soft, and they do this cute thing when it would curve into a smile; but he wasn’t going to be that distracted of her. He knew he was lying to himself though, he had been staring at her face for some time now. It embarrassed him, so that explains the blood rushing to his face.

Cece’s head unconsciously tilted to one side as she watched Beau’s reaction when he saw the pizza. Her brows twitched then furrowed slightly out of sheer curiosity. She began to wonder what he was thinking that made him smile. Was he amused at the choice of toppings? Or was he amused at his parents choice of babysitter. Her head jerked upright and her back straightened once his voice pulled her back into reality.She cleared his throat the briefly shifted her gaze downwards, hoping he didn’t notice that she was staring. “Oh?” She humored him then leaned back against the counter. She bent her elbows back and grasped the edges of it. “Whatever you say I guess.” She added with a shrug, eager to move away from the topic. She didn’t want him to see her blush, she didn’t want him to see right through her act, she didn’t want him to appear actually kind of attractive because she did not admit it to herself. She simply refused to. It would be unprofessional,- well, for a babysitter-plus she was there for Reyna, not Reyna’s cute older brother who happened to be a college boy. Her dear mama had warned her about college boys, especially the charming ones. Ones like Beau who throws her sweet words, and beautiful smiles. 

“I doubt that I’m never around the house when Susie’s around.” He had said and then he paused for a moment as he thought about what she had said. Was she meaning that he asked too many questions, that he should quit doing so? He supposed so, so he shifted his gaze back to her face and scratched his temples as he did. “I probably shouldn’t ask personal questions, huh?” He pressed his lips with each other and then he looked away to the oven, “I don’t want to scare you off, Cecelia.” He added casually. “Also, yeah. I have a monster appetite, but then again I hadn’t had any proper meal today. Tyler, the one I hitched a ride with, didn’t like stopping to places unless he’s the one who’s needed to pee or something.” He clicked his tongue, “So, was Reyna a handful?”

A breath of relief almost immediately left Cece’s lips upon receiving such a laid back reply. It turned out that Mr. Cocky Santos over there was not so bad nor cocky after all. After licking her lips, she tucked them in then nodded, mostly in agreement to what he just said about her doing her job. She didn’t know that he practically owned the place, after all. She hadn’t taken a tour and checked all their family photos earlier because Reyna had kept her busy and had been doing an impeccable job at stealing her attention. 

Once Beau had spotted the pizza box, he moved his way towards it and opened it up to check what toppings it had on that she had chosen. A smile had appeared on his face once he had seen what the toppings were; she had good taste, he thought to himself. It was almost as close to his favorite. He then glanced at her and remembered her statement about how he probably had said what he had to every babysitter his sister’s got, which was in fact a false assumption. “Also I don’t compliment ‘ny of my baby sister’s babysitters---” that had sounded like a tongue-twister “---you’ve got be the first.” A smile, it was in between a charming and flirtatious one (although both can be mistaken as the other). “I mean, the babysitter that kiddo got is my little brother’s age. She don’t have the level of humor that tickles me. Sometimes she’s too awkward.” He had said as he had taken out a plate and spoon from the cupboard. “Susie, Rey’s long time babysitter, had probably finally moved out of the city with her family seeing that mama and papa hired you.” His gaze shifted towards Cece, he hoped that his parents would have her as Reyna’s regular babysitter since she was quite pleasing to the eyes, he’d love to see her around as often. It wasn’t in a creepy way of any sort, but she seemed nice and there were quite a select of people who could only really handle Reyna’s energy. Actually, Beau was wondering how Cece didn’t seem tired even just one bit.

Upon receiving such a smug reply, the stranger appeared a tad bit more sinister to Cece than he originally was in her thoughts. Her face wrinkled a bit more and her lips had formed a straight thin line, expressing her dislike towards him and how he had answered her so tauntingly. “I can say whatever I want, you’re not my papi.” She said so bluntly that she almost thought it was too harsh, even for her. “No.” She added in response to his last question, slightly making a face at him. “Your ‘mama’ didn’t mention anything, that why you’re very suspicious.” She remarked, pointing the bat towards his face briefly. “Don’t move. I have to confirm something.” She commanded before walking off to head for the living room where most of the Santos’ family portraits were displayed. 

Beau followed as she instructed, he stayed where he was, leaned against the door frame and waited patiently for her to come back. The babysitter his parents hide was definitely commendable. She took the security of the child she was taking care of seriously, and Beau liked that. This girl could be trusted. He wondered where his parents found her. Once she had come back to him, he was finally dragged out of his reverie. He shifted his brown eyes to her own and then he was pretty sure embarrassment was painted all over her face, because of that he decided to tone down his smug demeanor a notch. “Nah, you’re just doing your job.” He rolled his shoulders into a shrug and gave her a reassuring smile. He stepped inside the house and closed the door behind him and locked it for safety measures.

In all her five years of experience at babysitting, never had Cece encountered a situation as scary as she had come across in the Santos household. After tucking in the youngest child, - who, unlike all the other brats she had cared for, was an absolute sweetheart -a sudden bang of the door was heard, appearing like it came from the foyer. If it were Mr. and Mrs. Santos, she would have heard the car coming through the driveway, a jingling of their house keys, and their voices calling out to her that they were finally home. The noise she just heard was different though. It was abrupt, an exclamation to announce the intruder’s presence in the house, then sudden silence. Paranoia crept into Cece’s mind as she froze in place in the middle of the second floor hallway.

When Beau received the message from his parents about his young brother’s recital, it was too late. He had woken up that day late in the morning---09:34 AM to be exact (that’s quite late for him)---with a searing headache that made his head spin and a sunlight that was antagonizing him by making his eyes hurt. He would love to lie about the reason why he had woken up late, truly, that he had spent the whole night partying with his friends because that semester was over. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t over yet. He had to stay up all night to get some of his requirements that he hadn’t finished yet and send them all in so that he really wouldn’t have any more worries and could really already say that it was truly ‘summer’ for him. Sure, there would still be the worries about his grades and all, but he knew once he was away from the University setting he could breathe again. It was really better than anything. Anyhow, the moment he had woken up that day, he had checked his phone’s notifications. A couple of messages from his mom, the one recent one from his friend, Tyler, saying that they would be leaving 10:00 AM sharp. It was really good idea that he had already packed his bag, so the only thing he had to do was have a quick shower and rushed to the parking lot of the apartment complex. Then his travel back home commenced.