Hello, Deathicated! Okay, so I know it's been, like, almost two months since I've updated Beginning Again, and I'M SUPER SORRY OK. I'm just running out of ideas for wrapping up that story; but I'll finish it, I promise! But in the mean time, I had this super fabulous songfic idea, based off of one of my favorite songs right now: Runnin' Outta Moonlight by Randy Houser (full credit to him).
I love country music, if you haven't guessed, haha. c:
So yeah, let me know what you guys think? There's also a crap-load of Maltara fluff, so yay! But yeah, review, please, and enjoy! :D
The sound of something hard ricocheting off of my apartment window startles me from my sleep. It had been a long, tiring day at work, but with no new leads on our current case, Mal and I were allowed to leave. We were both so physically and mentally exhausted, that we decided to each retire to our own apartments for the night and catch up in the morning.
I am about to write off the noise and go back to sleep, when I hear it again. Though I'm slightly curious as to what is bouncing off of my window at eleven-thirty at night, I'm too tired to care, so I roll over and try to situate myself to fall back asleep. About twenty seconds later, however, I hear it again, followed shortly by my phone vibrating against the bedside table. Ugh! Can't a girl get any sleep around here? I groggily sit up and grab for my phone, managing to answer on the last buzz.
"Hello?" I mutter tiredly.
"Hey!" Mal replies in a chipper voice. I groan.
"Ugh, what do you need?" I grunt in agitation. "I was sleeping."
"Gee, it's nice to talk to you, too," he jokes, pretending to be offended. "But seriously, look out your window."
"Why?" I mutter as I flick on the lamp beside my bed, wincing slightly at the sudden burst of light.
"Just do it," he persists. I sigh and run a hand through my messy hair before reluctantly getting out of bed and crossing the room to my window. I cautiously peel back a small section of the curtain and peek out into the darkness. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but I soon make out Mal standing two stories below. His silhouette is illuminated by the headlights of a red Chevy pick-up truck. As I look down and meet his smiling gaze, he motions for me to open my window. I comply and lean out slightly into the comfortable night air.
Only now do I notice the pile of small stones in his hand.
"Were you just throwing pebbles at my window, Romeo?" I ask with a smirk.
"Maybe, Juliet," Mal replies with a smile. He lets the handful of pebbles fall out of his hand and back down to the soil of the earth.
"What in the world are you doing?" I laugh as I lean my weight against the windowpane. I let the soft breeze ruffle my hair and the baggy t-shirt I have on.
"Come down here and you'll see," he replies with an innocent smile.
"Mal," I protest, trying not to smile, "I just woke up; I'm not really in any condition to be going out in public. At least let me get ready."
"Nobody will see us, trust me," he promises cryptically. "And besides," he adds with a smile, "you're pretty enough for me."
I laugh and allow my smile to show. "Fine, choir boy; I'm coming. Just let me get some pants on." Mal opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "And before you make some smart-ass comment about my lack of pants, I am putting them on; you cannot stop me."
Now it's Mal's turn to laugh. "You know me so well," he chuckles with a smirk. "But fine; you can put 'em on now, but that doesn't mean I can't take 'em off later."
I roll my eyes and once again try not to smile as I close the window and turn away in search of some pants. I'm already wearing a gray t-shirt that has 'California' printed on it, which I keep on; but after digging around in my drawers, I pull on a pair of light blue jean shorts. I quickly brush my teeth, though I don't have time to make-up my face. I pop in a piece of gum for good measure as I grab my phone and apartment key and walk out the door.
Mal is leaning impatiently against the side of the red truck as I approach him.
"Finally," he teases with a playful smile. "What took ya' so long?"
"Shut up," I reply with a laugh. "It was three minutes; that's a personal record. But the real question at hand, is where on Earth did you get this truck?"
"It was my dad's, apparently," he says. "Cynthia just had it in her garage. I'm not really a lift-kick kinda guy, but my car's shocks can't handle where we're going."
I nod, but then ask, "So where exactly are we going that your shocks can't handle?"
"You'll see," he murmurs slyly as he opens the passenger's side door for me.
"That was extremely evasive, Mal," I laugh before climbing in. "Answer the question."
He shuts the door, then walks around the back and re-appears on the driver's side.
"Give me a hint," I persist as he backs out of the parking spot. He glances to the left and right, then pulls out of the parking lot.
He then briefly looks over at me and smirks. "What are you, six?" he jokes. I feign an annoyed glare, but I end up breaking into a smile.
"Fine," he laughs. "I'll give you a hint: tailgate for two. Also, there will be kissing involved."
"Alright then, cowboy," I smile. "I won't complain about the kissing."
"Better not," he grins.
We drive in comfortable silence for a few minutes, each enjoying the night air and each other's presence. I turn towards the window and gaze out as the buildings rushing by become more scarce, and eventually turn into grass and trees and wooden fences. I turn my gaze into the rear-view and watch as the bright lights of the city recede behind us. I watch them get smaller and smaller, until they disappear altogether and we're completely engulfed in the countryside.
"Mal," I suddenly say, "We're driving away from population; where are we going?"
He glances over at me. "I already answered that," he replies with another sly grin.
"Evaded the question is what you did," I chuckle. "C'mon, Mal," I prod again.
"It's a surprise," he states, abruptly turning his eyes back to the road.
I feign an annoyed glare at him. "I hate surprises."
"I know!" he chuckles smugly. I lightly punch him in the arm; he pulls that one a lot.
"Seriously, though," he continues in a less-joking tone. "You'll like it, I promise." I continue my fictitious glare, but I can't help but smile when he leans over and briefly kisses my cheek.
We drive further and further away, putting more and more distance in between us and the city behind. It begins to get warm, so Mal rolls the windows down and turns the radio on. I let the wind throw my already-messy hair around as I rest my elbow on the car door and let my thoughts drift.
Finally, Mal slows and parks the truck on the side of an extremely isolated stretch of road; I've only seen one other car since we left the general city area, and it was going the opposite way. I open up my door to get out, and nearly step right into a large puddle of muddy water.
"Nice parking," I tease, tossing him a smirk over my shoulder.
"What?" he asks as he shuts his door and walks over to my side. "Oh, sorry," he laughs upon seeing the puddle.
"It's alright," I reply. "I can probably jump it."
"Nah," he says with a smile. With one step over the puddle, he picks me up bridal-style, carries me over it, and sets me down on the other side. I shriek in surprise, then start laughing.
"Thanks," I laugh as he sets me down. He smiles at me, then doubles back and shuts the door. He then walks around to the back and pulls out a lantern, sweatshirt, and a couple of blankets. He crosses the puddle again, tosses me one of the blankets, and takes my hand.
"C'mon," he prods as he gently pulls me away from the side of the road. He leads me to a thicket of trees, flips on the lantern, and then tells me to watch my step as we enter. We duck under low branches and carefully step over jagged rocks and fallen trees. We talk quietly as we walk along, laughing at each other's stupid jokes.
"Oh my God," I laugh after a particularly poor one. "You're ridiculous."
"But you love me anyways," he smirks, squeezing my hand.
"Yes, I do," I reply with an affectionate smile.
"Now let's go," he urges, gently tugging me along.
"What's the rush?" I laugh. "We have all night."
"Yeah," he says, glancing back at me, "but we're running out of moonlight; the sun'll start coming up in a few hours, and by that time, I want you in my arms, not next to me as we trudge through the creepy woods."
I smile and roll my eyes. "Alright, then, Romeo," I chuckle. "Lead on."
We finally emerge into a small clearing.
Down a slight slope and a little off to the left, a river quietly flows, lightly caressing the stones it comes in contact with and creating a relaxing sound. The moonlight reflects beautifully off of the calm water, and casts gentle shafts of light on all of the trees. I stop dead in my tracks and look up, immediately awestruck by how clear the night sky is. Without the busy lights of the bustling city to interrupt, the millions of stars shine brightly in the otherwise-dark sky. Crickets chirp gleefully around us, a gentle breeze blows by, and fireflies dance in the glow of the full moon, blinking their own yellow-ish lights as they go.
"Wow," I breathe in awe. "I've never seen the sky so... clear. It's beautiful out here."
I can't help but smile as I feel Mal's arms snake around my neck and rest gently against my chest. I place my arms on top of his and lean my head back against his shoulder. We both look up into the star-filled sky and stand in human silence for a couple seconds.
"It is," Mal replies simply and quietly as he gives me a light squeeze. We stand like that for a few minutes, quietly pointing out constellations and enjoying the beauty of it all. We speak in hushed tones, as if any sudden human noise would shatter the fragile atmosphere surrounding us. Standing here, with a beautiful view in front of me, enclosed in the arms of the man I love, I'm the happiest I've been in a very long time.
After a little while longer, he lightly disengages himself from me, grabs the other blanket, his sweatshirt, and the lantern, and takes my hand instead. He begins to lead me down the gentle slope to the riverside. There, he sets his things down and spreads out the blanket on the ground. He takes a seat on one side of the blanket, and motions for me to sit beside him. I happily comply and sit by his side. We lean against the slope and prop ourselves up with our hands behind us. I loosely drape the second blanket over our legs as Mal slides one arm around me, pulling me closer to his side. I smile and look up at him, and he gives me a light kiss on the forehead.
We both stare off into the water for a second, momentarily mesmerized by the gentle sound of the stream flowing by and the crickets chirping merrily. After a few more moments, I break the human silence.
"This place is beautiful," I murmur softly. "How'd you find it?" I tilt my head upward slightly so I can look him in the eyes. He meets my expectant gaze for a moment, and a look of underlying sadness crosses his face. He maintains eye contact for another moment, then turns his head slightly and stares off into the distance.
"My dad said he used to take my mom out here a lot when they were dating," he begins. "They took Cynthia and I out here a few times when we were kids, too. The last time I was here with at least part of the family was when I was in high school. Dad was... locked up by then, and mom was... well, going downhill rather quickly. She asked Cynth and I to take her out here one last time. It was one of her favorite places on earth..."
My gaze had drifted downwards as he spoke, but when he pauses, I glance up. He trails off for a moment as his voice tightens, and he swallows hard. I reach up and gently squeeze his arm that's still draped loosely around my shoulder. He glances down, as if snapping out of a trance, and flashes me a sad smile. I smile softly back, still holding his hand.
"I had just gotten my license at the time, and neither of them trusted me to drive," he continues with a slight smile. I chuckle at this. "So Cynth drove us out here, and we spent the day, just talking and swimming and having fun. I actually just found a photo from that day," he adds as he pulls something from his pocket and hands it to me. "It's the last picture I have of the three of us." I look down at the small paper in my hand. It's a faded photograph of Mal, a woman whom I assume to be his mother, and his older sister, Cynthia. Their arms are around each other, and they're all smiling and soaking wet, like they just came out of the water. The back of the photo reads May 17th, 1994 in neat penmanship. Below it, in the same curly writing, it says Cynthia - 21, Mal - 16. I look at it for a few moments and smile before handing it back. Mal sits up, and I follow suit. He shifts so his arm is still around my shoulders, and holds the faded photo in his other hand that's resting in his lap.
"We were actually planning on going again one other time," he continues quietly, "but... Mom never made it. She died a few days before we were planning to go."
"I'm sorry," I murmur softly as he pauses again. Mal glances down at me and offers a small, grateful smile, then pulls me closer to his side. I lean my head against his shoulder and let the gentle breeze toss my hair around.
We sit in silence for a few moments before he starts again.
"I came out here quite a bit by myself once mom passed," he goes on. "I'd come back from typical days of trouble-making at school, and I'd end up just sitting out here for hours, thinking about everything. Sometimes I talked to mom, and other times I would just sit and think. Cynthia came out with me sometimes, and we'd talk a lot then. I loved doing that, but sometimes I just wanted to be alone. She understood, of course, and I think she even came out here by herself a time or two." He pauses again, but I say nothing this time; I just gently rub his palm with my thumb. He eventually begins again.
"After high school, I just... Stopped coming out here, I guess. I kinda... Flipped out a little, and I lost sight of what was important. I tried bringing Sandra out here a time or two when we were dating in college, but she wasn't an outdoors-y person and mainly just complained about the bugs, so I stopped. Partially because of her, I guess, but... Mainly because I didn't wanna share this place with someone who wasn't going to appreciate it as much as mom did. Aside from Cynth," he says, pausing and looking down at me, "you're the first person I've brought out here since I was nineteen."
I smile appreciatively up at him. "Well, thank you," I reply with a smile, giving his hand a squeeze. "And thanks for telling me that."
"Of course," he says back with a smile. "Thanks for listening."
We hold each other's gaze for a couple seconds, and a smile spreads across Mal's face, replacing the undertone of sadness.
"Now what I'm really wondering," he suddenly says, "is how I got so lucky as to get to be with you." He flips a small section of my hair over my shoulder on the word 'you'.
I laugh and feel my cheeks flush slightly. "I think it's the other way around," I reply with a shy smile, tilting my head up to look him in the eyes. We hold each other's gaze for what feels like an eternity, before another smile creeps across Mal's face.
"What?" I ask with an amused chuckle, not breaking his loving gaze.
"You are so unbelievably gorgeous in every single way," he breathes quietly yet sincerely. His blue eyes are sparkling as they look straight into mine, and I can only hope that the relative darkness hides the enormous blush I feel heating up my cheeks.
"Thank you," I reply in a near-whisper, smiling like an idiot back at him. "I love you," I add, nuzzling my cheek softly against his arm.
"I love you, too," he replies, leaning down to kiss me. Our lips collide passionately, and soon enough, my back is against the grassy slope and Mal is on top of me, kissing me hard. I use all of my strength to push us over so that I'm now on top of him. I press my body down against his, and I feel him smile as he runs his hands through my hair. I smile as well and grab his face, again pressing my lips down as hard as I can.
As we continue, Mal keeps his promise of not letting my pants stay on. He flings them off to the side, separating our lips only long enough for me to pull his shirt over his head and toss it behind us somewhere.
When the deed is finished, I roll off of Mal and sprawl out on the grass next to him as we each catch our breaths, both of us sweating from our fun.
Suddenly something dawns on me. "Mal," I breathe, turning my head to the left to look at him. He turns his head to the right, so our faces are only inches apart.
"Yeah?" he asks, still breathing hard.
"We just... had sex in... a place of... childhood memories," I convey between huffs of air. We stare at each other for a moment before Mal bursts out laughing. I join in, and soon enough, we're laughing so hard that we have to sit up. Tears of laughter are rolling down both of our faces as our chortles echo through the otherwise-still night air.
"Oh my God," Mal laughs as we finally catch our breaths and begin to calm down.
"I'm sorry," I laugh, wiping my eyes. "I couldn't resist." Mal laughs again as he wipes his own eyes.
"It's suddenly extremely hot out here," he states after calming down a little. "And this time, it's not just you."
I laugh as Mal stands and helps me up as we each go off in search of our own clothes.
Once I fix the clasp on my black bra, I sit on the grass in just my lingerie. I pull my hair up into a ponytail, thankful that I thought to grab a hair tie before I left. Just as I'm about to pull my shirt on again, Mal returns in just his boxers and motions for me to stand.
"What now?" I ask with a chuckle. "Let me just put a shirt on."
"That won't be necessary," he replies with a smirk. "C'mon."
He grabs my hand and leads me downstream to a place where the river widens into a crystal-clear lake. I follow him into the cool water in just my bra and underwear. I stop once we're in up to my mid-thigh.
"I don't want my face and hair wet," I protest as he tries to drag me in headfirst.
"Well, that's too bad!" he declares. Before I can react, he cups his hands, scoops up some water, and splashes it right at me.
"Ahh!" I shriek in surprise as the cold liquid hits me right in the face, completely soaking the few strands of hair that usually hang out of place
"Oh, you little–" I shout. "Now you're gonna get it!"
I lean over and quickly splash water into his face.
"Hey!" he laughs, spitting it out of his mouth. "What was that for?"
"I'm not sure," I confess mischievously. "But this is for snapping my bra against me while you were trying to take it off!"
He tries to move out of the way, but I lunge forward and tackle him into slightly deeper water. We both go in and are soaked within seconds. Water drips from my hair as I stagger up, laughing as Mal spits more water out of his mouth.
"Hey, that was an accident!" he protests with a laugh.
"Oh really?" I murmur suggestively, placing my hand on my hip.
"Yeah," he replies. A mischievous look crosses his face again. "But this isn't!"
Again, before I can react, he picks me up by my waist.
"Mal!" I shriek with laughter as he spins me around. "Put me down!"
"Whatever you say!" he chimes before turning to the deeper water and tossing me in. I scream as I fly through the air and go under. I'm impressed by the fact that I can still clearly see the moon, even from ten feet under water.
I swim back to the surface and flip my hair out of my face.
"You idiot!" I laugh as he smirks at me. I tread for a little while as he swims over to my side, then proceeds to splash me in the face.
"Hey!" I shriek in surprise. He dives below the surface before I can splash him back, and I feel him grab my waist.
"Gahh!" I exclaim again as he drags me towards the shore. Once we're in water shallow enough to stand, we both wipe the water out of our eyes.
"Much cooler," Mal smirks as I yank the ponytail out and wring water out of my hair.
"Yeah, yeah," I laugh as he takes my hand and we walk back up to shore. We use one of the blankets to dry off, and I do my best to get the water out of my hair.
I shiver as a breeze blows by, and Mal tosses me his sweatshirt. "Thanks," I smile as I pull it on over my head. He grabs the other blanket and drapes it around both of our shoulders before wrapping me in a warm hug. I rest my head on his chest, and he gently strokes my hair as we stare out at the water. I don't know what time it is, but by the way the sheer darkness is beginning to break a litle, I assume it's close to three in the morning.
After a few minutes, I tilt my head upwards and place a kiss on his cheek.
"You are so amazing," he breathes as I smile up at him.
"And you," I start as I shift slightly and drape my arms around his neck, "are perfect."
We eventually shift our positions so we're laying down and leaning against the slope. We spend the rest of the "night" talking and laughing with each other, exchanging banter-y compliments and kisses as we go along.
As the dawn begins to break, I turn to Mal.
"Thank you for bringing me out here," I say with a genuine smile. "It means a lot, and this place is amazing."
"You're welcome," he smiles back. "Thank you for wanting to, and for listening earlier. You're amazing."
I just smile as he sits up, and I follow. As the sun finally peeks above the horizon and an orange-and-pink glow is cast on everything, Mal turns to me.
"I love you, my beautiful princess," he mumbles as he brushes several strands of hair out of my face.
I reach over to kiss him gently, smiling at the feeling of his hand playing with my nearly-dry hair. "I love you, too, my handsome prince."