Title: Memorizing
Author: LovelyxIrony
Rating: K
Summary: Sometimes, Ennis can't fall asleep during his "fishing trips" with Jack. On those nights, he takes his time looking at the other man, memorizing every detail because he's never quite sure if Jack will come back.
The sky above was dark blue and littered with stars, the moon glowing faintly and spreading a pale light on the ground. Earlier, Jack had spent time pointing out each constellation he'd learned when he was helping his son study for some class. It had made Ennis want to roll his eyes, but he'd smiled and leaned his shoulder against Jack's, head bowed with his hat slightly over his eyes - just enjoying listening to the other man talk.
Eventually, Jack had seemed to catch on that Ennis wasn't really listening. In that second, he'd bent down and stared at Ennis with an almost offended look, which the other couldn't help but laugh at. That had resulted in a joking rough and tumble between them, and a heated session of kissing, with Jack sprawled on top of him with a slightly triumphant smirk. Now the dark haired cowboy was fast asleep, leaning against one of the logs they'd used as a seat with his head buried against Ennis's shoulder, snoring faintly.
It was annoying at first, but then Ennis had recalled the harmonica Jack had during their first time together, and decided that snoring was far better than having to listen to that damn thing.
With a shake of his head, Ennis shifted - feeling Jack's head roll a little on his shoulder - and then glanced down. He took in the dark hair and peaceful expression that had settled on Jack's face, reaching out a hand to brush his fingers over the other man's face, trying not to wake up Jack. He did this sometimes - just stared at Jack, trying to memorize all of him. It was only when the other cowboy was asleep, because Ennis didn't want to look like a girl fawning over her man. At the thought, he snorted and traced Jack's lips absentmindedly with his fingers, smiling slightly. A breath was sucked in sharply by Ennis as he watched the other man's lips lift up in a lazy smile, worried for a second that Jack was awake.
Then, with a slight grunt, Jack shifted more on top of Ennis.
He shifted Jack's weight on him for a moment, fingers running up into the dark hair for a moment. At this, the dark blue eyes Ennis knew so well flickered up and gazed up at him sleepily. The owner of those eyes sat up slightly (his shoulder still touching Ennis's chest), and yawned widely. "How long I been sleepin'?"
"Not that long." Ennis shrugged, shifting an arm to fling it over the back of the log. He watched as Jack's eyes darted to him again, a playful quality in them.
"Yeah? You been starin' that whole time?"
He tried to scowl, but smiled a bit instead. "Yeah, maybe."
Jack ground a fist into one eye, still watching Ennis with the other. "You do that a lot?"
Again, Ennis shrugged, the smile dropping a bit. "Yeah."
"Why?"
They stared at each other again - Jack's gaze curious, Ennis's just a little troubled. A second or two later, Ennis broke the eye contact and fiddled with his hands, staring up at the sky. "Just never really sure you'll come here, that's all."
He couldn't see Jack's face now, but could tell from his voice that he was stunned a bit. "Ennis." A pause, and then the other cleared his throat. "I'll always come here. Long as you want me."
Ennis looked down now, staring Jack straight in the eye, seeing that he meant it. He let the smile fall onto his lips again, nodding. "Yeah. I know."
R&R please and thank you!