We sat on the ground with each other for a little while after, taking in what had just happened and what
he had just accepted each other as. I, for one, was happy, much happier than I had been in a while. But
Vic, however, looked kind of uneasy about the whole situation, and I had the terrible feeling he was
starting to regret what we had just become, even if it was barely anything at all.
"Hey, you okay?" I nudged him lightly with my elbow, willing him to look away from his dazed dream in
the treetops and look at me instead.
"Hm? Oh, y-yeah, fine." He said quietly. How was I supposed to believe that?
"Are you sure?" I asked, leaning in closer to him, doing my best to get him to make eye contact.
"Yeah, I'm sure." He said with a sigh. He didn't even sound upset or worried anymore, it was a dreamy
tone that almost sounded tired. He seemed so out of if sometimes; I would kill to find out what went on
in his head.
"Stop staring at me." He spoke again, the smallest hint of a smile playing at his lips. I blinked a couple of
times before looking away, realizing that I had, in fact, been staring at him. I couldn't help it though. I'm
sure if anyone else had pure perfection sitting right in front of them, they would take a good long look,
too.
"I can't help it, you're just too adorable." I teased, now purposely gaping at him with a grin.
"Kellin, stop it." He whined, finally turning to look at me with a pout.
"You're blushing." I commented, smirking at how I could pull such great reactions out of him so easily.
My smirk disappeared when he turned away from me, though.
"Aw, don't look away, it's cute." I tried to assure him.
"I'm not cute." He replied in a hushed tone, his blush creeping down his neck.
"You are though. Really, really cute." I persisted. He shook his head in disagreement, and I sighed, giving
up.
"Fine, whatever, I know I'm right, so I'm not going to argue with you." I said condescendingly. I just
didn't understand why he didn't see how gorgeous he actually was; he was absolutely breath taking, and
I just wished he would believe me and see that in himself.
Any more conversation between us fell short, but this time, it didn't feel as uncomfortable as any
previous silences had. He still seemed incredibly shy, which was why there was almost always lack of
speaking on his part, but he didn't seem afraid of me anymore, and I was thankful for that.
I'm not sure how long we stayed there, sitting together, but it must've been a while, because the sun
began to sneak away from the sky, and I was becoming more tired by the second. Eventually, I allowed
my eyes to slip closed, and I rested my head on Vic's shoulder, completely alright with falling asleep on
him in the woods, with no one to find us at least for the night.
As soon as I laid my head down, Vic tensed up, and after a few minutes of him squirming around, he
finally poked me in my side, obviously uncomfortable with our position, although I didn't see why.
"Kellin." He whispered, gently shaking me. When he didn't receive an answer, he tried again. "Kellin,
come on, we can't stay out here all night." He said worriedly, but I wasn't ready to leave our spot in
solitude. I let out a sound that was a whimper mixed with a whine, hoping that it was a strong enough
protest for him to stop messing with me.
"Seriously, Kel, come on." He said in a bit more of an annoyed tone, and I took that as my cue to finally
say something in return. "So you're calling me Kel, now?" I questioned in the same hushed tone,
opening my eyes and lifting my head to show off a smirk.
"Sorry, d-do you not want me to call you that?" he asked, his face distorted with worry and caution, but
it was one of the most adorable looks I had ever seen.
"No, it's fine. I like it." I assured him with a chuckle, never looking away from his eyes.
"Oh… okay." He sighed, looking away from me again. I hated how he would barely ever look my in the
eyes, but it was also just another thing that I secretly loved about him. He was so shy and odd, but it was
in such a cute, lovable way that he made awkwardness adorable.
"You're staring at me again." He commented, smirking a bit. I just laughed in response, it was almost
uncontrollable. He was just so damn attractive, it seemed impossible to look at him for less than two
minutes at a time.
"So… are we going now, or…" he said softly, eyes still dancing around the nature surrounding us.
I sighed, realizing that we should probably head inside, because it was getting dark rather quickly. The
temperature was dropping pretty fast, too, not that I would have minded holding a shivering Vic up
against my chest, though.
"Can I kiss you again before we go in front of other people?" I asked as sweetly as I could, batting my
eyelashes to make the unappealing offer seem at least a little convincing.
His blush returned as he nodded his head, and that was all the response I needed before I grinned and
pulled him towards me by a hand on the back of his neck. Our lips stayed connected for ten seconds at
the most, but I realized then that I enjoyed kissing him- probably a little too much - no matter how long
it lasted.
When we pulled away, he finally locked eyes with me, looking at me for a few seconds before a light
blush appeared on his tan skin and his gaze fell back down. I just shook my head, recognizing the heat on
his cheeks and grinning, before standing up and offering my hand to him to get up, as well. We made
our way back with our fingers intertwined, completely silent, but I didn't mind. Even if he was mute, I
would like him all the same.
"Kellin, where were you?" was the first "greeting" I was given as soon as I walked in with Vic at my side.
"Calm down, we were just outside." I stated as calmly as I could, a bit irritated about how she only asked
where I was, like Vic didn't even matter.
"Yeah, I checked there but I didn't see you. I told you, you're not supposed to go over the fence, Kellin!
It's there for a reason! What were you even doing? Did he bring you into the woods to harass you or
something? Did he hurt you?" she addressed the last couple of questions to Vic, staring him down with
wide eyes.
"Lucy! I thought we were over that! I don't do that kind of stuff anymore. And stop staring at him, you're
making him uncomfortable." I tacked on the last comment as I felt him tense up by the way Lucy was
eyeballing him.
Her gaze shifted to me as she shot me a glare, and was about to scold me on my sass before she glanced
down and her expression changed.
"Why are you two holding hands?" she asked confusedly. I glanced down and realized that Vic and I
were still holding hands. He began to let go, but I wasn't going to let Lucy get the best of him, so I
gripped his hand tighter. I wasn't sure how she would feel if she found out we were… well, whatever we
were, and she didn't know I was even gay, but to be honest, I just didn't want to lose the warmth of
hand in mine so easily.
"It's the new thing that teens are doing now, didn't you know?" I asked with a smirk, knowing I would be
told off about my snarky reply. Before she could open her mouth though, the warning bell for bed time
sounded, and she rolled her eyes at the ceiling before dropping the subject and sighing.
"Whatever, Kellin, just go to your room." She said, obviously irritated. I had barely ever talked to her
since Vic had gotten here, so I felt kind of bad for forcing all of my pent up annoyance on her all at once.
But with Vic around, I felt better than I had in a long time, so I took up on the rare good feelings
whenever I had the chance.
When we entered our room, we kind of just stood in the middle, both of us obviously not ready to part
with each other, even if it was only for a few hours.
"So um, time to go to sleep." I said, turning to him and trying to mask the disappointment in my voice.
He nodded, but didn't move.
"You're going to have to let go of my hand, Vic." I chuckled, smiling even wider when his familiar blush
returned and he dropped my hand from his tight grip that felt like he needed my hand in his to save his
life.
"S-sorry." He muttered, and shuffled his feet a bit. Fuck, he was beyond cute. Words couldn't even
describe him.
"It's fine, Vic." I giggled- yes, actually giggled. I bet you would giggle too if a God damn angel was acting
all adorable and shit just because he wanted to hold your hand.
"Okay, well, um, goodnight." He said quickly, turning out the lights and going to his bed. We both
changed into more suitable clothes in the dark, or in my case, just stripped to my boxers, for sleeping.
After we were both situated in our beds and the restless shifting and squirming of trying to get
comfortable stopped, I whisper a final, "Goodnight, Vic." Before I closed my eyes and welcomed sleep.
Vic's soft reply of, "Night, Kellin." Was the last thing I heard before slumber consumed me.
I was dreaming about something I can't recall when I heard it. At first I thought it was just part of my
dream, but when it sounded more than once, I realized that I should probably wake and find out where
it was coming from.
I opened my eyes and sat up in bed groggily, listening again for the slightest, quietest hint of whatever
had disturbed me from sleep. After a minute or two, right before I was about to shrug it off and fall back
into bed, there it was again.
The faintest, smallest, softest hint of a muffled sob.
I sat up straighter in my bed, waiting a bit longer to make sure I wasn't just imagining things in my dazed
state. A little while later, I heard it again. Someone was crying.
My first instinct was to wake up Vic and ask if he had heard it too, because I still didn't really trust my
mind in its sleepy state.
But when I looked over to Vic's bed, squinting to try and find his figure in the dark, I realized that his bed
was empty.