The Twilight Twenty-Five ( )
Prompt: #3 (Haven)
Pen Name: Maddie-the-Muse
Pairing/Character(s): Paul Lahote / Rachel Black
Rating: K
Word Count: 362
Photo prompts can be found here: /round-eight/prompts
When they had bought the house north of town along the old highway, she had complained that it would be too isolated; that the quiet would kill her. She had left the reservation once to get away from the seclusion and the 'small town-ness', saying that it was slowly killing her on the inside. Now she seemed to thrive on the peace and quiet. He knew just where she'd be when he wasn't able to find her in the house when he got home from work.
Sure enough, when he stepped out on the front porch, there she was, lying on the faded yellow centre line of the old pot-hole ridden street in front of their house. When the state had changed the route of the highway, this stretch of road that had only a few acreages along it became basically abandoned. The new highway led into the subdivision behind their land, leaving this portion of road to go back to nature.
Paul watched the peaceful rise and fall of his wife's slow breaths, the quiet almost smile on her lips and the gentle flutter of her eyelashes as the dappled sunlight flitted across her closed eyes. He loved her more every time he looked at her. If he didn't know her better, he would say that she had fallen asleep in the middle of the road, but he knew from experience that she was just quietly listening to the world around her, and no matter how quiet and sneaky he was, he'd never be able to get to her without her knowing it.
He stepped out of his heavy work boots, leaving them on the porch as he padded barefoot down the steps and across the walkway to the pavement's edge. He folded his legs underneath him to sit cross legged and gently cradled her head in his lap, leaning down to place a soft kiss on her forehead.
They sat quietly together on the pavement, warm from the afternoon sun. She no longer craved the anonymity that a large city provided; she no longer wanted the hustle and bustle. She needed only this quiet haven they had secured for themselves.