The ground is muddy and cold as Peaches sits me down next to my burrow. I scurry in carefully so I don't knock my leg on anything. My eyes adjust quickly and I look around. After a few seconds I realize I can't find it. It's not in here! Where is it!?
"Oh!" Peaches cries from up above. I dig up quickly, struggling with my leg.
"What's wrong!?" I shout as my head pokes through the dirt.
"Nothing." Shira says, rolling here eyes at my concern. I look over at Peaches and see that she's holding her necklace in her trunk. It's damaged but, for the most part, still in one piece. I sigh with relief.
"Is this what you were so anxious to get?" She asks, her eyes beaming.
"Yes. I made it for you." I say quietly. She puts it in my hand and kneels down; I loop the tattered necklace around her neck. I step back and stare at her. She looks at me excitedly, and rushes over to a mud puddle to see for herself.
She gazes into the pond with a somewhat blank expression for what feels like forever. Then I see it- a single tear fall off the curve of her trunk, dripping into that crappy puddle. I'm crushed; I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack and die right here. But then, slowly, silently Peaches cracks a smile. Not a big one, just a little grin, but it's so much more than enough. I try to run to her, which results in me falling flat on my face. My leg is searing as Peaches picks me up. It hurts, but with a strange new flavor, like a bunch of sharp needles resting on it. Not quite puncturing the skin, but it feels like they might if I move it even slightly.
"You've gotta stop trying to walk on that leg of yours." Peaches says playfully.
"So... you... like it?" I ask.
Just then she kisses me on the cheek. "I love it."
"Peaches, I... I... I, I, I..." I can't say it! I want to so badly, but I can't! Why!? Why can't I say it!? Louis, you shy, over-complicating, inconsiderate jerk! Tell Her! Now! Ahhh!
"Shhhh... Calm down Louis. I know." Peaches says sweetly, her voice like honeysuckle.
"Aw!" Shira says, and I glance over at her, blushing. She's leaning up against Diego romantically. I grin a little, but I kind of just want to cry.
Peaches pulls me into a hug. I announce, "I'm going to cry now, and I haven't the slightest idea why." Peaches hugs me tighter. I laugh, or more hiccup, and feel little waterways run down my face and into Peaches' fur. I burry my face into her, wrapping my arms around her trunk. She smells like flowers and rain.
I could get lost in this, just sitting here forever. Just thinking, just breathing, just being.
Peaches is still hugging me, but I hear Diego whine.
He clears his throat and says, "Guys, we should probably get back to the cave now."
"Just one more minute?" Peaches asks; she strokes my head lightly and I smile ear-to-ear.
"Fine, but we need to get goi- Ow! What the!?" An acorn flies through the air and nails Diego on the nose. There's a little chuckle and Diego spins around angrily and confused, looking for whoever threw the acorn. Another one speeds out of a bush towards Diego, but he sees it and jumps out of the way, tripping on a tree root and summersaulting to the ground. Whatever it is laughs hysterically at the show. Diego gets up; furiously, he roars and tackles the bush. He comes back holding a terrified, but surprisingly unharmed, possum in his mouth. Diego dumps him on the ground, his longer-than-average, white fur clumping with dirt and spit. He looks around at all of us nervously through his icy blue eyes. I'd guess he's no older than Peaches' uncles. Diego is glaring at him; he makes a pathetic whimper and covers his face.
"What's the big idea, kid!?" Diego shouts at him. He whimpers and starts crying. I feel a little bad for him; he was just having some fun. Diego growls at him ferociously, and he shrieks and his face gets even paler.
"Diego, stop it." I hear myself say. Without even noticing, I've started climbing down off Peaches. I slide down her trunk and land directly on my bad leg. I groan with pain but hop over to the possum. I sit down next to him and sling one arm on his shoulders, and I stoke his head with my free hand the same way Peaches did to me. Copying her in an attempt to calm him down. Wow, I'm not very good at this whole 'people' thing, am I?
"It's okay." I try to say in that voice Peaches said she likes. "We're not gunna hurt you."
He smiles at me sheepishly, still crying. "Promise?" He asks.
"Promise." I reply, leaning toward him to look him in the eye. For a half-second, something rushes through his head. He stares into my eyes and slowly leans forward, then he snaps out of his daze and throws his arms around me. I'm a bit surprised, but I put my arms around him, too.
He pulls away abruptly after a few long seconds and wipes the snot from his sniffling nose, tears still staining his face. He takes a long breathe then stares at me intently.
"Thank you." He says in a way that sends shivers down my spine.
"No problem." I say, drawing out the last syllable in a vain attempt to avoid small talk. Small talk has to be the very bane of my existence; I can't carry out a half-way decent or productive conversation to save my life. I always ask big, personal questions that have the possibility of taking hours of explanation to answer in any coherent way.
"What's your name?" He asks.
I give a half-hearted, "Louis. What's yours?" I'm too busy doubting myself to think right now. I sit up straight and listen attentively; even though I didn't ask with much enthusiasm, I'm still curious to know.
"Ja- James." He responds, "My name's James."
"I'd hate to interrupt... whatever it is that's going on between you two, but we have got to get going." Diego says. He laughs as we jump away from each other, embarrassed and blushing.
"Here," Peaches says, letting us climb on her trunk, "you can ride on my back."
We get situated and start walking back toward the cave. The sun is up in the sky now, and the fog has almost completely dissipated.
"So," I say to James, "Where does your family live? I'm sure we could make a detour and drop you off there."
"Well... I kinda don't... have... a family." He says solemnly.
"Oh, uh... sorry..." I say. What were you honestly expecting, Louis? That it would all just be simple for once?
"It's fine. You didn't know." He pats me on the back, then proceeds to try to shake the pain out of his hand from slapping me right on my spines.
I snicker and say, "If it makes you feel any better, neither do I."
He smiles at me strangely, like he's thinking about something that hurts far more than my spines but is trying not to show it.
"You're welcome to come back with us, James." Peaches suggests.
"Yeah," Diego says sarcastically, "just what we need- another annoying possum." James frowns a little, disappointed.
"He's kidding." Shira says, and James smiles with that weird smile again.
"Sure I was." Diego says, "Now let's get out of here."
I lay down on my stomach and spread my arms out, hugging as much of Peaches as I can. Why couldn't I have just told her? I mouth the words 'I love you' into her back and tilt my head to the side to see James. He's got a look in his eye that I'd probably get if I lost Peaches. I wonder what he's lost, and we start walking home with our strange new friend.
Well that was unexpected... This chapter was supposed to be when Louis actually told her, but then this happened. Hmm... I still like it, though. Anyway, this chapter's song is "Collide" by Howie Day.