lovely.

II

The walk to the friend's usual spot in the woods is long, it always seemed shorter when they're together however. It was still raining, it would begin to come down harder any moment now.

"Do you think lighting is coming?" Belle was stepping over fallen branches.

"Of course. Always does, it seems." Richie was nonchalant, looking up at the sky.

"How do you mean?" Belle slowed her pace.

"Exactly what I said, it seems like it always does." Richie repeated.

"Is that supposed to be a figure of speech or something?" Belle showcased her confusion.

"I'm not sure. Just... it doesn't rain often, and when it does, there's always thunder and lightning." He attempted to explain.

"Could be a figure of speech, depends how you interpret it." Belle tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know, like, something dramatic." Belle gestured her hands in such a way.

"Hm. Like how all good things are somehow ruined in the end?" Richie pondered.

"Well. That's one way to look at it. Not a very happy one though Rich." Belle looked up at him.

"It's the first thing I thought of."

It seemed like they could go on about one thing for hours until Richie turned it depressing.

"Well, if it does. We will watch it, and you can tell me what you think then." Belle suggested, trying to lighten the mood.

Richie nodded. He liked to think, overthink, about everything. Despite his liking of it, he couldn't help it, the overwhelming parts at least.

"You'd make a good writer." Belle brought up suddenly.

"You think?" Richie perked up.

"Yeah, I mean you think about everything, like beyond the words. In between the lines." Belle wasn't so good with words herself.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." Richie shot her a smile.

"That's how I intended it, so, good." She smiled right back.

The friends came to a stop when they spotted their childhood treehouse. Richie's dad built it for them before he left. He never knew where he went, neither did his mom.

"Ladies first." Richie lifted his hand.

Belle began to climb the escalating ladder. When she was more than halfway up, Richie began climbing. Every time he climbed this exact ladder, he thought about the work gone into it, how his dad put in all this effort to love him and make him happy, and now he's gone. He chose to leave.

Richie reached the top, sliding in.

"You're overthinking again, aren't you?" Belle scooted toward him.

"How do you know?" He furrowed his brow.

"You have a certain look." She said focusing on his deep brown eyes.

"I-I do?"

"Yes." She quickly replied.

"Hm." He was going to think about it now.

"You know.." Belle started. She caught his attention, he glanced up and met her gaze.

"Sometimes when you're talking, it's like I hear a second voice." She knew he was going to ask questions, so she added. "Like, you say things, and then your face will tell me something to add onto it. I don't know, maybe.. that's weird but, I've gotten pretty good at reading you."

"That's- ... I like that." He found himself smiling.

"I feel like if you were to talk more, people would see what I see. You know, behind all the flies and cobwebs in that head of yours." She added.

"Are you suggesting I talk to people... other than you?"

"No. I'm saying no one sees the you that I see." Belle carefully explained.

Richie examined her face while she told him these things. He enjoyed being talked about in this manner, only by Belle though.

"I think I might be a mind reader." Belle slightly changed the subject.

"Oh really?" Richie smirked.

"Yeah!" She broke into laughter.

"Hm, I wouldn't be too sure on that one." Richie stated in a joking matter.

"Well those cobwebs and flies just flew out." She joked, referring to earlier.

"Maybe you are, you're smarter than you think." Richie looked at her, more serious than before.

Belle didn't know what to say. So she just grinned at him, playing with a piece of loose wood.

There were a few moments they felt obligated to silence, maybe for the both of them to analyze their conversation.

"If the world ever ends in our lifetime, can we come here?" Richie sat up when the idea popped in his head.

"Duh." Belle sat up as well.

"What makes you think the world is gonna end?" She turned to lie on her stomach, her hands cupping her face.

"Well... just a thought." He seemed unsure.

"If you think about it, there are few differences between living and dying. Other than the obvious." He was overthinking yet again. He kept changing the subject.

Belle paused to really think about what to say. She didn't fully disagree, but she didn't want him to think death was a good answer.

"Living... I think it means you're strong, and... you're trying." She managed.

"Trying..." Richie repeated.

"That's all we have to do in this life, is try." Belle added.

"That's a fair point." Richie agreed.

There was more silence, both of them were pondering now.

"Rich, why do you talk about death so much?" Belle tried to make a heavy subject sound light.

He swallowed, trying to think of an answer to not upset her. "It's inevitable. It's going to happen."

"But it doesn't have to... for a long time. Not for you, not if I can help it."

"Belle. I don't mean to put pressure on you but, you are literally the only reason I'm alive. The reason I'm trying. No one else seems to care." He seemed to take a breath every few words.

She looked over to him, she couldn't find the words to describe his expression. Maybe, sad? Worried? Relieved?

"I'm glad I can be that for you." She was still reading his face. "Really, I am."

She didn't think she had said enough. "You are lovely, Rich."

"Thank you Belle. As are you." He was blushing a bit.

"And Im going to make you believe you are... lovely." She was happy he was trying.