online | dorbyn

EIGHT

"and you're on the floor because...?"

daniel slowly came up to his feet. his eyes squinted from the light wind, blowing small sand particles around his face. the sun was hidden from the thick grey clouds. he was on a hill overlooking the sea. the ground was soft, so it must have rained. and it'll probably rain again from the looks of it.

"you okay, daniel? you were just laying there."

"i'm okay." he recognized the voice, but his head wouldn't turn to look. he was just looking out to the horizon. "tell me a fact?" he asked before even registering what he said.

"okay." he looked in the direction that daniel was looking. "did you know that algae produces it's own sunscreen?'

a small laugh bubbled out of him. "what?"

"i'm serious! too much sunlight can damage the algae that live inside coral in shallow water. in order to protect itself, the algae has to create a protein that act like a sunscreen. but that's kinda a lame fact. let me think of another one."

"okay." he hummed. he tried looking at him again, but it was like his neck was paralyzed. he could only look at the rough waters below them.

"april 2nd, 2018. the last day you came here with your mom."

daniel frowned. that was not a fact that he wanted to hear.

"she was slowly starting to forget more and more about you, your family, your dad. he took it the worse, right? throwing himself into work and then turning to the alcohol."

daniel watched as the whales in the distance flung themselves out of the ocean and back into the dark waters. "i want a fact. this isn't a fact."

"technically it is." he shrugged. "but if you insist." he moved behind daniel, setting his hands on his hips. he whispered against his ear, "most of the planet is dark because of the ocean. oceans have an average depth of 12,100 feet and because light waves can only penetrate 330 feet of water-"

"you just know these numbers off the top of your head?"

"yes." he knocked his nose against daniel's earlobe. "because the ocean is the majority of our planet, it's mostly dark." he trailed his hand up against his throat and to his chin, lifting his head up to the sky and off from the water. "darker than the clouds. the clouds are pretty, aren't they?"

daniel shook his head. "not anymore. there are no pretty clouds. rain doesn't calm me like it once did. i prefer sunshine. makes me forget."

"forget about what?"

"well. i guess saying forget isn't the best word... but, i'd like to forget that my mom had alzheimer's. that she died alone because she couldn't remember us. that she was scared of us." he turned around, facing corbyn. the brunette had an inch or two on him, but he still felt so small. "i don't want to forget you.. or the boys. i want to forget that my mom died. that's it." he knocked their heads together.

"and if we run away? live in a little cottage on the hillside, away from people. just us."

daniel's fingertips grazed his cheeks. "with you? i'd love nothing more."

corbyn's grin was blinding. daniel knew this wasn't real. but he has corbyn here, their bodies so close to each other it's nearly suffocating. he was obsessed with it all.

daniel turned back around, watching the waves crashing onto the shore. "i think my mom would've liked you." he sighed. "another fact?"

corbyn kissed his shoulder. "about what?"