HER : through his memories

HIM : Landon James - chapter 2 (P1)

Slow inhales turned into quick ones and he seemed to notice as her shocked eyes met his misty ones mirroring hers in curiosity.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" That was the first ounce of emotion she had gotten out of him. Mallory would've clapped but her panic was rising

"W-where are we? I didn't tell my dad! I need to-" the foreign touch of his hands clasping down onto her shoulders sent shudders through the girl, sobering her up from the shock.

" the park is that way , I'll take you" Mallory looked him in the eyes to see if she could trust a boy she had just met. Though the young girl was smart enough to remember she was the one who had followed him, not him. Yet her fathers words rang through her head " don't trust any stranger, scream if you need to"

The boy found how hard she was thinking, he didn't know why, so he continued o look at her in question, while Mallory had her lips pursed and eyes wide open, looking at the ground behind him.

Until she finally met eyes with him; Mallory had come to a conclusion -- ' He does look weaker than me' her eyes sized the boy up, making him step back a bit with a pout --' If needed, I could hurt him how daddy taught me; For now, I'll have to trust him' so with a concluding huff, she nodded in agreement "lead the way!"

A simple nod is what it took from Mallory to have him holding her hand , taking her in the direction of the park.

Or so she hoped so.

With occasional huffs that came from him , as he remained evidently lost in his own world - cursing whatever thing that was bothering him, Mallory let the scenery take her eye : fall ; it's fall ; leaves wilting , the sun setting letting off the last of its warm hues before it'd distinguish behind the moon -
The distant crunches of branches underneath her caramel buckled shoes and his white trainers.\

The breeze washing by, enough to wash away the tension, enough to not leave a shiver-- just right. From the birds gliding through and the chirping of humming birds coming from trees-- Mallory had found a world she could loose herself into like the boy, until -

" Malory?"-"Malory.... hEllooo" a soft gasp escaped through Mallory , making her escape her escape of reality.

"Is that your dad" his voice came out rather frightened, a free hand of his scratched the back of his neck , making Mallory look in the direction his eyes were glued to with fear.

There stood Mallory's dad with either hand resting on his sides. The girls' eyes glided up to meet a scowl resting upon her fathers face, squinted eyes to accompany the scowl but with a glint of mischief to contrast his scary look.

Mallory seemed to catch onto her fathers antics quite quick, making her giggle . She was quite used to them.

Though the boy who had suddenly let go off of her hand, he seemed to have missed the glint. As something in him twitched .... his shoulders jerked as his head did. His eyes met the ground , not wanting to unfold the emotion playing in them right now. The boy took a step back and soon , Mallory's giggles fell silent; this was the second time she had found him so cautious.... so afraid.

This earned some raised eyebrows from Mallory. Slowly blinking in attention, not wanting to miss a clue that could explain his behaviour. Her father on the other hand: had begun his way over to them, the sound crunch of the playground sand under her Fathers' boots made the boy take another step back-- Mallory sensed-- ' he looks like he's about to run'--'maybe I should'

She gulped before she clasped her hand onto his.

Mallory's eyes which rested upon their clasped hand in contemplation, nervously looked up to see his face.

She looked up to meet wide awake grey eyes, she could see a storm brewing... quite literally-- it was almost as if a piece of a rain cloud had thundered upon his head, the foreboding cloud had seemed to spread out and share its shade atop of Mallory's head as well, silencing any surrounding distraction.

They both gulped in nervousness, mirroring a mist.

" Now , who is this young man " the thundering blankets covers were brought down by the interrogating voice of Mallory's Father.
The two turned their heads around in attention in a jolt, as did the boys hand escape out of Mallory's.

"What's your name" her father crouched down as he spoke.
The boy looked through his brows , hands clasped behind his back, fighting with each other in hopes of winning some composure.

"Go ahead" his eyes soon shifted from the fathers, back to Mallory " he's not that scary" Mallory encouraged, her hand signaling for him to look at her father.

But that wasn't the end of it. Mallory soon put a hand to cover her mouth to whisper to the boy "He just has that natural look of an ogre " her father had managed to hear that and spoke in defense "No ! No I don't ! " the childlike tone laced in the voice of a grown man... it pleasantly breezed the boy.
Their giggles made him feel like he was a part.... a part of something. 
This earned a smile out of him.

He soon stood straight, straightening his colored striped shirt in the process, clearing any wrinkle off the surface.
Clearing his throat to wipe any wrinkles in his speech.

"My name is , Landon, Landon James" Landon spoke with every ounce of will he had gathered in him from the short encounter with Mallory.
She had managed to rub off on him in a short while.

Landon found himself wanting to know what face Mallory would have made now, it was like flipping through the pages of his books and finding a new word in every line.
Just like finding a gold mine, he found his when he landed sight on her face : a color of honey dew sparkled as it dripped in her eyes shielded by her lashes. The shade of pink on her cheeks now a shade of red; a big smile as a cherry on top.
It was safe to say : he was satisfied with the word he had found in her face — happiness.

"That's quite a nice name"

"Landon! Landon come here" a lady exclaimed.

Mallory saw how the cloud that had just began to clear out of his eyes , it was back.

She blinked — looking at him turning his head in an instant.
She blinked again— taking a look at the woman.
Another blink — only to put two and two together : she had the face of Landon, the eyes of another. — "is that your mother?"  The question rolled out of her brain.

A quick nod from him indicated she was. Before any further conversation could be built , he had run off towards his mother.
Running off with answers Mallory had questions to.

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Author : Longer than expected , but I hope it was catchy !
See you next time 🙋