Fade into you

Chapter 8

Songs I listened to while writing :

Your woman, by White Town
Bobcaygeon, by The tragically Hip
Fade into you, by Mazzy Star

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Lottie's lips were softer than anything Nat had ever touched. They were softer than her eyes, softer than her hair, softer than her hands. Nat struggled not to gasp as their lips crashed. How had she lived until now? Oxygen couldn't have possibly been enough.

The sound of the waves crashing.

Lottie's cheek under her palm.

The sand wrapping itself all around her legs.

Lottie being an inch behind her closed eyelids.

The wind tangling their hair together.

Lottie's lower lip resting on her tongue.

She didn't want this to end. What would happen once they broke away? What would happen once their eyes would meet again, after they had taken a step they could never erase? A part of Nat was scared.

But Lottie wasn't scary. No. Lottie could never be scary. Their eyes met, and Lottie's gaze was softer than the clouds. She smiled, and kissed Nat's forehead. Nat hadn't noticed, but during their rather lengthy kissing session, she had found herself completely embraced by Lottie. Her head rested in the girl's shoulder, while she could her feel arms surrounding her.

"Wow." Lottie said, looking at the waves, finally breaking off the silence.

"Wow." Nat replied. They laughed.

"Wow." Was all either of them could utter for several minutes.

Nat closed her eyes, and fully absorbed the moment. She wasn't going to let her anxious thoughts resurface. Not now, not in Lottie's arms. Not after they had kissed.

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They made more sand castles than they could count. They water was close to freezing, as it was already the end of November, so they limited themselves to use it as a solidified for their architectural projects.

Lottie's purple mermaid kingdom was arguably better. She had taken the time to find every sized shells, posing them in regularly spaced rows that could serve as trails between her castles. Nat, on the blue mermaid side, had used sticks and rocks to put on top of her most important buildings.

They didn't talk a lot, but everytime they passed the bucket and their hands brushed, a little smile appeared on both their faces. They knew.

They played until their nails became black, and their knees hurt from the sand. They played until the sun was long gone and all the light from the sky had vanished. They played the way they had played all those years ago. Together. As best friends, as first friends.

As more than friends?

Nat's stolen glances got noticed by Lottie every single time. Or perhaps was Lottie looking first? There was no right answer. All a stranger would've seen was two girls who looked at each a little too often.

Nat wrote Lottie's name with her pebbles. Lottie wrote Nat's name with shells. Both looked beautiful. They left before the waves could wash away any proof of them having ever been there.

In Nat's mind, their name was still written in the sand, side by side, and nothing could ever change that.

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They were sitting in the truck of Lottie's car, wrapped under Natalie's blankets, the stars in the sky their only witness.

The drive back to Lottie's house had been... something. Nat couldn't help but stare at Lottie the whole way, to the point she had gotten sick and they had to stop for a good fifteen minutes. She had never been more embarrassed, but Lottie had called her cute, so maybe things weren't so bad.