Eyes Outshine the Horizon Line

Chapter 9 - You Better Do It Soon

Nancy and Eddie settled into the rowboat as they were almost pushed into the water. That was when Nancy noticed the glints of red and yellow tails. Lucas and Mike were up to this, she realized. Nancy grinned and then looked back at him. The air and tension was now thick between them. Did she push too far?" He denied them from being a couple from the market woman. The only noise around them was the wind and it made Nancy feel as if she was drowning. She sighed and simply went back to watching him. Nancy couldn't believe she only viewed him as an object before, he never did that with her. Eddie treated her with seemingly more respect than he did with most. She was almost entranced at the way the oars cut through the water, the red moon reflecting on the surface, making the world around them glow in a purple hue.

"Do you want to try?" Eddie asked, gesturing to the oars. She nodded and slowly stood, hoping this would stop her from laser focusing on him, imagining how his lips would feel against hers. Nancy made the three steps to his side of the dingy before tripping on nothing on the second. His arms almost reflexively wrapped around her as she landed on his lap. Nancy ignored the warmth spreading to her belly as Eddie swallowed thickly. She moved off of him and settled beside him.

She watched the way the oar moved in the water, narrowingly missing Mike's face almost breaking the surface. Someone, probably Lucas or Erica, pulled him deeper in the lagoon. Eddie's hands brushed hers as they maneuvered towards the more open water behind a waterfall. The sky was clear now. The stars twinkled above them.

"Beautiful night." Eddie said, somehow breaking the tension that had fallen over them. "The sailors use the stars to navigate. I learned all the names of the constellations." Nancy craned her neck before leaning back up against the bow. He followed suit naturally as they were now shoulder to shoulder once again like they were the night before.

"I only ever seemed to listen to the things that interested me in my lessons." he chuckled to himself as he then pointed to the sky and the shapes within the stars. "That one's Orion, the hunter. There's Aries, the ram. That's Cassiopeia." Those names were far prettier than Nancy's own. She wished she could tell him. "Nancy" the air seemed to whisper. Eddie's brows knitted in confusion. He almost seemed to read her mind. She almost wished he could. "Maybe I can guess your name?" He asked. Nancy nodded, wondering what he would come up with. "Let's see. Alice?" Nancy shook her head. "No?" he thought more. "Or Virginia?" It came out more as a question. Nancy made a face at him. "Wrong again? Alright." He thought for a moment. "How about Natalia?" That was pretty but not hers. He was close, her name did begin with an N. "Ok so not as fancy." Then she put her hand over his mouth. "Fancy? Is that your name? Did your family hate you?" she knew he was joking as a smile ghosted her lips. "No." she mouthed. "Oh so it starts with an N." he said as she nodded, shocked that he understood that part. "Nancy." the air whispered again.

"Nancy?" he guessed as she smiled approvingly. "Fancy meeting you then Nancy." They both laughed. As he quieted he looked back at the stars above. "Nancy." he said again just above a whisper. "That's a beautiful name. As beautiful as the stars above." Nancy swore her heart melted a bit. They somehow got closer as if that was even possible. Their faces turned towards each other. Nancy noticed his brown eyes darken as they leaned towards each other. This was it. Nancy could almost see her siren song ripping from the shell on Vecna's neck and back to her throat. Every nerve ending felt as if it was on fire as their faces got closer. She wanted it, she really did, but what if somehow he was still haunted and enchanted by her song. The anxiety of it all caused her to sit up and pull away, moving back to her side of the boat. She immediately saw the disappointment on his face and kicked herself. "Maybe he does feel the same way." Nancy thought. Lightning bugs now danced in the air around them as fish glowed a bright blue beneath them. Eddie gasped and looked around in awe. A smile spread across his face as he looked at the twinkling lights above them and then the glow beneath. Then there was a splash of water as he looked down. Eddie rubbed his face with his sleeve as Nancy wiped away a bit he missed. Her thumb grazed his cheekbone. He laid his hand over hers. "Kiss. Kiss. Kiss." the air begged, more like her brother and friends urging them. But now the only sound she heard was her own heartbeat in her ears. Nancy was ready now. Nothing of what the merboys of the ocean used to call her mattered. They way both of their parental figures seemed to brush aside their child's wants. This is what they both wanted. Nothing else mattered now. They were only beginning to feel the brush of one another's breath as their boat suddenly capsized. Dunking them in the lagoon.

...

Nancy was the first to surface from the murky waters. She frantically searched for Eddie as he then came up too. The water was shallow enough for both of them to stand. He grabbed his hat that floated by and put it on his head, full of saltwater and all. Nancy grinned and stretched out her hand, helping him to the shoreline. Eddie then felt a wave of Deja vu as the red moonlight lit a similar silhouette of Nancy's hair to the one he vaguely remembered saving him except the one who saved him was silhouetted by the rising dawn. "Nancy?" he asked. She looked at him lovingly, no longer wanting to hide from him despite the figurative currents forcing them apart. He then shook his head. Nancy couldn't speak, of course it wasn't her. The girl who saved him had the most beautiful voice he had ever heard, almost as if she were a siren pulling him under with a wicked spell. "Let's get back to the carriage." He said climbing out. He removed his boots, pouring the water from them. He then took the pirate hat off his own head and put it on her's. The hat was a bit big on her head, the weight from the water pulling it down. Nancy followed his lead and pulled off her shoes as well. She followed him back to the carriage as she let him drive back at an increased speed.