Thunderstorms
Trudging through the brush, twigs clawed at my legs. I could hear the distant birds chirping overhead like a symphony, loud, rattling caws alerting others to the brewing storm.
Dark clouds drenched the forest in a haunting blue light, the trees bathing the forest floor with twisting fingers that reached for me with contorted limbs.
I walked behind Damien, holding a pile of branches that scratched at my arms.
I'd left my flannel back at camp, lying forgotten in the field, a decision I was greatly starting to regret now that the twigs were poking holes into my black t-shirt. I hope it didn't tear.
He kept piling them on, his feet kicking up leaves in the flood of brush that surrounded him.
The silence between us pulled at me, raking at my skin more than the twigs. I wanted to speak but no words seemed to form, only a jumble of incoherent sentences.
Okay, start with something small.
“How did you sleep?” I asked, bending to pick up a branch he had missed.
“I didn't,” he said flatly.
My mind wondered why. Knowing he built my bow from scratch, I wanted to ask if that was the reason, or if there was something on his mind. Staying up and building someone something you know is important to them, isnt exactly something one should take lightly. It was important, planned, and it terrified me…
The words tingled on my tongue, hesitance pooling in my belly and making my fingers itch to pick at the skin of my fingernails.
Don’t ask Samuel, don’t do it. He wont tell you so just shut up and-
“Why?” he asked.
My heart skipped in my chest, missing a beat completely in my shock. “Ah, I was just wondering” I stuttered. “You seem cranky”
He scoffed quietly as he bent down, picking up another branch before making his way over to me.
He stepped in front of me, and placed the branches in the pile. I avoided his eyes as he looked at me, not knowing how to respond with him so close. “So why didn’t you sleep?”
I realised as it left my mouth how terribly this could go. He knew that I knew he spent alot of time making that bow, and I was straight up asking him if that was why. If he battled through drowsiness to make me something I wanted. Something that would keep me safe. While, in his own way, simultaneously reassuring me that I was capable.
He stared at me, his eyes twisting in contemplation as I glanced up at him before looking away and pretending to search for more branches.
“I was on watch” he said, stepping back and turning away from me, craning his head to the forest floor in search of kindling.
We didn’t speak anymore. For thirty minutes we walked around silently, collecting sticks and other things we could use. The only sound being the crunch of our footsteps and the crack of overhead thunder.
He wouldn’t look at me, his eyes averting everytime they glimpsed my own. It was starting to grate on my nerves that he wouldn’t just come out with it, and say whatever was on his mind. It pissed me right off to watch him strut around with a chip on his shoulder without having the decency to explain it. To tell me what I’d done wrong so we could move on.
I tried to make light of his demeanour, trying to crack jokes to ease the tension but even those didn’t give me a moment with his eyes.
My body ached with the pressure of the branches, my shoulders heavy and my skin pinching. I didn’t know how far we’d walked but I wasn’t looking forward to carrying these all the way back, especially if it started to rain.
YOU ARE READING
WHERE TO NOW? (M/M) 18+
RomanceI was used to the quiet. The isolated life I had made for myself felt safe away from the greed and carnage the world left behind. The apocalypse wasn't supposed to happen, we all thought it was an earthquake - an event that wouldn't mean anything in...