I
Lavender and Viridian
Almost a Year Ago
Boone tells her he loves her.
The words are terribly, terribly soft and at first she doesn’t hear him.
She pardons herself and asks him to repeat his words.
They sit by their lake, yes, their lake, and Boone has his fingers digging deep into the soil so Joan can’t see the muscles of his hands twitching.
But she can hear the tremble in his voice and if it weren’t for that, Boone would have changed the subject.
She refuses to let it go, however.
“What is it?” She begins to grow concerned because his face is turning several shades of red, and she is certain that cannot be a positive sign.
“Nothing, Miss Joaneveive.” He clears his throat and turns towards the lake, hoping the breeze will cool his cheeks.
She stares suspiciously at him before facing the water, too. Every once in a while she darts glances at him from the corner of her eye because she doesn’t believe for a second that “nothing” would reduce him to the state he is in now.
“Are you sure nothing is the matter?” she asks.
“I…” The words die in his mouth despite the lengths he and his friends went through to put them there in the first place.
“Did something happen?”
He murmurs his six-word response and somehow, Joan manages to catch it.
She flushes the same shade as him and the two are consumed by an extensive silence.
Joan doesn’t know how to respond. At least in words she doesn’t. So she takes a deep breath and scoots closer to him and settles into his arm, and eventually the hand belonging to that arm pulls out from the dirt and finds a place on her side.
(**A/N: Really tiny little fluffy filler. I may or may not shift this to another chapter. For the time being, I like how the layers of past and present are stacking up and will keep it this way :D
Oh and I wanted to ask what you think the six words were. Obviously it was synonymous to "I love you" but I'm curious how you guys think he worded it :3)
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The Whipping Tree
FantasyA beech tree stands creaking, groaning, but never moving. Even when the wind blows, the branches do not stir. It is barren of leaves, all days of the year. Some say it once was alive, that it basked viridian in the spring, offered shade in the summe...
