Colorful Words

Waterfall

Scott woke up, mildly confused about when he had even fallen asleep. He turned his phone on to reveal that the time was 3:00 AM. He glanced around the room as he remembered Mitch had come over earlier. As his eyes adjusted he spotted him sleeping in a strange position on a recliner chair. He was scrunched into a tiny ball with no blankets and appeared to be cold. Scott stood up and stretched out before going over to where Mitch was laying and woke him up.

"Hey Mitch?"

The small boy squinted up at Scott who stood above him with a blanket loosely hanging around his shoulders.

"Oh, hey. What time is it?"

"It's 3 AM."

"Oh my god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stay here so late. I meant to leave soon after you feel asleep but must have fallen asleep myself. I'll leave now." He said as he scrambled to his feet.

"No, no Mitch. It's 3 AM. You can just stay here until a reasonable hour."

"Are you sure? I feel bad. I know you're sick and may want some time to chill alone so I totally understand if you would rather I left."

"I actually am feeling a lot better. I think it must have just been allergies or  something. But I think it's gonna be an early morning for me because I don't think I'm tired enough to go back to bed."

"Me either. What do you wanna do at such a wild hour?" Mitch joked.

"I'm feeling adventurous. How do you feel about going on a hike or something? I know a beautiful place."

"This girl is not much for hiking but I'm all for it if you are. You might have to carry me half the way." Mitch replied almost too seriously.

"It's really not an intense route. It'll be worth it, I promise."

"I guess I've probably agreed to worse things than going into the unfamiliar woods with a man I don't know very well." Mitch laughed, "so let's get going then."

"I'm gonna go shower and change my clothes. You're welcome to shower too."

Mitch looked a little worried before Scott spoke up again. "Oh shit not like.. Together. Oh god that sounded really bad." Scoff felt Lilac. Lilac meant he was embarrassed, and that he most definitely was. While Scott was pondering what he had said as his face turned a bright shade of red, Mitch laughed at him hysterically. It was a loud, melodic laugh. It caught Scott's attention. Red again. "You can borrow some clothes too, if you want. You probably don't wanna hike in what you're wearing. Doesn't seem like it'd be comfortable." He said after Mitch had settled down.

"Okay, thanks." Mitch replied, still hiccuping a laugh here and there.

After an hour or so they both had showered and were dressed. Mitch was wearing a pair of Scott's athletic shorts that he had to tie as tight as he could in order for them to stay up. They reached below his knees, hitting the top of his shins. The shirt he was borrowing was from a concert for an artist he had never heard of. It too was large on him so he tied the side in a knot like he recalled Kirstin doing back when they were in high school.

"You're like a little version of me!" Scott exclaimed beneath a chuckle.

Once they arrived to the park they realized just how dark it was. They had forgotten that it was only 4 AM and didn't realize it'd be hard to follow the path when they couldn't see it. Scott pulled out his phone and used the flashlight to light the path. He still tripped over branches a number of times regardless of the light. They soon arrived at their destination.

"It's so beautiful." Mitch said in amazement as he stared at the waterfall. "How did you find this? I've never heard of it."

"Well we went a little bit off the main path. The path we followed is probably just worn down from my feet," he laughed, "I decided to explore awhile back and this is what I discovered."

"It's amazing." Mitch sat down on a rock that hung over the water and Scott sat down beside him, placing his arm around Mitch. Mitch gave a slight smile and leaned into him.

"We're definitely gonna come here all the time." Mitch said.

"We can be lame and call it our spot. Just like in the movies."

"Sounds perfect." Mitch smiled.

As they sat there by the waterfall, watching the flowing beauty, all Scott felt was red. It was overwhelming how red he felt. Colors had never been this intense for him and he still hadn't quite figured out what it meant, but he knew he'd figure it out soon enough. The only thing he had to associate red with was Mitch.