Hands to Myself ➰ M.D| ✓

Milestones

The sun was beginning to set along the horizon, casting an orange glow against the sandy white beach. Camille was sitting on a towel, watching the orb of light and fire descend into the ocean, the evening breeze tousled her hair and slid along her skin, making her shiver and crawl with goosebumps. Maddie had been gone for two hours, and at first, Camille suspected that she may have gotten lost. But Maddie knew the city of Bali almost as well as Camille did; then again, Maddie would never admit to needing help in a sticky situation. She was stubborn like that.

She had her music in her ears, quietly listening to Skinny Love. She was so immersed in this peace of quiet, silence was a rarity to her. She didn't realize that she had company until she felt something brush against her. She jumped and pulled out her music, and her eyes went wide when she saw who it was.

"You shouldn't of come," she said. Matthew sat down in the sand with her, placing his undone shoes next to him.

"Well, let's see: Cold, rainy, wet New York city with a bunch of little rug-rats running around, or a tropical island when my girlfriend lives. Which one sounds better to you?" he asked with a smirk. Camille couldn't help but smile, and she lightly shoved him.

"I hate you,"

"You love me,"

The sun disappeared into the ocean, leaving its bright rays peaking out over the horizon. The sky was luminous shades of pinks, purples, oranges and reds. Matthew had never seen such a beautiful sky, only on the rare occasion on his family vacations. He went to go visit his sister while she was shooting Percy Jackson in Vancouver, that was one of the only other times he'd seen a sunset like this.

"Many Buddhists believed that color was the easiest way to identify emotions. If you sit in silence long enough, the colors can change your mood entirely," she chuckled, "they are very clever people,"

Matthew smiled at her, but she wasn't looking back. She had closed her eyes again, letting the silence surround them both. She looked absolutely beautiful; the rays of the sunset soaked her skin in a rich golden hue, and her hair was tied up into a messy bun. Her posture was perfect, her legs were folded together, and she supported herself on her hands. Mediation was a very important part of Camille's world, she thought of it quite highly. After she had a fight with Pierson, she sit quietly and think to herself, letting her anger drain away, and once again choking down her pride to ask for forgiveness.

Never again.

"Camille, what happened?" Matthew asked. Camille opened her eyes, she absolutely dreaded this. This wasn't his problem, he didn't have to know.

She turned to him, taking a deep breath to stop herself from crying, "My mother has stomach cancer and she didn't tell me until now," she said.

Matthew wasn't sure what to say. What do you say when somebody lays a piece of information like that on you. Sorry? Sorry for what, exactly? He never understood why people said that in the case of a tragedy, but he said it anyway.

"I'm so sorry," Camille huffed, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear, "Is she going to..." he couldn't bare to finish that sentence.

"I don't know. She has a lot work to do. I don't know how we're going to afford all these medical bills," she said.

"Cam, if it's money, I can help you," he said. She shook her head.

"I don't want your money; I can do this on my own, Matthew," she replied.

"I know that you can. But the fact is that you don't have to," he said.

"You don't understand. My mother may be psycho, but she's very proud. If she found out that somebody else was making deposits on her bills, then she--" Matthew kissed her before she could finish. She immediately forgot what she was talking about and let his touch consume her.