Colors

Twenty Five - Epilogue

It was a week of walking before we found somewhere to settle.

It was a month before I spoke a word to anyone.

It was a year before I did what Alex told me to.

There was no way of knowing how correct any of those times were. They probably weren't right either. It didn't matter.

We continually set up camps as we walked, living off of what we had and what we could find before we came to a clearing one day, seeing the small gardens and huts that had been built. Everyone worried that it wasn't safe at first, so we waited until we had a clear view of the people living there and when we did, we knew that we had to at least communicate with them. They were all around our age, a few of them slightly older in their early twenties. There were four of them, two guys and two girls.

Stephen was from purple. He had the most beautiful voice and tattoos littered his arms which Mitch was fascinated by. Connor was from green. His cameras stopped working once he got out so he took to writing and drawing in the many notebooks he'd brought. Candice was from yellow. Her laugh was the most contagious thing in the world and I even caught myself laughing once. Maisie was pink. She was slightly younger than us, but she was smarter than us as well.

They let us live with them, making each of us promise to carry our own workload. A pretty simple request to which we happily obliged. It was still a while before I found reason to start speaking again, something that Kirstie was overjoyed about. I didn't mean to, I was just sitting with Stephen one night and he just spoke to me, not pressuring me to answer and no need to talk about my best friend. I spilled everything to him. From the moment I saw Mitch to that moment, sitting in front of a small campfire with blankets and hot tea. It was good to get it all off of my chest and from there I started to piece myself back together again.

It wasn't a year. It was probably at least four months though.

I sat and watched the sun set, laying under the stars to watch them appear in the sky. I hadn't missed a single sunset since he died, it was the least I could do for the boy who was such a big part of my life. Even when I couldn't stand to leave my room, I'd get up, do the dishes for the group, go watch the sky and then go to bed again.

Mitch came and sat beside me this time, not making a sound and just watching the colours of the sky turn from pastel pinks to deep blues that were nearly black.

"This was his wasn't it? Watching the sunset?" Mitch spoke up after the sun was gone.

"Yeah. Every night." I said softly, clearly giving away my emotions in my voice as Mitch reached over and laced his fingers with mine.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I should've known how to save him."

"It was too late, the damage was done."

"I was jealous of him."

"I know."

"You know?"

"You told me. You got drunk and told me that you didn't like how close we were." I sighed, not thinking about that conversation or about Mitch since Alex left. Okay, I definitely thought about Mitch, but only in the sense that I wanted to have him with me and to hold him and to see his little dimples and to feel his skin under my.... I looked at Mitch and ran my thumb over the back of his hand slowly.

"When he passed away I kept thinking about what I'd regret if I were to be shot tomorrow." I was about to interrupt but he kept talking. "I've been too scared to do this but I think that there's only one way to get past the fear."

"Mitch what are you–"

"Scott I want to be with you."

"What?" I coughed, my eyes probably bulging out of my sockets.

"I've never... I've never done this before so I don't really know how it works, you'll have to teach me and I'll probably let you down a lot but I am really trying, I promise." He paused "I mean... If you want this... God, I didn't even let you respond you probably don't love me like that anymore and I've probably missed my–"

I don't know what came over me, but my hands fisted in his shirt and I brought his small body to mine, pressing our lips together. He responded immediately, kissing me back until I came to my senses and pulled back slightly, noticing Mitch's closed eyes and lips following mine for a second.

We met eyes and he moved in to kiss me again, shifting into my lap as our lips met and we continued to kiss. The feeling sent shivers down my spine and set my skin on fire, and I tried not to smile too much as my eyes shut. I fought to remember everything. To remember the way he smelled, the feeling of the muscles under his lips, the way the palms of my hands settled on his waist, the shivers that ran down my spine when his hands ran through my hair.

I wanted to remember it all.

Most of all, I wanted to remember the way he looked when he pulled back. The way his cheeks looked, slightly flushed as he mirrored my blush. The way his lips were parted ever so slightly, not wanting to move them as not to lose the feeling of lips against one another. The way his body looked, his shoulders relaxed and his hands sliding to my neck calmly. I wanted to remember the way he looked at me when we were apart again. I reached out a hand to run it down his cheek, my purple skin against his.

"I love you." I said softly, careful not to break the moment, knowing that a wrong move could send it shattering to a million pieces.

"I love you too." He was gentle too and then his eyes. His eyes were on me and they were a lilac sky, his entire body purple as those magical eyes lit up with his grin.

"You're completely purple." He said softly, and burst out laughing, rolling back onto the grass as I watched in amusement, unable to believe how gorgeous this boy was.

"So are you..." I wasn't sure how he'd react but he rolled onto his stomach and propped himself up on his elbows.

"Good."

"Good."