Adoring Love

03

Love, it never dies. It never fades, it never goes away, so long as you hang onto it. Love can make you immortal.

Peter POV
I grab Liz by her hips and lift her onto her horse with ease. She gasps again with surprise and grabs onto the handle.
"You can sit side saddle if you feel more comfortable. Or I could get you some pants-" I stop talking as she maneuvers herself onto the horse with one leg on each side, causing her skirt to ride up higher on her legs.
"Okay. That works." I say. I turn to my horse and jump on, not using the foot holsters to step up.
"Wow. Manly man." Liz says, wearing my favorite sexy lopsided smile.
I walk Annie over to the hats and grab two. I place one on Liz's head and then one on my own.
"Hey there cowboy." she says flirtatiously. I laugh.
"Follow me." I tell her, directing Annie down the path that I take every time I ride. Liz follows behind me with ease.
"I thought you said you have never ridden before." I say suspiciously.
"I haven't." she says honestly.
"Well you're a natural."
We walk our horses side by side, in silence, finding joy in each other's presence. I see the sun begin to dip lower on the horizon and start to worry that we won't make it in time.
"I'm going to speed up. Are you ready?" I ask her. She nods. I cluck at the horse and gently push her using the stirrups. Annie begins to trot and I glance back to see Liz do the same. She eventually catches up with me.
"Do the same thing to make her go faster." I instruct Liz. She does as I say and Esme begins to lope. I push forward again and use the foot holsters to lift myself off of the horse to hover over her back as she runs.
I smile, watching Liz maneuver her body to adjust to the horse's run. Her hair flows behind her with the wind. I rush ahead of her, knowing that we have to stop soon.
"Slow down." I tell her.
"How?"
"Like this." I say, pulling back on the strains.
"Woah girl." I say, petting Annie's neck.
I swing myself off of the horse's back and lead her to a tree beside the river where she can drink. I tie the ropes around the tree and turn back toward Liz who is tying Esme to the tree beside mine. The horses begin to drink the water greedily.
I grab Liz's hand and lead her off of the path and into the woods.
"Where are we going?" she asks. I keep silent, wanting to show her instead of telling her.
The trees begin to thin and the last few rays of sun shine onto the cliff we stand on. Liz gasps at the sight.
"Wow. Peter this is beautiful." she says smiling. I let go of her hand and walk nearer to the edge of the cliff. I feel her grab my arm and I turn to look at her.
"What are you doing?" she asks with worry. I smile and pull her forward with me.
"Don't be scared. Do you trust me?" I ask. She glances at me and nods slightly. I stand on the very edge and close my eyes, her hand still in mine.
I feel the breeze blow through my hair and tug on my clothes. I feel myself begin to lose balance and quickly open my eyes.
I smile at the feeling of standing here. I look over at Liz whose eyes are still shut, a small smile on her face. She holds my hand with both of hers.
I pull her back and she gasps.
"You have to stop scaring me like that." she says, a hand on her heart.
I sit on the ground, my feet dangling off of the cliff. She sits beside me, releasing my hand.
"Watch." I say, pointing to the horizon where the sun is setting.
We watch in silence as the sky turns colors, from blue, to orange, to red, and finally, the dark night sky. The stars shine brightly out here due to the lack of city lights and street lamps. I peek over at Liz and see her gazing at the stars with awe.
"The sky is so tragically beautiful. A graveyard of stars." she whispers. "Yet I believe the moon understands what it means to be human."
"How do you mean?" I ask, wanting to hear more of her beautifully dark thinkings.
"It seems so uncertain. Alone. Created by imperfections. It understands."
She looks over at me with a thoughtful look in her eyes.
"Do you feel like the moon?" I ask. She nods slightly.
"Yes. I feel alone."
"You have me."
"I'm created by imperfections." she says.
"I don't see anything imperfect." I whisper, trying to memorize every crevice and curve of her beautiful face.
She slowly untucks her shirt and lifts it up, showing me the bruises and scars that have been kept hidden for so long. My hand instinctively reaches out and lightly touches the scars.
"Did he..."
She pulls her shirt back down and tucks it into her skirt.
"Your body is a museum of natural disasters. Can you grasp how stunning that is?" I ask her quietly.
"You didn't call." she says suddenly.
"I'm sorry?" I ask, not understanding.
"You never called me. You said we would stay in touch and we did for a bit. And next thing you know, ten years goes by and you never called. It's like you completely forgot about me. About Twilight." she says, sounding slightly hurt.
"Just because we don't talk doesn't mean I don't think about you. I'm just trying to distance myself because I know I can't have you." I admit. She looks at me with surprise and I blush, realizing what I just said.
"Maybe we should head back now." I said, trying to change the subject.
I stand up and help her up and onto her horse.