Star Light Star Bright

Chapter 26

After another half hour or so, Chris’s stomach started to growl and he sat up, chuckling. I turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. “Way to ruin the motherent.” I teased, then felt my own stomach rumble.

“Your one to talk,” he retorted, as he stood up. He offered me a hand and helped me to my feet. Quickly, we made our way to the dwindling flames in the fire pit. I sat down in one of the chairs while Chris quickly rekindled the fire and brought it roaring back to life.

He picked something out of a bag next to his chair and handed me a metal skewer. “Ever roasted hot dogs?”

I shook my head in response and turned the skewer in my hand, looking it over. It looked very dangerous. The only thought that crossed my mind as I looked at it was if I were to be killed out there, I was probably holding the murder weapon in my hand. Chris stuck a hot dog on the pointy end and laughed at my expression.

“It is for more than just decoration.” He held his own in his hand and carefully held it out over the fire, making the hot dog on the end slowly turn a dark brown. He turned it slowly to even cook it, then pulled it back and  took a bite of it while it was still on the skewer.

I hesitantly held mine out as well and started to turn it carefully. When I pulled it back about a minute later, it was still the light tan color that it was when I stuck it in. I scowled as I turned it around checking ever inch of it for a mark of it being cooked, finding nothing.

Chris watched in amusement, before sticking his hand out and wrapping it around my own. The touch sent jolts of electricity through me, making my heart faster. He seemed to be unperturbed by the touch though and pulled my hand out so that the hot dog was squarely over the flame.

“The trick is, you have to hold it close as you can without catching it on fire.” He said calmly. I nodded in agreement, though I could care less about what he was saying. My hot dog could catch on fire and I probably wouldn’t notice, not while I was watching him. The way his lips moved as he spoke. The few strands of hair that fell into his face. The automatic jolt that raced through me at this touch. It was all new, so I enjoyed each motherent of it.

Chris looked up and caught my eye. He grinned coolly and pulled my hand back. “Didn’t you hear me?” he asked with a chuckle. “I said you hot dog’s ready.” My stomach rumbled again and I looked away embarrassed. I quickly took a bite of my hot dog, which was still hot from being roasted over the fire. I swallowed quickly and it seared my throat, making me wince, but I swallowed it none the less. Chris bit back a laugh as he stuck another hot dog into the fire.

He didn’t ever finish that hot dog. I don’t even remember what started it but in a few minutes we were both laughing hysterically. My empty skewer lay a few feet away from the fire on the ground, while his was getting dangerously close to the fire. He had been watching me do something when a quizzical look came over his face.

“Something’s really hot,” he murmured. I laughed and told him he was sitting next to a fire. When we looked, there was his hot dog, black as ash, burning precariously close to his hand. Chris dropped the skewer into the fire, with only about an inch hanging over the rocks. This brought another round of giggles from me as he bent down onto the ground trying to pull the metal stick from the fire. By this time the hot dog had shriveled and burned to a crisp. He tried to give me a reprimanding look, but only caused himself to laugh louder as well. I had to grip my stomach as I gasped for breath.

He rushed to an ice chest behind the chairs and grabbed at least three bottles of water, then dumped each one individually on the fire. This caused the fire to dwindle a great deal, but plumes of smoke rose from the ashy pit, making it hard to breath. Chris abandoned his attempt to grab his skewer and instead scooped me into his arms and bolted into the field, away from the smoke. In his gallant attempt to save me he ended up tripping over something in the tall grass and we both tumbled to the soft dirt. All it took was one raspy breath and we were both laughing again. We coughed and laughed, and coughed and laughed, and then coughed a few more times, until we were both gasping for breath and couldn’t laugh any more.

By this time the night had turned completely black and I could barely see my hand a few inches away from my face now that the fire was out. When we had fallen, Chris landed a few feet away, so it was impossible to see him.

“Sage?” He called out in a hoarse voice.

“I’m over here.” I said with another short laugh.

He crawled over to me and flopped down beside me, wrapping me in his arms. His face was close to mine, much closer than my hand had been, and I could see the few places, on his angular face, where the ashes stuck to his skin, turning it an off tan color. I reached my hand up unthinkingly, and brushed them away. They fell to the ground like discolored snowflakes and landed silently in the grass.

Chris reached up and held my hand to his cheek and I could feel the heat rising under his skin. Neither of us said anything. For a very long time the only noise was the crickets and the wind. I didn’t need to watch the stars above me. Every star in the heavens couldn’t amount to the way his eyes were sparkling.

I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up with the sunlight casting a faint glow across the field. The sun hadn’t risen above the tree line, but beams of light burst through the leaves.

There was a blanket draped across me, but that did nothing compared to the warmth that was being emitted from Chris, who lay with his arms wrapped tightly around my shoulders and  his stomach pressed to my side. His eyes were closed and his breathing was slow. I watched him carefully, taking in every detail of his calm face. I had never seen him this relaxed before and he looked so peaceful.

The breeze from the night before had stopped and everything was eerily still. I curled closer to Chris, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible to whatever might be lurking in the tree line. My movements jostled Chris enough to wake him up. He blinked a few times before remembering where he was and who was wrapped in his arms, but as soon as he remembered a grin spread across his face. “Morning,” he whispered.

“Morning.” I replied. He pulled one of his arms out from under me and rubbed his eye before stretching it out above his head.

I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest, letting out a deep breath. Chris sat up beside me. He leaned forward as if to wrap an arm around me, but pulled back again. “are you alright?”

“Yes.” I said with a smile that had a dreamy air to it. Chris chuckled and kissed my cheek quickly before standing up and walking over to the fire pit.

We spent the next hour and a half or so taking down the unused tent and packing everything else into his truck. At least half of that time was spent with me laugh while Chris nursed one of his many wounds, each of which was made better by a small kiss from me and a bandage. He climbed into his truck looking as if he had been attacked by a wild animal and was being held together by cheep band aids.

I climbed into the passenger seat and waited for him to flip around and head home, but he didn’t. I turned to him to ask him what was taking him so long and he leaned forward and very gently pressed his lips against mine. It was a very simple kiss. His hands stayed on the wheel where they had been before and neither of our lips parted, but it made me giddy all the same.

He leaned back with a grin on his face. Without saying anything he turned forward again and turned the car on, then turned around.