The North Star | COMPLETED ✔️

Chapter 46~ Patience

Chapter 46

Bard gathered more wood and formed a pile big enough to last the night, then we just... sat. Sat and talked until the night took full bloom, and the stars once again shone in the millions.

Bard stretched out on the ground across from me and told stories, about this place, his childhood, and that shadow of joy that lingered in the cabin echoed out with his voice. It was more words than I'd heard him say in the entire time I'd known him, and each time he smiled, my lips would curve to match his. Each booming laugh made my chest swell.

I stared at the sight of him painted in firelight.

I'm falling.

Bard rolled to face me, propped his head on his hand, and smiled that blinding smile. "When I was a kid, I remember Zeke dating this girl named Lisa for a while." He snorted. "She wanted a pot belly pig real bad, so Zeke got her one. Biggest, ugliest damn thing. Shit brown colored, nasty smelling." He wrinkled his nose.

I grinned.

"I was visiting him when he decided to do all this. He didn't plan at all. Just, let's go get a pig. So, we do. He's in the front seat. I'm in the back with a pig that really wants to be in the front. I'm holding the fucker, and it's squealing and kicking the shit out of me. The person that gave it to us sent a bag of dog food with it, so Zeke starts feeding it to get it to calm down. Now, at this point, this thing is wedged between the two front seats, half its body up front, half in the back. Guess which half I got?"

I barked a laugh, and he grinned at me.

"So, Zeke opens up this bag of dog food, and lets the pig have at it. Only problem is, no sooner is this thing eating it, it's shitting it out right beside me."

I couldn't help it. I snorted, covered my mouth, but the look on his face when he said it. I laughed. I laughed like I'd never laughed in my life. I clutched my stomach, doubled over.

Bard gave me a moment to calm myself, all the while watching me with a warm expression. "Then, we finally make it back, and he doesn't have a place for it. He stuck it on the screened in porch until he could figure something out, but the damn thing hated it." His chest rumbled. "It was squealing it's ass off. Going nuts. Didn't stop the whole night. By the next morning, this thing starts body-slamming the screen door."

He paused and lifted a brow. "Have you seen Zeke in the mornings yet?"

I remembered the day I'd shown up and he took me for pancakes. He'd looked ready to chew my head off before he figured out who I was, then he'd just looked ready to take a hand. I grimaced. "Oh, yeah. That was fun."

Bard rumbled another laugh. "Yeah, well this shit happened early as sin. Zeke's coffee wasn't done yet. I'm peeking out the back, watching this pig slam against the door, and the damn thing starts to break." He stopped and took a breath, as if fighting for composure. "So I go find him in the kitchen, and he won't even look at anybody until he's had his coffee. I say, 'Zeke, the pigs gonna get out', and he says, 'The pigs fine, Bard."

I laughed at his impression. "You make him sound like an angry toad."

Bard grinned. "I go back to watch the pig, and the damn thing almost has the door off it's hinges. I run back, 'Zeke! The pigs about to get out!' and he shouts back, 'The pigs fine, Bard! Leave me the hell alone until I've had my coffee!'"

I leaned forward, cheeks sore from smiling, but it didn't matter. I was absorbed. In him. In the setting. In how open he'd become since we got out here. It was as if he'd been set free. This was the Bard from the photos. This was who I would have met if his life hadn't been torn apart.