We sat on opposite sides of the tree house, eyeing one another from time to time. It seemed like an awkward situation, but to be honest, it was far from it.
"Do you have a lighter?" I asked aloud, staring at him as he slowly nodded. We both reached into our pockets, fishing out different objects with similar uses. He walked the lighter over to me, hesitating before finally deciding on claiming a seat beside me. I winked as a 'thank you', shaking my otherwise unopened pack of Marlboro's.
"Why do people do that?" He wondered, earning a snicker from me. Curiously staring at me, he rolled his shoulders.
"Gotta wake up the cancer, buddy boy." He rolled his eyes, hiding a smile behind his hand. I silently lit up a cigarette, inhaling the smoke and letting it burn my throat and lungs.
We sat in a comfortable silence, slowly becoming aware of each other's existence.
It was odd. As the daughter of a man who runs a deadly business, I was always surrounded by constant noise. Whether that had been that sound of people bickering over prices and weights, or girls and sex and an unhealthy amount of drunk old men paying for said sex. I never realised just how badly I needed a few moments of a calm, tranquil environment to soothe my mind.
"Aria." I snapped my attention to Tyler, who was hovering above me. "I said, it's almost seven. We should get going." I slowly nodded, scrambling to my feet before putting out my bud on the wooden wall, leaving behind a small, dark brown circle of ash.
"Yeah. Let's do that."
