Everlasting Summers 2p! FACE x Reader

Chapter 2

 "The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, at the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of the Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from a balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of Autumn, but the first week of August is motionless and hot. It is curiously silent too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lighting, but it quivers all alone. There is no thunder, no relieving rain. These are strange and breathless days, when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after."

Babbit, Natalie. "Tuck Everlasting"

~*~

The heat of the summer had set in early morning, readying the world for a scolding day. The air was thick and hard to swallow, the promise of rain that would never come. People would rise early and stay up late, but even the night offered little resistance to the heat. Indoors or outside, it all felt the same.

Quaint and quiet, Lilac Run was not a place one generally remembered. The flowers it was named after decorated much of the town, so much that living there one could easily get sick of them and the color itself. But with the violets rose daisies and buttercups and wildflowers to color every blank field. Trees rose many feet off the ground, creating a scenery of pines, ashes, oaks and ferns that danced with one another until the few trees created a great a forest. Residents claim of the secrets the forest holds, of the wonders that could be found in the vastness beyond civilization. The land had an owner, yet children were discouraged from going there. Grandmothers warned there children of the trickery those trees hid. Fathers and sons refused to cut down the trees of the wood. Mothers would weep tears when their babes, too young to understand, wondered into the woods never to return. Roads winded around the wood, and farms were built as too watch the woods at all times. Fences, higher than a man could reach, circled property that watched the woods. Though a road stood between them, the fear of the unknown was always there.

One such house was that of the (L/N)'s. The fence always bothered the one daughter that lived there, with her mother and grandmother. It separated her from the wide world, from the curious creatures of the forest and the bustle of the city. It separated her from a world unknown and untamed. But most of all, it separated her from her unwinding fate.

~*~

The morning heat had settled to an unpleasant and stuffy afternoon. With the heat came attitude, and the women of the (L/N) home were all subject to it. The stuffy outside settled in and caught _____ in such a way that she became rather unpleasant and argumentative. Confrontation was bound to happen; staying coped up in her room could not stop it, for it came to find her in the form of her mother.

"_____, what are you doing in bed still!" her shrill voice caused the girl to instantly rise and give a squeal of surprise herself.

"I might ask you why you gave me such a rude awakening!" you countered, only calming enough to fight with your mother. "And besides, sleeping is the only escape of this horrible heat, mother." You frowned at her, daring her to speak again.

"Sleeping until 12 in the afternoon is still unacceptable." Your mother sent you an even fiercer look. "You must get up and out of this room."

"Fine, then leave!" You yelled, pointing to the door. Your mother gave you one last look before complying and leaving your room. Flustered, you stood from your bed and muttered as you began to dress for the day.

"Who does she think she is...?" You growled tossing your dirty clothing into the hamper. "I will wake up when I very well please..." You pulled on a red shirt and stepped into your denim jumper, fixing the straps as well. "Honestly its not like I have much better to do!" You frowned pulling up your white knee high socks and shoes afterwords. "If she wishes me out of my room, then out I shall go!" After declaring that, you marched out of your room and quietly slipped out the door and out of the fence around your house.

You were faced with the woods across your house. The large, breathing mass of unknown seemed to beckon you in. That, tied with your displeasure at your mother at the moment drove you to enter the forest you had been told for years to avoid.

Once you set a single foot in, a force compelled you to take off running. And so you did, far away from your mother and grandmother and their ridiculous rules. They had no clue you even left. The forest welcomed you like an old friend, and you felt safe surrounded by its vivid greens and bird songs. You soon stopped walking to better take in the world around you. The Lilacs were past their blooming in town, but here in the wilderness some of they're bright colors still survived. Peony's and Juneberry's grew in compilation with the great pines. Temperate Oaks and ashes stretched for the last of the hot sun that was soon to take its leave. The forest was much cooler than the surrounding area, but you soon found your self parched and hungry as well.

"So perhaps a grand get away wasn't so wise..." You sighed, looking around you again. "I'm not returning anytime soon though, suits my mother right..." You huffed, before catching the sound of running water. "My luck may have just gotten better, though." You grinned, heading that direction.

You tried to be as quiet as possible, pinpointing the sound of the water. Following the sound, you came across a very small clearing. Pondarosa pines circled around a single weeping willow. Yet this willow was the largest and most beautiful you had ever seen. Tiny green leaves like little bows decorated the thin branches, and from where you stood you could nearly touch the tree. Closer to its trunk, a small pond sat. It thrived with cattails and lily pads, but you had never seen water so clear in your life. You salivated just looking at it, and went closer to inspect its backs.

Looking in, you could see yourself as if looking in a mirror. Other than being a little flushed from running beforehand, you seemed fine. And the water looked very appetizing too, as if it was begging you to drink it. Just before you stuck you cupped hands into the crystalline water below, a panicked voice called out to you and the sound of horses could be heard.

"What the hell are you doing?" You were rudely pulled back by your hair and faced with two men you had never met, nor ever seen in your life.

"Might I ask you the same?" You scowled, retrofiring your hair back from the grasp of the man closest to you. "I was simply trying to get a drink from this adorable spring!"

"You... wouldn't want to do that." The man frowned and looked away from you to his companion, who just shrugged. "Listen, just don't, okay? You'll live to regret it." He warned. "A cute girl like you shouldn't have to live like us..." He mumbled, looking down. You hardly noticed, because you looked from the two men back to the inviting spring.

"Well if you want me to stop you'll have to make a much more compelling argument because I'm very thirsty." You turned to face the spring again but were yet pulled back.

"Its diseased you fool." It was the other man this time, who grabbed your shoulder. "Tell me, do you want to live forever? To stay as how you are for who knows how long. Your family will die before you change. This forest will be gone long before you ever are." His words were quite shocking to say the least.

"Whatever do you mean?" You looked up at them with wide, innocent eyes.

"Listen doll face. This spring makes whatever living thing that touches it immortal. We were unlucky enough to do that."