Bloom (Malec)

Free Falling

"So we're both off tomorrow," Magnus says slowly as he walks passed me with the broom, sweeping the floor. Lydia has made herself scarce today, tending to the order in the back or making up bouquets. 

"We are," I muse, wiping off the counter with a damp cloth. 

"Well you said you wanted to do something... dangerous," he reminds me calmly. I nod, a curious expression on my face as I watch him sweep. He finds a way to make it look glamorous and elegant without even trying. "So, I have a plan for us. But I want to surprise you, so I can't tell you. But I'll pick you up at your place at 10." I frown, never having really enjoyed surprises, but with Magnus, surely it can't be that bad, right? 

***

"We are not doing this." I exclaim, looking at the building in front of us. Or, more accurately, the landing strip behind. 

"You said dangerous, Alexander," he calmly counters, a smirk playing at the edge of his mouth. I feel my mouth open, but no words come out. "Skydiving has a certain element of danger, don't you think?" Now I can hear the smirk, I don't even have to look at him to know it's there. 

"But...but..." I stammer helplessly, knowing I can't get out of this now. 

"Think of it as our first official date. I mean, I'd like to make you scream in other ways, but I suppose throwing you out of a plane will do for now," I feel my cheeks heat up and I slap Mag's arm, throwing him an unamused glare. He chuckles and loops his arm through mine, leading me inside. 

"Hello!" He greets brightly. The man behind the counter looks up with a smile. 

"Hey, guys, you must be Magnus and Alexander. You ready to get started?" His grin unnerves me slightly, as if all this jumping out of planes has rattled his poor brain loose.

"We are, thanks," Magnus replies for me since I'm still stunned into terrified silence. 

"Alright, so we're going to run you through a quick course then get you two all ready to go," the man grins as we follow him into the office. He slides us waivers and words like 'fatality' and 'loss' stand out to me like warning signs. 

This is something my mother would have a heart attack if she knew I was about to do. 

I initial all the places anyway after thoroughly reading them. Magnus doesn't look like he's reading it at all as he signs his name with a flourish on each line. 

I can hear him faintly humming to himself beside me and it's oddly soothing. 

When I'm finished signing my life away, I slide the paper back across the desk. The man glances down at Mags' sheet and grins. 

"I figured you had experience," I cock a brow and look at Magnus in confusion, but he just winks and taps the side of his nose, making me roll my eyes. 

"Fine, but as your boyfriend, I feel like I should know how often you frequent jumping out of planes," I scold, earning a warm laugh and a kiss on the cheek. 

The course goes by quickly and too soon we're getting pulled into harnesses. Once they're cinched up, we're introduced to our instructors. 

"Hey, my name's Rio, I'll be diving with you today," one introduces himself to me, smiling. He has dark hair that's pulled back at the nape of his neck, his ears stretched out with black bars in them. His eyes are a mysterious hazel, swirled with hints of mint green. 

"Alright," I answer nervously, but he just chuckles. Our pilot walks over not long after, clapping his heads together in excitement. 

"Alright, boys, we're going to head over to load into the plane, and we'll be on our way." I nod feebly and let Magnus drag me with him towards the small aeroplane that looks like a steel deathtrap. His thumb rubs comforting circles on the back of my hand, but my heart feels like it's trying to pound its way right out of my ribcage. 

"Are you alright, Alexander?" Mags' asks as we climb onto the plane. I take a deep breath and turn to look at him. His all black skydiving suit hugs him nicely and his helmet is perched in his lap. He smiles reassuringly at me and leans in for a kiss as we begin to ascend. 

"I'm alright," I answer honestly because as I look out of the window, seeing everything become so small, I realise just how vast the world is, and just how small we are. I realise this little thing that might take up 2 hours of my day is just one way of many to rebel to this earth, to the rules we follow and the formalities we face. I realise that I'm about to jump out of a plane and I've never felt more alive. 

"Thank you for surprising me with this," I lean in and whisper, earning a heartbreaking smile from Magnus. 

"You're excited now?" He asks playfully, but a hint of worry colours his features. I kiss him quickly and nod, looking back out the window and watching the world disappear thousands of feet below us. 

Rio turns to me with a wide grin, holding up his arm to reveal a band that flashes a constantly rising number. 

"We're about 8,000 feet up. Another 5,000 to go!" He calls to me and I find myself grinning, adrenaline pumping through my veins. 

Soon enough, we're hooking ourselves together, Rio standing behind me, hooked up to me so that I'm not jumping to my death. Magnus and his instructor stand in front of us, ready to go, and I watch as he slides his helmet over his pushed back hair, flattening it and pulling the visor down. 

The door opens, revealing vast nothingness below it. My heart is in my throat, pounding violently, my hands shaking as I cross them over my chest. 

It takes everything in me not to panic as Magnus jumps. 

I watch his body summersault and swirl in the air below us until suddenly, the ground beneath me is gone. 

We flip backwards a couple of times before righting ourselves. The world passes by at lightening speed, the air whooshing around us. Rio taps my shoulder and I let my arms loose, flying against all odds as everything around me becomes a blurry mess. 

But I'm free. Alive, and free, feeling more at home in my own skin and in this world than ever before. 

The parachute explodes out behind us and we lurch back up towards the sky. Everything transforms into slow motion, the colours righting themselves into their respective places. 

I watch the world around me, take in the clear lines of the fields and the high rises as they reach up toward us, so far below. 

"How do you feel?" Rio asks, now that we're slowly descending towards the earth. 

"Alive," I respond breathlessly as we aimlessly wander the skies. 

All too soon, we're reaching the ground, landing back on our feet with my mind and my heart still 13,000 feet in the air. My blood pumping through my veins feels more electric. I feel as if I'm a whole new person in the short timespan of 5 minutes. 

Magnus is unhooking himself from his instructor and I let Rio unhook me before I barrel over to him, pulling my helmet off and pulling Magnus into my arms instead, slamming my lips against his so hard I fear they'll bruise but I can't find it in myself to care. 

He kisses me back, his lips fumbling for a second until he gets over the surprise of it and we're in sync. When I pull back, I stare into his eyes for what feels like a century, taking in every shade and every particle I can, memorising his perfection. 

"What did you think?" He asks quietly, bringing his fingertips up to brush along my cheekbone. I smile and press my forehead to his. 

"It was beautiful." 

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A/N: Inspired by my experience yesterday of going tandem skydiving for the first time! It was absolutely phenomenal, I highly recommend it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think!