Dear Bright Eyes| Colin Creevey

twenty- three| darken

"Since I don't own a posh car without a top, we're going to do something better," Colin grinned at the girl. He has insisted on carrying the picnic basket and the umbrella that was fitted in the basket via extending charm. "We're going to go through a shortcut!" He parted a bush, the woody tendrils slapping the tanned skin of his arm in the process. He winced and the girl giggled. She shouldn't think it but the way that his brows knit and his lips pucker as he blows on the reddened skin was just adorable.

Yes, adorable.

And she'd be lying if she said that it didn't made her stomach feel like a ballroom with a million tiny dancers twirling around.

Colin soon brushed it off and pushed through. The path lead to an orchard.

The girl unconsciously reached for his hand in awe. She didn't even realized that she was doing it. Her forefinger brushed against his calloused palm and she was about to pull away as if she touched something hot. But he was faster, he pulled at her hand. "Be careful. There might be mud puddles."

She tightened her hold on his hand. Feeling it's warmth against her palm. Forcing down all the dark thoughts that played in her mind. Of how this warmth is because of the flesh and blood that was underneath his skin and how long she's been going without a taste of him.

"You're being awfully quiet, Vi. Something wrong?" He looked back at her. "Are you hungry?"

"No, are you?"

His cheeks went a bit red. The color of ripe tomatoes. "Maybe."

"I noticed that you barely touched your breakfast. Are you sick?" She asked. She didn't want to mention that his palms became a bit cold and sweaty. But still he didn't let go.

He walked faster without saying anything and soon they were sprinting. Chasing the summer breeze across the open. "Hey!" The girl called out.

"ORANGES!"

The girl has never seen so much fruit in her entire life. They were practically hanging off of the branches, the ground was filled with them. So much so that they touched the tips of her sandals as they passed. The smell was familiar, zesty and sweet, with the hints of the sunshine and the earth. Fresh. Pure. Blissful.

Already he was grabbing the sun colored fruit by the branch and shoving them inside the picnic basket. He whistled as they went, he was so cheery that the girl almost didn't question if this was theft.

Almost.

"Colin, should we really be doing this?"

He only answered by opening a fruit, it was so plump that as he opened it some juices squirted to his fingers which he generously licked. Savoring every drop as it flowed down his tanned forearms, he used his lips to catch the juice that almost escaped his tongue. He even moaned at the taste of the sweet juice.

The sight of his unadulterated pleasure at doing something so innocent but so cheeky made the girl blush.

"That's so unsanitary," she murmured.

"Really?" He asked as he pushed a piece of the orange against her lips which didn't need much coaxing for him to open. She slipped a bit of tongue to meet his skin but maybe it didn't look as innocent as what he just did because Colin pulled his hand away and continued eating the rest of the fruit himself.

"We could pick some, you see. The owner is what you could call a wanderer, that's why there are no gates, he just lets you pick as much as you like."

The girl frowned despite the lingering heat on her face. "But what if people took advantage of him. They could steal his fruit and sell it."

"You know, Vi," Colin said with a smile. "There's good yet in the world. You just have to trust it."

The girl didn't know which ones of the words irritated her or if it was the order of which he said it or the calmness in his voice or the bliss in his soft brown eyes but red, hot anger coursed through her veins. His touch on her felt heavy, she had to wriggle away from him.

Maybe a little distance now would be better.

Surely, it would be.

But fate had other plans.

The skies darkened and fat drops of rain were soon falling down on them. Colin immediately pulled her to him and made a break for it to the nearest shed. "Wait!" She yelped but his single stride is a an equal to a sprint for her.

They made it there in less than a heartbeat.

"Colin," she gasped out his name in between intakes of air.

"You called?" His brown eyes are squinting to keep the water from getting into them but his smile was big even though he is as out as breath as she is.

"You could have gotten the umbrella from the basket or conjured one or maybe even apparated us. You are such a goon sometimes." Her anger evaporated slightly to the thrum of the rain upon her insult.

"I forgot, you see," he replied before getting a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to her. The handkerchief is more damp than she is. "Maybe I'm just so much better at being a muggle."

"Look, I didn't mean--"

Colin looked at her and shrugged. "You know you're not the first one. I already got the idea growing up." He winked at her direction through wet lashes that clamped together, teeth bright despite the gloom.

"Colin."

"Vi," he replied with a grin so wide that if it got wider it would have been a gash from his cheeks to his ears.

The insufferable feeling bubbled upwards way above the soft and bright fizz. The girl opened her mouth to speak just to realize that the cold had made her voice shaky. "I don't think I can be friends with you."

For the first time since the girl has met the piece of sun that is Colin Creevey, she saw his expression darken.