Above

32

Estelle
Three months later, we're still on the run, staying nights at motels with foreign owners, eating the game that Luca and Leeciy catch, and if we can't find a motel, we sleep in the cars, usually in the forest. Which is what we're doing now, but I'm not sleeping, I'm sitting at the edge of the forest, looking up at the clouds.
Though its just the beginning of summer, night-time can be cold as hell, much like tonight, so I've got a duvet wrapped around my shoulders. 
It's peaceful, sitting alone at night, at the base of the Rocky Mountains. 
"Couldn't sleep?" Leeciy asks from behind me. 
I nod. 
He walks up and sits next to me, his beaten coat on his shoulders. "Why not?" 
I shrug. "Just not in the mood." 
"Same." He sighs, looking up at the mountains. 
I offer him some blanket, which he gratefully takes. 
"A penny for your thoughts?" He asks. 
I shake my head. "A penny for yours?" 
"I'm wondering what this lovely lady, sitting next to me is thinking." He says. 
I shrug. "I feel weird." 
"Why?" He asks. "Are you sick?" 
"No, just weird-feeling." I answer. "I'm fine." 
"Cirus is having nightmares again." He says. "But these ones project,  so I'm seeing her worst fears." 
"Which are?" I ask. 
"Really just the whole Willowdale thing, playing over and over again." He says. "God, Mareena is a lifesaver." 
"What did she do?" I ask. 
He scoffs. "Some freak tried to do something to Cirus, and Mareena stopped him before he could."
"That's good." I say, playing with his fingers. 
Leeciy and I's relationship had changed, we're stuck in the middle of friends and more-than-friends, but not as more-than-friends as Gabrie and Wrenton, who can be heard doing things nearly daily.
"Yeah, but I'm sick of seeing that jerk's face every night." He says, clenching his jaw. 
I slip my fingers into his, squeezing his hand.
He looks down at me and gives mea half smile.
"We should go on an adventure." I say.
Leeciy chuckles. "That'd be fun."
"But I'm serious." I say. "We're about a mile from some tiny town, we should go, have fun."
"Okay, let's do it."
***
The moment we entered the town, it was clear that everyone was in the streets, having some sort of festival.
We were immediately handed drinks, obviously alcohol.
I'm not big on alcohol, so I hand it to a random dancer.
Leeciy does the same, before turning to me. "What should we do?"
"Dance?" I ask. "I mean, it's what everyone else is doing."
He grabs my hand and twirls me. "Alright."
"You take the lead unless you wanna trip." I half-smile.
He places his hand in the middle of my back, his warm fingers splayed out across my spine.
He leads, carefully calculating every step we take. He's going easy on me, I can tell by the way he focuses more on my movements than his.
Once the song finishes Leeciy dips me, my hair on the ground.
Our eyes meet, an emotion-filled gaze that lasts for a few seconds before everyone around us applauds.
He pulls me us, looking around at the crowd, mostly consisting of drunk young people. He bows jokingly, and I cursty, laughing.
He grabs my hand and we run, looking for something else to do.
Most shops were open, probably hoping for a sales spike from the people at the parade.
We duck into an ice cream parlor, laughing.
"Hello!" The man says from behind the counter. "What would you like?"
"What do you recommend?" Leeciy asks.
"My favorite is The Candy Land Road. Which is basically a mix of Cookie Dough and Rocky Road." The man replies.
I fish into the pocket of the coat I grabbed before we left for my wallet.
Leeciy beat me to it, pulling out a tenner. "We're sharing."
The man takes the money, handing Leeciy his change, getting to work on his order.
"I could've paid for mine." I murmur, playfully hitting Leeciy.
He shrugs. "We'll share."
I roll my eyes. 
The man hands Leeciy a paper bowl of ice cream with two spoons. "You guys can take a seat in here, or in the sitting area on the roof." He points to the staircase that stemmed off the back wall.
"We'll take the roof." I say, already walking to the back.
***
We sit with our feet dangling off the edge of the building, his arm holding me close so we can share our warmth, so he says.
"Tell me about your past." I say. "Even if it's dark, I wanna hear it."
"Well." He starts. "I grew up with my mom and my dad. My mom was a twin, my dad was an only child. They didn't love eachother, my mom only signed up to be selected because she knew she had superior traits, and she wanted to rule. My dad raised me, my mom didn't help much, only when fell and scraped my knee, cause my dad couldn't stand to see me hurting." He cuts off when his voice cracks.
"Hey." I coax. "It's okay."
"I'm sorry, I hate talking about my dad." He says.
"Then don't, tell me about you." I say, taking a bite of ice cream.
"I'm not cool, I'm like a kiddie pool. Shallow." He shrugs.
I look up at him. "Your a liar."
He rolls his eyes. "I have the Mark Of Aegis, and I hate it. I'm the caretaker of a little kid named Cirus, and that's it."
"I can think of about a hundred more." I say.
"Tell me at least four." He challenges.
"You hum when you drive." I start.
"I do?" He asks.
I nod. "Your eyes always light up when you talk to Logan, and you're really funny when it's appropriate, I really respect that you tone it down in somber settings. Last but not least, you always put yourself last, or others before you."
Leeciy sets down the empty ice cream cup. "Thanks."
I yawn.
"Should we head back to camp?" He asks.
I nod.
We head out of the tiny town, both with a warm feeling in our hearts.