You and Me and Us | Muffy

Part 5

Marty's POV

Buffy stares at the ornament dangling from my rearview mirror, observing the way the sunlight splits into miniature rainbows as it passes through the crystals, painting the interior of the Jeep in colourful rays.

"We're here," I say.

The trees around us diverge and open up to reveal a grassy shore. I keep driving even as the gravel road dissolves into dirt, slowing to a halt near the edge of the lake.

"This isn't Shadyside," Buffy says.

"I took a little detour," I respond.

She smiles and gets out of the car, meeting me around on my side. The wind blows her hair in every direction as she steps out toward the water and scans the land. The sun is just starting to go down, lighting up the girl in a fiery glow.

She reaches into her purse and pulls out my camera to take a photo of the scene, then passes it to me and I string the device around my neck.

"What does this place mean to you?" she asks.

"I like lakes," I reply. "Saw the sign while driving and decided to stop by."

She laughs and turns around to stare out at the water. I raise the viewfinder of my camera to my eye and capture the sunlight on her in this moment.

"What are you doing?" she asks when she notices the lens pointed in her direction.

I smile and take another photo. "You look beautiful right now."

She giggles and spins around as I snap a few more shots.

Then she comes over and reaches for the camera. "My turn to take some of you."

I lift the camera away from her grab, saying, "I'm not very photogenic."

"That's stupid," she responds as she puts her hand on my shoulder and jumps to swipe at the camera.

We both laugh as she struggles to snatch it from me. I stumble backward to keep it away from her, but she continues to grab for it, causing us both to tumble over. She lands on top of me, her knees on either side of my torso, keeping her from falling entirely on me. My heart freezes for a moment as her eyes meet mine, and she takes the opportunity to steal the camera out of my hand which has gone weak due to how close she is to me right now.

She grins as she stands up and holds the device to her eye.

"Smile," she says as the click of the camera sounds out.

Then she walks up to me and reaches her hand out to help me up. Instead of standing, I pull her down, and she laughs as she drops into my arms. She quickly collects herself and sits down beside me, resting her head on my shoulder with my arm around her.

"You smell nice," she says.

"What do I smell like?"

"I don't know," she mumbles. "Maybe pine."

"Like a car air freshener?" I joke.

"Not quite," she says with a laugh. "More like real pine. Have you been hugging trees?"

I chuckle and hold her tighter.

After a while of talking about anything and everything that comes to our heads, the sun kisses the horizon, turning the sky a deep red, and Buffy falls asleep on my lap. I run my hands through her hair as I listen to her quiet breathing.

"I love you," I whisper, even though I know she can't hear me. "I never stopped."

_____________________________________

The engine sputters out as I pull up against the curb. Buffy is curled up, asleep in the passenger seat. I hate to have to wake up her, so I get out of the car and open up her door, beginning to reach in to lift her out. But as my arm touches her back, her eyes flutter open and she looks at me.

"You were not about to carry me in like a damsel in distress," she says.

I grin and hold out my hand for her to grab as she gets out of the vehicle.

"Same time tomorrow?" I ask.

She smiles. "Yes."

Our hands separate and she walks up the steps to the door of her house. I wait there as she unlocks the handle and turns around to give me one more glance before entering her home.

Buffy's POV

The second I step in, I hear a shout from the kitchen.

"Where have you been?" my mom calls. "I've tried texting and calling you multiple times and you never picked up! I was worried sick!"

I check my phone and realize I have at least thirty notifications from Her.

"I was at Cyrus' and lost track of time," I lie. "I didn't mean to ignore your messages."

"Well, that's not good enough! You can't go out all day and come back at 10:00 PM without telling me where you're going!"

"Mom—"

"Buffy, go to bed. And tomorrow you're grounded."

"Okay," I mutter as I start toward my room.

When I get in, I close the door and go to lie on my bed, feeling mad at myself for missing all those texts. Now I won't be able to see Marty tomorrow.

I take out my phone and text him to explain the situation.

Buffy: Hey, I can't go out anymore. I'm grounded tomorrow.

Marty From The Party: That sucks.

Buffy: It's my fault for not checking my phone. My mom's mad at me for not telling her where I was all day.

Marty From The Party: I should've made sure you got home earlier. I'm sorry.

Buffy: It's fine. We'll just have to find a different day to work on the project.

It feels weird sending that last message. I'm so obviously not just seeing him to work on the project.

Marty From The Party: Okay. Good night.

Buffy: Night.

I set my phone down on my bedside table and go over to my dresser to pull out a pair of pyjamas, my mind thinking about today. His arm was around me. He held my hand. We were so close. How did I ever think I could go through life without that?

_______________________________________

The beep of my phone startles me out of my slumber and I flop over to see the message.

Marty From The Party: Look out your window.

I roll out of bed and trudge over to the glass. On the other side I see the headlights of Marty's Jeep shining from the street with him leaning against the door of the vehicle. He smiles when he sees me and comes up to my window, attempting to avoid stepping on any flowers as he does. I shove open the window and lean out to interrogate him.

"What are you doing here?" I question.

"How was your sleep?" he asks.

"Fine, but what are you doing here?" I repeat.

"You said you were grounded tomorrow."

"Yeah, so?"

"Your mom said nothing about tonight."

His grin makes my stomach twirl and I bite my lip as I think for a second.

"Let me just get dressed," I say before tugging the curtains closed.