Chapter nine
I don't know exactly how long we have been outside, sitting in the cold, watching one of the most beautiful miracles of nature happen. The dim, even mystical light that the moon provides so strictly every night has almost disappeared, leaving us in utter darkness —even though it hasn't disappeared completely yet— and Aaron keeps snapping pictures and pictures, capturing magical images of a reddish, gigantic sphere right above us. I'm hypnotized by the sun-alike figure in front of my eyes and I can't avert my gaze off of it. It's like some sort of strings attach my attention to the way the moon, with an almost imperceptible movement, dances along the sky, positioning itself in between the sun and the earth, earning that unique, transparent colour and making me travel to the thought that it all seems to have been taken out of a movie.
"I'm surprised we are given the chance to enjoy this kind of things" I hear Aaron's voice, it comes out barely as a whisper, and I want to tell him how amazed and dumbfounded I am, but I'm to wrapped up in the beauty of it all to even try and talk. "It's like a magnet, I mean, like you can't take your eyes off of it."
"I know, I feel as if something's going to happen when I'm not looking." I chuckle slightly at the stupidity of what I just said, and I feel how his strong gaze is now directed to me. I glance at him to find him with a goofy smile plastered in his face. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"I don't know... I'm just... glad that you came out here with me" he shrugs.
"Oh..." I look to the ground, suddenly so embarrassed I want to crawl under a rock and not come out until I know what to say.
I look back at him and his eyes are a complete riddle, their gleam still visible, even though we're still into the cold darkness. I don't say anything, I don't even attempt to say anything because we're so deep into each other's gazes I'm afraid to dare and say a single word. My bottom lip starts to tremble, and I don't know whether it's from the cold or from how nervous it makes me to feel his fingers graze mine for the second time this night, only this time it's intended. Or so I think.
Does he remember? I want to believe he does, but at the same time it just makes it all even more uncomfortable for me.
The space between us starts to become smaller and I feel dizzy from the thousands of thoughts that cross my mind in those brief seconds where some strange force seems to be drawing us closer. Even Scott crosses my mind, making me feel as if I'm betraying him in some kind of way, and I find myself drowning in my own conflicting thoughts.
All of them are gone, though, when I hear a small crack coming from some spot in the back yard. Our heads snap in that direction, but my it takes too long for my eyes to get used to the dark before Brandy jumps in between our bodies, barking and licking Aaron's face.
"Brandy, what the hell?!" Aaron tells the overexcited animal and tries to grab her collar, but fails when she runs away, jumping across the yard and barking with joy. "Brandy, shut the fuck up" he hisses and chases after her, clumsily trying to stop her from barking any louder and waking up everyone in the neighborhood. She tackles him once or twice, almost making him fall to the ground, until he's finally able to grab her collar and tie her with the leash, next to her dog house.
"Ecstatic dog you got there" I tell him, laughing. "How old is she?"
"Thirteen and still as energetic as she was when she was three" he shakes his head, softly chuckling, and makes his way towards where I am, rubbing the dirt off of his hands on his pants. "Come on, let's go back inside." He crouches in front of me so I can jump on his back, and we head to the house.
...
"Oh please, would you just stop that" I giggle, trying to snatch the camera from his hands.
"Hush, you're gonna drop it and break it, I can't give it to you" he teases me and once again presses the button, flashing my eyes and earning another embarrassing picture of my dazzled face. I try once more to reach for the camera but he lifts his arm really high so I fail misserably. He's not that tall though, but he's definitely taller than me.
"Well, I can take pictures of you too you know..." I take my phone out of my pocket and attempt to catch him off guard while he's making some random face, but before I can press the button he takes hold of my hand and turns it the other way round, lined straight towards both of our faces. "Hey!" I complain and he just laughs, his eyes crinkling sweetly in the corners.
"You won't ever beat me, Sammy, you should know that by now" he smiles widely while going through the ton of pictures he's taken —the moon ones too— and my stomach flutters without me being able to stop it. I watch his every move and try to seem offended, huffing and snorting, but he just ignores me, which bothers me even more.
I decide to do the same and go through my camera roll, carefully examining the pictures on the screen, until I finally find the most recent one. Both of our arms are visible in the middle of the image; mine, holding the camera, his, pressing the button. His smile is wide and he's holding a crossed eyed look, kind of mocking my annoyed expression. I, on the other side, have my eyes closed and I'm trying to move away from the picture.
I smile at the phone screen, still staring at his funny features, when I feel his eyes on me again.
"What do you want?" I raise one of my eyebrows, my attempt of looking annoyed still present, but he just looks away from me and smiles almost immediately. "What?" I say again. He just shakes his head.
"We should get going" he suggests in a low voice. I don't know why, but his sudden change of mood hits me right in the face. And pretty hard to be honest.
I just nod slowly and stand up, a bit worried that I might have offended him or something. I'm about to walk back to Nathan's room without saying a word when I feel his hand on mine and a muffled noise that seems to be his voice.
"Aren't you going to help me up?" I'm astounded by his words and his yet again quick mood change. However, I just turn to him and offer my hand to him, silently pleading he will take it. He does that exact thing and I'm relieved, but he catches me totally off guard when he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me into a completely unexpected hug.
"Thank you, Sammy" he whispers in my ear. And I'm afraid that he will hear my heart pounding against his chest.
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A/N: hey it's me again, um, i have nothing to say. just vote if you like it. and sorry for taking so long lol byeeeee ☺
