Conversations With The Moon (Bruno Mars One-Shots)

Lessons pt. 6

"I'll race ya," I say with a smirk and then dart ahead. I hear Raine call out 'hey!" but I keep going. I glance over my shoulder to see her in full sprint right behind me and I pick up the pace. Upon reaching the halfway point to the little cliff-sight I climb into the bushes and trying to mute the sound of my breathing. After a few minutes Raine reaches where I'm hiding and I do my best to stay quiet as she pauses to catch her breath and search for me. 

"Bruno?" she calls.

"Come on, I don't know where were going. Where are you?" I try to keep my laughter as quiet as possible. She walks a bit further up the path and I follow closely moving as quietly as the sounds of the forest around me allow. Coming up on a corner, she steps close to the bushes I reach out and grab her arm. She lets out a yelp and pulls away in one swift motion nearly elbowing me in the chest. Laughter takes me over and I let go of her arm and rest my hands on my knees to catch my own breath.

"Bruno!" She gingerly punches me in the arm and I look up to see her brows furrowed and her nose scrunched so hard it looks like her face might hurt after.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, I really am."

"Jerk," she breaths crossing her arms. I nudge her gently and offer my hand.

"I'm sorry, alright. It was just a joke. Let's go the rest of the way up together, ok?" I suggest. She raises an eyebrow and clenches her jaw in an irritated way. "Come on." I reach closer to her. She takes my arm instead of my hand pulling me close to her. She looks up at me and, the look in her eyes makes her breath catch for minute. She's beautiful, that's one thing that people never get wrong about her. I smile back and we walk the rest of the way up. I find a good stop for us to sit down and lay out a towel for us to sit on. I gesture for Raine to sit down and then I join her. I watch her out of the corner of my eye as she settles then adjusts her hair and clothes. She takes a moment to relax and look out at the view.

"How did you find this place?"

"I had a longer break from the store than usual on day and ended up wandering around in the area. I found the path and followed it all the way up and sat here for my break. There's something about how it feels to breathe up here...so its sort of become a place to escape to from time to time..." I let my voice trail off as I feel heat rush to my cheeks.

"It beautiful," she says under her breath. "How long 'til the sun sets?" I glance at my watch.

"About fifteen minutes."

"Hm," she breathes. She looks around for a moment then eye suddenly light up. I watch her prepare to stand and then start to ask her what' she's doing but before the words leave my mouth I see what she's doing. She walks over to a plumeria plant and pulls flowers from their bush along with some leaves. She sets some one the edge of the towel then returns for more until she has a small pile. She pulls some hemp string from her purse and begins carefully attaching the flowers and leaves in a pattern along the string. As the sunsets she adds flowers and leaves until there are no more and she's left with a lei bracelet of blossoms and leaves. She hands the bracelet to me then gives me her wrist and I carefully tie it on. We watch the end of the sunset together in near silence. Despite how quiet it is, its not uncomfortable and once the sun has set fully the temperature seems to drop a bit. Raine shivers a bit and I gently touch her hand.

"Let's head out." I stand. She takes my hand and I help her to her feet. I shake the towel out and then drape it over her shoulders. She holds on to my arm again and we go back down the path. We make a put stop at the car where I drop off my backpack and trade the towel for an extra hoodie I left in the car. I drape that over her shoulders instead and she takes my arm again and we cross the street and head toward the flea market. We browse the first few tables together but as we walk further in, Raine wanders away from me to browse on her own. I stay close but look around on my own too. I stop my a custom guitar and ukulele stand and start browsing the straps when there's a tap on my arm.

"You girlfriend seems to really like the bracelets at that table," an older woman says. "You should buy one for her." She gestures two tables over to one that has wood, shell, crystal and stone jewelry. They're all displayed on a stand made out of a small tree branch set up right.

"She's not m---" the woman gestures over to Raine and we watch her wander back over to the table. She runs her fingertips along the bracelets and smiles as she glances at each one.

"Buy one for her," the woman says nudging me with her elbow. "I think she'd really like one." I take a deep breath and walk over to the table, Raine notices me immediately. I pick up the bracelet she lingered on the longest, pull some cash from my wallet and hold both out to the seller.

"I'd like this."

"Good choice, it's a very pretty piece. Do you need it wrapped?"

"No." The woman smiles at me and I turn to Raine and hold out the bracelet. Her eyebrows rise but she gives me her hand. I put the bracelet on her and your eyes meet I swear some of the stars in the jumped down into her eyes. She holds out her hand and turns it every which way examining her new accessory. She steps to me and in the next moment her arms are around my shoulders. I feel her lips press against my cheek and then her breath as she steps back. She hangs on to my left hand.

"Thank you."