Hate Me Love Me

30| I'm Bare For You ♥

֍҉֍҉♥҉֍҉֍

"You change the world by being yourself." --- Yoko Ono.

֍҉֍҉♥҉֍҉֍

I watch as Alaric takes out two extremely heavy looking saddles from the back of his car and straps them on the horses.

The horses.

They both have shiny black skin and long black hair. And they're absolutely stunning.

All I can do is grin as Alaric puts an equestrian helmet on my head, similar to his own, and takes my hand.

He takes me to the horses and I forget everything. I forget about Megan and my dad. I forget about my aunt and uncle and Julian and Dylan. I forget about my new friends. I forget about the world and all I can focus on is this moment. This unique date.

'Have you ever ridden before?' he asks and I nod.

'My father used to take me when I was little. Only a few times, though. I know the basics. I can go fast too.'

'Great,' he smiles, and for a minute, that's all we do.

Smile at each other like two loons.

He helps me on my horse, named Rio, and he mounts Dale.

And I'm in the clouds as we trot around the meadow. Nothing to worry about. Just me and him in a snowy meadow with the most beautiful horses. He turns to me as we ride and bites his lips for a second.

'The roses were for your aunt. This is for you,' he says, and I nod, thinking he's talking about the date.

But when he says 'This whole meadow is yours,' do I understand what he meant.

I stop my horse, eyes wide.

'What?'

'It's actually a lavender meadow. But it's snowing right now so obviously you can't see them. I don't do anything with this land. Haven't been here in years, except for a few gardeners. This is all yours. I know it's not much...'

'What?' my voice is hoarse as I stare at him incredulously.

'What's wrong?'

'Not much? NOT MUCH? You just gifted me an ENTIRE GODDAMN MEADOW!'

'Uh... was I not supposed to?'

I sigh and shake my head.

'It's too much, Alaric. I can't tell if you're being serious or not.'

He looks at me and frowns slightly.

'I'm dead serious.'

'Well, I can't take this.'

'Yes, you can. You can come here whenever you want, preferably with me, and pick flowers and stuff.'

'I don't like picking flowers. I like seeing them where they've grown.'

'Alright. Then you can come here whenever you want. And if you don't like it then I can get you a different type of flower meadow. Do you not like lavenders?'

This conversation is ridiculous.

'Alaric,' I say slowly, as if I'm talking to a child. The horses are still beneath us. 'I'll come here with you again if you want, but this place is yours. End of discussion.'

I continue riding and bite back a smile. It doesn't work, and I have a little fuck-it-moment before I'm full-on grinning.

Alaric notices, and chuckles.

When the sun starts to go down, he helps me off my horse and we're on a hill overlooking more valleys. It's so beautiful. I let out a breath and laugh at the cool smoke from my mouth. The pictures on google are nothing compared to seeing nature in real life, and my eyes prick with tears at the sight.

It's just so beautiful.

And by the time I turn around to see where Alaric is, there's a little picnic set up.

This day can't get any better.

'Alaric... I... you...' he walks over to me and places a finger on my lips.

'Don't worry about it,' he whispers. 'It was nothing.'

We eat sandwiches and meat pastries and drink apple juice, relaxing our feet as we sit cross-legged on the soft, waterproof blanket with our boots far away and the horses tied to a tree in the distance, both sharing a tub of apples. We talk about things we like, what we want to do, and our opinion about the students and teachers. All of Alaric's opinions are negative, and I'm not surprised.

Afterwards, Alaric packs the food and goes to put it back in the saddlebag, and stretches down next to me. I'm aware that our shoulders are touching as we lie side-by-side.

'I know it's not much, but it was all I could come up with while we were in the car.'

'It's perfect,' I tell him over the chirping behind us. 'I loved it.'

I feel his head turn to look at me, but I'm still looking at the sky. The sun's already set and now the stars are visible. I'm grateful that I wore my contacts today rather than my glasses.

'You're so breath-taking, Valerie.'

My breathing quickens as I feel hot air on the side of my face.

He's so close.

I rip my eyes from the stars and turn to look at the dazed boy beside me. His entire body is on his side, facing me, so I do the same, facing him.

All we do is stare at each other, and I try to memorize the slope of his nose and the shape of his lips. I learn and match the constellations of freckles that I've only just noticed on his face. I draw the edges of his jawline in my mind with a permanent marker and then I look at his eyes.

They're hooded and filled with desire and passion. It's not so much what I see inside them, but the shape of his eyelids that determines the expression.

He takes my hand and presses it above his chest, where his heart is. It's beating fast. Rapidly. Matching my own.

'Do you hear that?' he asks.

'Do you feel that?' he asks.

'It's all for you,' he tells me.

'This heart... it beats for you. I can't possibly call it my own. You're in every part of it,' he whispers, and I force my tears to stop spouting.

He then drops my hand, lays on his back and spreads his arms and legs wide apart, looking up.

'I'm bare for you. All yours. Every single bit of me belongs to you, and nobody else. I don't want it to belong to anyone else. It'll belong to you... forever. I'm not trying to scare you away...' he turns his head to me. 'I'm just being honest. I lo--'

Before he can continue his sweet spiel, I rest my hand on his cheek, pull him closer to me, and press my lips gently onto his.

֍҉֍҉♥҉֍҉֍