Falling

21

Carson Hughes

The anticipation of waiting for Vinny made it impossible for me to sit still. I felt like a little kid, impatiently waiting for whatever piece of excitement I was promised. It felt pathetic, but I couldn't find it in me to care. Any alone time with Vinny was enough to make me impatient for it to start and dreading the end.

My eyes shifted from my phone to the window, waiting for any indication that Vinny had made it to my house. When my eyes finally landed on him standing outside my window, I sprung up and rushed outside to meet him.

"You walked here again?" I asked once I was outside, noticing Vinny hadn't taken his car. I assumed that when he said he would pick me up he meant that he would be driving.

Vinny shrugged, his hands in his sweatshirt pocket.

"I like to walk," he told me, nodding his head in a gesture for me to follow him.

I looked back at the house to make sure all the lights were still out and I hadn't woken my mother before turning back to Vinny and walking by his side. The two of us were silent for the first few minutes, walking through the cool air in the surrounding darkness. If I was alone, the thought of walking around at night would not be appealing, but with Vinny it was calming and I felt content. The stars above us shined more brightly than I had ever seen, making the dark sky have a subtle glow.

Vinny's steps were nearly silent beside my heavy ones. He always seemed to move quietly like he could move through the world hiding in the shadows if he wanted to.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked him, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Just for a walk," he said, not meeting my gaze. "I used to sneak out all the time and go on walks at night. I thought since we're kinda together now it'd be a good idea to have you come with me. I know it's stupid—"

I slipped my hand into his and grinned at his startled expression.

"It's not stupid," I assured him, intertwining our fingers and rubbing my thumb over the back of his hand.

I shoved the paranoia about the two of us being seen to the back of my mind. I wanted to connect with Vinny, to allow him to be vulnerable and share things with me. It was only fair that I allowed myself to feel vulnerable too.

"Where do you usually go on these walks?" I asked him as he let the tension in his shoulders fall and his hand grip mine tightly.

"Usually the path behind the park," he said, looking briefly down at our hands and then back up at me. "I used to run there too, but it's better at night."

We fell into a comfortable silence, swinging our hands together with each step. The night was cool, but the warmth from Vinny's body being so close to mine kept the chill from pricking at my skin. Vinny squeezed my hand as we crossed the street to walk into the park.

The park was empty as we expected it would be. I looked around, remembering I hadn't been here in years. It was a large green space on one side of the lake in our town. The park was surrounded by wooded area with nature trails winding around the area. I couldn't pinpoint the exact last time I had been here, but some memories flooded in.

There was a time that I was here with Logan and Archie, before we had been friends with the others, and Archie nearly drown in the lake. This side didn't have a beach or anything, so most people didn't swim over here. The swimming area was on the other side. But, of course, Archie wasn't one to follow the rules and jumped into the lake fully clothed and got his foot caught on something beneath the surface. Logan had to go in after him, and he wasn't happy about it.