Andrei Petrov
Bo stepped out onto the back porch and found Magnolia in what was slowly becoming her usual spot: sitting on the porch steps, leaning her head against the railing in thought. She didn't look like she wanted to talk, but Bo wanted to make sure she was okay. He understood her reaction. He was surprised too, but no one could make Adeline do anything she didn't want to. He wondered if Liam and Magnolia were just worried, or if the idea of Adeline staying just freaked them out for other reasons...
He couldn't really know until he asked, or they shared.
Magnolia heard his footfalls on the porch, and the door closing behind him. He wasn't trying to sneak up on her anyway. When he walked up to her she shuffled a little more to the side, as if to make room. Or to hide. He wasn't sure.
"Did you hear what direction Liam went off to?" Bo asked softly.
Magnolia was quiet for a moment. It seemed like the news had dampened her normally humorous spirits. That was okay.
"No," she replied just as quietly. "But he didn't stick around here," she said. "So he's probably at the barn."
Bo hummed.
They stood in silence for a moment, neither of them getting up to move. Bo didn't sit down, but he did lean on the porch railing beside Magnolia, and leaned his head up against it. The temperature had really dropped since noontime, and there was just a little bite to the air. He wondered if Magnolia was cold. If she was, she didn't show it. She sat with her arms crossed over her stomach and her legs tucked in close, but she wasn't shivering or trying to get warm.
In the distance, Bo started to see lightning bugs blinking in the fields, and crickets started to chirp, filling the silence with their distant call. The moon hung high as a waning crescent, bright and white in a cloudless sky. And to top it all off, the chickens weren't clucking like they did in the mornings. They were asleep - the most obvious indicator that is was night.
"You should probably go talk to him," Magnolia said, breaking the silence.
"Liam?"
"Who else?"
Bo sighed, looking out at the shadow of the barn in the distance. He could see a faint light in one of the windows. Liam had to be in there.
"Are you going to be okay?" Bo asked.
Magnolia turned her head up towards him and gave him a little grin. "I'll be fine." She paused. "I'm just... processing."
Bo hummed again and sat down beside her, just for a moment, so he could pat her shoulder.
"That's okay," he whispered. "I'll leave you to think in peace."
For just a second, he paused with his hand on her shoulder before pulling away. "Holler, though, if you need anything."
"I'm pretty sure the Sommers' would hear me before you did," Magnolia joked dryly.
Bo grinned. "Hey. I've got one really good ear. It had to compensate, you know?"
He laughed a little before running off, feet tracking down the dirt path towards the barn.
527 words
Gender:
Points: 3255
Reviews: 174