TIME. : chapters 4-6

Chapter 4

Milo

I watch Iris watch the stars. The tinge of blue left in the sky reflecting on her skin. She always has a certain look in her eyes, no matter what. Maybe it’s longing..longing for something more than the life she has. I remember her reading me her fantasy books in her room back in sleepy hollow, she’s always wanted to live in a different reality. One where she didn’t have to worry about anything. Me however, I’ve always wanted to do something great. Be remembered. Save someone. I want to go down in the history books…it’s unrealistic but Iris tells me I can do anything I set my heart to. She says nothing matters without heart.

⏱︎ ⏱︎ ⏱︎

I wake up late the next morning, awoken from my unrealistic dream of Iris sleeping next to me. In reality she’s down the hall. I get up and pull on a t-shirt and wipe my eyes. I stare at the wall for a while until I feel awake enough to get up and walk downstairs, my mom has already left for work, and Iris is in the kitchen, making breakfast. I quickly walk over to her to make sure she’s not going to set the house on fire. She’s practically a walking fire hazard. I stand close behind her, setting my chin on her shoulder as I watch her cook the eggs. “Good morning Milo.” She says and I nod sleepily, my chin still resting on her shoulder. She scoops a spoonful of eggs to my mouth to taste-test and I smile in approval. She may be a clumsy mess, but she can make damn good food when she’s not burning it to a crisp. “Morning to you too bug.” I reply as she plates the eggs and we sit at our breakfast nook, next to each other as we always are. “What are we doing today?” Iris says between bites. “Hmm…we could go to all those downtown boutiques you like, besides, I need to get some more wax for my board.” Her face lights up and she nudges my shoulder excitedly. “Yeah! And we could end the night with a picnic in that meadow behind the strawberry fields!” I smile at the idea, James would tease me for being excited about such a girly day, but it makes Iris happy. And it makes me happy to see her happy. “Sounds great. You wanna go get ready? I’ll clean up.” I say, gathering our plates and she rushes over to me, grabbing my face and pecking my cheek, I freeze. I was not expecting that response…I could die right now and my life would be complete. I stand there a long while with a stupid blush and cheesy grin, she runs upstairs to get ready. I continue to clean up the dishes and put away the cooking supplies she got out. My mind never leaving the memory of the small kiss she gave me on the cheek. To her it would be a small unimportant gesture to show how excited she was for the plans..but to me it was so much more. Maybe I do have a chance after all. I then shake the hope from my mind, kicking myself for even thinking of that possibility. We’re friends. And we’ll never be anything more than that. This was just two friends going shopping. Not a date ending with a picnic during sunset.

Chapter 5

Iris

I walk out of the familiar boutique with a few bags in my hand, which Milo takes from my hands and wraps his available arm around my shoulder, pulling me to him. “Im still upset they didn’t have that tank top in my size!” I say and Milo chuckles. “Yeah but the pink one was cuter anyways.” He says and I check my watch. “it’s almost 8 we should head to the meadow, you brought the stuff for the picnic right?” I say, tucking a strand of hair from my face, and the wind blows it right back where it was. “Uh..no..was I supposed to grab the stuff?” He says sheepishly and I hold back a laugh. “Yes you idiot! It’s alright, let’s head home and grab it. Be quick!” We quickly head back to the summer house and grab a red checkered blanket and a basket I had already prepared with some food. He walks back downstairs to where I stand at the counter, double checking that I have everything. “I think we’ve got everything, you ready to go?” I say and he walks behind me, taking the picnic basket, and I throw the blanket around myself. “Yeah, I shouldn’t expected you’d take the blanket. You’re always cold.” He says back, tightening the blanket around my shoulders. “Mhm, come on” I say with a grin, we used to have picnic’s in the meadow all the time. I always preferred the grass over sand. Not to mention I could always catch little creatures there. Bugs aren’t my only interest in nature. Little things are my specialty. “You gonna spend the whole night catching fireflies?” He says nudging my shoulder as we walk through the back door. “Maybe..you gonna spend the whole night watching me, then screaming like a little girl when I try to show you them?” I say with a smirk, he laughs and shakes his head. “That was one time! And that’s only because I hate worms!” He says and I scoff playfully. “That’s no excuse, and worms are cute. And pink.” “Oh yes, because anything pink is cute to you, bug.” He says with a higher pitched voice, mocking me and I punch his shoulder teasingly. “Hey! That hurts. You throw a mean right hook, y’know.” I know he’s just saying that to make me smile, I can’t fight even if my life depended on it. “You’re such a big baby that didn’t even hurt!” I say and he scoffs dramatically, clutching his heart in mock offense. “It did too! You’re stronger than you think Iris.” He says, and for some stupid reason, I blush. I quickly look the other way, hoping he won’t notice. But with the way he’s always staring at me, I doubt he’d miss it. “Hey look, we’re here!” I say, quickly running off to sit under the oak tree that’s been there since we were kids, we tried to build a tree house in it, but it wasn’t stable and Milo fell out and broke his leg. There wasn’t much swimming that summer. I roll out the blanket and smooth out the wrinkles, it doesn’t take long for Milo to catch up, keeping up his easy pace. He gently lowers the picnic basket to the side of the blanket, settling down next to me, he sets his back against the trunk of the oak tree, and I lie my head in his lap, looking up at the sky through the gaps between the leaves. One lands in the mess of blonde on Milo’s head and I flick it away, he gives me a smile as a thanks. We’ve never needed to talk much when we’re together. Most of the time we just..understand each other. Milo breaks the comfortable silence with a stomach growl and I laugh, glancing up at his face, which is now very red. “Sorry. I’m starving” he says with a sheepish grin and I reach up to ruffle his hair. “Well then let’s eat, I brought those little strawberry sandwiches with your mom’s jam..I tried to cut them into hearts but..” I take out the container of sandwiches, holding up one of the badly cut hearts. It looked more like a ‘V’. He grabs one from me anyways and takes a huge bite, not seeming to mind at all. “Mhm! These are good…damn I was hungry..” he says through bites of the sandwich. I smile and begin to eat my own sandwich, we pass around the bottle of water we brought with as we go through the picnic basket, by the time all of it’s gone, we sit back against the oak tree, my head set against his shoulder as we both watch the sun go down. I liked night better. More quiet. But Milo has always loved sunsets, the last light of the day. ‘Golden Hour’ he calls it. I think the name fits perfectly, considering the way his tanned skin and golden hair takes up a slight glow in the golden light. “I think James would call us fatties for finishing the picnic basket, hah.” He says and I glance up at him with a laugh, “You have a strange mind, y’know that?” I say, and he shifts his position, pointing at the little flickering creatures that have begun to come out with the darkening sky. “Fireflies..” I say watching them in awe. They were common in both New York and North Carolina but they never failed to amuse me. He gets to his feet, and I do as well, we quietly creep over to not spook them, one of the fiery bugs lands on my nose and I sneeze, making it flutter off. “Damn it..I scared her..” I say and Milo’s head twists around, I can’t figure out why his jaw is dropped. “Did you just cuss?” He says and I laugh. “Yeah? Haven’t I done that before?” I say and he shakes his head. “No, but it’s funny hearing words like that leave your mouth.” He says as a firefly lands on his neck, I quickly walk over, putting a hand on his shoulder and scooping up the small flickering bug. “Hey look!” I say and he peers into my hands. “Can I name it Jerry?” He says and I laugh, “Jerry? Really?” He nods and I shake my head. “Sure, you wanna hold him?” He holds his hands out, and I lead the firefly into his hands. “I see why you like these things..should I release it?” He says and I nod, keeping my hand on his shoulder as he turns to the bush, releasing the bug into the air, it mingles in a swarm of other flickering bugs. We watch them light up the meadow, leaning on each other as we so often do. Eventually we sit back against the tree, and he falls asleep with his head on my legs as I braid small vines of flowers I found. I put down the greenery to look at his resting face. Sleep is such a peaceful thing. All your worries temporarily leaving you. Sometimes I wish I could sleep forever, and then I remember that I can’t think like that anymore. Time feels like it slows down in this moment. The quiet buzz of bugs and the silent sway of the tree above calming me to sleep with him.

Chapter 6

Milo

One month later

I open my closet door and frown. What could I wear to the bonfire tonight? It was tradition Kylie and James started two years ago when we became friends, they’d host a bonfire the night before we left to go to back to Sleepy Hollow, New York. I can’t stand the place. Neither can Iris. We used to talk about packing up one day and skipping towns, go somewhere like Paris or Rome. I didn’t care where we went, but Iris always wanted to go to those places, and where she goes, I follow. I finally decide on what to wear, pulling a T shirt from my closet and some jeans. Nico helped me pick the jeans out, he’s my friend from back home. I haven’t talked to him since summer started, but that’s mostly because of his new boyfriend, I don’t mind. I pull the clothes on and glance in the mirror to make sure I looked acceptable. Then I hear a knock on my door, assuming it’s my mother. “Come in!” I say and Iris pushes the door open I give her a smile, looking her up and down, her bonfire outfit was a maroon tank top, dark blue jean shorts, and a brown leather jacket that looked a size too big. “So whatcha think?” She says, smoothing down her tank top. “Yeah..yeah..360 real quick?” I say with a smirk and she punches my shoulder, “Shut up!” She says and I laugh, rubbing my shoulder. “Oh wait! You’re missing something!” I say and she looks at me questioningly, I walk over to my dresser, pulling out the small bag that holds the gift I got her in that boutique we went to a month ago. “What’s that?” She says, and I pull out the small silver necklace, a butterfly the centerpiece. “Oh Milo..” she says with a strange smile, and I immediately blush, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly. “It’s not much I just thought of you when I saw it so…here.” I say, and I put it around her neck. For the moment I am over her shoulder adjusting the necklace, I feel her breath on my neck and get butterflies. I want to kick myself for such stupid feelings, but she’s always been my weakness. I stand up straight again, admiring the necklace that now hangs around her neck, going perfectly with the rest of her outfit. “It looks good on you.” I say and she beams. “It’s perfect Milo. Thank you.”

⏱︎ ⏱︎ ⏱︎

We walk down the dirt path to the pit. For some strange reason I feel the need to hold her hand. Hold on to this moment. I brush the thought away, that’s stupid. Why would this moment be any more important than next years? Before I dwell in my mind for too long Kylie and James run up to us, dragging us to the bonfire, they are pouring gasoline into it and that seems like an explosion waiting to happen. I don’t say anything however. “Come on!! What took you guys so long?!” Kylie says, yanking Iris behind her, who sends me a ‘help there’s a crazy woman dragging me away’ look and I hold back a laugh, following the three of them. “Well we walked and Iris kept stopping to look at the flowers along the trail.” I say and James snorts, I’m not really sure what he’s laughing at. I hope it’s not Iris. “Whatever, you’re here now so it doesn’t matter! Let’s have some fun!” Kylie says, her and James walk over to the cooler they brought. I look around the bonfire, the sun had already gone down, the summer heat replaced with the night breeze. There was about 15 other people there. Small compared to most of the parties Kylie and James host. James walks over to me, offering a beer and at the sight of it I want to hit it over his dumb skull…not because it’s alcohol but because of my father. I’ve sworn to myself I’d never be like him. I’d never even take a sip of alcohol. Ever. Instead of committing a crime for no real reason I just shake my head. “I’m good, thanks man.” He shrugs and offers one to Iris which I quickly intervene. “She doesn’t drink.” I say, and Iris nods. She hates saying no to people. James looks at the two of us and rolls his eyes. “So why are you here? The whole point is to be drunk and stupid!” He says. “We didn’t drink last year, or the year before that” I say and he shakes his head. “Whatever you say dude, I’m gonna go get plastered.” Me and Iris walk away to sit on one of the far logs by the fire. “What was that?” She says, settling down on the log. “What was what?” I say and she rolls her eyes. “Jumping in before I could speak, you know how much I hate being interrupted.” She says and I smile. I don’t know why I’m smiling, but I am. Maybe it’s because of the warm glow the fire gives her. Just when I think she can’t get prettier. “What are you smiling at?! I’m serious!” She says, trying hard to not laugh, and I turn away, stifling a laugh. “Come on!! It’s not even funny!” She complains, I’m pretty sure she’s only smiling because I am. “Sorry- it’s just-“ I can’t get the words out without laughing and she throws her hands up in frustration. The look on her face tells me she’s not actually upset. I eventually stop laughing and we both settle back into a comfortable silence, before she breaks it. “I can’t believe we have to go home tomorrow…” she says and I sigh. “How much you wanna bet it’ll rain as soon as we get there?” I say and she shakes her head. “That would be a stupid bet, it’s always raining there. Not that I hate it too much, the rain is peaceful. Plus it brings out the worms.” She says with a smile and I shiver at the mention of worms. “Fireflies and butterflies I get…worms..I don’t. How do you like them?! You can’t even tell which side is its butt and which side is its head!” I say and she laughs. “Well I think they’re cute!” “You think everything is cute.” I say with a smile. We both stare at each other for a moment, soft smiles on our faces. “No one else understands me like you do.” She says, our eyes locking. “I can’t imagine ever being without you.” I say, noticing our shoulders touching, she looks to the fire. “Unless one of us dies.” She says and the thought worries me. I take her chin, turning her face to meet mine. “That’s never going to happen. Not until we’re old and crusty.” I say looking her deep in the eyes, hers flit down and I feel doubt fill me. “Hey. Promise me.” I say and she looks back up, seeing my pinky finger extended toward her, it’s childish. But unbreakable. She gives me a small smile and links her pinky with mine. “Promise.” She confirms. And instead of dropping her hand, I intertwine our hands. “But I can’t promise we’ll stay friends.” I say.

gg- Sorry this took so long to publish, highschool has got me so busy but I'm getting those A's!