Dawn of the Others

Chapter 7

The next few days went by quickly, I went back to town a couple times and spent the nights at the cabin watching over Riley. She slept mostly, leaving me in the quiet to read or make lures or nap myself, but when she was up we would eat together and talk softly about our past and the things that had changed. I still didn't know too much about her but I had learned that she grew up around here, in not so nice conditions and when she was a teenager she had been taken in by a makeshift family, the people that she was trying to get back to now. We talked about everything from the food we missed to our views of the afterlife, it was nicer than I wanted to admit. Things continued to become tense and heated in moments, but one of us would always turn away or change the subject and it would fizzle out once again, it was better for both of us that way.
I knew that I needed to take her back soon, but I honestly wasn't looking forward to it anymore. It had been nice to have the company and I wanted more than anything to know more about her, but I kept that to myself and tried to remember that she'd be gone by tomorrow morning. We had both agreed she'd stay for four days assuming nothing else went wrong and she felt okay to travel by then, by now it was the evening of the third day and she seemed more anxious then anything else.
"You okay?" I asked gently, breaking the silence and pulling her eyes up from where they were staring on the floor. Her forehead had little creases that eased away as she turned her attention from her thoughts to me. She had been dozing off between conversations as we relaxed on the couch, enjoying each other's company while we could. I laid my book down on my lap as I watched her, my finger stuck between the pages to keep my place.
She ran a hand through her hair, brushing the longer pieces to the side. "Yeah, just worried about tomorrow." She admitted. "I hope everything is okay back there."
She hadn't told me much about what was going on, simply that there had been unrest between some of her family and there were indications that many of them may be willing to act on that very soon. The concern about what I was bringing her back to was always in the back of my mind, but I wasn't going to keep her here like a prisoner. If she wanted to go back that was her choice to make, not mine.
"You could just stay here." I joked, wiggling my eyebrows at her with a smile. "Spend the rest of your days napping on my old couch and sleeping in my bed." I said dramatically.
She rolled her eyes with a giggle, "As great as that sounds, you know I have to get back." She sighed. "I'll come visit you though, don't worry." She reassured me with a wink, causing my cheeks to redden as I ducked my head. It was pathetic how happy that made me.
"Do I make you nervous?" She asked suddenly, causing my eyes to move back to hers.
I didn't really know how to answer, she definitely made me incredibly nervous but not in a bad way. I liked the way she looked at me and how bold she was at times and the way it felt when her leg would brush against mine or our hands would touch unintentionally, but it all made me nervous and a little shy. "Sometimes." I relented quietly, still watching her but now fighting the urge to break eye contact. I had never been all that good at keeping eye contact with anyone.
"Why?" She asked curiously, her head tilted a little as she waited for me to answer.
I ran a hand over the back of neck anxiously as I considered what to say, it wasn't like I could tell her that I had thought about kissing her more times then I could count these last few days. "Because I think you're beautiful." I responded slowly, finally turning away and looking to my lap as I adjusted my position on the couch uncomfortably. "Besides, I'm not the most social person ever and sometimes I just get nervous." I continued, trying to lessen the silence that came with my previous statement.
My fingers fiddled with each other until a hand reached over and stopped them, her soft hand rested on mine and felt dangerously nice. I peered over at her and found her leaning closer to me, the most beautiful smile I had ever seen lit up her face and her eyes bore into my own. I forgot about my anxiety as we stared at each other, lost in the moment and for once not thinking about what would happen later. I didn't care that she was leaving or that tomorrow was likely to bring a whole other set of problems, all I wanted was to be with Riley in this moment. I brought my hands up to cup her cheeks and slowly moved towards her without another thought, finally letting our lips meet and earning a deep sigh from her. My blood raced through my system as her mouth moved against mine, feeling the pressure of her body pressing gently against my side as she moved closer. Her hand gripped my hip as one of mine migrated into her hair, pulling our heads closer together and sinking into the kiss even more. She shifted away from me suddenly, leaving a few inches between our faces and both of us breathing heavily.
"We should share the bed tonight." She blurted out suddenly. "Listen." She stopped me before I could open my mouth to respond, "I know that I'm leaving tomorrow, but I have grown rather fond of you and I get the idea that you feel the same after after a minute ago. If you're okay with it I want to keep coming to see you and I want to be near you tonight. Plus I feel bad that you're on the couch." Riley explained shyly.
A smile broke out across my face despite my attempts to hide it, her admitting that she wanted to see me more made my inside feel like they were jumping around, something that I had thought was a feeling of the past. "I'd like that." I whispered, closing the gap between us once more and kissing her softly this time. "You wanna go lay down then?" I asked, it was already getting late into the evening and it was going to be an eventful day for her tomorrow regardless of what happened. She nodded at me and moved to get up, rising off the couch with much more ease than she had a few days ago. I grabbed her outstretched hand and got up with her, retrieving the gas lamp off the coffee table and following her to the dark bedroom. She swiftly pulled her shirt over her head as I was stepping into the room, leaving her close to how she was the first day she was here, before she laid down on top of the covers, waiting for me to make myself comfortable. I left my loose t-shirt on but ditched the cargo pants before laying down, deciding to sleep in my worn boxers.
"It was nice being here, almost like things were normal for a second there." She admitted with a humourless chuckle as I laid down beside her. A conflicted look had made its way over her face as she spoke and I wanted to ask about it but kept quiet. She was saying more than usual and I didn't want to risk saying something that would cause her to stop. Her glance over to me gave away my curiosity though and she continued talking. "Don't get me wrong, I want nothing more than to go check on my family." She explained, "I care about them and it's driving me nuts not knowing how things are going, but it was also nice to get a break."
I nodded in understanding, "What's your family like?" I asked out of the blue, before I could stop myself.
She thought for a moment, "They are a little rough around the edges but most of them are good people." She began hesitantly. "Our leader is more like a father to me than anything else and everyone adores him... well almost everyone, those that don't are the reason I'm worried." She said simply. "Anyway, they are my brothers and sisters, we look out for each other, always have." She moved an arm under her head as she spoke, the gas lamp sent the shadows dancing over her toned muscles.
"What about you?" She probed, causing my eyes so move back to hers and realizing from the half smirk on her face that she had been well aware of my staring. "What's your family like?"
My hand unconsciously moved to rub the back of my neck, a habit that I was unaware of a majority of the time. "Uh, I don't have much of a family." I started, searching for the words that I wanted. "It's just my brother now, but you know a little about my dad and my mom died a while after he left. A bit more than a year ago now, I guess." Her eyes softened as she listened, but it wasn't out of pity, it looked more like understanding. "I live in a community too but it's not anything like where you live, I'm still something of an abnormality to them and I never really got close to any of them." I honestly didn't really want to be close to any of them anyway, I was glad that my brother had his friends and that they all looked out for each other, but I was much more antisocial and preferred only sharing things with him. At least I had till I met Riley. "I have my brother though and even though he can be annoying as all hell, I still adore him. That kid means the world to me." I said with a smile.
Riley looked relaxed as she listened to me, taking in what I said with more interest than I had expected. "I always used to wonder if I had any siblings when I was younger." She said thoughtfully, "I never knew my parents so I totally could, not that I'll ever know now." She shared with a sigh.
"Hey, you don't know. Maybe you do and they're out there looking for you right now." I teased with a shrug.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure they are." She laughed. I liked making her laugh, the way it caused her face to soften and her eyes to crinkle a little at the corners was something I didn't think I'd ever get tired of.
She caught me staring, but this time I didn't care to look away. I wanted to remember every detail about her in case I didn't get another chance, this wasn't the kind of world where you could take things for granted anymore and I think we were both more aware of that then usual. Her eyes jumped down to my lips before she moved to close the gap and brought her soft mouth to mine. I responded almost instantly, placing a hand on her side and rolling to pull her closer. I took in the feeling of her bare skin against my palms as her hands moved through my short hair to grip the back of my neck. She smoothly hooked a leg over my hips, bringing us impossibly closer and earning a moan from me as my hands made their way across her body. There was nothing in this world that I wanted more than her, the feeling of her body against mine drove me nuts and made my brain feel like it was short circuiting.
She pulled away suddenly, her hands moving to my chest and giving a gentle push back that left us breaths apart. "I didn't take you to bed with me just so we'd have sex." She whispered, breathing just as heavily as I was. "I don't want you to think that's all I'm looking for, I realize how it sounded now, not to mention the idea that my actions are probably giving." She explained, her head turned down in what I assumed was embarrassment before she glanced up again, searching my face for any sign of hurt or regret.
I smiled, it was nice change to be fooling around with someone that actually cared about my feelings. "I didn't think that you meant it like that, don't worry." I said, holding her chin gently and bringing our mouths together once more. The tension left her body again as she moaned quietly against my lips, relaxing into my hold. I pulled away once more to ensure she understood how serious I was. As much as I wanted to play it cool, I also wasn't going to let her go tomorrow without knowing that this was more than just fucking around for me. "The truth is that I like you, more then I should considering you've been around for less then a week." I said with a shy chuckle. "I don't intend to push you or do anything that you're not one hundred percent comfortable with... whatever happens is up to you." I promised her quietly.
She kissed me deeply before making herself comfortable against my side, curling in and laying an arm across my chest. "I like you too." She mumbled, almost too quiet for me to hear, but I did. A smile made its way across my face as she softly traced the lines on the front of my shirt with her fingers. I couldn't remember the last time I had been this relaxed, I don't know that I ever had been, that was the dangerous part.