Illuminated Silence

16

"Remind me why I agreed to this again," Patrick whispered behind her. She shushed him as they looked around from their hiding place under a tree, searching for any signs of the enemy aka Pete and Andy and Brendon and Dallon. "How do you even use this thing?" He pulled the trigger and a paint ball went flying out with a loud bang, straight into a Bush, earning a scream.  They jumped back and looked at each other. "Did the bush just scream?!" They stifled a laugh as cursing rang out from the bush. "Sorry! I didn't mean too—" Stellar slapped a hand over Patrick's mouth. "Do you want them to know where we are? Cmon, we better move." They crouched low and ran silently, rolling down a leafy hill just as gunfire began to ring out. The trees around them began to be stained bright shades of hot pink, narrowly missing their heads. "Its Brendon and Dallon! Quick, split up!" He nodded and ran off, leaving her whirling and wondering where to go. On the opposite end of the course, she could see a small shed. She sprinted to it as paintball after paintball splattered near her feet, only stopping when she yanked the door open and clambered in, securing it to a shelf nearby. She let out a breath and sat on a crate, waiting for the sounds to fade.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," someone drawled behind her. She turned around fast and aimed her gun, face to face with another aimed at her, held by Pete. She could just make him out in the near darkness of the shed, most of him being hidden by shadows.  They stared at each other, guns pointed and ready to shoot at any given moment. "What're you doing in here?" She said accusingly. He narrowed his eyes at her. "I could ask you the same question." His question was answered as someone tried the door, guns trained on the handle waiting for someone to walk in. "Nah, its locked. She must've run the other way. Cmon, I think I saw Andy heading over that way!" They both waited until the footsteps faded, only turning back to each other once they were positive the guys had gone. "Jesus Christ. But really... What are you doing in here?" She asked questionable.

He scratched the back of his neck and gave her a lopsided smile. "I may or may not have hiding in hope of all of you killing each other in turn declaring me the winner," She snorted. "No surprises there. Come on Wentz, we're getting out of here before they come back. I'm not waiting for it to become the hunger games." She grabbed him by the wrist earning a sigh, the unlocked the door and dragged him out. She dusted the spider webs off of her clothes and pulled her shirt down a bit, tutting coming from behind the trees. Her and Pete looked up, stopping dead in their tracks. Surrounding them were Dallon, Brendon and Patrick all covered in paint, eyebrows raised, and Andy amidst them pointing his gun at the both of them. "I win!" He laughed maniacally and let out showers of paint bullets on them, dull aches spreading through their bodies. Eventually Andy stopped, allowing them to get up. "You wait Andrew Hurley! I won't forget this!" Stellar threatened as she threw a pile of leaves at him. The others laughed. "We thought we heard voices in there. If you guys really wanted a quickie, you should've just stayed at the hotel."
Pete shot his remaining bullets at Brendon who screamed like a woman and rolled down the hill. "RYAAANNNN ROSSSSSS BITCHHHH!!!!!" Pete yelled. Patrick patted Pete on the back. "Now would be a good time to start running Pete. I'll see you later." Pete gave everyone a confused look. "Huh? But we came here in the same car—"

"IM COMING FOR YOU PETER! BOTH OF YOU!"

Patrick gave the two of them a sheepish grin and pushed them off. "Bro code. Bye!" Brendon's tall frame began to emerge not far from them. Pete sprinted off like a greyhound, a blur of emo running off into the trees. Stellar followed suit and began to catch up, eventually running past him as Brendon began to gain. They lost him behind a tree and watched him sprint past all flustered, a distant roar off in the distance. They looked to the side of them. A good 100m away lay a quad biking track, pretty much empty save for a few golfers. They looked at each other and made a run for it, breaking through the tree line and into open field. Ten meters, twenty meters, fifty, one hundred. Pete reached in his pocket and threw a $100 bill at the guy serving them, before running off and mounting a quad. She jumped on behind him and let out a little scream when they sped off, accelerating at top speed within moments. Brendon stared open mouthed as they throttled toward him, flailing his arms and running back toward where he'd first come from. They did a few circles around him and the drove off, back toward the entrance of the games office.

Coming to a halt, they parked and both staggered off the bike, back inside to where they returned the uniform and keys, before calling an uber to pick them up. Not much was said on the way back to the hotel, arriving before the rest of the guys. She followed Pete up to his room, where she dove into his couch and turned on the TV. "Oh Shit!" She looked up alarmed. "What? What is it?" He ran into the bathroom and came back out, sitting next to her. "Your arms. I'm sorry," She looked down at the red stained material, watching as he pulled it up and reapplied new bandages. "Oh."

He pulled her back with him as he leaned lengthways on the couch, muting the TV. She sighed. "I'm sorry for everything I said about you the other week Pete. I didn't mean it. Your really the fun-est person I know."

He smiled down at her and pushed back a stray bit of Hair from her face. "I know peaches. Don't worry about it. Your the funniest person I know. And I have lots of fun with you too." She smiled at him as they watched each other for a few moments, just really looking at each other, as if for the first time. Her breath caught as she looked into his deep hazel eyes, and could see where all the emotion was that he had  Poured onto paper all these years. She closed her eyes to keep that picture, and leaned in.  His breath fanning her face was the only thing she could feel before he did the same, which is where she was taken back down memory lane, to the night on the stage in Moscow, where in front of the whole stadium, they'd shared a kiss, much like they were doing now. But this time it was different. This time it was not rushed, it was full of emotion, and undiscovered feelings. It was longer, but no longer than needed be. It was soft, it was perfect, it was every girls dream of what a real first kiss would be.

Finally they both pulled away, Pete smiling uncontrollably against her face, letting out a soft, Breathy laugh. "Wow." She said. He Nuzzled his face against her hair. "You taste like strawberries. I like strawberries. "

She laughed. Typical Pete.

∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

my god this was awkward to write. Comments? 😝😝😝