Breathe

four

Asher's lips were soft on my cheek, his warm breath leaving a tingling feeling on my skin as he smiled down at me. I smiled back, my grip around his shoulders tightening to signalize that he should come back down. He did, tenderly pressing his lips against mine again in a kiss that felt too good to ever come to an end.

My heart ached at the memory, and I raised my lighter to lit my third cigarette tonight. Even though it was a nice summer night I was cold, almost shivering as I sat in one of Michael's garden chairs.

"Cold?" someone suddenly asked, and I quickly chucked the cigarette away from me, already expecting Michael to stand behind me as I turned around. But there was no Michael, only darkness.

Then, a soft chuckle. "I'm here."

I frowned, turning my head to the neighbor's garden. And sure enough, there was Conan, nothing more than an almost invisible figure sitting on a stonewall.

"How long have you been sitting there like that?" I asked, already regretting the loss of my cigarette. I had to use them more carefully since my stocks were already coming to an end.

Conan shrugged. "Quite some time. You were too lost in thought to notice, I guess." Then, he tilted his head, his gaze turning curious. "What were you thinking about?"

I sighed, leaning back in my chair. "The few precious cigarettes I have left."

The boy smiled, his face almost completely hidden in the darkness. "If you wanna get over here, we can share mine."

It was late. I should probably sleep soon.

Then again, I didn't have much to wake up for tomorrow, and I was still too awake for sleep, anyway. So I got up from the chair and climbed over Michael's wooden fence, hopping up on Conan's stone one with ease.

He handed me a cigarette, and lit it for me after I put it between my lips.

"I always come out here at night to smoke. My parents are pretty strict," Conan said with a shrug. "It's pretty convenient, though. They own a little tobacconist's, and I get my cigarettes from there."

I raised a brow. "They just let you take them?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course not. If they knew I smoked, they would kick me out in no time." He laughed again, a nice sound in the night's silence. I pulled out my phone to turn off the music coming out of my headphones that were, once again, loosely hanging around my neck. "Nah. They make me work shifts there, and I just put the money into the register so they think someone else actually bought them. It's pretty neat."

I nodded. "Very convenient, yeah."

Conan smiled down at me. "So, tell me about yourself. How old are you?"

I wasn't up for small talk, but he had given me the cigarette, and I couldn't just leave when I hadn't even finished it.

"I'm seventeen, turning eighteen this year. I like-" I hesitated, not sure what to say. "I like music. Yeah. That's neat."

Conan cracked a grin. "I've noticed. I graduated this year, just turned nineteen a few days ago."

"You're old," I said, taking a drag from my cigarette.

He chuckled. "I'm done with school, that's what I am." Then, he glanced down at me. "My parents are always up my ass about getting a job, though. Like, I just got out of school, and they won't even let me rest for a few months. It sucks."

I shrugged, watching the smoke escape my lungs and fading into the darkness. "They could be dead."

Conan furrowed his brows. "I guess. That's a weird thing to think about."