THE LAMB AND THE DOVE

TWO

It was silent. There was not a word spoken between you for what felt like an eternity when in actuality it had only been a few spare minutes since you and Arvin had departed from the old church and off into the woods by the graveyard. The sun was still shining bright, leaving no shadows to hide behind.

There was a thick tension between the two of you, from Arvin with his hands wrapped tightly around the leather wheel, bound like vines on a window cill, to yourself; sitting with your hands in your lap, teeth gnawing nervously into your bottom lip. You really hadn't meant to cause a scene, but what had happened couldn't have been your fault and you would admit that uncowardly.

The rocks on the cobbled road served the poor vehicle no justice as it was flung around to the beating of the rugged pebbles. After another few short silent minutes of driving, you came to a reserved clearing in the forest where an all too familiar lake was perched so delicately in the sunlight, guarded by the woods surrounding it.

As the engine was killed, the silence that you were indulged in before became so much thicker and you turned to look at your childhood friend sitting beside you. He sure looked real mad. You swallowed; you'd never been afraid of Arvin, never had a reason to, but right now he didn't look too pleased. His jaw was clenched, brows furrowed and head staring clean out of the window into the woods facing him.

"Arvin-"

"I should'a killed that preacher when I had the darn chance," he snarled, smacking the wheel and leaning back into his seat, "he ain't got no right touching you like that" he continued, a sharp tone in his voice. A sense of relief washed over you suddenly as you realised you were not the one to blame in his eyes and his anger was truly fixated on the preacher. Yet you were still lost for words. As a minute passed in silence and you had still not said a thing, Arvin turned to look at you. His brow had softened as he realised he shouldn't have raised his voice. For a moment he almost looked soft, despite being covered in a layer of fresh mud, splattered over his freckled cheeks and his knuckles were decorated with fresh cuts and bruises.

He flinched, only for a second, when he saw your hand move from your lap. You lifted it slowly, reaching out to brush a loose curl away from his brown eyes and behind the curve of his ear. His posture softened, shoulders relaxing back down into the driver's seat as he looked on at you. He sat quietly for a moment until he too reached out, cradling your wrist softly and pulling it down away from his face so he could see you in a better light before he said, "c'mon, I wanna show you somethin'"

After that you found yourself gently shutting the car door behind you, eyes locked over the hood of the car as you followed him out to the clearing of the woods to a small bank beside the river. The water barely reached the shoreline, but it came far enough to kick a few rocks onto the mud bank. It was there you tread carefully out to a small wooden bridge that had been worn down over the years, certainly not safe enough to cross, now just there for show.

"Here," Arvin spoke after a moment, crouching down at the entrance to the bridge where there was a thick wooden post. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, you crouched down beside him, looking to where he was pointing, "remember when we did this?" he pointed to a small carving in the damp wood. Despite the years that had passed, your's and Arvin's initials still stood out clear as day. You smiled, a soft sigh leaving your lips as you turned to glance at him for a moment, remembering the day you carved your initials into the wood with the sharpened edge of a stone on that summers day.

"I thought after all this time it would'a faded away" you smiled, running your soft fingertips gingerly over the carved wood as if you were cradling the head of a baby. Arvin watched from beside you with gentle eyes as you brushed your fingers over the wood, trailing them out to the very edge and tracing the small, jagged letters. You could feel his eyes burning into you softly, causing you to turn your head.