Tragedy of lies

chapter -9 hiking ( jessica's pov)

POV- JESSICA

I tuck in the lace of my shoes. I wore noah’s forest green t shirt with full sleeves  along my own black leggings which I’d found here, in his closet. I’d forgotten it when emma and I had stayed here while he’d been partying with the boys.
His t shirt smells of him ofcourse, not that I mind it. I like the smell of minty fragrance. I take a last glance at him, in deep sleep, he looks cute. I smile, unable to help it, he listened to every word of mine last night without any hint of judgement.
I thank the skies silently, don’t ever take him away from me.
And with that, I walk through the door.

                                                   ***

The early morning rays of the rising sun peek through the little gaps between the dense trees. It was still a little dark when I first arrived, the mist and cold almost convinced me to turn back and cuddle in my blanket. Warm and cozy-
But so are his eyes
And I have to gather information from him.  so I’d let that idea slip away.
Drake had told me he’ll meet me up higher somewhere. the forest is thick, with bushes rustling with movement of animals, squirrels probably. it looks almost magical with the little morning light glowing behind the forest. I had jogged my way up to a bus station, travelled all the way from there to here . then ,a lonely short road, more like a dry, soiled path filled with grasses and plants I have no clue about, had let me here. my eyes were astonished by its vastness and heavenly sight.
Some call it the quiet forêt, maybe because of its peace and silence, the only noise I hear- more like music, are the sounds of river flowing nearby. We’ll probably sit there for a while.
The dry, autumn leaves make a sharp, cracking sound as I step on them, the sharp wind whistling around me as I make my way, moving forward.
I lose count of the numbers of twigs I snap while walking, my concentration already fixed on finding him.  I swear if I don’t find him anytime soon or if he’d ditched me and was sleeping-
All my violent thoughts fade away as black finds my vision, a black jacket.
On black sweatpants and black tee.
He stands there, probably waiting for me. the dim sunlight illuminating his stature,  the canopy of trees above him do the same, throwing squints of twilight on the ground.
The rustling of grass make him turn to face me.
And lord save me, he looks celestial. the shimmering eyes, and that wide smile of his, he looks like an angel.
I walk a step towards him but something falls directly in my face, thread like-
Web
By the expression on his face, he’d expected me to scream by the spider who crawled on my face.
But I just walk closer towards him with a crooked smile, the spider still on my forehead.
‘HEY-
Yep,I can tell by the crack in his voice.
He’s afraid of spiders.
But I ain’t. and I haven’t had fun with someone for a long while.
‘ what the fuck jess-
‘ yes drake?” I finally approach him.
‘ get that thing away-
‘oh?’  my eyebrows rise in sarcasm but I finally let that poor thing off me but don’t let it go, still keeping it in my palm. I look at him  back,’ what did this little poor thing do to you?’
He gulps down his spit.
I almost choke at the sight, unable to help a laugh barking out of me. a 6ft, mysterious muscular man-
Stood frozen, his veins bulging at the sight of a spider.
‘ oh my god’ I will never forget this, I let the spidey go away. Then hear a long relief from the scared big boy.
My plan was to hide it and slide it in drake’s back but that would be too villainous I  guess.
‘ look at your face drake’ I chuckle again, ‘ I should have clicked a pic’
He gives me a look, ‘ everybody is scared of SOMETHING’
I return his stare, ‘ I didn’t expect them to be spiders’ he opened his mouth to say something but didn’t say anything, ‘ anyways’ he cleared his throat, half flushing with embarrassment.
Oh wow, I’m lucky to behold that hidden side of his.
He holds his hand infront of me, ‘ shall we?’ that flirtatious grin of his is back, his eyes waiting for my response.
I nod, holding on to his palm, ‘ we shall ‘

                                                  ***

‘ so when’d you met mia? ‘ my voice chimes in the quiet silence, we are still walking,on our way to the river and then we’’ll go up higher.
The trees seemed to be welcoming us, the sun has risen, waking up the early risers while giving us its bright light to lead the way. I’d made sure no other spider disturbed us.
‘ you’d not leave me without asking will you?’ 
‘never’ I smile, my eyes still fixed on my surroundings, on the rustling leaves of the tall trees encircling everywhere, the chirping of birds, the brown forest ground covered with leaves and grass.
His shoes crack every dry branch on the way, he’d stopped in between and bended down to pick up a yellow feather and had kept it in his pocket, ignoring all my curious questions about why he did that.
I’ll tell you later. He’d said.
I sideglance at him but its too late as I realise he is already staring at me.
He rubs his neck, gazing upward at the beautiful canopy of trees and at the sky visible through the little spaces between the leaves, ‘ I’d met her at a karaoke ‘ something flinches in his amber eyes which I can’t recognize.
‘ a karaoke?’ I grin, this does sound like an interesting story.
as long as it doesn’t go too far
I stop in my tracks, who said that.
Someone…that voice was so clear-  in my own mind- someone whispered.
‘jess?’
I look back to find he has stopped too. ‘ is everything allright ?’
I shut my eyes for a second, letting it give a time. It must be something else, it could be me myself-
A warm hand brushes my shoulder.
My eyes open to find his in deep concern, looking right at mine. His face just inches apart from mine.
Something shifts in his face as his gaze drops down from my eyes, to below my nose.
his grip on my shoulder goes still and tight.
My breathe fastens a bit, I try to say something- even whisper.
But no words escape from my mouth.
Should I tell him? About that dream.
The way we’d been just this way?
Heavens, I don’t even know what my mind-my heart wants.
What I want.
We stare at each other, not daring to break the strange connection between us. His grip, still holding the leftside of my shoulder,slide to my back, how smoothly he did it, I have no clue.
His long eyelashes dip, his messy hair somehow seem perfect.
hell, he is perfect. Now that I look at him, so close to me.
The glow of his dusky,brown skin, the shimmers of his honey eyes, the tightness of his hold, the warmth of his embrace- He doesn’t seem real. 
But here he is, his warm hands on my back , ‘ did anybody ever tell you?’ he finally manages to speak.
‘ tell me what?’ the words cracked.
my palms rest on his chest, my fingers slightly stroking and playing with the threads of his black tee, they do it without my control.
‘ that-’ he doesn’t complete his sentence
I look back up at him, “ that?”  he laughs at his own inside joke, he tries to say again, flushing a little too.
I am observed by the moment until realisation hits me.
What are we doing?
I let go off his hold [ and mine own ]  when realisation hits me. I’d come here to gather info about mia.
Not-not this.
I clear my throat, loudly for him. ‘ we were talking about mia. The karaoke’
Maybe sadness filled his face at my sudden act. Or maybe dejectedness, something like a feeling of defeat.
I am stupid
He shakes his head,’ yeah- about that ‘