The Silence (GxG)

Chapter 19 - The Lesson

▂▃▅▇█▓▒░ Kenzi ░

I know that Grace lay awake most of the night. I slept, but only lightly knowing how fragile the girl beside me might be. Eventually she slipped into a half decent slumber during the early hours, as the sun began to rise outside, but by that point I was already wide awake.

I got out of the bed carefully as to not wake the peaceful looking girl from her slumber. Once I had gently tucked the blanket in so that it covered her body sufficiently, I proceeded to the water well outside and splashed some cold water onto my tired features in order to liven me up a little bit.

Thank god for whoever owned this little cabin before me. Installing a filtered pump and pipes from the nearby river was a stroke of genius on their part.

I leaned forward on the wooden fence of the decking area, allowing the water to drip from my cold face to the ground whilst I took a few deep breaths of the fresh morning air. It's still really early, so there's a light chill in the crisp spring air, but I could tell it's going to be another clear and sunny day today.

"Hey! I didn't think you'd be up so early" I heard Darren yell from through the trees somewhere, but I couldn't see him.

"Well, surprise!" I responded sarcastically with a chuckle before using the bottom of my shirt to dry my face off.

When I peered back up, I could now see him approaching with a confident smile and bouncy stride, much like the first time we met.

"I was just doing my round on watch... I figured I'd chip in and help out after seeing how shit went down yesterday. So, what's got one half of the dynamic duo up so early?" He asked as he joined me on the decking, leaning against one of the posts casually and placing his wooden staff to the side.

"I couldn't sleep. I'm worried about her" I admitted, not seeing a reason I shouldn't be honest with him.

"That's understandable. You two are close..." He nodded without questioning any further "About that by the way, uh- I'm sorry for just kind of peering through the window like some creep yesterday. In my defence, I didn't want to just walk in and no one answered when I knocked on the door"

"It's cool. Don't worry about it" I chuckled at his sincerity which seemed to put him at ease "Nothing was going on so-"

"Bet you wish something was going on though" He interrupted me, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.

"That is none of your business! Now you are a creep, Darren" I scolded him playfully in return, enjoying his light hearted banter.

I can see why this kid's a charmer.

"Oh- Come on! I'm just kidding, I couldn't care less if you did. It just breaks my heart to know that two more badass beauties are off the market" He said jovially, pouting jokingly before becoming more serious again "I uh- I was actually hoping I'd see one of you so I could give you this. I picked it up before we left yesterday, but I didn't want to bother you two since Grace- well, you know..."

He placed his hand into the deep pocket of his cargos and pulled out Graces fathers dog tags, stretching his arm out to pass me them. I took them carefully, inspecting the scratched but still shiny pieces of metal briefly before slipping them into my own pocket for safe keeping.

"Thank you, Darren. She'll really appreciate that... but just a heads up, don't call her Grace. Stick to Blink or she might kick you in the nuts for it" I exaggerated, laughing a little bit at the image of Grace swinging a strong and well aimed leg directly between his legs.

"Oh, shit! Got it. I'll definitely keep that in mind" He laughed before picking up his staff "Anyways, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing and report back to Chester. He said to tell you that you guys can come in when Gra- I mean Blink is ready"