Tainted

Chapter 45: These Two Lovely People

The stars litter the sky in a contrast of darkness and light. Some shine as bright as cities while others I'm forced to squint my eyes to see if they're even there, but nonetheless the entire sky's expanse is covered in lights like a dazzling New Year's Eve party. I nuzzle my head closer into Jesse's chest as the air turned from burning hot to freezing cold in a mere amount of minutes yet everyone still ended up staying on the roof of the van.

The sound of coyotes miles away rings in a night time song with the occasional hoot of an owl as it's silhouette flies overhead. I can feel Jesse's chest rise and fall with each steady breath he takes and I begin to wonder if he's already fallen asleep or if he's simply calm, that is until I feel his arms pull me closer and a long sigh escapes his lips brushing against my cheek.

"Can you sleep love?" Jesse whispers in my ear and I crane my neck to look up at him in the night's lighting as the stars send a minimum amount of light down on his features.
"Can you?" I ask and a kind smile dances along his lips making me almost want to admit to him that I've been keeping my eyes open just so I can feel his steady heartbeat for a little bit longer. His smile eventually falters slightly and his eyes leave mine and move up to the sky leaving me feeling a bit empty inside for a moment.

"Jesse," I murmur longing to meet his gaze again. His head shifts over to look at me and his green eyes turn nearly black with small flecks that almost appear to be glowing in the night as he gazes at me.
"I love you so much," I speak as earnestly as possible. Jesse's lips spread into a large smile, as if he's never heard those words before and in a moment they're meeting mine in a kiss I'll never forget, one of passion and certainty.
"I love you too," he promises.

+++

Clunk. Bang. Bang.
"What the..." a male voice speaks from next to me.
"Ow!" I squeal as something slaps my leg.
"Hey!" the masculine voice shouts and a feeling of warmth is suddenly ripped away from me.
"Up and at 'em kids we got a ride!" John's voice fills the air and I peak an eye open to see it's barely even daybreak.

The same clunk-ing noise sounds and I see that it's John banging on the hood of the van. The sun barely is peaking over the desert horizon and my face deforms, ready to protest the whole getting out of bed― or hood of the van― thing. A loud groaning noise sounds next to me and soon the two iron arms that were around me yank me from one side of the hood to the other as Jesse rolls over with me still attached to him. My head drapes over the edge of the hood to see the blanket that John no doubt ripped from us and I make a tired attempt at reaching for it again longing for it's warmth.

My arm almost reaches it when I feel Jesse's weight shift with me and slide right off the hood with me under him. His weight crushes me for a moment as we both land on top of the soft blanket but in a split second Jesse props his arms up and I feel his chest press lightly to my back as I let out a painful groan.
"Good morning," I hear Jesse chuckle in my ear from above me.

I gingerly shift my weight under him and slide myself out so he's left lying on the blanket alone, cuddling his face into it and wrapping his arms around it. I slowly stand up and let out a painful yawn as I stretch my back out from the lack of sleep and odd positioning of last night. The hood flies open from next to me causing me to almost jump out of my own skin as I peak my head over it to see an elderly couple maybe in their mid-80s hooking up their old and battered minivan to our vehicle.

John seems to be talking up a storm with them as they both smile and wrap weird wires around weird knobs. I give Jesse a little kick in the side attempting at getting him up when I see that Naomi is just tilting her head up from still on top of the van and Katie and Chris seem completely unbothered by the sound of everyone talking.