Between Darkness and Dawn

5.

After that day spent together, everything seemed to be going perfectly for Harmony. For all that Carmen didn’t approve, she didn’t try to stop her either; she figured that if Harmony was happy, then she had to be happy too. The reserve was amazing, they had been on expeditions to see the sights and trips to the local villages and lakes and met people they never thought they’d meet. No-one seemed to notice the change in Harmony and Godfry’s actions for the rest of the week. They never saw the quiet moments when they were perfectly happy alone, talking and being together. They missed the kisses and the secret, stolen looks of attraction that weren’t intentionally hidden from them. Neither one cared what any one else thought of their new found relationship, they just wanted to be together. “Harmony…you coming?” Stella asked sweetly as she boarded the bus.

“Where’re you going?” She replied as she sat up, feeling the grass between her fingers as she leant back. The sun was only barely visible but nonetheless, Harmony wanted to be outside today and enjoy the scenery as long as she could.

“We’re off to a nearby village to see some of the local fauna.” She explained excitedly.

“No, you’re fine.” Harmony laughed as she lay back down. “Godfry wanted to take me somewhere later.” Stella shrugged and took her seat on the bus, waving to Harmony as they left for the village. Harmony lay there for another half hour, her eyes closed as she tried to guess where Godfry wanted to take her. He said he’d found it by accident when he was on a walk one day, but all he’d tell her was that it was special and she’d love it.

“Hey gorgeous.” He smiled as he crouched down beside her. Before she even opened her eyes, he kissed her lingeringly, unable to contain himself. Ever since their first kiss a few days ago he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her. He just thought that if anything was going to go wrong, then he wanted to enjoy their time together as much as possible. “Listen, maybe we should head out, Holloway’s going nuts at the fact we’re going off on our own.” He sighed, cursing the fact that another teacher had accompanied them on the trip. Ms Carre was enough to deal with without Holloway.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll just get my jacket…” Harmony got up and picked her book up off the ground. But before she could go anywhere, Godfry handed her her jacket with a smile.

“Thought it’d save time.” He grinned cheekily. She had no choice but to just shrug and go along with him, even though she knew exactly what he meant by that. It meant he wanted to spend as much time as possible kissing her and doing nothing else. That was all he ever wanted and it was beginning to annoy her. She had never realised how monotonous it could be to be fawned over day after day; she had only ever wanted a physical, heated relationship with Godfry before, but now that she had it, she didn’t like it. Somehow, at some point, she had realised that she could be happy with the bare minimum of the physical and the extraordinary emotional commitment he’d had never given her. It was her like her world was falling down around her and she was helpless to do anything about it. Harmony didn’t want to tell him the way she felt in case she lost everything. Not just the physical but the possibility of a personal, emotional friendship. Following him along the usual trail, Harmony kept her thoughts to herself. “You okay? You’re kind of quiet.” He noticed finally. He stopped in his tracks and let go of her hand, turning to face her.

“I’m fine, really.” She smiled softly. Taking her statement at face value, Godfry smiled and continued on his way. His coolness and inability to tell she was lying, only fuelled her temper. How was it, that when he wasn’t even a friend, he could understand her emotions perfectly and read her like a book? But now that he was something more, he didn’t seem to care enough to want to find out if she was lying or not? It was as if asking her every now and then if she was okay was compensation enough for not caring. Ten minutes later they arrived at a little lake. It was beautiful to just sit and look at. The water was a pure, crystallised blue glittering in the sun. “Godfry…it’s beautiful.” She whispered in awe.