REDHEAD , until dawn

reunited

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 . . .
𝒓𝒆𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅

Her eyes scanned the wooden building in front of her, the whole aroma of it changed — it used to be exciting, an escape from their parents and school and now it was cold and unwelcoming. Her arms wrapped around her body for comfort as Lola began to walk closer towards the door, slipping it open to enter inside the even colder cabin. "Hello?" Lola shouted out into the cabin, hearing as her voice echoed within the dark place.

She continued to travel into the living room, feeling a sense of relief wash over her as her eyes drifted across Ashley. "Oh, my God. . . Ashley!" Lola exclaimed before she watched Ashley jog towards her, her arms opening to reach into a brief and gentle hug. "It is so good to see you," Ashley said before she broke their hug and twirled a slight lock of Lola's hair between her thin fingers.

"How are you and Chris?" Lola asked as she teased-poked Ashley's hips, Ashley chuckled as the pokes tickled her before she stopped laughing and sighed, "It's. . . going." Lola nodded her head with the two parted words, if Mike and Jess were together she suspected Ashley and Chris would be as well, as they had huge crushes on each other. They both continued to walk as Lola heard the chattering of what seemed to be Sam and Josh.

She had already kept in contact with Josh, the words 'Josh is doing better' was the only thing that kept her going to be healthy herself, knowing she couldn't leave Josh after his twin sisters had just died and with his new diagnosis. "Hey," Sam's voice broke as she brought the ginger into a welcoming hug; typical Sam. "Hi," Lola replied before Sam tilted her head towards the fireplace. "He's over there," She told Lola.

"Speaking of the devil. . ." Sam announced before Josh turned around from the fireplace to see Lola walking in besides Ashley and Sam. He stared at the ginger, a smile filling his cheeks as she waited for him to speak. "Hey, Cherry!" Her nose scrunched at the familiar nickname that declaimed the color of her hair, he had always called her that name so she couldn't be mad at the nickname.

She continued to walk towards him, her lips twisted into a smile that created dimples into her soft, pink cheeks. Lola jumped into his arms, feeling as his hands wrapped around her waist and hers around his neck. Here she felt happy. Josh smelled in her scent of cherry and vanilla — another indication of her nickname. Lola let out a quiet but happy sob as she felt him warm her body, burying herself deeper into his touch.

"I have missed you, Cherry," Josh whispered into her ear, his grip tightening around her body before squeezing against her skin gently almost to see if she was actually there; alive. The two began to slightly pull away from each other before he kissed her cheek as they did so.

Overwhelmed, Lola noticed the bright smile on Josh's face before she wiped away tears from her cheeks. "I've missed you so much, Josh," She told him, ignoring the stares of the others. Lola placed her head onto his chest, feeling his breath and hearing his heartbeat once again, it made her realize how much she truly missed him during the year. But like always, every good thing comes to an end.

Their admiration for one another was cut short when the sound of others walked into the room, "What's up party people!" Josh replied before Lola shifted uncomfortably on the floor before Josh placed his arm over her waist for some sort of comfort. He was the only one who knew her feelings for Mike, and she hid them quite perfectly from the others. "Hey," Jess spoke quietly from behind Mike and even though it was quiet, it still echoed into the large architecture of the cabin.

"Make yourself at home," Josh told them before the two happily seated themselves on the choice; like a happy couple. Lola sighed before Josh left his touch on her and turned around back towards the fireplace. She glanced once more at the two of them before bending down to Josh. "Yeah, come on in. Take a load off, have whatever you want. You just take whatever you want anyway, right?" Matt spoke, his tone was deep, angry, and jagged with jealousy as his gaze consumed Mike.

   "Not everything, Matt," Mike announced before his eyes reached over towards Lola, watching with a sort of jealously as she and Josh played and laughed whilst they tried to build the fire together: watching as his hands tickled against her bare waist, his hands helping as she nearly tipped over from laughter as her sweet chuckles mixed with his deep one.  "He's such a dick," Josh whispered to her, Mike gladly not hearing that sentence. "Yeah. . . I know," Lola replied with a head nod.

   "What the Hell were you doing with Em on the trail?" Matt asked Mike, Lola decided not to focus on the chatter, if Mike was going to flirt with Emily when he was with Jess, she didn't want to hear it. Her body was filled with rage and sadness as she assisted Josh.

Mike furrowed his eyebrows, "We just ran into each other. It's been a while so we hugged and said hello. Is that against the law?" A golden glow of the fire lit up and heated Lola straight away as she and Josh figured out how to burn it with her lighter. "We make a great team," Lola said sarcastically as their fists reached up to bump each other.

   "Right, yeah. Sorry, it's kind of been a long day and I overreacted," Matt finished the argument he started, Lola and Josh standing away from the fire so they won't burn to death. "No, man. Don't worry about it," Replied Mike, Josh, and Lola turned to each other as if they had missed a whole argument but she was happy they were both backs being their usual self with one another; comfortable and happy. Mike walked back over to Jess, placing himself next to her before draping his arm over her. Lola's smile immediately wiped from her face as he did so before Josh offered her a graceful smile to cheer her up, her lips curling into a smile to show him she was okay.