Found- Crygi

Chapter 13

Gigi POV-
    I wake up a little while before Crystal and go into the bathroom to get ready. I decide to go with a little bit of makeup just for the fun of it and when I walk back into the main room of the hotel Crystal is awake and on his phone. "Morning." I say. "How'd you sleep?"
    "Okay after I woke up." He replies smiling. "Sorry I woke you up."
    "Don't worry about it." I tell him, sitting on the edge of the bed. "What do you want to do today?"
    He shrugs. "We can't really go anywhere but outside."
    "This is true." I think for a moment. "There's some mountains and walking trails pretty close, probably a lake or something if we look. We could stay in, it's up to you I'm down to do whatever."
    "Any of those things sound great to me. But, if we are going to go hike or something, better today than tomorrow so we have a day to chill before we have to drive for another million years."
    I nod. "Well how about you get ready and we can decide at breakfast. It's downstairs until 9 and it's free."
    Crystal stands up and stretches. His hair is a curly mess which I find very adorable. He walks over to the suitcase and gets his things before disappearing in the bathroom for a short while.
    When he comes back out he's wearing cute red jeans with a black t-shirt. I don't know how he can pull everything off so effortlessly. If we all had that ability society would collapse in a day.
    Breakfast is empty other than 3 other tables when we get down there and all the food is still under guidelines. We sit at a tiny table in the corner and eat listening to the horrible music playing out of the tiny speaker on the ceiling. "Hike today?" Crystal asks, taking a bite of cereal.
    "If you want to sure. But don't expect us to get too far up any mountain." I reply, causing him to laugh slightly.
    "Trust me, we don't have to go far, I think it might be nice to go do something other than sit inside."
    I nod. "Agreed."
    We finish after only a few minutes and decide to head back to the room. It's still pretty early so it's not as hot outside as it could be. Still the sun is high in the sky so we lather ourselves with sunscreen and grab huge bottles of water before we go. Crystal google maps us to a pretty close very small mountain that does't seem to be too busy. We decided not to be over ambitious as this isn't about to be a full day trip.

    After walking for about an hour we stop at the edge of a little cliff. It's not too high up and there are huge rocks creating a little hole before the drop. The sun is high in the sky, no clouds in sight. I have to squint to see over the edge and when I do it's pretty even if we aren't super high up. Crystal sits near the edge and takes a drink from his water bottle which is already warm though it started with lots of ice. I sit down next to him and we look out over the land in front of us. There are a few other small mountains but below them are streets, mostly empty, and a couple of small houses tucked away in the middle of nowhere. "I can't imagine living in one of those houses." I say. "Around nothing."
    "I think it might be nice for a while." Crystal replies. "But I bet I'd get pretty tired of having to drive so far to see anyone."
    I nod my head in agreement. "Jesus it's hot out." I mutter and I looking over at Crystals red face I can tell he's feeling it too.
    "Yeah, I guess it could be worse though."
    We sit at the edge for a while, cooling down and chatting about a lot of things. It's been such a change since drag race. Going from not being able to do much of anything on the show, straight into quarantine, and once that's half past, here we are in Colorado. I don't think I would change it. Things have been hard lately, I won't say they haven't. It's lonely sometimes, and I still cry some days about what things could've been, what it would've looked like if it all went perfectly. But at the same time people say all the time that shitty stuff helps them grow as a person. I'm hoping that's what is happening. Drag race was good, but I've found my confidence faltering after it. I know that I proved myself, but at the same time I'm always looking for more. How can I top that? How can I make everyone proud of me? No matter how much I think about it and question everything, there isn't going to be an answer. I know that I will never be content with what I've done. Part of me will always be looking for more.
    "What are you thinking about?" Crystal asks, putting an arm around my shoulder.
    "Just everything lately." I reply. "I thought that I was totally over everything but I guess I'm still not."
    Crystal raises an eyebrow. "Over what?"
    "It's stupid."
    He shakes his head. "It's not stupid if it's bothering you. We don't choose what we feel emotion over, it just kinda happens."
    "Yeah." I reply. "I guess I'm just bothered because even after drag race, and everything that people have said and done. I don't feel any different." We sit in silence for a minute looking down at everything. I feel so small up here and yet so safe. "Before everything happened I thought that if someone knew my name and liked me, I would start to like myself more. And after the fact, I'm still the same person. Their opinions feel good, but it didn't make mine any different."
    "I think we all have to realize that at some point." Crystal replies. "That even if we have everything we want, it won't fix the way we feel about ourselves."
    I shake my head and push down emotions. "Even though I know it, I still want more and more."
    "Of what?"
    "I don't even know. Attention? I just still want more validation to make it all better, but I know it won't help. You know?"
    Crystal nods. "Yeah. I know."
    He takes my hand in his and pulls it into his lap, his thumb rubbing circles over my knuckles. I do feel better having said it and knowing that Crystal isn't going to go and tell everyone. I lean into his side and even though it's hot outside and we should probably keep walking, neither of us make a move to let go. I keep thinking of what his lips felt like on mine. I want it again and again, to feel close to him, to know that he's someone I don't have to hide from. And when I glance at him, he looks deep in thought too, but I don't know what about. He catches me staring at him and a small smile creeps onto his lips. "What?" He asks.
    "Nothing." I reply, giggling a little bit.
    "You're such a bad liar." He tells me, cupping a hand on my cheek. "Is this alright?" Crystal asks.
    I don't say anything back, I just lean in and close the gap between us. His lips are warm and soft, and we kiss slowly, my hand reaching for his hair. His fingers slide down my side, resting at my hip. I'm aware of every move that he makes to a point that I've never noticed before. The way his left hand is slightly shaky and his curly dark hair brushes against my shoulders every once in a while.
    When he pulls away he laughs and lays his head on my shoulder. "What are you so nervous?" I chuckle, holding onto his left hand.
    "Because I like you." He replies.
    I pull him into a hug and he squeezes me hard, not wanting to let go. "We should keep walking if we're going to get back before lunch." I mention, and he pulls away from me reluctantly.
    "You're right."
    We stand up and dust the sand off our pants before continuing up the trail. After only a few moments we're already telling jokes and laughing at them, telling embarrassing stories from before we knew each other. It's not even noon and the day is already perfect.

Thanks for sticking around for another chapter! Sorry it's pretty late in the day.
I think I'm going to hold off on the next update until sometime early next week, hope that's alright :)
Have a good day! <3