~Two Years Later~
Hogan:
Free from the feeling of contentment dashing through my body, I continue to hold my hand out and brush my fingers against Serge's hair.
The sun and the air is humid beneath us, and the shade of the tree shields our bodies from its raging hotness. Every feeling of calmness cripples through my skin, and even with my back leaning against the rough bark of the tree, my eyes only focus on him.
Serge
The past few years have been more difficult. Everything was burning through him more easily with every word they have thrown to us. All I could do then was to be patient and trust him all the way through the process of his healing and adjustment.
The days have been rough, yet the nights have been rougher. With my lips in his and my body pressed against his skin. The feeling of his touch on me makes me forget every conflict that we've faced during the day, and my mind only focuses on the new beginning that's going to come for a new tomorrow.
We've also come to finish our senior year with enough bricks that they've thrown for us to build a castle. It became a mission, yet the days of its hardness became easier with Serge being with me. All that was keeping me away from feeling anxious was him not leaving me when I felt broken and me not leaving him when he was at his lowest.
Last year, we managed to escape our town to go to a faraway college across the state. My dad has been easy to support us with our needs, and his mom visits us monthly to check if everything is going okay. Which it is.
College was less difficult since people don't normally mind our businesses here and, even better, we're merely strangers to them.
We've made quite a few friends here already, and though we planned not to associate with too many people here, their kindness and hostility helped us to understand that it's better if we let ourselves in with more people.
"What are you thinking?" Serge asks from where he's lying and takes my other hand in his, intertwining them.
The smile on my lips still hasn't faded with every thought that I have been thinking, and I continue to fix my gaze on him with his head on my lap. "Nothing."
He narrows his brows at me, which is a gesture that I now find super cute and I try to bite my cheek to not be tempted by his looks.
"You seem to be smiling a lot today." He says with a sweet tone.
I couldn't help but chuckle at his words. However, my laughter immediately goes ragged as he brings his hand up, sliding across my bottom lip, and stands where he's lying to completely wipe the smile off my face.
His lips move to crash into mine and my mouth welcomes his softness easily as we control both our lips in motion. My breathing is stopped every time he takes a hold of my weakness. He's suffocating, yet, I can't hold myself back to pull away from his strangled grip.
My hand moves to touch his cheek and our kiss goes deeper as I feel his tongue going past my mouth.
A silent moan slips out of me from how hard he's making me feel, though I try to maintain myself so we won't be put out because of public indecency. I doubt having a boner in the middle of your university's park is even a crime, but his lips sure feel like one.
He grips my hair tighter, bringing my head closer, and pushes his body to mine as we suddenly lose balance and my back falls into the grass.
Serge's body falls into mine, our chests pressed against each other, and our laughter fills the air as our kiss is cut short.
"I love you." He says this while attempting to retake control of my lips.
He gives me a soft kiss, which he cuts seconds later, and his breath continues to form a chuckle as we lay together in the grass.
My heart is in captured euphoria every time I hear his words, and I couldn't help but feel lighter from the memory of when he first said it to me.
The night my first girlfriend broke up with me and the night we were only 14. The hold and comfort he provided me that night is still felt through my skin. The cry I've let out. The night when we were at the bridge, completely away from everything. And the words that he first admitted to me.
"Fine. You can cry on me. And I promise you, about two or three days from now, you'll probably get over it and have already forgotten her name." He says this while delicately holding me in his hands.
My heart hurts from the memories of what she just said to me and the way it pierced through my innocent being. I hate it and it makes me feel weak. However, the way Serge takes my feelings full-heartedly could easily make my body melt into him. "I hope so. Ah, why does heartbreak sting so much? I freakin' hate it" I groan while taking this time to bury my face in his sweater and hug him tighter.
He's silent for a long time since he's probably thinking about his words and holding my hair with his hand. "I mean...at least you tried to accept your feelings rather than hide from them, I guess. That's always better than not feeling anything at all."
My head slightly jerks up to look at him, trying to read his expression. He only smiles at me and continues to hug me even more.
My body voluntarily falls into his touch,
the softness of him caressing me, and I lay my head on his shoulder, feeling more sleepy with every second that passes and I try to shut my eyes, finally controlling my heavy breaths until I fall into a dream.
My heart feels comfort from just having Serge next to me. However, my consciousness still tries to capture the last words he whispers before I fall asleep.
I love you
The bell rings, making me pull away from my thoughts, and my eyes trail to Serge once again, who is not laying on my side, staring at the sky.
He bolts up seconds later after hearing the call, and we both take our bags from the tree, standing to go to our class.
My hand returns to mine, and I hold it firmly to my skin as we walk across the grass, and I fall back into my thoughts again.
The smile on his face makes me feel everything I could ever want and my heart chimes with contentment from having him as the person I would die for and be with for my whole life.
It's amazing how we've ended up where we are and far from where we started. We were once just friends, and now we're more than we'd expected to be. It's wondrous and a dream come true. And even though I never thought we'd fall into a realm where both of us would interfere, my heart will still break to be with Serge.
Looking back at it now, my feelings are actually nowhere near as fond as they used to be before, because now, all the fondness I've felt only led to me being in love with him.
~I once believed love would be
burning red but it's golden
like daylight~