MADISON'S POV.
We left the church and walked outside into the forest, the leaves crunching beneath our feet the further we walked broke the comfortable silence.
I glance at Carl from the corner of my eye and watch as he stares down at my hand. His own hand twitched towards mine and for a second I wonder if he will take my hand in his, but he pulls it back and points to my hand.
"That's an odd ring you got there." Carl states and try to hide the lost hope I had that he would hold my hand.
Silly!
"Oh, yeah, dad gave it to me before he left." I explain.
"Why was it left to you?" He asks, already knows the story of my father. "Well, I presume it was made for me. The black stone inside is a Madison gem." I explain.
"Guess he couldn't give it to your mom then." He jokes with a small smile.
"He and mom never got along anyway They always fought. She said that he was too absorbed in his work and didn't make time for his family." I tell him.
"Was it true?"
"Yes." I chuckle.
"... And No. He made time for me, only me. He always took me out to the field to teach me how to shoot with my bow and he taught me how to throw knives. He would tell me things about his work that he couldn't tell anyone, not even my mom."
"Why did he teach a kid as young as you how to throw knives and archery?"
"Like I said before, he was crazy for his own reasons." I explain.
"Mads, how can you remember all these things when you were so young?"
"I've been in the dark for most of my life, so it's hard to forget the only things you can remember." I whisper.
We keep walking through the woods until finally I find an oak tree that soars so high into the sky that I can't see the top.
"Thats a good tree right there." I say with a smile.
Carl groans. "You must be joking? What is it with you and trees?" He grumbles.
I make a run at the tree and grab ahold of the nearest branch. I pull myself up and begin to place my feet carefully between the branches of the tree and hoist myself up again. Within seconds I'm already quarter ways up.
I look down to see Carl still on the ground, glaring up at me.
I laugh at his expression.
"Well, are you coming up or not?"
He rolls his eyes but jump for the first branch anyways. I feel the tree shake slightly and I steady myself with the bark. He starts to climb and not long after I reach the top of the tall tree, waiting for him to come up. I finally see him and decide to tease him.
"You took your time. My granny's dead and she could still climb faster than you."
"Ha-ha." He says sarcastically.
"Its harder than it looks. How do you do it so fast?" Carl asks.
"I used to love climbing trees. I climbed trees so fast my dad would call me a squirrel." We laugh at the nickname.
We wind our way around the tree so that we can sit together on a thick branch.
Before Carl sits, I watch as he twists slightly to put his hand in his back pocket.
He pulls out something small and I crane my neck to see what it is.
"Whats that?" I ask.
Carl looks at me with those blue eyes and finally, he grabs my hand and holds it in his. I feel something in my stomach dance and in that moment I immediately knew what people meant when they talked about butterflies in their stomachs. He places whatever was in his hand into mine but he doesn't let it go, he just holds it as I open my hand, palm up to reveal what's inside.
I look down at it and see a necklace with a familiar charm. The charm is small and dainty with spirals of blue sapphires trapped in the middle of a golden ring.
I feel tears fill my eyes and threaten to spill over but I fight them off as best as I can as I gaze down at the necklace.
"My moms necklace." I whisper, not trusting my voice.
"Yeah."
"How did you get it? She never took it off." I shake my head in confusion.
"I nicked it before she was buried. I hope yo don't mind."
I shake my head again.
"Look, I know you and her had your differences and didn't always get along but I just thought maybe you'd want something left from her." He murmurs.
"Thank you Carl."
I throw my arms around him and squeeze so hard I think my arms might fall off. I wobble unsteadily on the branch and Carl's hands find my waist to stop me from falling off the tree.
When I pull away from the hug my face is only inches away from his.
I can feel an energy or some kind of force that makes me want to move closer so that our foreheads touch. I hesitate, unsure. It's not a feeling I'm used to. I'm used to control, I'm used to knowing my own actions, good or bad, but with Carl, I never know what's gonna happen next. I don't know where to draw the line. Truthfully, I don't want to draw any line.
I decide to inch fractionally closer, not knowing his reaction, but it seems Carl has beaten me to it because before I can respond, his lips are on mine. At first all I feel is shock. Shocked that he felt the same energy that I feel. Shocked that he acted how I wanted to act. The sensation is odd and unfamiliar and I feel I should stop this, but I can't. I just can't because I don't want to.
One of my arms go around the back of his neck, tangled in his hair and the other is on the thick branch between us keeping us balenced. I feel his hand that rested on my waist travel up my body to rest with his palm cupped around the back of my neck and his thumb caressing my cheek. My body and mind feels like it's on fire, wanting more.
You would think after the hours I spent talking to Carl, laughing with Carl the way his mouth would curve when he frowned, that I would know all there is to know about his lips. But I was wrong. Eventually, we pull apart and try to catch our breaths, the electricity dulls only slightly. Carl smirks and I can't help but roll my eyes.
"We should probably get back." I say and begin climbing down the tree with Carl right behind me.
I glance up at him and catch him with a smile plastered on his face.
"What?" I ask.
"I think we should change our status from midnight barn make out sessions to midday tree top make out sessions."
I chuckle, attempting to shove his shoulder but he dodges it and laughs.
We reach the bottom of the tree and Carl takes the necklace from me, placing it around my neck for me before we start back to the church.
"We should go for walks more often." I tease.