AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks,” I finally say, not sure that’s the appropriate reply and equally uncertain what is.
The incline we’re climbing steepens suddenly, tree roots sticking out at awkward angles. I focus on pulling deeper breaths into my lungs, feeling sweat dampen the back of my neck.
A few rock boulders appear ahead, and I’m very tempted to suggest we stop at one. But my pride pushes me ahead, focusing on Holden’s back and continually climbing toward it.
Ten minutes later, the path evens out. Clumped earth turns to flat stone.
The view is impressive. Leaves flutter like a living, green wave, stretching down and around in every direction. A sloping slant of greenery that leads all the way to the sandy shore on the other side of the mountain. Just past it, the dazzling glint of sunshine off blue water.
“Wow.”
“Careful.” A warm palm wraps around my elbow, tugging me to a stop.
I glance down, belatedly registering the slope on the other side of the rock face.
“Thanks.”
Holden doesn’t drop his hand right away. Once he does, it feels like a loss.
My body is starved for attention. Forhisattention, specifically. I crave it like an addiction.
There’s another couple up here, the first people we’ve seen since leaving the campsite. They look to be in their mid-thirties; the woman giving us a small wave while the man offers one of the nostalgic, indulgent smiles adults often give anyone younger. Sort of agood luck you don’t know what life is really like yetgrin.
Holden stops about halfway down the rock, dropping his backpack and bending over to unzip it. “Water?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
He passes me my canteen and I take a long pull, the bottle’s insulation keeping the water cool.
Holden’s pulling a beach towel out of his backpack, spreading it across the slanted surface and then taking a seat. I hesitate for a second, then sink down beside him.
“You hungry?” he asks, pulling a paper bag out and setting it between us.
I stare at the bag, both eyebrows raised.
“What?”
“I’m impressed,” I admit.
One corner of his mouth tilts upward before he drinks some water. “It’s just peanut butter and jelly.”
It’s notjustanything.
It’s him, electing to spend the day just the two of us. Waking up early to make us lunch. Asking about the animal shelter. Apologizing.
There are so many tiny moments that make up me and Holden.
Good and bad.
Ugly and beautiful.
No history is perfect. It’s a collection of memories that time twists and warps. The break this summer was supposed to emphasize that. To let me look at us from a distance and decide who we are now.
Instead, we feel more entangled than ever, eating sandwiches side-by-side at the top of a mountain.
We feel familiar and right, like the last two months were only a short chapter in a much longer story. We seem bigger than hurt feelings and harsh words.
We mostly eat in silence, but it’s not an uncomfortable one. It means something, I think, that there’s a lot unsaid between us right now and we’re still able to enjoy a peaceful quiet together. That we’re drawn to each other even when we’re pushing each other away.
