My eyes fly open, but I did not move. Waves. I could hear the sound of waves. That’s right, we’re at the beach.
I looked down and saw Taylor sleeping on my chest much like she did the night before.
I gently wrapped my arms around her and let the warmth of her body seep into my chest, my veins, my soul.
I fell back asleep, but this time there was no dark forest or twisted vines. There was only Taylor, and I was no longer alone.
Chapter 11
Taylor
I woke up with Brexl’s arms around me and a smile on my face. He’d been having another nightmare last night and instead of waking him up I chose to lay on his chest like I’d done the night before.
His body relaxed beneath me, and the grimace that had been on his face faded to a more relaxed expression.
I liked that I’d been able to ease Brexl out of his nightmare. I liked it a little too much.
I will not develop a crush on him. I will NOT develop a crush on him. I silently repeated to myself. I didn’t want to lose myself to a relationship again.
I slipped out from under his arms and sat up. The sun had started to peek through the cave entrance, and I wondered if I could still catch the sunrise.
The sky had just begun to brighten when I walked out of the cave. The salty air whipped my hair around my face, but I pressed on.
Who knew when I’d be able to see the beach again? I walked to the shore and sat on the sand drinking in the view of the dark purple water under the white waves.
These past two weeks had been full of wild chaos, and I was ready to go home.
“Good morning,” Brexl sat down next to me and draped our blanket over my shoulders.
“Thanks,” I smiled up at him. It had been cold, but I wasn’t going to take our one blanket from Brexl as he slept. However, I was certainly happy to use it now that he was awake.
We sat there in silence as the sun rose. Its bright hues filling the sky. I laid my head on his shoulder and after a moment’s hesitation he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me in closer.
“I can bring you back here if you’d like.”
“I’d like that. I bet it’s really nice here in the summer.”
It’d be fun to come here as a group to relax and swim in the water. There were enough caves scattered around the beach for everyone to sleep in. I’d like to come here under happier circumstances, for sure.
We ate our breakfast on the beach, and then packed up to go. I looked over my shoulder one last time at the sparkling water before we entered the forest.
The rest of the morning was blessedly uneventful. No jagwas, no hunters from the other dekes, just the cool breeze of the fall air and the sound of the leaves crunching under our feet.
As we walked, I spotted some beautiful yellow flowers with small pink petals dotting the center. They resembled earth lilies, which just so happened to be my favorite flower.
“Are these safe to touch?” I asked Brexl as I pointed to one of the yellow flowers.
He looked down and nodded his head. “Those are safe.”
I plucked one from the ground and smelled it before gently tucking the stem in my bag, while leaving the petals sticking out from the top so they wouldn’t get crushed.
“They look like one of my favorite Earth flowers,” I added.
A pensive expression crossed Brexl’s face, but he said nothing and we continued on. It wasn’t long before we came across another patch of yellow flowers, but this time Brexl bentdown and yanked five flowers up from the ground at once, bringing with them their roots and a few disgruntled bugs.
“Here are more flowers.” He awkwardly held them out for me to take.
“Thank you.” I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.
