#hearttsck

               the picture surrounding them was both unsurprising and a fever dream for rowan,   the screams and the terror were distant,   even when they were happening right by her side,   right in front of her.   it was the crackling of the bonfire what stood out,   what invaded her ears and washed her with the calm she needed to deal with this.     "  where is austin ?  "    so serenely it was unnerving,   she directed the question to a poppy who seemed out of herself.   the last time she had checked they were together,   why wasn’t she saying anything ?   she looked at josh for a second then,   eyebrows raised,   and just by the time she was ready to run into the mess right in the middle of the event to look for their missing boy,   she saw his silhouette approaching,   a sigh of relief tremulously falling from her lips.     "  what the fuck,   dude,   where the fuck where you ?   we need to get out of here.  "

               of all the things that could’ve happened in her return,   at this event,   in this town,   meeting poppy sterling once again was not among her cards.   she’d been away from their mind for so long,   such a repressed memory,   one of the forgotten ones,   the instant they clumsily stumble into her,   running up the hills is their first instinct.   immaculate and glorious is the way she looks,   as she’s always been,   and the only reason rowan doesn’t physically run in the other direction is that her feet are glued to the spot with the same force her breathing is stuck in the middle of her throat.     "  i—   uhm,   i—   i’m sorry,  "     she stutters stupidly,   and the fingers of her right hand find the back of her head,   lightly scratching a spot more in a nervous habit than a real need.     "  i…   didn’t see you there,   i was—   i wasn’t looking,   sorry.  "     the words fall from their lips awkwardly,   and they know their tone is too soft, too low to be properly heard above the chatting and the crackling of the fire and the beating of their heart.   her gaze bores into poppy,   then,   tracing the lines of her lovely face,   and rowan can’t tell how long she’s been without breathing,   but she feels dizzy and lost and utterly dumb by the time she manages to speak again.     "  long time no see,  poppins.  "     is the final murmur,   collecting herself at last,   inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly,   inaudibly,   the only evidence of her turmoil the deep,   fast rise and fall of her chest.