waine

He came to a stop at the top of the peak, and you tugged the helmet off your head, already feeling your hair sticking to your scalp and forehead from the sweat and heat of spring’s last gasp into summer.

Sebastian walked over to the cliff, sighing and lighting a cigarette as he looked to the millions of lights and skyscrapers in the distance. He stretched his arms over his head, swaying from side to side as he stretched. You stood next to him, nudging your shoulder into his as you came up. He laughed softly and took a drag off his smoke before blowing it into the humid air - thoughtfully away from your face. Part of you wished he would stop smoking, because it was a terrible habit. Part of you wished he didn’t look so good doing it.

“I come here when I want to get away from everything and just…think.” His eyes were distant as he spoke, as if he wasn’t really seeing the city but a life he could have there. Opportunities that he could take. You watched the breeze come and tousle his course dark hair away from his skin, pale from spending so much time in his room.

A cloud of smoke came out his lips, and he glanced at you. “What do you think?”

You thought a moment, letting his question seep into your bones. Your mouth twisted as you thought of your life in the city. The shoebox apartment you lived in. The sounds of the cars and trains and wind. The way the neon signs in the town square from all the clubs and bars would light up your friend’s faces at night. The savory and sweet smells from the food trucks. The tears you shed on the floor of your bathroom before you had to get ready to go into work.

“It’s a beautiful idea,” you murmured.

Sebastian tilted his head, dark brows furrowing and making an adorable V above his nose. You laughed quietly and wet your lips, thinking of a way to explain it in words rather than feelings and watercolors. Finally, you met his eyes.

“The…vibe was fun? The energy.” You sat on the cliff, legs folding criss-cross in front of you. He followed your lead, stamping out his cigarette before sitting in the dirt and stretching his legs out in front of him. The muscles in his forearms flexed a little as he leaned back on them, and you tried to look away from his form. From wondering when the relationship would stop being new and nervous enough for you to easily fit yourself against him.

“The culture is fun. The plays and museums. The bars and clubs. Getting shitfaced and dancing like it’s your last night on earth. Like, you can forget that there’s a war going on. You get friends and can spend a few hours just…forgetting, I guess?”

Sebastian’s fingers slid over yours as you spoke. He looked at your hands, dirty and calloused from working. His eyes grew soft and he spread his fingers against yours, like he wondered what he would feel if his hands grew the same.

You sighed, swallowing down the flutter in your heart as you brushed your fingertips against his knuckles, lacing your hands together.

“During the daylight it sort of felt like waking from a dream. You were living paycheck to paycheck. Spending more gold than you could manage to earn on such a small living space. I had to go into a lifeless…empty…capitalist machine. Pretty soon, I wasn’t even living anymore. I was just existing. Barely funding my existence.”

He tugged your hand into his lap, letting you scoot closer to him until your thigh was warming his. You played with his fingers as you spoke, letting his blunt nails lightly scratch over your palm.

“Don’t get me wrong,” you grinned. “My life now is anything but easy. Farming is hard. Mining is even harder. If Willy hadn’t been around to teach me to fish my whole first year here I wouldn’t catch anything.”

Sebastian watched your face as you spoke, admiring how your cheeks bunched when you smiled.

“But the first time I dug my hands into that dirt and pulled up a carrot…when I cooked fish that I caught…gained the cows trust and fed the ducks the first time. It was like I finally took a breath. Like everything before was a long winter or a dream, and I could just…be proud? Feel like I was doing something worth while.”

You hummed, “I never got that before.”

“I never really thought of the downsides,” Sebastian mumbled. “Or what the reality might be. I felt so trapped at home, I just…thought of getting out and nothing else.”

You smiled, sighing a laugh through your nose. “Past tense?”

He nodded ruefully, smiling. “I’ve been finding myself happier at home in the valley.” His chin tilted up as smiled wryly at you. “Wonder why that is.”

You laughed with him, but your jaw snapped shut lightly when he brushed his hand over your hair, smoothing pieces out of the way so he could see your face more.

“I don’t…” his adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed roughly. You thought if you felt his wrist you could have his pulse hammer into your veins. “I’ve never brought another person up here. I mean I’ve never….you know what I’m trying to say…right?”

His dark eyes flickered down to your lips and you could almost feel him grab his bravery from deep inside. He leaned close to you, and you met him half way.

The kiss was clumsy and unpracticed. Shy in a way that only Sebastian was. Then, once you lifted your hand from the dirt next to you and brushed it against his cheek, he sunk into you. His lips molded to yours smoothly, tongue brushing lightly over yours as sparks started so bubble low in your belly.

You nipped his lip, sucking softly before bulling a sliver away, your forehead pressing into his. The lights from the distant city reflected in his eyes softly, and you tilted your head, brushing your lips over his.

“Do you want to come home with me?”

Sebastian’s lips chased yours when you tipped your head away to speak. A blush coated his cheeks and wrapped up around his ears. “Tonight?”

Every night. You nodded, brushing your lips over his cheek.

“Don’t you have to work tomorrow?” His nose nudged over yours. A dam had opened between you and all the tension and want was flooding out.

“You could help me tomorrow if you want…in the morning. I could show you.”

He felt his heart squeeze in his chest. He could see it. Brighter and better than any dream of the city. You, with the sun at your back haloing your head as you stood among the field of strawberries and green beans as they yielded their last batch of the year.