Dissipate

“Yes. I tripped on something.”

My face felt flushed. It had been a long time since I’d nearly slipped on one of my lies. Feeling close to Aiden had me letting my guard down more than I should. Being out here, nearly alone, had me feeling free.

We kept walking. Aiden pressed me for an answer. “So were the winters pretty harsh?”

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

He was going to make me answer. Knots formed in my stomach. “Yes, they were.”

“I thought so. Does it bother you to talk about your home?”

This was my way out to hopefully curve any future questions and minimize the lies. “When I talk about home, it makes me miss my mom.”

Stopping, Aiden kissed my gloved hand. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay.” I gave him a gentle smile to ease any doubt he had. “I like living in the present. The past wasn’t very bright for me.”

How true those words were.

We continued walking. Somewhere a fire burned as the smoke smell permeated the air. There was a large boulder that had beautiful green moss growing on it. Intermittently, lichen grew where the moss hadn’t reached. The mixture of colors were beautiful against the stark color. I loved being out here, appreciating the life I’d found.

Aiden squeezed my hand before speaking. “Are you and Brooklyn still going Halloween costume shopping?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty excited.” I had never experienced Halloween. Aiden had asked if I wanted to be his date and I’d said yes without understanding what was all involved which meant another trip to the library.

“It’ll be fun. Have Brooklyn text me when you figure it out since you don’t have a phone.” Aiden said the last part with a raised eyebrow. Apparently, g

etting a phone was more of a necessity than I deemed it to be. I’d checked into it and the bill would be about fifty dollars a month. That was a lot for something I had survived over nineteen years without.

Lovingly, I squeezed his hand as I rolled my eyes. “I know. I know. I need a phone, but I’ll have her text you.”

We were going as a coordinating couple. Overall, the Halloween tradition seemed silly from an outsiders view looking in. Children dressed up, then knocked on doors, asking for candy. As people got older, they still got dressed up, but instead attended parties. And the costumes had a wide range. There were some, unfortunately, that would be seared into my mind forever.

Some rocks fell and I looked. There was a steep ravine below to my right. If you didn’t have a sure foot, this place could be dangerous. The trail narrowed. “Wow, there are some steep parts. No wonder they have you sign a waiver when you come up here.”

Aiden stepped over a small tree trunk that had fallen across the path, then waited for me to clear it. “Yeah, bikers come up here a lot. They love the adrenaline rush.”

The tips of my toes tingled and I moved closer to Aiden. Rounding the bend, huge boulders that were three times as tall as me towered in front of me. Green moss grew on the rocks more abundantly. Dead leaves covered the trail.

I ran my hands along the wall of the rock. “Wow, this is spectacular.”

“Come see this.” We walked around the bend and there was a small cave like place.

I looked around. The crevice only highlighted the beauty of the place. Someone could hide up here. “Aiden, this is gorgeous. All of this. Can we explore?”

“Of course. I come here to think from time to time. Actually, I came here to think about how I was going to ask you out and not scare you off. I clocked a lot of time on these trails when we first met.” Aiden’s blue eyes warmed as he looked at me. “And now I have you.”

His words warmed me. “Really? You couldn’t have been that nervous. I’m just me.”

“Yes, really. I couldn’t fuck this up with you. Not until we had a chance. The amount of time I spent talking to Brooklyn about you is embarrassing.” He chuckled. “But, it was all worth it.”

Throwing my arms around his neck, I gave him a kiss. “I wanted you, too. But, I didn’t dare hope.”

We gazed into each other’s eyes. “Well, now we have each other.”

“OKAY, SO WHAT fortune did you get?” Aiden asked.

We were standing at the counter, having cleaned up from dinner. After Mount Kessler, we’d gotten Chinese to go and came back here. Cracking open the cookie, I got the fortune.