Page 16 of Weathering the Storm (Voice Out 1)
Me:Love ya! Thank you.
Angrie:Ew.
I laughed at her reply before tucking the phone in my pocket, feeling much lighter as the stress seeped out of me. My hair was a mess of dry and wet, so I quickly toweled what I could and left it untied to air out.
When I walked into the kitchen, Scott was dressed in his pajamas and setting the dishes. He looked up as I came in and immediately started speaking. “Luke, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything. I shouldn’t have asked you. I understand why you wouldn’t want to go with me—”
“I want to.”
“—since it’s a whole weekend and away from the city and everything. I didn’t mean to make it awkward with us, and I’m so...wait what?” His eyes widened as he realized what I’d said while he’d continued to babble.
“What did you say?” he asked slowly, as if I was the one who had ignored him.
“I said that if you still want me to go with you, I will.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
“I trust you, Scott. I’ll be fine.”
Scott gave me that wide smile of his that always warmed my heart, and I was sure my grin in reply was just as wide.
As we ate dinner, we planned out when we’d leave and what we’d do. Scott told me about the trails he loved hiking on, and the tiny ponds and the meadow he’d come across in his previous hikes. I could see that Scott loved hiking, which was why it saddened me a little that in the months since I’d become his roommate, this was the first time he was giving it any time at all.
“Why don’t you go hiking more often?” I asked, curious about why Scott wouldn’t do more of something he so obviously loved. I couldn’t imagine spending a single day without reading at least a little bit, let alone not reading for months.
Scott shrugged, looking down at his plate for a moment before meeting my eyes, a sad, wistful look darkening his brown ones.
“Pops loved hiking, and I loved hiking with him. Everything I know about it, I learned from him. After he was gone...it just reminded me of him too much. I couldn’t completely stop hiking because on the trails, I feel the closest to him. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it all that often, so I only go once or twice a year now.” The sorrow in his eyes was so deep it made my chest hurt, and I couldn’t stop myself from covering the hand he’d placed on the table and giving it a gentle squeeze. I remembered how fondly he’d talked about his godfather the day we’d finished reading the fourthBastien Whitebook, and I couldn’t imagine how much it had hurt to lose three parental figures one after the other like he had. I was in awe of the fact that he hadn’t let his loss and pain affect his bright personality. I couldn’t even imagine a Scott who wasn’t always warm and smiling, and I hoped I’d never have to.
He gave me a small smile and shook his head as if shaking the sad thoughts away. “Anyway, thanks for agreeing to come with me! It’s a two-hour drive from here. I was planning on leaving in the afternoon, but maybe we could leave after a late breakfast? That way we can squeeze in a short hike tomorrow.”
I loved the excitement in his voice, and I promised myself that I’d make sure he got around to hiking a lot more in the future. That was, for as long as I stayed on as his roommate.
“Fair warning, I’m a noob at hiking, so you’re going to have to teach me everything.”
Scott gave me that warm smile again, and I felt a small flutter in my belly. “It’d be my pleasure.”
By the time we were ready to leave the next day, it was already one p.m. After breakfast, we’d realized I had no proper hiking gear whatsoever. So, Scott had taken me to his favorite sports shop and helped me pick out a pair of hiking shoes, a backpack, my own water bottle, and some other essentials becausethat was what good friends did,he told me. I didn’t think I really needed some of that stuff, but Scott went all Boy Scout and got everything he deemed even remotely necessary. By the time we were done shopping, we'd realized it was lunch time, so we'd grabbed a few sandwiches and ate on our way home to grab our stuff.
Now we were in the car on our way to the cabin and the hiking trail. Scott was driving since I was so out of practice. I remembered how to drive, of course, but I didn’t fancy driving for two hours straight. Scott told me about the trail he was hoping to hike today and the tiny pond near it. It sounded like a beautiful place, and the way he described it made me excited to see it.
Before long, our talk turned to books, and we started discussingThrone of Glass,the series we were currently reading. I felt a strange kinship toward the main character, since we’d both been through a whole bunch of shit. She had her scars, and I had mine.
My fingers absently traced the scars on my abdomen over my shirt, wondering what it’d be like to not have to avert my eyes every time I took a shower, to not be thrown back into the horrible memories every time my eyes fell on those marks. What I wouldn’t give to lose them. I would peel my skin off if that was what it took, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to bear the pain.
“Luke? You okay?” Scott’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I turned to give him an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, yeah, I’m good. What were you saying?”
“We’ll be there in a few.”
“Great!”
I turned to look out the window as Scott exited the highway and followed a barely there unpaved road into the woods. The dark copse of trees gave the air a greenish hue, and I rolled down my window to take in the scene better. A cool breeze blew in through the window, carrying the scent of drying leaves and greenery. I could hear birds chirping high above us as our car rocked along the unsteady road.
It was only a minute later that we arrived at what looked like a tiny hunting cabin that stood in the small clearing. We got out of the car, grabbed our stuff, and walked up the three rickety stairs to the front door. Scott unlocked the rusty padlock with his key and opened the front door. The inside of the cabin didn’t look as decrepit as the outside. In fact, it was much more homey-looking. We stepped into a small living room that had a couch, a small coffee table and a lamp as its furnishing. Scott left the front door open as he looked for the light switch and after turning it on, he led the way into another room that I discovered was a similarly tiny kitchen. There was a small sink, a countertop, a few old-looking but seemingly working appliances, and one of those tiny refrigerators you saw in hotels. The other door from the room led to a bedroom with an old queen-sized bed with a huge headboard, a small dresser on the side, and an armchair in the corner of the room. The only window of the cabin was on the wall beside the armchair. I dropped my bags near the dresser and walked over to the window, pushing the panes open to air out the room. There was another door on the opposite wall that I assumed led to the bathroom. It was only after I’d surveyed everything that I realized it was just one bed and the two of us.
I stared at the bed as I chewed my lip. No way was I sharing a bed with Scott. I trusted him—I’d agreed to come there, after all—but I didn’t trust my mind to not drag up old memories if that happened. Or my heart to stay in check.
