Ready When You Are

“Wow.”

I sighed as I stepped out the car and onto a dirt hill, peering over Tempe. You could see little lights from houses and cars bleeping in the distance, as well as tiny figures moving. It all looked so small. I sat down on the foot of the mountain and put my hands over my knees. It was getting cold and all I was wearing was a dress.

“Welcome to Camel Mountain.” Garrett sighed, taking a seat next to me. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

I nodded and let the sight take me in. Not just the sight, but even the air was fresher here.

“It really is.”

I looked up at Garrett as he closed his eyes softly and took in a breath, then looking at the ground and over at me. When our eyes met his bulged out and he made a funny face that made me lean onto his shoulder and back up.

Garrett’s eyes shot up to the sky. “Lay down. You can see the stars.”

I did as he instructed and laid down. He followed and the view was breathtaking. Every little star was visible and the night was as black and clear of clouds. I let out a hard breath.

“Gare, I love it here.” I admitted.

He looked at me. “I do too.”

“Do you come here often?” I asked.

“I used to.” Garrett explained, “but lately I just haven’t been able to find the time, ya know? With the band and just life, everything got so hectic. You sometimes forget to take a breath of fresh air.”

“Well, this is definitely a breath of fresh air.” I took in another breath.

I cold shiver went down my spine as the bitterness of night began to sweep over. Garrett looked over at me and his eyes bulged. Immediately he got up and took off his brown jacket, handing it to me.

“Gare its fine-”

“No,” he said, handing the jacket to me, “take it. It’s just going to get colder.”

“But won’t you be cold?”

Garrett shook his head and put his arm around me. “Not with you here.”

I leaned into his shoulder and we laid back down. I could feel the tempature dropping around us as I buried myself in his chest, my hand tightly clenching the fabric on his shoulder. I could feel his eyes looking down at me.

“Thanks for what you said to Sara tonight, Lee.” Garrett sighed as I felt his heartbeat.

I leaned into his neck. “It was no problem Gare. I needed to.”

Garrett’s hand tightened around my back. “I can’t believe she did that in the first place, though. Just her going to Kenny’s party is enough. But bringing her boyfriend must have taken a lot of fucking nerve.”

“She wants to know she has the upperhand. She wants to feel like she still has you. And I think she can tell she’s losing her control over you, Gare.”

I felt him sigh. “I really did love her. It’s just really fucking hard to believe she would do that to me.”

“Maybe it’s for the best.”

“I’m starting to think that too,” Garrett said, my hand over his heart, “In my heart, I knew we weren’t perfect. I guess I had convinced myself to… settle for her. I probably sound crazy.”

I shook my head softly and whispered, “No. That makes sense. You had been together for a long time. You didn’t know anything else.”

My heart whimpered at my own words.

“Exactly,” he sighed, “What about you?”

“What about me?”

Garrett coughed. “You and your uh, boyfriend?”

Oh, right. Garrett was asking about my boyfriend, Brendan. I had completely forgotten about him. Wow, I was a terrible girlfriend.

There was an aching pain inside of myself that made me not want to talk about him.

“I don’t know.” I thought out loud. “I guess we’re fine.”

“You guess you’re fine?” Garrett asked.

I sighed. “I’m not sure.”

“Do you love him?”

“I, um,” my mind began to race. Like there was no obvious answer to the question he posed. “I do.”

I felt his arm loosen around me, causing me to curl closer into him. His arm tightened back around me and I yawned curled into his neck, blowing a little bit of air on it revealing goose bumps. I laughed.

“Are you schleepy?” He asked, lisping.

“Uh huh.” I whimpered.

Garrett curled his arm around me and pulled my closer. “You can sleep.”

I closed my eyes. “Keep talking.”

“You want me to just… talk?”

“Yes.”

“About what?”

“Just talk.” I whispered as my eyes dimmed shut.

“Ok,” I felt Garrett sigh as he thought out loud, “well… I have band practice tomorrow afternoon. We are practicing for this huge European tour we are going on in the fall. It’s going to be pretty freaking long, but awesome. I’ll miss home. And the people here.” I felt him pause. “But we’ll be back. A week ago, I was pretty pumped about leaving Tempe , but now,” I felt another pause, “I’m not sure. I feel like there is a little more to look forward to here. Life just seems a little brighter. And it’s getting late right now. But that’s okay, I don’t mind. I’m quite content at the moment. Because we are under the uh, stars and the city is so far away and no people are here. And well, you’re here. With me. And that’s it. Just you and me. Lee and Garrett.”

I felt him sigh and he took a long pause. I could feel his eyes closing. “I like us.”

Another pause as both his arms curled around me. My mind began to dim and I felt myself fall into a soft slumber.

“Are you sleeping?”

Dammit Garrett. “No.” I muffled out.

“Oh,” He sighed, “do you still want me to talk?”

I mumbled, “Sure.”

“Oh! Can I sing?”

“Knock yourself out.”

He let out a breath of air and held my tighter into him and I felt my mind dim again.

And then he began to sing.

“I don’t want this moment, to ever end. Where everything’s nothing without you. I’d wait here forever just to, to see you smile ‘cause it’s true. I am nothing without you. Through it all, I made my mistakes, I stumble and fall, but I mean these words.”

He was terrible dramatic with the words and off-key, but the words struck me. He had listened to the records I had given him. He even knew the words to one of the songs. One of my favorite songs, I might add.

My eyes opened a little. “Is that Sum 41?”

“Yep.”

“So you listened to my records?”

He let out a laugh. “Of course.”

I laughed with him and fell deeper into his chest, sighing. “Good night, Garrett.”

“Good night Lee.”

I snuggled closer to him as he hummed the rest of “With Me.” I felt myself drifting off and my body went numb in his, like there was no difference between us. Like there was no other life than the two of us, sitting on this mountain, wrapped in each other’s arms. It felt so right.

“Lee?” He whispered again. I was too far gone to answer.

“I really like this.” He kept talking.

My eyes dimmed and I could feel myself falling asleep. The last thing I felt was Garrett’s heartbeat and the last thing I heard was his warm voice.

“I just really like you, Lee."