Forsaken Dreams

I was making hot chocolate for me and Kip when we got back from the cemetery. It was something I definitely knew how to make before the apocalypse and was happy to be making it now. I watch Kip sitting by the fireplace, wrapped in a towel.

It had rained while we were walking home. The weather fitting our moods perfectly.

I sat next to Kip on the floor. The two hot chocolate mugs on a tray. Setting it on the floor, I then gave Kip his. He took it, gratefully. As I started sipping mine, trying not to burn my tongue.

“Breast cancer…” I hear Kip say, his voice trailing off.

“Huh?”

“That’s how she died, my mother.”

I didn’t know what to say. And I didn’t want to, afraid I would say the wrong thing. Besides the sound of the fire crackling, and the moans outside, there was an awkward, yet comfortable silence. With the world dead, its something you have to be accustomed to eventually.

“I was nine years old..” Kip continues.

“Kip, look, you don’t have to-”

“I need to Kaelee. It’s been so long. I need to get it out.” He said interrupting me.

“Okay.” I look into his beautiful deep brown eyes. “Tell me everything.”

And so he did. He told me how he never had a father, that he walked out on him and his mother before he was born. That himself, and his mother worked so hard to make a living. They were broke but didn’t want to sell the house because his great, great grandfather built it. His mother was his everything. Then when she died, he had to raise himself, and survive on his own.

When he turned fifteen and the apocalypse started, everything really did turn into a matter of life and death. He hunted all this food and weapons from other houses and kept himself alive. He told me everything until the day he met me. How he may have looked intimidating and cold but deep down, he was relieved and happy that there was someone out there. Simply there.

After he finished talking, I put down my empty mug and crawled over to him. I set aside his untouched hot chocolate and looked at him before doing what I wanted to do. Kip’s hair was messy and slightly damp, his body tense and muscular, his eyelashes long and dark, and his eyes were reflecting the fire, making them sparkling and even more beautiful. He remained staring blankly at the fireplace.

Kip moved his arm a little noticing what I was about to do. I tried giving him a hug, but I awkwardly clung to his arm instead. He smiled at my attempt and moved his arm away which then rested around me. We stayed like that for awhile, just hugging in front of fire. It felt like heaven. I shivered realizing this, as he held me tighter.