The Resistance

POV Frank

The car pulled up outside the house. I had been waiting probably too long, but Party didn’t have to know that. What will he be like? Will he be cold and distant? Or maybe inviting towards me? Should we hug? Kiss? I felt myself going red at the thought of us kissing, then stamped my foot angrily. I was way too out of practice at this.

The car kicked up a load of dust in front of me, and the passenger door sprung open. Party looked at me with his brown eyes, that seemed to be lighter than any other part of his face, even though they were buried deep within his face.

‘You been waiting long?’

‘No, just a few minutes.’ I slid into the passenger seat, and no sooner had I shut the door, he spun the car around 180 degrees, which kicked up a mushroom cloud of dust. I leant back into the seat, which made probably the loudest squeak ever, which sounded like I had farted.

Oooooh nice one.

But Party didn’t mind, he just grinned straight ahead and put his foot down, making the engine roar with excitement and race into the horizon.
Oh this way going to be fun.

---

As I didn’t know the area, I didn’t have the slightest cue what he’d planned for the night. The evening, the night, what do I say? Oh my god, that’s only just occurred to me. What… what if I stay there all night? I just thought it was going to be, y’know, a date. In another time, that would’ve meant a movie at the cinema, a walk in the park at sunset, a meal out at a fancy restaurant.

But times change, and I guess I didn’t really know what he was going to do. No matter how much I had thought about the date, I guess I never really thought about where, or even when. I guess I just thought about Party, and what Party and I would do. The background was never really there in my daydreams, just an ever-changing haze of colors and light. The only constant was Party’s face, millimeters away from mine, him closing his eyes, and leaning closer, and…

I shook my head, to get rid of that thought. It was getting darker already, the sun dipping behind the mountains of California. Dust was flying up so much that I couldn’t make much out about the near surroundings, but Party seemed to know where he was going pretty well. Not that he steered as such, that I noticed, just kind of… drove.

His lean fingers tapped out the notes to a song I vaguely remembered from years and years ago.

Do, dododo, dododo, dododoDO…

I hummed along the theme along with his fingers.

Do, dododo, dododo, dododoDO…

He stopped tapping and turned to look at me, with a glint in his eye that I’d never noticed before. Maybe not noticed, never seen before. As there was not a cloud in the sky, the sun cast an orange overlay over everything, and his normally brown eyes were lightened. There were small specks of gold in them, around the pupil, that just made my heart stop. I could stare into them forever, the specks were mesmerizing…

‘Well?’

I snapped out my daydream instantly.

‘Wait, what?’

‘You like that song?’

He smiled at me with a look that looked like ‘It’s okay, I know I’m perfect.’ Oh, God he was.

‘Oh yeah! I used to love it. Haven’t heard it in years though.’

He turned to look back at the road. Or dirt track. Or whatever we were driving on.

‘Ahh, memories.’

The smile had gone from his face, but the sun had now lit up his face completely, highlighting every small nick, dent and scar on his face. But not imperfections.
Never imperfections.

---

We were sitting on a small torn, tartan blanket that was barely large enough to fit both of us on it. We were about 3/4 way up one of the mountains, not a steep one, and were on a little cliff face. There were a few trees behind us, then pretty much a drop, on the road which then wound around the mountain. I would never have found it if you’d have given me 24 hours and a map. The car was a little way behind us, and we had a perfect view over battery city and in the very distance, the sun going down over the horizon.

I don’t know how long we were in the car, but it hadn’t been much longer from where we remembered that song together. The sun was about half gone, and the lights in Battery City were turning on as we watched. We didn’t speak, just lay back resting on our hands, looking over the city.
I didn’t want to speak. I was scared I would say something to ruin this. I mean, apart from the small things like the midges, and the small bit of light pollution, I wouldn’t have changed anything. We didn’t really need to speak. I mean, my mind was racing with all kind of crazy scenarios, and probably wouldn’t be able to cope with the added complication of conversation.

Party then let his arms fall to his side and lay back to look up at the sky. The stars were beginning to show through the light, and a few small ones could be seen if you looked hard enough. I turned to look over my shoulder at Party, who smiled, and patted the blanket next to him.

I lay down next to him, but I was slightly shorter than him, damn it. I put my hands on my stomach, but found that uncomfortable, so put them by my sides… right on his hands. I flinched, and moved them away, but Party just sniggered through his nose and softly put his hand on mine.

Oh my god.

What the fuck do I do?!

I tried to make it look like I wasn’t freaking out/ hyperventilating/ about to die, so I just looked sideways at him and sheepishly grinned.

…Which just made me look like either I wasn’t interested, or I was on my first ever date at high school. Why is this so hard?!

But Party just smiled back at me, and squeezed my hand before looking up at the stars again. I twisted my hand so we were properly holding hands, and squeezed it back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw his mouth edge up a little bit.

‘Before BL/ind took over, the stars were so pretty up here.’

His voice held a longing in his words, like he wishes he could go back in time. I don’t blame him.

‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah.’

‘You come up here often?’ I turned my head slightly to see he had shut his eyes.

‘I used to. Before… Before the kids. I used to come up to watch the sun set, then rise again. It used to make me feel happy.’

‘It used to?’ I picked up on his word choice.

Party turned over so he was on his side, leaning his head on his hand, looking at me, with the other hand still holding mine. His red hair flopped over one eye, which he didn’t bother brushing away. I liked it like that. His eyes looked straight into mine, searching, deep into my head. Oh man, he looked so good. I was still lying on the floor, figuring out if I should sit up or just stay as still as I could.

‘I have a feeling it will get better after this.’

His words were so quiet, almost as if he was scared they would leave his mouth.

Then he sat up, and his hand, his soft, sweet hands, caressed my face, along my jaw line, under my chin, over my lips, my cheekbones. I closed my eyes and savoured the moment. His hands stopped on the top of my jaw, and I opened my eyes to see Party leaning over my face, inches away.

'Definitely.’ I whispered.

And then he kissed me.

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