‹ Prequel: Burn
Status: Hiatus
Whispers
I gave you something
The sky was a blue slate hanging above the tall trees, cloudless and bright. Rae glanced up at it momentarily, squinting as the brightness of it irritated her eyes. She scrunched her nose before looking back down to the gravel path crunching with every step she took, shoving her hands in her thick jacket pockets.
Everything around her smell fresh and how she thought woods would imagine. It definitely did not smell like the thick, smoggy smell of the city, and it did not sound like traffic lights, people and cars. It sounded quiet with some sort of natural ambiance in the back round.
It wasn’t hard to find Finn. The path did not stray, and did not grow weary to see. It was straight forward, winding through the trees to a small brook, that was trickling with so little water that it only made a whisper of a sound as it flowed by Rae’s feet.
Finn was a great contrast against the wood back round, her red hair in a bun and standing out against the tree in which she was leaning against. She was in a dark green jacket, which brought out the green in her eyes as she look at Rae, who stopped a few feet away.
Finn smiled apologetically. “Sorry.”
“What’re you apologizing for?”
The girl shrugged. “Because we’ve been here for thirty minutes and I got in an argument with Liam.”
“If you hadn’t noticed,” Rae answered, stepping towards Finn and smiling, “Everyone save for Harry and I have been arguing since we got here. Don’t worry about it.”
“Niall and Zayn weren’t really arguing. Niall just ignores Zayn while Zayn calmly and politely tells Niall to stop being a twat.”
Rae grinned. “Everyone picks on Niall, but he’s definitely the most normal out of all of us, I think.” Silence fell between the two of them. Rae dug her toe in the gravel, making a grinding sound with the rocks. “What were you and Liam arguing about? I’ve never seen you argue.”
She furrowed her brows. “We don’t. Haven’t been seeing each other long enough for that. It’s just, Liam is such an open person and like’s to learn about everyone and everything. And I don’t always like to talk about things, and he gets frustrated because he feels like he knows nothing about me.”
Rae thought on that. She was never bothered by the fact that she didn’t know a lot about Finn. Finn was a friend to her who she enjoyed having around because she was funny and did not take everything seriously; she was a breath of fresh air. But Rae also did not know that much about Zayn, or even about Liam and it didn’t bother her.
It was different for everyone, it seemed. Rae was okay with not having to know all the answers for Finn or Zayn or Liam. The fact that they were loyal enough to have her back when she needed it, and that they did not cause drama or hurt her was enough for her to accept them with no questions.
“Maybe that’s just the kind of person Liam is,” Rae said finally. She shrugged her shoulders, trying to sound optimistic. She tried to give Finn what she was lacking, in that moment. And it was understanding. “He seems like the sort of guy who likes details, so he can make them better. Like he wants to know about your first proper snogging so he can make it better, or he wants to know all about your family so he can understand why you are the way you are. He’s… curious.”
Finn smiled fondly, and Rae knew she was saying the right things. Shifting so that Finn was hugging herself for warmth, the girl nodded. “I like that about him, honestly. He like’s to be curious and learn things. I guess I was just getting a bit worked up.”
“Well I’m sure that if you walk back with me right now, he will grovel at your feet an apologize. It’s what he does.”
“Well when you put it that way.”
When Finn joined Rae, they both head back to camp to find that all the tents had been set up, and the grill that they brought along as well as all the coolers and fold out table and chairs had been set up. Rae was thoroughly impressed, giving Harry a tap on his ass as she walked up to him.
Harry flinched playfully, giving her a faux sophisticated look. She grinned, letting him hug her into his chest for warmth as he surveyed the boys work on the campsite. It was rather impressive, and it made Rae feel a bit excited to make burgers and sit around a giant fire.
The only thing that was daunting, was the fire part. Thinking on it now, Rae wasn’t sure if it was the best idea in the world to have a bunch of morons sitting around a fire, drinking beer. If anyone was going to end up falling into the fire that night, it was going to be Harry or Niall.
As Rae slipped into the moderately sized tent she and Harry were sharing, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Finn and Liam were talking quietly. It made her smile as she disappeared, grabbing her sleeping bag and unrolling it.
Harry slipped inside the tent as well. His immense size took up a majority of the tent, and it struck Rae how ridiculous he looked, his tall figure filling up until the ceiling of the tent as he loomed over her small frame. He was a giant in a tool shed.
“Jeez, jolly green giant,” she teased him, snaking her hand out and pinching his leg. He smirked at her, trying to sit down. It took him several minutes to align his limbs properly to sit in the small space, making her laugh. “You should have gotten a bigger tent, Harry.”
“Well it’s smaller, so that means we can be cuddle buddies.”
“Oh goody."
After everything was laid out, everyone took it upon themselves to take on jobs. The boys were sent out to collect firewood- which Niall pointed out they should have bought instead- and the girls were set to make dinner. Dinner consisted of grilling burgers and hotdogs salad that they had brought to mix together, and various forms of chips.
It seemed that the first hour where everyone had been arguing had faded into nonexistence, everyone getting along amiably- even Louis and Trystan. The girls worked happily and quietly, Finn’s iPod dock playing.
When the boys had returned, the girls weren’t done yet so they popped out a football, taking to playing against one another in the large empty space where the camp wasn’t set out. Zayn’s lab was wildly running around to keep up with the boys. Rae noted that Niall was better than anyone out of them, which for some reason surprised her.
Upon finishing dinner, Rae called, “Niall. You get first burger, just liked I promised!”
The blonde kicked the soccer ball hard, catching Liam right in his gut. Niall joked over with a laugh as Liam tried to find his breath, doubled over and clutching his stomach. Niall had kicked the wind right out of Liam.
“Thanks!” Niall chirruped, taking the first burger and the first hotdog as well, taking it upon himself to sit at the fold out table. Liam was standing but still recovering when Niall took his first large bite. “Suck it up, Liam!”
The girls plated the rest of the food, carrying it to the table as everyone sat down. Talk instantly went to social things such as music, things in the media and movies. It was easy conversation, nothing strained, no tense moments.
Everyone of course, was drinking beer. Save Harry, that is. Rae had not told him that he could not, but he still did not seem fond of picking it up. Rae knew it was because Harry didn’t want to get angry that day, and drinking made him angry.
“Sorry everyone’s drinking,” she murmured as they picked up plates. Harry looked at her as she spoke, listening. “I didn’t really think about it, I guess.”
He shrugged, giving her a smile. “It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t bother me not to drink, you know? I’m not an addict. I don’t have to drink, I’ve just preferred to stop.”
She kissed him on the cheek. “I know.”
Night began to fall, a deep orange shifting to blue and finally black. Zayn and Liam were able to get a healthy, warm fire started for them as everyone situated around it, sipping their beers. Rae was thankful for the warmth of the fire, the cold of fall setting in as the sun washed away any warmth with it’s setting.
Wrapped in a blanket she was sharing with Harry by sitting in his lap, Rae leaned back into him. Harry fixed his arms around her waist and set his chin on her shoulder, listening to the story Harry was telling about an incident in grade school that involved Zayn.
Louis and Zayn had attended the same school with one another, while Liam had gone to a private school, Trystan, Rae and Harry to another school together, and Niall had gone to school in Ireland, like Finn had. It seemed that somehow they were all connected in the strangest of ways, their strings all tied with one another in some fashion.
Listening to everyone talk, Rae couldn’t help but have a strong sense of warmth. In that moment, she knew that her small little family would protect her against anyone who tried to harm her. They were there for life, even if she didn’t know all of them like the back of her hand.
Popping out a bag of marshmallows, Trystan passed the bag around as Louis handed everyone perfect length sticks. Rae gave Trystan a look of suspicion, to which Trystan replied with an innocent shrug. It was obvious that it had been Louis’ and Trystan’s ideas for the marshmallows.
As they sat about roasting their gooey snacks, they got rowdier and rowdier, seeing as the boys were drinking the beers heavily. Harry was chuckling in Rae’s ear, breath warm against her chin. “I’m going to end up carrying Niall to his tent.”
Looking at the Irish boy with her light eyes, Rae examined as Niall was standing with his back towards the fire, warming his ass. He was swaying slightly, having consumed most of the beer in the cooler. He was pointing his finger at Zayn’s dog and saying, “That is the best trained dog I’ve ever seen. What did you do to it?”
“I trained it?” Zayn offered as if he weren’t sure if it were the correct answer. Rae had almost forgotten the black lab had come along with them. He had taken a nice nap after running around while the boys played soccer. “How else would I have done it?”
“Dog whisperer,” Niall accused him, sipping his beer. As he leaned his head back to finish off the remains of it, it seemed his head had become too heavy and difficult for him to hold straight, because he suddenly wobbled backwards.
Everyone shouted simultaneously as Niall toppled backwards, bottom-first into the fire pit that was still at a sizeable heat and moderate temperature. Louis was on Niall so fast, ripping the screaming boy out of the fire and rolling him in the dirt to make sure he wasn’t on fire.
For a long moment, everyone was up and around Niall to make sure he was okay. When the boy appeared completely unharmed saved for some singed tips of hair and a black hole through his jeans, the laughter started. It was Finn who laughed at him first, a long, gut-laugh that made her tilt her head to the sky and howl like a wolf. Everyone quickly followed suit.
Pulling himself up from the ground, Niall sway again, but Harry caught him, giving him a reassuring pat on the back and steering him out of the chaotic ring of friends. “Come on, mate. Time for you to lay down for a spell.”
Niall mumbled something under his breath, followed by a “Whatever. G’night.”
Nothing of consequence took place after Niall’s fiery tumble into the pit of death, and things came to a lull before everyone began standing up, retreating to their tents. With stomachs full of beer, marshmallows and a sort of contentment that can only come from spending time with friends, everyone put out the fire and went to bed.
In their tent, Harry and Rae bundled themselves together tightly, trying to find some sort of warmth as a cold breeze worked it’s way through the zippers in the tent. The ground was hard, the air was cold and she felt extremely squished with Harry in the small space, but something about it felt nice and safe.
With a few utterances and declarations of love through words and kisses, Rae and Harry fell asleep, too tired to do anything else. It was easy for Rae to fall asleep in his arms for almost three hours before she woke up with the sensation to use the restroom.
Forcing her eyes shut, she tried to will it away. But then horrible images from when she was a child, dreaming that she was peeing and then actually peeing came back to wake her up. She definitely was not going to force herself back to sleep and risk wetting the sleeping bag with her and Harry in it. Something about the very thought made her cough to quiet her laughter as she grabbed a roll of toilet paper, wandering out the tent.
The moon up in the sky was extremely bright, casting a silver sheen on the land where it’s beams touched. It were as if the world was painted in silver, and she stood for a moment to look at it. It was a cold sort of beauty, the way she imaged places up north to be.
Walking with the roll in hand, she followed the trail until it curved. Which led her right smack into Trystan. Trystan opened her mouth to let out a shrill scream, but Rae clamped her hand over her best friend’s mouth. “Trys, it’s me. Breathe.”
Rae removed her hand. Trystan let out a shaky breath, her face extremely pallid. In fact, Trystan looked as if she had seen a ghost. Which was acceptable, seeing as Rae had just scared the living daylights out of them both in the middle of the woods.
“What are you doing?” Rae asked, shifting to warm herself. It was cold out, and their breath was coming out in tuffs of fog. “Bathroom?”
Trystan hesitated and then nodded. Walking past Rae she said, “Yeah. It’s really cold though, so I’m going back to bed. Night!”
Rae waved. It wasn’t until she had finished and was heading back to her tent that she realized Trystan hadn’t been carrying a roll of toilet paper. So either Trystan had become really ‘one with nature’ or she had been lying. Neither was good in Rae’s mind.
Everything around her smell fresh and how she thought woods would imagine. It definitely did not smell like the thick, smoggy smell of the city, and it did not sound like traffic lights, people and cars. It sounded quiet with some sort of natural ambiance in the back round.
It wasn’t hard to find Finn. The path did not stray, and did not grow weary to see. It was straight forward, winding through the trees to a small brook, that was trickling with so little water that it only made a whisper of a sound as it flowed by Rae’s feet.
Finn was a great contrast against the wood back round, her red hair in a bun and standing out against the tree in which she was leaning against. She was in a dark green jacket, which brought out the green in her eyes as she look at Rae, who stopped a few feet away.
Finn smiled apologetically. “Sorry.”
“What’re you apologizing for?”
The girl shrugged. “Because we’ve been here for thirty minutes and I got in an argument with Liam.”
“If you hadn’t noticed,” Rae answered, stepping towards Finn and smiling, “Everyone save for Harry and I have been arguing since we got here. Don’t worry about it.”
“Niall and Zayn weren’t really arguing. Niall just ignores Zayn while Zayn calmly and politely tells Niall to stop being a twat.”
Rae grinned. “Everyone picks on Niall, but he’s definitely the most normal out of all of us, I think.” Silence fell between the two of them. Rae dug her toe in the gravel, making a grinding sound with the rocks. “What were you and Liam arguing about? I’ve never seen you argue.”
She furrowed her brows. “We don’t. Haven’t been seeing each other long enough for that. It’s just, Liam is such an open person and like’s to learn about everyone and everything. And I don’t always like to talk about things, and he gets frustrated because he feels like he knows nothing about me.”
Rae thought on that. She was never bothered by the fact that she didn’t know a lot about Finn. Finn was a friend to her who she enjoyed having around because she was funny and did not take everything seriously; she was a breath of fresh air. But Rae also did not know that much about Zayn, or even about Liam and it didn’t bother her.
It was different for everyone, it seemed. Rae was okay with not having to know all the answers for Finn or Zayn or Liam. The fact that they were loyal enough to have her back when she needed it, and that they did not cause drama or hurt her was enough for her to accept them with no questions.
“Maybe that’s just the kind of person Liam is,” Rae said finally. She shrugged her shoulders, trying to sound optimistic. She tried to give Finn what she was lacking, in that moment. And it was understanding. “He seems like the sort of guy who likes details, so he can make them better. Like he wants to know about your first proper snogging so he can make it better, or he wants to know all about your family so he can understand why you are the way you are. He’s… curious.”
Finn smiled fondly, and Rae knew she was saying the right things. Shifting so that Finn was hugging herself for warmth, the girl nodded. “I like that about him, honestly. He like’s to be curious and learn things. I guess I was just getting a bit worked up.”
“Well I’m sure that if you walk back with me right now, he will grovel at your feet an apologize. It’s what he does.”
“Well when you put it that way.”
When Finn joined Rae, they both head back to camp to find that all the tents had been set up, and the grill that they brought along as well as all the coolers and fold out table and chairs had been set up. Rae was thoroughly impressed, giving Harry a tap on his ass as she walked up to him.
Harry flinched playfully, giving her a faux sophisticated look. She grinned, letting him hug her into his chest for warmth as he surveyed the boys work on the campsite. It was rather impressive, and it made Rae feel a bit excited to make burgers and sit around a giant fire.
The only thing that was daunting, was the fire part. Thinking on it now, Rae wasn’t sure if it was the best idea in the world to have a bunch of morons sitting around a fire, drinking beer. If anyone was going to end up falling into the fire that night, it was going to be Harry or Niall.
As Rae slipped into the moderately sized tent she and Harry were sharing, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Finn and Liam were talking quietly. It made her smile as she disappeared, grabbing her sleeping bag and unrolling it.
Harry slipped inside the tent as well. His immense size took up a majority of the tent, and it struck Rae how ridiculous he looked, his tall figure filling up until the ceiling of the tent as he loomed over her small frame. He was a giant in a tool shed.
“Jeez, jolly green giant,” she teased him, snaking her hand out and pinching his leg. He smirked at her, trying to sit down. It took him several minutes to align his limbs properly to sit in the small space, making her laugh. “You should have gotten a bigger tent, Harry.”
“Well it’s smaller, so that means we can be cuddle buddies.”
“Oh goody."
After everything was laid out, everyone took it upon themselves to take on jobs. The boys were sent out to collect firewood- which Niall pointed out they should have bought instead- and the girls were set to make dinner. Dinner consisted of grilling burgers and hotdogs salad that they had brought to mix together, and various forms of chips.
It seemed that the first hour where everyone had been arguing had faded into nonexistence, everyone getting along amiably- even Louis and Trystan. The girls worked happily and quietly, Finn’s iPod dock playing.
When the boys had returned, the girls weren’t done yet so they popped out a football, taking to playing against one another in the large empty space where the camp wasn’t set out. Zayn’s lab was wildly running around to keep up with the boys. Rae noted that Niall was better than anyone out of them, which for some reason surprised her.
Upon finishing dinner, Rae called, “Niall. You get first burger, just liked I promised!”
The blonde kicked the soccer ball hard, catching Liam right in his gut. Niall joked over with a laugh as Liam tried to find his breath, doubled over and clutching his stomach. Niall had kicked the wind right out of Liam.
“Thanks!” Niall chirruped, taking the first burger and the first hotdog as well, taking it upon himself to sit at the fold out table. Liam was standing but still recovering when Niall took his first large bite. “Suck it up, Liam!”
The girls plated the rest of the food, carrying it to the table as everyone sat down. Talk instantly went to social things such as music, things in the media and movies. It was easy conversation, nothing strained, no tense moments.
Everyone of course, was drinking beer. Save Harry, that is. Rae had not told him that he could not, but he still did not seem fond of picking it up. Rae knew it was because Harry didn’t want to get angry that day, and drinking made him angry.
“Sorry everyone’s drinking,” she murmured as they picked up plates. Harry looked at her as she spoke, listening. “I didn’t really think about it, I guess.”
He shrugged, giving her a smile. “It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t bother me not to drink, you know? I’m not an addict. I don’t have to drink, I’ve just preferred to stop.”
She kissed him on the cheek. “I know.”
Night began to fall, a deep orange shifting to blue and finally black. Zayn and Liam were able to get a healthy, warm fire started for them as everyone situated around it, sipping their beers. Rae was thankful for the warmth of the fire, the cold of fall setting in as the sun washed away any warmth with it’s setting.
Wrapped in a blanket she was sharing with Harry by sitting in his lap, Rae leaned back into him. Harry fixed his arms around her waist and set his chin on her shoulder, listening to the story Harry was telling about an incident in grade school that involved Zayn.
Louis and Zayn had attended the same school with one another, while Liam had gone to a private school, Trystan, Rae and Harry to another school together, and Niall had gone to school in Ireland, like Finn had. It seemed that somehow they were all connected in the strangest of ways, their strings all tied with one another in some fashion.
Listening to everyone talk, Rae couldn’t help but have a strong sense of warmth. In that moment, she knew that her small little family would protect her against anyone who tried to harm her. They were there for life, even if she didn’t know all of them like the back of her hand.
Popping out a bag of marshmallows, Trystan passed the bag around as Louis handed everyone perfect length sticks. Rae gave Trystan a look of suspicion, to which Trystan replied with an innocent shrug. It was obvious that it had been Louis’ and Trystan’s ideas for the marshmallows.
As they sat about roasting their gooey snacks, they got rowdier and rowdier, seeing as the boys were drinking the beers heavily. Harry was chuckling in Rae’s ear, breath warm against her chin. “I’m going to end up carrying Niall to his tent.”
Looking at the Irish boy with her light eyes, Rae examined as Niall was standing with his back towards the fire, warming his ass. He was swaying slightly, having consumed most of the beer in the cooler. He was pointing his finger at Zayn’s dog and saying, “That is the best trained dog I’ve ever seen. What did you do to it?”
“I trained it?” Zayn offered as if he weren’t sure if it were the correct answer. Rae had almost forgotten the black lab had come along with them. He had taken a nice nap after running around while the boys played soccer. “How else would I have done it?”
“Dog whisperer,” Niall accused him, sipping his beer. As he leaned his head back to finish off the remains of it, it seemed his head had become too heavy and difficult for him to hold straight, because he suddenly wobbled backwards.
Everyone shouted simultaneously as Niall toppled backwards, bottom-first into the fire pit that was still at a sizeable heat and moderate temperature. Louis was on Niall so fast, ripping the screaming boy out of the fire and rolling him in the dirt to make sure he wasn’t on fire.
For a long moment, everyone was up and around Niall to make sure he was okay. When the boy appeared completely unharmed saved for some singed tips of hair and a black hole through his jeans, the laughter started. It was Finn who laughed at him first, a long, gut-laugh that made her tilt her head to the sky and howl like a wolf. Everyone quickly followed suit.
Pulling himself up from the ground, Niall sway again, but Harry caught him, giving him a reassuring pat on the back and steering him out of the chaotic ring of friends. “Come on, mate. Time for you to lay down for a spell.”
Niall mumbled something under his breath, followed by a “Whatever. G’night.”
Nothing of consequence took place after Niall’s fiery tumble into the pit of death, and things came to a lull before everyone began standing up, retreating to their tents. With stomachs full of beer, marshmallows and a sort of contentment that can only come from spending time with friends, everyone put out the fire and went to bed.
In their tent, Harry and Rae bundled themselves together tightly, trying to find some sort of warmth as a cold breeze worked it’s way through the zippers in the tent. The ground was hard, the air was cold and she felt extremely squished with Harry in the small space, but something about it felt nice and safe.
With a few utterances and declarations of love through words and kisses, Rae and Harry fell asleep, too tired to do anything else. It was easy for Rae to fall asleep in his arms for almost three hours before she woke up with the sensation to use the restroom.
Forcing her eyes shut, she tried to will it away. But then horrible images from when she was a child, dreaming that she was peeing and then actually peeing came back to wake her up. She definitely was not going to force herself back to sleep and risk wetting the sleeping bag with her and Harry in it. Something about the very thought made her cough to quiet her laughter as she grabbed a roll of toilet paper, wandering out the tent.
The moon up in the sky was extremely bright, casting a silver sheen on the land where it’s beams touched. It were as if the world was painted in silver, and she stood for a moment to look at it. It was a cold sort of beauty, the way she imaged places up north to be.
Walking with the roll in hand, she followed the trail until it curved. Which led her right smack into Trystan. Trystan opened her mouth to let out a shrill scream, but Rae clamped her hand over her best friend’s mouth. “Trys, it’s me. Breathe.”
Rae removed her hand. Trystan let out a shaky breath, her face extremely pallid. In fact, Trystan looked as if she had seen a ghost. Which was acceptable, seeing as Rae had just scared the living daylights out of them both in the middle of the woods.
“What are you doing?” Rae asked, shifting to warm herself. It was cold out, and their breath was coming out in tuffs of fog. “Bathroom?”
Trystan hesitated and then nodded. Walking past Rae she said, “Yeah. It’s really cold though, so I’m going back to bed. Night!”
Rae waved. It wasn’t until she had finished and was heading back to her tent that she realized Trystan hadn’t been carrying a roll of toilet paper. So either Trystan had become really ‘one with nature’ or she had been lying. Neither was good in Rae’s mind.
♠ ♠ ♠
I don't really know what to say, so I'm just going to say that I hope your week is going okay. And if it's not, feel free to talk to me about it. I like to be there when people don't have anyone. And if you were looking for a sign to keep living, take this as one.