Fic; butterflies and parks
She sits in his car. She’s singing along to all the songs on the radio - even the ones she doesn’t know. She giggles and stops singing. She looks over at him and pokes him in the stomach while he’s driving. “Sing with me,” she commands him.
He shakes his head no. “No thanks,” he says. “I’m busy driving and I’m just not in the mood.”
“Aw…” she complains. “But I want you to sing with me.” He sighs. As the next song comes on, he opens his mouth and starts to sing with her. She turns and smiles at him and continues to sing.
She suddenly stops singing. “Oh my gosh! Turn now!” she screams joyfully while pointing at the turn off to the park. He sighs already knowing that he needed to turn. He takes the turn and starts to drive down the gravel road. He slowly finds a parking spot and parks the car. As soon as the engine cuts off, she jumps out of the car and starts to run to the swings. She stops and turns around to look at him. “Hurry up!” she shouts at him.
He rolls his eyes at her and locks the car. He jogs over to the swing set and sits down on a swing next to her. She giggles down at him. “Come on! Swing with me!” she shouts. She scoots back and then pushes off. He watches her legs move back and forth as she swings. “What’re you staring at?” she asks him after a while.
He glances up at her realizing he was staring. “Oh, nothing,” he tells her. “I was just thinking.”
She stops swinging and sits next to him. She looks at him closely. “About what?” she asks.
He smiles and shakes his head. “Nothing,” he says.
She pokes his side. “Tell me!”
“No.”
“Please?”
“No.”
“What about now?”
“No.”
“But I,” she pauses and her face lights up with happiness. “Butterfly!” she squeals. She jumps off the swing and runs toward the slide where the butterfly is. She climbs the slide and stares at the butterfly. She slowly moves her hand and it crawls onto her hand. She smiles and stares down at it.
He gets off the swing and walks over to her. He wishes he had a camera with him because she looks so beautiful and peaceful at the moment. She looks so calm as she stares at the butterfly. A piece of red hair falls in front of her eyes, but she doesn’t move a muscle. He walks closer to her and the butterfly flies away. Her eyes follow it and then she smiles. She waves at the butterfly. He glances up at the butterfly in the sky.
She giggles and climbs onto the slide; she’s about to go down it. She notices he’s not looking and she decides she might as well surprise him be knocking him over. She giggles and then pushes herself down. She squeals as she runs into him. He falls down and she laying on him. She glances down at him and giggles yet again. “Surprise!” she says while smiling down at him.
He looks up at her. “What was that for?” he asks.
(And he’s trying not to wrap his arms around her body and pull her closer against him)
She doesn’t answer and climbs off him. She jumps up and starts skipping away. He slowly sits up and watches her and then sighs. He stands up and dusts himself off and starts to jog over to her. He catches her and asks, “Where are you going?”
“On the walking path!” she tells him. “It’ll be fun! Come on!” She grabs his hand and drags him up the large hill. The finally get to the gravel walking path and she slows down. She doesn’t let go of his hand and starts to walk down it.
(And she loves how his hand fits into hers)
She points things out to him. Like the trees, the clouds, the animals, the plants, everything. After a while, she pulls him to a grassy area and lies down in the grass. He stands there staring down at her and she rolls her eyes. She grabs his hand and pulls him down onto the grass. He finally lies down next to her. He glances over at her and notices she’s staring at the sky, her eyes moving back and forth.
She moves her hand to point out a cloud. “Look!” she says. He looks in the wrong direction, so she puts her hand on his chin and moves it toward the cloud. “It says ‘Cat!’” she tells him excitedly. She points again. “There’s an ‘A’ and ‘H’ for Andre Harris!” she tells him moving his chin in the direction of the two letters. “Also, there’s a cloud in the shape of a nine!” He snickers at the reference of Cloud 9, but he doesn’t say anything because he knows she doesn’t notice.
She stares at a bird that flies across the large sky. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asks him.
“What is?” he asks.
(He thinks she is beautiful)
“Everything,” she says while sighing. “Like the pretty birds in the sky.” She pats the ground they’re laying on. “And the grass. And well, everything.” She sighs happily again.
He rolls onto his elbow and looks down at her. “Yeah, it all is beautiful,” he says and he truly means it. If he thinks about it, everything is beautiful - but mostly her.
Her eyes grow wide and she suddenly jumps off the ground. She starts skipping towards the walking path. He sighs and slowly gets up and goes after her. Finally, he catches up to her and she stops at looks at him. “I’m tired,” she tells him with a yawn slowly escaping her mouth.
He smiles at her and wraps an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s go over here then,” he tells her while leading her towards a park bench. They sit down and she yawns again. She pulls her legs up and bends them slightly while her feet dangle off the edge. Her head rests on his shoulder and she wraps an arm around his waist.
He settles into the park bench and watches her breathe. He smiles and runs his fingers through her long, red hair. Soon enough, he finds himself falling asleep with one arm around her waist.
(If strangers walked by, they’d think they were in-love)
He wakes up and sees her still asleep against him. Very soon, her eyes blink open. She stretches out her body and then relaxes into him again. She sighs and slowly sits up. She looks around and jumps suddenly. “Where am I?!” she asks worriedly. He’s about to tell her, but she becomes calm and smiles. “The park,” she tells herself.
He smiles and starts to stand up. He looks behind him and notices she’s not moving. “Andre,” she says while looking up at him. He looks at her and decides to sit down again. Her head moves onto his shoulder and a sigh escapes her mouth. “Thanks for bringing me here,” she tells him. “My parents took me to the park only once when I was a kid. After that one time, I was always begging them to take me, but they wouldn’t. Then my mom…,” she trails off and doesn’t say anything. “Anyways, I haven’t been here for about ten years and I’m glad I came today. It was so much fun. It’s one of the best things that has ever happened to me.” She pauses and looks at him. “And I’m glad I got to share it with you.” She blushes a little and closes her eyes.
He puts his hand on her knee. “I’m glad you begged me to take you,” he tells her. Her eyes open. She smiles at him and him at her. She leans in and feels her lips pressed against his. Her eyes close and her arms wrap themselves around his neck.
(And she’s glad that he brought her to the park)