Chasing Shadows | ✓

Part Two: Chapter Three

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *..* :☆ﾟ.─────

your eyes told me you loved me

long before your words ever did

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *..* :☆ﾟ.─────

THE STARS ILLUMINATED THE DARKNESS.

Sequin-silver stars, like the scattered embers of a dying fire, winked down at me, illuminating the blackened curtain of the sky. Under the moonlight, the white crescent shaped scar that had been there for years flickered on the inside of my wrist. I let out a sigh, a puff of white cloud obscuring my vision for a moment. The cool air brushed past us, making my hair tumble to the back.

"You know, I'm still not used to it being dark when we finish school. It makes me feel like I've been here for a whole day," I complained.

"We might as well have been," Noah groaned, "Half a day in here feels like a whole year."

I glanced over at him, "Why are you complaining? You sleep at the back of class half the time."

His cheeks reddened at the accusation, as he staggered to come up with a response, "What - I do not!"

"Must have been someone else I was looking at then," I commented casually, but the growing grin on my face didn't go amiss by Noah.

"Do you want me to push you into the puddle?" he threatened, shuffling closer to me. I squealed, stepping away from the steps.

"Stay away from me," I pointed my finger at him, while backing up against the school door, "Or else I'll boil your ear into soup."

Noah chuckled, bewilderment crossing his face, "What?"

"I don't know," I laughed, clamping a hand over my mouth, "My mouth comes up with weird things."

"You're weird," he shot back, "My life is under threat right now."

"Clearly," I deadpanned, "You're not the one backed up against a door right now-"

Without even registering what had happened, my feet stumbled back and my hands flapped at my sides, desperate to grab on to anything. My mouth opened to let loose a scream, but everything flashed by so quickly, I didn't get to. The surrounding started to blur like a poorly shot photograph, the colors swirling and blending into one. However, the expected thump of the ground never came as I had thought it would. Instead, two warm hands had curled their way around my waist, stopping my head from making contact with the concrete ground.

My eyes which had been squeezed shut, peeked open to see a familiar face staring down at me. The breath caught in my throat at the sheer intensity of Travis' stare - but what had me more mesmerized were the small, golden flecks that danced around his eyes. Like dancing a traditional dance, they lit up like a ring, yet not bright enough to be seen from afar. His soul seemed to shine through his skin, as a glow glittered across his face. Rough from working, his hands held onto mine.

"Hi," I breathed. My chest was heaving up and down from both shock and surprise, small puffs of air decorating the gap between our two faces.

"Hi," he smiled softly.

For what felt like eternity, we stayed in that position. Even though I couldn't explain how, I felt a crackling in the air, a static that wavered between us. An ache stretched out from my heart; every beating of my heart only deepening it. The wind stirred in his gaze, and it took all of me not to enter their depths.

Why did his arms feel like a place to heal my soul? . . . And from what?

However, Noah's voice broke the trance we both seemed to be in, "Shit, are you okay Natalie?"