Tryle - Wandering

[Kyle Stockholm]

"You uh.. you want a s'more or something?" Kyle asked near ten minutes later. They'd sat in silence since the sudden kiss, and Kyle had been a bit embarrassed by it. It hadn't really been his place to do that and even if it was just a thank you, it still didn't feel right. I mean, it felt right but it didn't feel appropriate. Not during a time like this when he'd practically just cried his brain out. This was a sentimental evening thus far, and he might've ruined it. "I brought the goods," he added, reaching to his side for his backpack and pulling it into his lap. From inside, he pulled a bag of marshmallows, four chocolate bars and a box of graham crackers. Laying them out for display on the blanket before him, Kyle bit his lower lip in thought. They'd need something to skewer with.

"Wanna come find a few stick?" he asked, getting to his knees and then pushing up to his feet. "Or I can look.. you can stay if you want." Options. There were options. She could choose, that was fine. Kyle assumed she was incredibly confused, so he wanted to give her options. What with his meltdown and the random kiss, he figured she might need some time to think. Still, it wouldn't be bad to have a buddy as he stepped out of the safety-glow of the fire and back into the bushes to grab a few sturdy sticks.

Before she could say yes or no, Kyle had stepped off of the blanket and tugged his hat down to his eyebrows. It was chilly away from the fire and he shoved his hands into his pockets as he neared a bush. He wasn't sure if Trista was following or not, but kept his nose down in his collar and his eyes on the path before him. Horror movies told him not to turn around, because when he turned back, there would be a monster. Not that he believed in monsters. The ones in his head were real enough, he didn't need to believe in things like that in the real world.

Crouching, Kyle removed his hands from his pockets along with his phone. Thankfully, he had a flashlight app. After turning that on, a spotlight shone on the ground and he went to work gathering sticks. Back in his pack he had a knife to peel back the bark a bit. Maybe there was really a chance at turning this evening around. Maybe everyone could just forget that he and she both had problems. Maybe they could go back behind their walls and eat s'mores together.

That brought tears.

Not like before, but tears. Kyle stopped in his tracks for a moment and held a hand to his face, the wiped a stray tear with the back of his hand. This was, perhaps, the first time in his life where he didn't want to hid. He didn't want to put his mask back on, he didn't want to hide who he was and what he was and his demons. Now that they were out.. he couldn't imagine putting them back in. Not around Trista, anyway. She made him feel comfortable, cared for, loved.

She made him feel at home.

[Trista Kline]

She’d lost track of just how much time had passed, because her mind was a complete flutter of thoughts. She was definitely confused, but oddly at ease. She wondered if he felt weird, if he had second thoughts? She didn’t think anything of it, and the faintest piece of her wished for more, wished to be whole again. It made her feel wanted. She finally looked up at him when he was the first to break the silence. “I like s’mores,” she said truthfully, glancing to the firing. She took a moment to take in his appearance once more. There was the faint trace of what had just happened, and something in his eyes. Was it regret? If he were to do it over again, would he not have stolen a kiss? It didn’t exactly hurt her feelings, because it was hard to believe anyone would actually want her in quite a manner. Only fools believed in fairy tales, and she couldn’t afford to be a fool.

Trista eyed the selection of goods with interest in slight awe. She hadn’t had the treat in so long, it was like being a kid again. Except this time, it wouldn’t be a shattered childhood. What did it take to make a smore? A skewer of some sort or a stick? As she looked about, she could find neither. Kyle seemed to notice too when he invited her to go finding for sticks. The idea sounding simple, but a pleasant change in scenery might be refreshing. Trista glanced past him and into the darkness. It looked so foreboding, and filled with monsters of the night. But nothing compared to the monsters humans could be.

He was suddenly leaving, and Trista sat there for a moment. It pace was faster than she had anticipated and it left her scrambling to her feet. “Wait,” she said softly, arms wrapping around herself to keep her warm. Maybe he had wanted her to stay back at the fire. Did he need a moment to himself? She almost thought about turning back and leaving him be, but she didn’t wanted to be there alone. She’d never had ventured out here on her own, and she didn’t like the idea of being in here without someone. Or worse, what if something happened to Kyle. She didn’t want to leave him unprotecting, though she didn’t know what good she really could do in the face of danger.

When she finally caught up to him, he had already found an array of sticks. He was crouching in front of a promising bush in silence. She simply stood behind him, observing. He seemed to have something on his phone that produced light. She assumed her phone did the same, but she didn’t mess with it enough to know, let alone download apps. Being in his presence was enough, even in the silence. She tilted her head when she watched his arm make a movement across his face as though wiping something. More tears? Her instinct was to cradle him once more, but she stopped herself.

It took a moment, but she finally walked to the side of him and crouched down. She could see his face and his eyes set on the sticks in front of him. His face was wet though, a clear sign of tears. She wanted to make them disappear. She never wanted to see him cry tears of pain ever again, only tears of joy. Again, without thinking she wiped a few tears away, without a word. “Let’s go back,” she said to him, trying to guide him. With one hand she grabbed the sticks he’d shown interest in, and in the other grabbed his hand and stood. And like that, she led him back to the beacon of their fire, hand in hand. Her pace was slow, unrushed. The grip on his hand was firm; just enough to know it was real. “Don’t hide away,” she said looking forward as they arrived at the blanket. “Don’t leave me alone.” It hadn’t meant him leaving his physically but mentally.

[Kyle Stockholm]

Kyle quite willingly let Trista guide him back to the fire and took a seat when they got there. He listened to her words while she sat and smiled at the thought of how poetic they were. Meaningful, thoughtful words made him happy. Words could be so boring, and it was weird to think about. Such a powerful gift, to speak, and it was so easily and often wasted. That's why he prided himself on lyric writing. It meant a lot to him to be able to touch someone through his words. And paired with music.. well that was just a whole other level of bliss.

Situated on his knees, Kyle set the sticks between them and reached for the bag of marshmallows. After tearing a small yet reasonably sized hole in the corner, he removed two of the little sugary pillows and set them atop one of the bars of chocolate. Taking a stick in each hand, Kyle handed one to Trista and took the other for himself. Then, as if concentrating very hard, Kyle speared one of the two marshmallows and pressed his fingers around it to make sure it was secure. All in silence.

After lowering himself to an indian-style position, Kyle put his marshmallow into the fire and rested his head in his hand. "Should I apologize for kissing you?" he asked softly, sounding like a child again. He wasn't sure if he should say he was sorry, not say anything at all, or just forget about it. Should he have even brought it up? Or should he have been prepping s'mores? Why was this so confusing. Brought back from his thoughts by a vibration from his cellphone, Kyle looked down at it but only flipped it over and pushed it under his backpack. He didn't want any distractions. Not now. To Kyle, this was important.

He didn't want to lose a friend so quickly.

[Trista Kline]

She watched as he seemed to become a s’more making master. He even had all the tools of his trade to do it all. She took the stick in her hand and eyed it carefully and was satisfied with his find. Trista watched him complete his task with extreme concentration. She sat there, with a marshmallow in one hand and a stick in the other, and watched him begin the process of creating a s’more. She mimicked his movements, perhaps with a little less needed concentration. She remembered making s’mores one night for the Fourth of July, and for one night everything seemed as it should. There was never a night like that again.

She hesitated putting the little pillow in the fire and glanced over toward Kyle. His position appeared relaxed, and it was apparent that he’d done this many times before. Trista was slightly puzzled by his question and furrowed her brow slightly. Why apologize for his actions? She bit her lower lip slightly while looking into the depths of the fire. “You don’t have to apologize,” she said as she turned once more towards him leaning over and placed a light kiss on his cheek. She was quickly sitting back down and staring intently into the flames surprised by her own sudden actions. She almost shoved the marshmallow into the flame and she wondered if the flame’s hue was hiding the crimson burning at her cheeks.

It was strange to do things on the spur of the moment things. But he’d been so strong he deserved a little reassurance. And it was a kiss for a kiss. Her ‘welcome’ to his ‘thank you’. She was surprised when he seemed to tuck his phone away as though not wanting connections to any world but their own. Teenagers were so quick to get lost in the world of technology, and she felt just a little more important by his actions. She watched as her marshmallow turned into a light golden brown and pulled it from the flame and onto the setup. She took a small bite from it, and it was great. She gave it a nod of approval before nibbling away at it. “Can you…” she thought about her next request,” sing for me?” She’d heard him hum so many times before, and it was always beautiful.

[Kyle Stockholm]

Kyle found himself blushing when she kissed his cheek and he wondered if she could feel how hot his face was. But her lips left quickly, and he was reassured that both kisses had meant no more to her than he'd intended. That was good. For some reason, he'd wished they might've meant something more... but he didn't know why. So, he just shrugged the thought away and focused on rotating his marshmallow so as to achieve a perfect burn. After it caught fire, he quickly removed it and blew it out then lifted two fingers to squeeze at it. Crispy and slightly flakey, Kyle pursed his lips in satisfaction and looked for the graham crackers. Removing one from the package and breaking it in half, he set a square of chocolate on one half and then pressed the marshmallow between the two pieces. "Mmm," he moaned softly, setting the stick aside and taking his new treat up in hands.

"Sing?" he repeated and then took an incredibly gooey bite of the s'more. It basically fell apart, and Kyle found himself craning forward to make sure it didn't fall in his lap. After licking his lips and setting what was left of his s'more on one of the wrappers, Kyle nodded and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Sure, sure he could sing. There was no reason not to. And besides, his ukelele was sitting in his backpack. Why not put it to use?

"Do you, uh... d'yeh have any requests?" he asked as he turned to his backpack and pulled his ukelele out. It had been a little smushed having been covered by s'mores goods. But alas, it was fine. "Or I've written a couple things of my own," he added softly, considering that she might not have really thought about any certain songs, and just wanted to hear him sing. After all, who didn't love a good campfire song?

(sorry its slightly short... but yknow)

[Trista Kline]

Her little treat was now gone, but she was quite satisfied with it. She watched at Kyle assembled his, letting his marshmallow in the fire longer than she had. It was the little things he did that interested her. He just seemed much more interesting than anyone else, or anything for that matter. She considered how lucky she was to have met him, and realized that if it hadn’t been for her wondering mine, none of this could’ve happened. For a moment she realized she wouldn’t mind spending the rest of her life with him. Could friends do that? Spend the rest of their lives together?

She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as she watched him try to eat his crumbling s’more. He was like a child, so innocent and pure. He restored her faith in humanity, or at least gave her hope. She didn’t think she’d ever meet someone like him again, and something about that scared her. She’d seen him with other girls, even within the past week. The girls were so pretty, so perfect. But Trista could see that the depth of their minds were shallow. She wondered what Kyle saw in them, because she knew they could appreciate him like she did. But those girls were lucky, because they’d catch a portion of Kyle’s interest that she never would.

She nodded, as if stating her request again. She’d love to hear something aside from the silence of the night. She hid in her silence, and the void was growing cold. When he spoke, it gave her warmth. He could only hum so much before vocals turned into singing, right? “I do,” she said pausing to think if it was really the song she wanted. “Do you know ‘I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You’? I know it’s old but… it’s one of my favorites,” she confessed softly, before looking to him with hopeful eyes. Her mother used to sing it as a lullaby. It always comforted her and lulled her to sleep. It only seemed fitting that Kyle be the only other person to sing it to her.

[Kyle Stockholm]

Kyle smiled, biting his lower lip, when she requested such a song. It was a beautiful song, and one that he luckily knew. Personally, it was a favorite to sing. The chorus was so easy to twist into something even more beautiful than it already was, and that always made him smile. If you could take an amazing song and make it better, well damn. That was a song worth listening to. "Yea I know that one," he said softly, holding his ukulele up to his chest and gripping the neck. "'Lil bit o'Presley, huh?" he added, muting the strings with his left hand and running his fingers over them softly with his right. It made no sound, but he was only prepping.

Scooting a bit so he faced her, Kyle closed his eyes for a moment and cleared his throat gently. He hadn't sung in a couple days, only hummed. Which was odd for Kyle... he usually sang whenever he was along. For some reason, he just hadn't been feeling it. So this 'performance' was certainly something he wanted to do. "You, uh.. you get comfy or make another s'more or something," he said to Trista, waving a hand at her with eyes still closed and head facing slightly downward now. Returning his hand to the strings, he began to strum softly and finally put his fingers into position over the frets. It was trilly and sweet, the sound of the notes. Gentle and high pitched, definitely soothing and a perfect campfire song. A perfect selection on Trista's part.

"Wise men say," he started softly...

[Trista Kline]

When he said he knew the song, she was quite pleased. Of course she wouldn’t of been upset if he hadn’t known the song, but the fact that he did made everything even better. Kyle was something out of a fairytale, almost too good to be true. Everything he did seemed unreal. The fact that she knew his demons, had seen them in action, made her feel that much closer to him. She’d stared the demons in the face and had refused to budge, and had actually embraced them. She was surprised when he pulled a ukulele from his bag, not thinking he’d brought an instrument. She would’ve been completely content with an acapella performance, but a little backing track couldn’t hurt.

She didn’t want the sound of another s’more to interrupt his song or even concentrate on something else. So like before she positioned her body to face him and sat cross legged. With his eyes closed, she took in his features. His face seemed to be preparing for the song, perhaps getting into the mood. She swayed slightly at the few strums of the ukulele. When the first few words came out of his mouth visible goose bumps appeared on her skin. His voice was beautiful and she hadn’t expected something like that. She knew it was going to be beautiful, but she hadn’t prepared to be in complete shock. It literally stole the breath from her lungs and she stared in awe.

Her mother had always loved this song, and was also in love with Elvis. It started with her grandmother, who was actually in love during the days of the hip shaking birth. If it had been anyone else singing this song to her, it wouldn't of felt right. It was a mini concert just for her, from a beautiful person with heart stopping vocals. Trista smiled, or it’s what she tried to do when only the corner of her lips pulled upward.

[Kyle Stockholm]

When the last few words had ended, Kyle smiled to himself and let his ukulele down to his lap. He looked at it for a moment, running his index finger over one of the strings then tapping the neck. Moving it aside, he snorted and smiled at the ground, then looked up at Trista. He was quite pleased with himself; that had been a pretty good rendition. Smiling a little broader, Kyle felt his cheeks flush red again as she seemed to also be satisfied by the song.

Then something changed. Suddenly, Kyle felt his smile turn. It didn't go away, but it turned to a different sort of smile. Something softer, more caring and loving. It was gentle, like a whisper, but still prominent and showed more than his usual vacant expression. Getting to his knees again, Kyle found himself leaning forward towards Trista, one hand on the ground before him to steady himself. He approached slowly, bringing his face to hers until their foreheads met. From there, he lifted a hand and placed it on her cheek, his eyes looking up from the ground into hers. She had such beautiful eyes. "I.. can I.." his words were hushed and he barely exhaled to utter them. They were almost irrelevant, as he suddenly pressed his lips into hers.

The first kiss had been a thank you. Gentle and sweet, like a mother to a child. But when he'd finished it, he felt more. He told himself he didn't, but he did. And this was that realization. Within seconds he'd brought his other hand to her other cheek and found this kiss taking its time. He couldn't see her expression, he'd closed his eyes. Yet again, the forest was silent spare for the crackling fire, rustling leaves, and occasional rush of a breeze. He felt warm, despite the breeze, and didn't want this to end.

[Trista Kline]

Her eyes had slipped shut somewhere in the song. Her body swayed with his voice, and some notes made her heart ache. She’d never been so emotionally moved by anything in her life. Kyle, the lion man, seemed to have the power to move mountains. Her breathing was shallow as to produce almost no noise. She had even blocked out the sounds of the wood crackling in the fire. All she could hear was his voice, and all she could feel were his words. She didn’t even notice the tears slipping from her eyes. He had evoked such an emotional response from her. Even when he finished she didn’t open her eyes, mind still trying to catch up with her.

After a few moments she opened her eyes to look at Kyle. “So beautiful,” she whispered. With the back of her hand she tried to wipe the tears away, slightly embarrassed by them, but his rendition had just been so beautiful. The expression on his face was different too, something he hadn’t shown her before. His smile, it made heart stop. Something about it made her feel at home, like she was wanted. She blinked in surprise when he got upon his knees and she tilted her head upward to look up at him. The distance between them was closing though, and her breath caught in her chest when their foreheads touched. His hand was suddenly on her cheek and she found that she liked the contact, even leaned into it.

Green eyes stared into the depth of beautiful brown irises. His words were quiet, and she strained to listen to the broken request. And like before, his lips found hers. It was different though, it wasn’t rushed. As his closed, she found her own slipping shut. Unlike before, her heart was fluttering in her chest, and she finally noticed how he smelled. He filled her senses and filled her mind. When her face became cradled in both of his hands, she found her strength and leaned in, kissing back. In all the years of her relationship with her ex, she’d never felt something so powerful. Time seemed to stop, and nothing else seemed to matter anymore. A shaking hand grabbed the front of his jacket as though supporting herself and pulled him closer to her.