Heart Wood | Forest Creature X Reader (COMPLETED)

Chapter 24: New Beginnings

"Happy birthday!" Your mother bellows through the phone.

You cringe at her loud tone, glancing up at Lofty as you stay seated in his lap on the porch steps, seeing him looking down at you while he smiles. The two of you share a small chuckle before you turn your attention back to your mother.

"Thank you! It's been quite eventful," you reply, feeling the wooden creature wrap his arms around your waist and pull you close before resting his chin on your head. You nuzzle against him in return.

Seeing movement out of the corner of your eyes, you glance to your left, spotting Missy peaking through the tree line. Her eyes and smile are as wide as ever as she watches from behind a large tree while you and Lofty stay in your cute seated position.

She wouldn't stop squealing when you told her about you and Lofty, minus a few details, so you finally had to tell her to leave when your mother called you. You didn't want her hearing Missy fangirling in the background of your conversation.

"Oh?" Your mother chimes, causing you to look towards the phone. "But it's only eight in the morning!"

You blink. You feel Lofty stiffen behind you, his arms tightening around your waist. Your fingers play with the hem of your light blue t-shirt as you purse your lips.

You scan your mind for any excuse, but only one thing comes up, and since you can't think of anything else, you go with the only thing that comes to mind.

"I mean, in my dream!" you blurt out, not giving it another thought. "Where-uh...where I made out with a forest monster, and then we started dating."

You hear Lofty laugh through his nose, his entire body trembling from how hard he's trying to keep quiet. His reaction makes a wide grin spread across your face, but you're too busy being utterly humiliated to laugh, so you sit in shock over what you said instead.

As you wait with bated breath for any response from the other end of your phone, you're left in an awkward, unbearable quietness.

Your mother falls completely silent, either out of shock, or she's questioning why she even had you, or she's planning to kick you out of the house when she gets back. Whatever she's thinking, you would understand and respect her decision if she told you to start packing your bags and leave.

Your face burns a bright red, and you slam your eyes shut, silently praying for the world to engulf you. Lofty's laughing doesn't help and just adds to your overwhelming embarrassment.

"Well," you hear your mother speak up, causing your eyebrows to furrow in question.

"I guess that was an eventful day for dream (y/n)," she comments with a slight chuckle. "Maybe one day I'll find me a nice forest monster too, and then we can go on a double date!"

Your eyes shoot open as you slap your hand over your mouth, snorting while stifling a giggle. You hear Lofty snickering above you, his body bouncing up and down as he tries his hardest to laugh without being heard, causing you to laugh harder.

"Okay, I should go before this gets any weirder," you say, rubbing the corners of your eyes with your thumb and middle finger while giggling.

Your mother chuckles in response. But then, she stops, and you hear her gasp as she remembers something.

"I'm assuming you did, because you're such a good, grownup girl," she starts, her words worrying you and making you wonder where this is going. "But you have done some of the chores on the whiteboard, right?"

You freeze, then you bite your bottom lip, your eyes drifting to the kitchen window. You can see a small portion of the whiteboard, reading the word "wash" in black letters.

Somehow, with everything that's happened, you forgot to do any of the chores that you promised to do while your mother was away. It makes sense, with how much has happened after she left. But you can't believe that you completely forgot.

With no excuses brewing in your head and being unable to think up any elaborate lie, only one word comes to your blank mind; oops.

You hear Lofty snort, and you glance up at him with a pout. He definitely read your mind, and found the word "oops" to be funny, and you completely agree, but your playful irritation masks your smile.

He merely smiles down in response, his goofy expression making your features soften, and you can't help smiling back as your cheeks redden.

"(Y/n)," your mother chimes, causing you to tear your gaze away from your love and look down at your lap while chewing on your bottom lip.

"You did do some of the chores...right?" she asks again, her voice less confident and more timid than last time.

"Yeah," you say with a squeaky voice while you fiddle with the hem of your shirt.

You quickly clear your throat, sinking farther back into Lofty's chest as you feel your cheeks burn from embarrassment. "Totally," you reply with less confidence than you wanted.

You hear her hum, giving a quick "sure" in response. She doesn't believe you, with how high-pitched your voice was, but she doesn't harp on the matter, since it is your birthday. You're positive she would've reprimanded you if it wasn't your birthday, so, you're glad you have the birthday girl pass for the day.

Your mother tells you goodbye and reminds you that she loves you before she hangs up.

You set the phone on your lap and lean against Lofty, feeling him stiffen up before he relaxes against you. You figure he isn't used to this much human contact, and it probably catches him off-guard whenever you touch him, whether it's sexual contact or just wanting to cuddle.

You prop your head on his chest and look out at the morning sky from your comfortable place on the porch steps, a soft smile gracing your face when you feel the creature pull you flush to his body and nuzzles against you while resting his jaw on the top of your head.

The sun gives light to the land in front of you, shining upon the tall trees and rolling mountains, and casting small shadows when the fluffy clouds pass by the bright, yellow star.

Lofty hums, sounding content with your current position, and he closes his eyes, enjoying feeling the heat of the sun along with the warmth of your body as you lazily rest atop him.

You take a slight glance to your left, seeing Missy losing her mind while she watches from a distance. You then stifle a giggle as she places the back of her hand on her forehead and passes out, her body landing on a flowering bush right below her. And, knowing she'll be fine right there, you turn your eyes back to the sky.

You catch a shadow dart somewhere in the forest out of the corner of your eyes, but it was right as you averted your gaze. And, by the time you look back into the dense woods, nothing is there.

Being sure you were imagining it, and not wanting to ruin the nice moment, you look away from the forest and gaze at the blue sky, ignoring the odd feeling in your gut until it's replaced with delight.

With a content smile, you allow your eyes to close, feeling Lofty's chest rise and fall with every calm breath of his, and it lulls you into tranquility.

(1,277 words)