Kissing Wounds | ✓

Chapter Twelve

It had rained yesterday so the sky was filled with clouds, and it was a little darker than normal this morning. It was six am, and I was taking a walk with Nathaniel. The brown stray dog was following us, sticking close to Nath, and giving him excited looks. I smiled to myself, chuckling as we made it through the path to the clearing by the lake.

"We come here every day," I said, moving closer to Nath as he shrugged at my statement. We stood next to each other in silence, listening to the frogs croaking, and the sound of the dog lapping at the water.

"It's a habit," Nathaniel suddenly said, making me blink before looking over at him with a curious gaze. "Coming here is a habit," he clarified, fishing for something in his pocket. I watched him pull out a cigarette and a lighter, and soon he was taking a draw. I knew Nath smoked. He did it quite often, but it seemed to be connected to stress so I didn't pry into his business much. I didn't like the smell, and I wondered how anyone could tolerate having that so close to them — in their mouth for that matter.

Maybe it was one of those things Nath told me 'I wouldn't understand' because of my upbringing. That didn't make it any less senseless though.

"Enough about things, how are things on your end," he said, turning to look at me. I hummed, looking away from him. A lot had happened really. Some people had been baptized, I got my first phone call of the year, so I could hear my sisters talk from the other end. I was soon smiling to myself and only snapped out of my thoughts when Nathaniel let out a low laugh.

"Having the time of your life?" he asked, and I just laughed in response, not knowing how to answer that.

He leaned closer to me, and soon his hand was holding on to my head and his lips had met mine. I moved my lips against his own and we were soon kissing each other deeply. His hand moved to tug at the end of my top, but I didn't move. I was excited, hoping for more, but he soon pulled his hand away, and let it rest on my waist.

The water moved by slowly in the lake and the dog that had tagged along started whining. Nathaniel pulled away from the kiss, and we both stared at each other with small smiles until Nath eventually let me go and looked away. He walked to the other end of the cleared area, making me feel a bit sad at the created distance.

"You seem so carefree. Usually, at this point someone in your position would be panicking," he said, chuckling a bit. "Aren't you worried someone will find out, anyone?" he asked, turning back to look at me.

"I am worried," I answered honestly, "but..." I trailed before letting out a low sigh. I bit my bottom lip nervously, wondering what to say. My mind was filled with jumbled thoughts I couldn't quite put into words.

But what? I wondered to myself. I wasn't sure of the future, and I didn't want to think about it. With the way things were going now I might just finish my service and go home, and that would be the end of everything. I was sure even if that happened that Nathaniel would be on my mind. I wanted to be with him, but I wasn't sure how to make that happen or whether Nathaniel himself would be okay with that.