Work Text:
April runs her fingertips delicately over the tender mark slashed out across her inner thigh. She can still feel the tightness on the skin of her face from the cold night air, lungs still heaving silent but desperate breaths in and out, burning as she attempts to regulate her heart rate, the soles of her feet still tingling from the sensation of running, pounding against the pavement in an excited and terrified escape.
Double checking to see that her bedroom door is closed, April reaches out and flicks on her bedside lamp. The yellow glow illuminates her skin, reds and blues already shrouding the brave and unnatural gash she acquired not an hour earlier.
She smiles.
The pregnable skin feels so coarse and tight; pulling and withdrawing; attempting to heal.
April shakes her head.
No, she thinks. Do not heal.
Sterling’s laughter was so refreshing and invigorating, if April hadn’t have been so captivated by the sound she may have told her to be quiet. But alas, the tune of delight echoed in her ears like a wind chime in a storm; beautiful but untethered; a warning.
Another splash of water across her face pulled April from her trance, eliciting a gasp now followed by a strong, if not slightly juvenile, retaliation of her own. April scooped her hands into the water of the pool her and Sterling’s legs dangled in, yanking them up and out, cupped and overflowing, soaking the other girl’s face and t-shirt.
Well, that didn’t exactly quieten Sterling, because then she’s gasping and giggling and submerging her hands again to declare full on water-war-fair with April. Before they knew it, they were both squealing in delight, taking turns gasping in offense, soaked.
The sound of a heavy door closing distantly pulled April harshly back to reality and she did what she knew she really should have done the moment Sterling opened her mouth, placing her palm firmly over it and wrapping her other arm around her waist, pulling Sterling close against her, for leverage, she would later justify to herself.
The two fell silent, faces close and breath cautiously heavy as they listened for further evidence that they were no longer alone.
The door leading to the boys change room opening, a torch light shining out was proof enough.
The girls ripped their legs out of the water, scrambling to grab their haphazardly discarded shoes and socks.
“Hey!” A male voice echoed up to the tall ceiling of the school pool.
“Run!” Sterling’s own voice sat in a state April wasn’t sure she’d ever heard it; exhilarated and petrified. She had no time to think more on that though because then Sterling’s hand was suddenly in hers, yanking her towards the emergency exit, a beam of light bouncing around them as the security guards footsteps were quickly approaching.
The two ran, hand in hand, fear and thrill pumping through their veins as they burst into the night air, beelining for the fence surrounding the backend of their old high school.
“Get back here!” The deep voice followed not too far behind.
“Can you jump it?” Sterling asked in a hurry as they approached the wire barrier, separating the private property from public.
“Of course I can,” April had replied defiantly before launching herself into the air, only managing to cling onto the fence about two thirds of the way up. She dropped down to the ground with a groan, sure Sterling would have been laughing that sweet sound again if the light of the torch wasn’t getting brighter as it closed in on them.
“Quick,” Sterling pulled April’s attention away from the approaching figure, instead drawing it down to her intwined hands, beckoning April to step into them. “I’ll boost you.”
It felt rather childish to need a boost but with no time to complain, April held Sterling’s shoulders as she placed her foot into her palms and the two managed to push her up high enough to pull her torso over the top of the fence. With a swing of her legs, April flipped herself over the border. Yet right as she slung herself though, April felt, as if in slow motion, the skin of her inner left thigh catch on a stray wire jutting out of the weaved wall, pulling a clear and long tear down her the upper half of her leg.
She had no time to react though because then Sterling was hoisting herself over the same spot, gritting her own teeth as her hand caught on the same offending outlier.
Standing from where she had fallen onto the ground, April steadied Sterling by her hips when she too landed and then the two were off running again.
They ran until they couldn’t run anymore, both collapsing into the grass of a park they found themselves in, their laughter hard enough to produce tears that streamed happily down their faces. It was childish and liberating, like all this time they had been standing in for an older version of themselves and could now take a moment to be free.
“Oh my gosh,” Sterling managed, attempting to catch her breath, giggling in intervals as she sat up. April followed suit while Sterling used the backs of her hands to wipe away at her face before flipping them to examine her palm.
“Sterling!” April gasped, immediately at her side, taking Sterling’s hand in her own to take a closer look at the gash across her palm. Sterling just shrugged, a goofy grin on her face that shocked April enough to make her flash her own amused smile. “Doesn’t it hurt?” Her voice was softer then.
Sterling nodded.
“It’s great.”
April nodded too before looking down at the delicate skin again, redness reaching from the base of her first finger diagonally across her entire palm, glistening in the moonlight. Spurred by a strong urge of something, April leant down and placed a gentle kiss beside the mark, lips connecting quietly with the ball of Sterling’s thumb. The small gasp that escaped Sterling’s lips would have bounced between April’s ears forever if she weren’t promptly pressed away by her shoulders, palms catching her as she leant backwards against the grass, Sterling shifting herself low to examine April’s own wound spanning the inside of her thigh.
“And you were worried about my hand?” Sterling teased, glancing up at April who didn’t get a chance to think of some witty response before the tip of Sterling’s index finger was sending chills down her spine as it ran ever so lightly alongside the split in her skin. April bit her lip to catch a sound that would certainly not match the situation in her throat.
Sterling looked up at her again, her big, caring eyes giving away the question before her voice could.
April nodded.
“It’s great.”
Sterling’s teeth flashed white then, her smile fleeting before her head sunk down to press her own kiss beside the wound.
April sighs, flopping back onto her bed at the thought.
A smile spreads across her lips again now, genuine and uncontrollable, cheeks bunching giddily.
Her phone buzzes beside her.
Sterling Wesley: I hope it does not heal.
And April knows exactly what she means. As her eyes drift back to her leg, April can only picture the scar that she already hopes will develop; one that will lay across her thigh, walking with her for the rest of her life, a constant and undeniable reminder that yes, tonight did happen.
Do not heal.