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Some say the best times can come out of the worst, that no matter how difficult the situation is, you can always take hold of your surroundings and change them. Sometimes it may be a small obstacle, such as a bad start to your morning, or a life-changing event that shakes you to the core. Each of these events hurts a little more, leaves just a bit deeper cut. Certain people can come into your life and help the healing process; others like to dig their grimy fingers into the wound and rip away at your inside until you are nothing but a hollow husk.
In the end, the scar is still there.
“Time heals all wounds,” they say.
...
Even bursts of cool air brushed across the cracked and sandy ground as the warm streaks of mid-afternoon sunlight began to dip behind the far-off mountains. From where he sat up on an uneven hillside, Arcade could see the overlook of rocky hills and the occasional cacti that dotted the area, lending a hint of green to the otherwise barren land. Sitting up tall, the blond man breathed deeply and evenly as he cleared his mind of the madness that surrounded his little tranquil bubble. The only thing that grounded him back to reality was the occasional touch of a hand against his own. That warm, tingly feeling always made his stomach flip as he was reminded that he, the overly assertive and highly intelligible man that he was, had someone who loved him.
A light cough from beside him brought his attention back to where he was. “You doing alright, Gannon?” The man sitting next to him asked with a genuinely concerned tone.
Arcade nodded his head lightly and turned his face to look at Boone. A small yet sincere smile appeared on Arcade’s lips, a somewhat dopey expression filling his face.
“Yeah,” he answered, looking down at his hands.
Arcade had always been one to overthink everything, giving a general analysis to even the most simplistic ideas and happenings ever since he was a kid. He would find himself speaking his ‘two cents’ about things that didn’t really involve him, making him end up getting scolded, or ignored if he was lucky.
Once again, Boone had reached out to shake the doctor from his ever pressing thoughts.
“Sure you’re feeling okay?” Boone asked, his hand shifting as he started to rub circles into Arcade’s shoulder, earning him a reassuring smile and a small snort.
“Sorry, I’ve got a lot on my mind lately. You know, the past, present and ever doomed future. The usual.” Arcade replied in a bored tone.
Boone seemed to nod in agreement as if he had also been thinking the same. “The sun’s setting,” Boone cut in again, squinting at the sun as it descended through the desert sky.
The distant sound of an argument could be heard off near the Vegas strip. Unfazed by the following sounds of a gunfight; They were as safe as they could be, hidden away behind a rock with their weapons within arms reach.
‘A mock romantic date’ Arcade had called it, when Boone suggested sharing a bottle while watching the sunset. It was another one of the small, domestic moments they had, such as bickering over who was going to clean up the mess that Rex made to more intimate things such as cuddling and simply enjoying each other’s company. Boone was never a very romantic man, but neither was Arcade. Even though they didn’t spend every waking second together, they were still almost inseparable.
Sighing softly, Arcade shuffled closer to him and placed an arm around his broad shoulders.
Boone gave a small rare laugh and willingly rested his head on Arcade’s shoulder. “It’s going to get dark soon,” Boone commented, turning so that he could look up at his partner.
Arcade caught Boone’s stare and turned slightly. “We should head back I suppose. Six will start to worry and next thing we know everyone in Vegas will be looking for us, etcetera, etcetera.” He stifled a huff and pursed his lips. “You know, back before-”
Arcade was silenced when Boone had taken the opportunity to quickly press his lips to his. He was taken aback by the sudden show of affection while he was in the middle of talking, but it was in no way unwelcome.
He smiled and returned the kiss as he turned his torso to face Boone. He tilted the other man’s chin up and deepened the embrace.
Boone placed his hands at the base of Arcade’s neck, running his thumbs over the corners of his sharp jaw. Warm fingers traced the bottom of Arcade’s ears and followed his hairline to the supple skin of his nape, sending shivers through Arcade’s body. They slowly created a rhythm with their lips while their muffled breaths filled the quiet desert air around them.
By no means was this situation sexual in any stretch of the imaginary, nothing but a quick passionate moment shared between lovers.
The sun had set and a warm dark blue settled over the sky with a few stars dotting it here and there.
It was a perfect moment. All except a small prodding thought that kept appearing in Boone’s mind that turned into a headache if he thought on it for too long. He tried to distract his train of thoughts as he pulled Arcade closer but all he felt was more distance between them.
How long before someone got hurt? How long until the flame between them burned out?
The last thing Boone wanted in his life was to have another person in his life to care about him because nothing good ever came out of it.
He slowed his motions as he pulled away from Arcade.
Arcade looked into Boone’s eyes; there was tender affection in them, but there was anguish there, too. He blinked and for a second, and when he opened his eyes again he could have sworn that he saw Boone’s façade crack. A person could only go through so much before they broke, and Boone had already seen more than a lifetime’s worth of pain.
Unfixable and Arcade knew that.
Letting his shoulders slump, Arcade pulled him into a hug. It wasn’t a bone-crushing hug, but he still tried to convey all of the apologies and thoughts that had never left his lips before through it.
They stayed like that until the darkness made it impossible to see before slowly making their way back to the strip in silence.