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When Maren woke up for school, it was blue skies and puffy clouds. It made her excited she had been waiting to go to the Winchester Autumn Festival in Bakersfield (the next town over) all week. She suggested she and Lee have a date there as they had been so busy with their studies and needed a break. There was a corn maze, pumpkin pie contest, ring tosses, and even a petting zoo. It seemed like the perfect setup. She puts on a slightly oversized sweater and black boots and makes her way to the kitchen.
Lee’s at the kitchen table, in nothing but his gray sweatpants. He has a paintbrush in his hand, his eyes peering at his mini easel. Maren walks over and kisses his shoulder, she’s about to move away before she looks at his painting. It’s two beanie babies, one is a bright orange, similar to the outside of a fresh pumpkin with a gold bow wrapped around its neck. Its belly is slightly black resembling a spooky face. The other one, which is partially finished, is a white bear dressed in a black skeleton costume. Maren tilts her head to the side, admiring his creation.
“Are those beanie babies?” Maren asks.
Lee nods gently wiping with pants along their ears, slowly shaping the TY logo.
“Yeah, spooky edition.” He says happily. Maren giggles, wrapping her arms around him. She kisses his neck, “You’re so cute.” His empty hand squeezes her hand. She lets him go, she checks the clock, and she has twenty minutes before class. She grabs a frosting-less strawberry pop tart and takes a big bite. Maren watches Lee go back to his painting. She kisses his head, “Don’t miss your class today.”
He started to take a few gen ed courses, with additional art courses such as pottery and art history. He seems to like the classes he’s taking,
He hums a response and wrinkles his nose. She knows that response, he’s focused. Maren grabs her bag and takes another bite of her pop tart. Maren leaves the apartment with a smile on her face. The sun doesn’t peek through the clouds, it’s a beam of light, striking her down with warmth. The orange and yellow leaves swirl and crunch like potato chips underneath her feet. She genuinely loves the fall season, sure it gets chilly but she likes seeing the world turn into various shades of colors. It feels like an extra boost in her veins.
Until it starts to rain.
Who knew all those clouds were just carriers for bucketloads of rain? Now, Maren’s standing in the middle of Edward Hall, annoyed. She groaned, she watched as people chatted, taking their umbrellas out of their backpacks and stepping out into the rain. Maren waits around for a few minutes, figures that the rain isn’t going to stop, and heads out.
She ends up getting soaked in the rain, down to her socks. It feels like ages she finally makes it to her and Lee’s apartment complex. She shakes out her hair, kicks off her boots, and makes her way to their bedroom. Throws her clothes on the floor, and heads straight for the shower. She takes a hot shower, shaking out all the chill and welcomes the warmth, even when it’s burning hot. Once she finishes, wraps herself in a towel, and digs for clothes in her room. Maren peeks out the window, the clouds are silver and she can see the lights of the campus street lights coming on. There’s no way they can go to the festival today.
“Hey.” Maren turns to see Lee shutting the door with his foot.
“Hi.” He walks in and sees her throwing on an orange sweater.
“You got soaked in the rain didn’t you,” Lee says, stepping over her wet clothes. She chuckles, giving him a look over, his hair is damp and she can see his shirt getting wet bit by bit.
“I decided to run.” He yanks his shirt over his head, tossing it into the pile. Maren sits on the bed, rubbing her arms. Lee throws on another shirt and sits down on the bed beside her, Maren is quiet.
“What is it?”
“I really wanted to go to the festival today.” Lee nods, “Hey, he bumps her shoulder, there’s always next week.” He gently taps her foot with his own, she smiles, “Yeah.”
They are silent for a few moments, Maren stands up and puts their wet clothes in the hamper. Maren walks into the kitchen and sees Lee’s painting on the table.
She gets an idea.
Ten minutes later, she and Lee are in the truck, Maren eagerly throwing the truck into drive.
“Where are we going?”
“We’re gonna have a Halloween festival all on our own.”
Lee grins, “Really.”
“Yup.”
They head over to the store. Maren grabs a cart, and they venture through the aisles, grabbing bags of Hershey chocolate, they grab marshmallows and graham crackers, Lee watches as Maren throws things into the cart, she’s so excited, her curls bouncing all over the place. It’s adorable. Before she can leave to go to another aisle, he grabs her waist, pulling her back to him. Maren laughs, “What.”
“Nothing, just love seeing you excited that’s all.” Maren’s lips curled up in a smile. She pulls on his hand, “C’mon, we have more things to buy.”
Lee watches as Maren walks off and sees her disappear around the corner. He shakes his head, pushing the cart in her direction.
They grab a few more things they need for the week. While Maren is off to find bread and cheese…. Lee finds himself in the cereal aisle. He sees a short elderly lady reaching for Sugar Smacks on the top shelf.
“Hey, he races over and grabs it for her. He puts it into her cart. The lady, her lips curling into a wide smile. Her little pink flower hat sat perfectly on her short gray curls.
“Thank you, hun.”
Lee smiles back at her, “Sure, my girlfriend loves that cereal too.” He grabs another box and puts it in his cart. The lady laughs, “My husband does too, can’t get enough of the stuff, even though I tell him it has too much sugar.”
“My girlfriend is the same way, she’s always jumping off the walls after.”
The lady puts her hand on his shoulder, giving him a small squeeze, “The things we do for the people we love.”
Lee nods, “Yeah.” He can feel happiness bubbling in his throat. He almost gets choked up because of it.
“Well, she’s probably looking for me.”
Lee says goodbye and heads over to the bread aisle, he can see Maren looking at the various kinds of wheat bread. She turns to see him and her mouth opens to say something but Lee scoops her up in his arms. He leaned down and kissed her, Maren responded almost immediately, the bread in her hand dropping to the floor. He wraps an arm around her waist pulling her so he can hold her close. Maren pulls away for a second, their lips barely touching, she blinks for a second, he’s not usually showing his affection full force in public like this. It’s nice. He presses his forehead against hers, his red curls tickling her forehead.
“What was that about?” Maren asks, reaching over to wrap her arms around his neck. He shakes his head, getting lost in those big brown eyes of hers,
“Nothing, nothing, just missed you.”
She giggles, “I was only two aisles away.” He kisses her again, stealing her breath again, she melts, getting on her tippy toes, to kiss him again. They pull away from each other, Maren cups his face, “You alright.”
He nods, “I’m fine, Maren, seriously.”
She says okay in a quiet voice and gets off her tippy toes. She looks around them to find the bread she grabbed on the floor. The young girl chuckles, she never thought she would be making out in the bread aisle of a grocery store. Lee grabs the bread that was on the ground puts it back on the shelf and gets a new one.
Maren holds out her hand to him, wiggling her fingers, “Let’s go home.”
“Okay.”
Once they lug all of the groceries into the apartment, Maren begins tossing things on the counter.
“So what are we doing?” He asks, looking over at all the stuff they put on the counter.
She smiles, “I’m gonna make some grilled cheese.”
“I got the s’mores.” She bumps shoulders with him “Of course.”
She started pulling out the bread and putting it on the skillet. Gently toasting the bread, it turns into a dark brown. It’s crispy on the sides. The cheese begins to melt and bubble on the sides. She pops open the cans of tomato soup with the can opener and heats it up for a few minutes.
By the time Maren sets the table, Lee has finished preparing the s’mores. Her stomach growls as she slides her sandwich on her plate. Once they finish their meals, Maren is lying on the floor of their living room, flipping through their VHS collections. Lee in the kitchen, making sure their food matches the atmosphere.
“Lee, I found something.” He comes in with a tray of s’mores. She smiles as she flashes him the cover.
“The Thing”.
“We haven’t watched that in a while.”
“Yeah, she says, sitting up a bit, “I thought it would fit the tone.”
After eating their smores, they curl up together on the couch. Maren lays across Lee’s lap, Lee’s focus on the movie, meanwhile Maren is too busy staring at Lee. The way his eyes light up when something exciting happens, the way his hand gently rubs her leg as she snuggles into his shoulder. She’s so close to him, she can see the smallest of freckles, where his laugh lines are. All the little things.
“What”. Lee’s voice breaks through her thoughts. He’s still looking at the screen.
“Nothing, she says, she gently moves to grab his hand. Lee gently rubs the center of her palm with his thumb. She turns her attention back to the movie. She watches as the thing takes the shape of another colleague, and the remaining survivors gasp in horror. She’s amazed at how everything has changed so fast. This life they share together is so precious to her. She’d never thought she’d have someone to hold, to love, build a life with.
“I wasn’t happy for a really long time, Lee says, “And after a while, I just accepted that I won’t ever be.” Maren turns to face him, he's slowly opening up to her. People wouldn't know just by looking but he's a pretty sensitive person. She loves seeing that side of him.
“Until you came along,”. Maren gives him a small smile, he looks at her, his eyes trailing over her face.
“You make me so happy.” He says, his shoulders roll and finally slump, like he’s been holding this in for so long, “I just wanted you to know that.” Maren leans up and kisses his chin, “You make me happy too.”
He leans down and nuzzles his nose against hers. He plays with her fingers. Maren watches as his cheeks turn slightly red. She giggles, “Am I making you blush.”
“No.” He says he looks at the movie again. It’s almost over now. He’s going quiet again, his thoughts are stirring in his head again. Maren gently turns his face to look at her, “There’s something else you’re not telling me.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She sighs, “Lee.”
She grabs the remote, presses a button, and pauses the movie.
“Now you have to tell me.”
Lee knows she won’t give up when something is bothering him. He hates how his emotions can't help but just spill out sometimes. When he starts talking about his past, words start tumbling out. Maren tilts her head to the side and runs her hand through his hair, “It’s about your dad isn’t it.”
He shutters, “Yeah.”
Her heart sinks a bit.
“When I was seven, I wanted a dog, like really wanted a dog. I begged my mom for months, and did so many chores, but she won’t budge. I finally found a dog when I was walking home from school. It was in this small little box, and it was maybe a month old. I wrapped it in my jacket and took it home. Kayla and I loved her but my parent didn’t. She was too much work. But then when I came home one day, she was gone. Lee says, Maren squeezes his hand.
“My dad told me they sold her, for three hundred bucks, turns out she was a purebred.” He shakes his head with a dry laugh, “And after I cried for two nights straight, you know what my dad said.”
Maren shakes her head, already hating where this story was going.
“He told me, it was worth selling her because she would’ve grown up hating me because who could love a monster like me.”
Maren grows angry. He was just a young boy, how could you say this to your kid? Your kid is supposed to be showered in endless love and affection.
She fucking hates him.
“He’s such a piece of shit, she wraps her arms around Lee's neck, hugging him tightly. He hugs her back, his head going slack onto her shoulder.
“You’re so loveable.”
“Thanks.” He whispers, “Really means a lot.”
She knows it does. She pulls away from him, a smile on her face.
“I have a surprise for you.”
Lee raises an eyebrow.
----------------------
“So, I hid these and was going to suggest we crave them later this week but.” Maren brushes their boots and coats away to dig in the back of the closet. Maren yelps in excitement.
“They are definitely needed right now.”
She pulls out two small pumpkins. She hands one to him, “For you.” Lee can’t believe she’s real sometimes. A literal dream.
They venture out to the woods behind their apartment building. The rain is finally gone but it’s slightly windy as they reach a clearing.
“So what are we doing out here.” Lee is staring at her in anticipation, the moonlight slowly peeking out from behind the clouds.
“This.” He stares at her in awe and she lifts the pumpkin over her head and slams it on the ground. It shatters, and a thick orange slug oozes out into the dark green grass.
“Wow, that felt really good, Maren says excitedly. She’s practically jumping up and down. Lee just lets out a wholehearted laugh, throwing his on the ground as well. It breaks into pieces, it’s wrinkled outside in huge chucks. Rather than looking like pumpkins, they have dissolved into orange juice. Maren cheers, smashing the remaining pieces with her boots. Lee smashes the pieces of his as well. The feeling of normalcy overwhelmed him.
Being able to spend their lives and be free is enough for him.
He looks at Maren, who is dancing around now. To anyone else, she would be this crazy wild girl. But to him, he’s staring at the love of his life, his beautiful girl, the only person that he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
“I fucking love you,” Lee says. Maren stops dancing to turn to look at him.
A breathing smile forms on her face.
“I love you too.”