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It was all so serene, that his eyes had closed without him realizing. The sand was cold, even through the soft, freshly laundered blanket underneath. The breeze as just on the side of a little too cool, but the sun was on it’s way down, and the warmth was still there. Waves crashed on to the beach, the foam coming ashore and stopping a few inches from the bottom of his feet.
He shifted, digging further in to the same, the movement disrupting where she had been using his extended arm as a headrest. Her body was tucked in to the side of his, and she pushed herself up for a better look at him. Strands of her hair blew across her face from the loose bun she had held it in. Her smile was the same color as the pink skies in her background.
“ You’re not falling asleep on me, are you?”
“ No,” he said lowly, hand moving to secure itself on her waist, at the band of her cotton shorts, “ just, very content.”
Her own hand came to rest over his ribcage, the fabric of his sweater gently scratching the skin underneath, “ you always have your head in the clouds, Ryland.”
The simple touch warmed his belly, grounding him, “ no, I’m right here with you.”
The sun moved closer to the horizon when she leaned down and softly kissed him, something to help keep him on Earth. When he moved his arm lower, she grew more urgent, and the scruff of his beard tickled her chin. Her hand moved to firmly press down on his sternum.
She was quick to yelp when the cold water came too far ashore, drenching her feet, and now she was using her hand to push herself to sit up. Ryland groaned from the lack of contact, but then realized the bottom half of everything- the blanket and themselves- were soaked as stronger waves were now breaking on the sand. She couldn’t control the giggling, while he mourned the moment lost. He held her against him, his arm secured under her chest, his frame shielding her from the cooler winds now that they were wet. He was quick to drag her and himself further up the beach, then pulled the blanket along.
When finally a safe distance from another intrusion, she settled in his arms, and the laughs began to subside as they watched the sun finally dip below the horizon.
“ Do you believe what those scientists on YouTube are saying?” She asked, resting her hand on his arms so his mind wouldn’t wander away.
Ryland’s nose came to nestle at the top of her head, taking a deep breath or two. A fair amount of people had asked for his opinion on the topic, ever since the first Reddit posts started getting so much attention. It was mostly colleagues at work, the occasional older student at school, and he would definitely be late to work when forcing himself to listen to the barista’s latest updated theory when picking up a morning coffee.
“ You don’t need to be worrying yourself with nonsense like that…”
“ That certainly sounds like you do.”
“ No, but I will admit, as someone who once had his own theory that no one else believed, I feel obligated to at least pay attention to them. Doesn’t necessarily mean that I believe any of it, we’ll call it some nighttime reading.”
She sighed, slumping further in to his embrace, where he held her a little tighter. “ I know you’re the science guy here, but, I did google what could happen if it was true.”
He kissed the top of her shoulder, “ you don’t need to be worrying yourself with this right now. You always have enough going on in your brain, and there’s already enough imminent threats to the world, no need to worry about the sun dying.”
“ I thought it would be dimming, not dying!” Her hand landed on his knee.
And he reached for it, interlocking their fingers, “ even if it is true, it will take years- decades, even- for anything seismic to happen.”
“ A quarter of the world’s population is a bit more that seismic…”
“ Decades away,” he finished, “ plus, if it is real, the smartest people on the planet will probably find a way to stop it. If it is happening, they’re likely already doing that.”
Her hand squeezed his, “ guess they’ll need you, eventually.”
The praise made him blush, she knew that. He could never believe such a thing to be true,but he loved her for believing it was.
“ Yeah, I’ll go save the world, for you.”
“ What about your kids?”
“ Fine, them too. But that’s it.”
She hummed, turning her head to kiss his cheek, “ I love you, thank you for making me feel less crazy.”
“ I love you, too. And, same.”
*****
In a much different world, Ryland stirred awake, his head rolling back and bumping in to against a metal panel. He opened his eyes even though he knew the dream would be lost, and he’d be inside what was essentially a metal box floating through space millions and millions awhile. When he thought about being away from home, maybe he thought about being away from her.
And yet, she still reached for the pocket that would usually contain his cell phone.
Still waking, his head turned to the side, having moved enough to alert Rocky, inside his own box of sorts, to know that he was awake.
“ Grace awake, Grace not die. Amaze,” the voice greeted.
Ryland smirked, “ thanks for the support, pal.”
Rocky came right up to the closest pane of glass inside his own atmosphere, “ Grace was very active in sleep. Why, question?”
“ Guess I was dreaming a lot last night.”
“ Grace has clouds in head!”
Close enough, he figured. He stretched his limbs and pulled himself off the floor where he had dozed off, joints aching from the same.
“ Those clouds are long gone, Rock.”