After Fire - Dreamnotfound

Nine|infinity

We never found our way to Virginia. It seemed like every turn sent us deeper into North Carolina like a little rabbit hole. Clay eventually grew tired of us going in circles and stopped at an open park. There, I got to watch the sunset.

After hours of them roaming the backroads of North Carolina, Clay had taken them to the empty parking lot of a small park for a break. By the time they had arrived, the sky was a fiery orange as the sunset beyond the trees. Clay parked the car as he unbuckled his seatbelt for the first time in three hours. He sat back and sighed. His shamrock eyes scanned the surrounding area of the park.

"We can go looking around for places to charge our phones. Maybe we can sneak into a hotel and charge them there." He glanced to George only to find him not looking back. He mused at the setting sun. He admired the orange sky with its flecks of reds and pinks.

"You know, the roof of the car has a great view of the sunset," He said. "Sapnap and I used to watch the sunset from there all the time. Wanna try it?"

"Depends. Are you going to push me off of it?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because it seems like something you'd do."

"So you trust me to drive you up the country without a license but not to sit on top of a car with you?" He pushed open his car door and reached into the backseat for a blanket. "Fine. Stay here and watch the sunset inside a tiny car. I'm sitting on the roof."

He climbed up the hood before disappearing onto the top of the roof. George heard his thumping over his head. He was tempted to climb up and join him. Perhaps Clay was being genuine with his constant questions and offering to watch the sunset together. He dwelled on the possibility that he did want to get to know him. They had been living in the same house together for almost four months, and yet they knew nothing substantial about each other. And he mulled over the things he knew Clay knew about him. They didn't even have each other's phone numbers despite George having the rest of his host family's.

He ended up joining the younger boy at the top of the car. And, in doing so, giving Clay the benefit of the doubt he had been hesitant to give out.

He silently sat down next to Clay and gazed out at the open horizon ahead of them. They weren't that far off the ground, and the trees still interfered with the view, but it was nevertheless beautiful. And he got to feel the light autumn breeze against his face and brushing through his thick brunet hair. The leaves on the trees were a warm mix of dark oranges and light oranges as well as reds and greens. It warmed up his chest like a warm everglowing campfire.

The setting sun highlighted the trees and the fallen leaves. It was easy to forget he was sitting on an old car. As he gazed longly at the sun before them, it felt the same as the times he watched the sunset through his bedroom window. The warm honey sky wrapped him up like a security blanket, and the setting sun always served as a gentle reminder that time still moved forward. Even if the day was the worst day of his life, or the highlight of his year, it was now over, and tomorrow would come with a brand new set of highlights and shades.

"You wanna know what's crazy?" Clay said as the sun disappeared below the horizon.

"What?"

"I used to love watching the sunset, and I used to love finding shapes in the clouds. Every night, I'd go over to Sapnap's house and we'd lay under the stars and search for our favorite ones. But, now that I think about it, I don't remember the last time I looked up at the sky."

"How could you not look at the sky?" He glanced over to Clay as he shrugged.

"I never took the time to look up, I guess."