Paper Hearts

𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕒 𝕊𝕝𝕖𝕖𝕡𝕤

Chapter 10: Where The Sea Sleeps

Lex found himself following after Fern into a lighthouse. Not very far from civilization, but still a fair distance. The place was a bit dark due to the little sunshine and dark clouds. Maybe it was raining again soon? There were very few people at the entrance, but none of them entered. Walking through the tiny crowd, Lex heard whispers of the place being abandoned and haunted but dismissed it as people giving excuses for their irrational fears of the unknown.

He still followed Fern up the many twists and turns of stairs, feeling the wall in the dark with one hand, the other clasped tightly in Fern's. Fern was ahead by one step, using his phone's flashlight to see. There were too many cobwebs and dust to breathe in and manoeuvre around without getting it on their clothes, but they continued their trek up the stairs anyway. "Where are we going?" The wind whistled in through tiny holes in the cobblestone walls, the clouds above them rumbling outside.

"There's something I want to show you up there." Fern whispered back, looking back at Lex for a brief second. His glasses looked like they were about to slide off his nose any second, so Lex tugged at his hand, stooping them both on the steps. He pushed Fern's glasses back onto his nose properly after getting on the same step as Fern, who only smiled at the sweet gesture.

They continued going up the steps, Lex's legs burning by the time they got at the top. He let go of Fern's hand, stuffing his left hand in his hoodie pocket to look for his inhaler. When he found it, he popped off the lid, putting the inhaler between his lips and pumping it once, twice and a third time all while taking in deep breaths.

Fern watched him, worried he might have chosen the wrong place to take Lex now that he figured he was asthmatic. "Are you- Are you okay?" He asked, watching Lex try to regain his breath, but it looked like, even with the buckets of air he was inhaling, nothing was working. "Lex? You're worrying me. Do you want to go back down?"

Lex shook his head, smiling shakily as his breathing slowed. "I'm-" He gulped. "I'm good. It's just the altitude, but I'm okay." He nodded a few times, taking slow breaths to reassure Fern that he was, in fact, okay. He pocketed his inhaler, hands shaking a bit, but he walked closer to where Fern was and smiled. Fern still looked worried, but he smiled a small smile and led Lex to a door to the side.

Just before he opened the door, he smiled sheepishly at Lex, and walked around him standing directly behind him and putting his hands on his waist, pulling the younger boy closer. With a hand, he ruffled the back of Lex's hair, moving his mouth closer to his ear. "I'm going to cover your eyes for a while, but trust me, it won't be too long, okay?" He said softly, kissing Lex's cheek. Lex nodded, hyperaware of Fern's body close to his, his back against Fern's chest and the hand on his waist. Fern smiled, using a hand to cover his eyes. With his free hand that was still on his waist, he opened the door, walking the two forward and closing the door behind them.

He removed his hands from the boy after telling him to keep his eyes closed, lighting all the candles in the place. When he looked around and thought everything was in place, he whispered to Lex, who stood by the door with his eyes forcefully screwed shut. "You can open your eyes now."

When he did, Lex stood stock still, his eyes wandering the room lit with scented candles and small lamps. There were tiny flowers around the walls and a large window in one of the walls, a long telescope poking out. "Do you like it?" He nodded, feet wandering around the room. He fingered at the tiny petals, taking a deep breath through his nose to get a whiff of all the scents around them.

"When did you even get time to do this?" He asked, walking towards Fern who watched him silently, shrugging at the question. "This morning before I picked you up." Lex had reached him now, taking his hands in his and smiling through the surprise. "Thank you."

Fern smiled back, loving the moment more than he should've. "You're welcome." He tugged at Lex's hand, pulling him gently towards the large window with the telescope. The telescope itself was big in size, a pale coral colour and cold to the touch. "Remember I said the view here is amazing?" He asked, pointing to the telescope with his thumb. "Go ahead." He pushed Lex slightly forward so his eyes were level with the glass he needed to look through, arms finding their place around his torso and chin seating itself on his shoulder.

Lex relaxed in his arms, hands coming up to hold the telescope while he peered through it. He almost gasped. Through the telescope, he could see just about everything. The raging waves that crashed against the shore and the rocks at the very bottom of a cliff a bit further away. If he positioned the telescope just right, he could see into the city as well, the people as tiny as ants, the buildings like colourful blobs of light. Since the sky was darkening due to the lack of sunlight and the overbearing clouds in the sky, the city looked so beautiful.

He hoped they could visit the lighthouse again another day to see the stars too. And to see the sea a little calmer.

He stepped back a bit, turning in Fern's hold to face him. Smiling, he hugged Fern close to himself. "Thank you, again." Pulling back, he could clearly see the small blush on Fern's face. It was funny; they'd kissed before, but he blushed with a simple action as hugging. "If we can, I'd like to visit this place again, another time."

Fern swore he had never felt so happy before. "Of course."

The clouds rumbled, and in the next second, it began to rain, the wind blowing out all the candles and leaving them in darkness and slight smoke.