Supernova Souls - Ryan Upchurch

-38-

Delilah shifted on his lap and rolled over on her back. When he looked down he was met with a pair of drowsy hazel eyes looking back up at him through barely open slits. "You 'bout ready to go to bed?" He asked, voice quiet so he wouldn't disturb the peaceful quietness around them.

"It's still early though, isn't it?"

"If you call ten at night early, yeah."

"Ten is early, that's like seven to me."

"Says the girl that's about to fall asleep." He chuckled quietly, bringing up one arm to lay over her stomach. He left his other hand tangled in her hair because even if he wanted his hand back, he couldn't have it because she was now laying on it like it was a pillow.

She rolled her eyes at him before she shut them. "I think you're seein' things 'cause I'm not about to fall asleep."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I never go to sleep this early." She said while fighting back a yawn just to prove her point. She was truly tired from the days events and it she was being honest, she could fall asleep right now. The warm air with the cool breeze flowing all around them, the gentle sway of the porch swing, Ryan's hand running over her stomach softly and his lap beneath her head.. she was on cloud nine, floating on that puffy cloud somewhere up in the stars without a single worry in her mind.

She turned her head to the side and saw the cattle in the pasture. Some were laying down but still awake, some were sound asleep with their heads resting on the long-ish grass and others were still grazing but they all looked adorable beneath the light of a moon glowing so bright it looked neon. She smiled to herself as the lyrics to her favorite old country song came to mind and the words swirled in her head, accompanied by the fond memories of her and her grandpa when she was younger. She was maybe six, seven years old playing in the backyard with the toy trucks her pawpaw had for years in the grass, their favorite 90s country station going fairly loudly on the back porch. Her pawpaw always sat on his old rocking chair on the back porch (her grandma's was on the other side of the table, and Delilah spent a many of nights sitting there listening to the radio and the crickets with Vinnie.), right next to the ancient glass table that held the radio he had for too many years to count on the cracking glass.

When the sun goes down on my side of town, that lonesome feelin' comes to my door.. the whole world turns blue.

Delilah sighed, feeling like a weight was lifted off her shoulders even though nothing had really happened. Maybe it was the peacefulness of the night, or maybe it was her day with Ryan, but something about today made her feel better.

There's a rundown bar across the railroad tracks, got a table for two way in the back where I sit alone, and think of losin' you..

Who was she kidding? She knew exactly what had put her mind at ease, and he was looking down at her with those stunning pale blue ocean eyes that, even in the dimness of the night she could clearly see the love in his eyes. And she knew her eyes held that same lovesick shimmer his did.

I spend most every night beneath the light of a neon moon..

Just then, her mind butted in and added her own lyrics in with those of the Brooks & Dunn song she loved.

Now if you find your one and only, there's no room in your heart to be lonely, and you watch your childhood dreams dance in and out of the beams.. of a neon moon.

When Ryan looked into her eyes it felt like he was looking at her wounded soul that she had tried so hard to keep hidden and piece back together by herself, only accepting the help she asked God for and nobody else's. She both felt the need to try and throw a cover of some sort over her broken soul, perhaps a facade of one that was cleansed of the brokenness hers held, but at the same time she wanted to let him in and allow him to help her fix the wounded thing she had been trying to heal for far too long.

"Come on, let's go to bed." Ryan said softly, rubbing his thumb over her stomach. She nodded and rubbed her eyes before she sat up. Ryan rubbed her side before he stood. She followed him up to the door and it opened with a lousy, low moan from the old hinges. "Go on inside, I gotta get the dogs in the house."

She looked at him and through the darkness he could read the look in her eyes. Are you sure?

He nodded and gave her a small, loving peck on the lips. "I'll be in there in a minute."

"Okay." She said, putting her hand against the door to keep it open for a moment longer while he took his hand off the cold knob. She watched him walk away towards the dogs before he vanished into the hazy night.

The floorboards creaked beneath her feet as she walked through the house and down the hallway to Ryan's room. Now that it was night the house seemed a lot more eerie than it did during the day when natural light shined down on everything and now everything around her was almost pitch black, the only thing giving light to the hallway was the dim stars shimmering down onto the floor through the window.

She put her hand on the doorknob that led to his bedroom and turned it, the freezing cold temperature of the handle bleeding into her warm hand like an uninvited guest to her body. She shivered and pushed the door open. It smoothly moved backwards, revealing the black room that was Ryan's.