Supernova Souls - Ryan Upchurch

-42-

                                         —
Two months later

Delilah smiled to herself, the only person that saw that smile being the sun shining brightly above her. She was laying in the bed of Ryan's white Z71, Stitches, beside the many tools and random fencing pieces she didn't know the names of with her feet swinging over the edge of the dropped down tailgate. His truck was parked in the grass close to where he was, along with his 3 friends, Deardorff, Rypta & Adam. They were all working on fixing the fence, and Delilah wanted to help but Ryan insisted she didn't- he didn't want her getting hurt. Huh. Weird. His dogs were off somewhere in the yard, probably digging holes for Ryan to trip over later.

It was hot in Tennessee, as it usually was, but today there was a nice almost constant breeze in the air that made the sweltering heat (for the most part) bearable. While the boys worked, she was left in charge of the radio- Ryan's phone's Spotify- and drinks, which were important. Everyone had their own glass of tea and 90s country played at a comfortable volume from his phone's place on the roof of Stitches.

Nothing could take away Delilah's smile today, because of who put it on her face— Ryan.

He hadn't asked her to be his girlfriend yet, but she knew it probably wasn't far off in the future from how he's been acting towards her lately. He isn't usually a lovey-dovy type guy, but whenever it's just him and Delilah everything changes. It's like he'd do anything to never have to let go of her again. All the small things, he remembered. All the small things he learned she loved, he kept doing because he knew it made her happy. He cares about her. He loves her. Though it wasn't official, it felt like it was.

He called her things like 'baby', 'darlin' and 'shawty' (which she won't admit to liking, but would do anything to hear him say again).

"Lilah!" Ryan shouted. She could hear him if he talked normally, but apparently he didn't realize that over the loud noise of the power tools he and his friends were using. "Yeah?" She yelled back.

"C'mere for a sec."

Grunting, she raised up and brushed her hair behind her ears. Tiny dust clouds rose from beneath her boots when she dropped down onto the ground, and continued to follow her while she walked over to Ryan. He was farther from Adam, Ryp and Deardorff than he was minutes ago. He'd made his way down the fence faster than them, apparently. "What?" She asked, only being able to see his back from here.

He didn't have a shirt on and he was sweaty, hat backwards on his head and his jeans were low on his hips. She took a glance (even though it lasted a little too long) at the big tattoo across his back that read BACKWOODS in big, bold letters. You could clearly see the gun holster on his hip that held his .45 Long Colt, but it wasn't unusual to see it there, he kept it with him everywhere. He must've heard her getting closer because he turned his head to look at her. His face was dirty, much like the rest of him, and beads of sweat was dripping down his forehead, but he still smiled that sweet crooked grin at her. She returned his smile with one of her own.

"Can you get me another glass of tea, please? I done drank alla mine." He said, but pronounced the 'of' like an 'a'.

She nodded. "Gimmie your glass." He did, and off she went to go refill his cup for him. When she came back, she saw the same view as before, but this time from the front. He stood up just before she made her way back over to him. "Here," she said, giving him the glass of cold sweet tea she'd made when she came over.

"Thank ya,"

Delilah looked up into his icy blue eyes that, for once, looked warm and inviting- happy, instead of gloomy like they did when she first met him. The corners of her lips curved upwards, and she didn't fight the little close-lipped grin when he gently pressed his lips to hers and kissed her. She kissed him back, but soon he broke the kiss, a thing she wished he didn't do, but understood. He had work to do.