𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 | 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴

05 :: 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴

thank you so so much for 200 reads on friday this entire journey has been phenomenal so far

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!! Warning !!
This chapter contains smoking.
Read at your own risk. 

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❝ Was it refreshing at least? ❞

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MELISSA CHECKED THE contents of her bag as she left the store. She had a folder for Rory's article and she'd also bought herself a nicer notebook, one that didn't have coffee stains all over the edges and a broken spine. It was a pink composition notebook, ready and awaiting her messy ink crawls.

Leaving the store, she turned out onto the street towards the town square and further along the way, the bridge.

"Hey," a voice said.

"Hey there stranger," she replied, looking up at Jess and smiling. The two of them continued walking.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked her.

She lifted the bag slightly, showing him her purchases. "Getting school stuff for Rory and I. I need a new notebook for soccer and she needed a folder for her article for the paper. What about you?"

He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he saw the pointed look she gave him. He laughed and grinned at the sharp look on her face. "You seem like the kind of person to see through a lie."

She rolled her eyes at him and laughed too. "You would be right. There's no secret keeping around me. But I'm an excellent liar if it's any consolidation so your secrets are safe with me. Now, spill."

"Luke's after coming home with all these things to get me to stop smoking, the patch, hypnosis tapes, Chinese herbs. Anything you can think of, he's got."

"What's the deal?" Melissa shrugged. "He's just trying to look out for you."

"But I don't want to quit."

"Then don't. Just bring a bunch of cologne with you and drown yourself in it before you see him. He hasn't seen you for all these years and you've been here all of three days, just say it's something you did back home if he says anything about it. Don't smoke in sight of the diner or anywhere Taylor could see you and you'll be in the clear."

He nodded, taking in her words. Their walking had slowed drastically. "But doesn't this Taylor guy own almost every store in town?"

Melissa nodded.

"Then how am I meant to stay clear of every building and still have a smoke?"

Melissa contemplated it for a moment and then grabbed his hand with her free one. She started tugging him along with her, away from the town and the nosy eyes of everyone around.

"Hey — where are you taking me?" Jess said, confused. But as confused as he was, he didn't resist her pull. Or yank his hand away from hers. It felt right to hold her hand.

"You'll see." Melissa giggled and god, was it a sound to be heard. It was possibly the most delicate laugh Jess had ever heard, the happiest most joyful laugh out there. He could listen to it all day.

They kept going, walking round the side of the school and disappearing into the clearing of trees. The pair of them walked down a little trail till they met the moon-lit bridge. Melissa stopped just before the wood began and Jess' chest collided with her back.

"This is The Bridge," Melissa introduced him to the area. "It's out of the prying eyes of everyone in the town and hardly anyone comes around here. I come here when I need to think about something. Well, here or the soccer field. Here if I need to think really, and the soccer field if I need to clear my head. Which is quite often if I do say so myself."

Jess stood taking everything in. He'd been here just earlier that day. Luke had pushed him into the lake. He had to admit, it was quite funny even to him. "I was here earlier," he told her.

"You were?"

"Yeah," he said. He walked around so now he was in front of her now, pulling her with him to the middle of the bridge. He took her bag in his free hand and placed it down beside him on the bridge before pulling her to sit with him. Their hands remained joined. "Luke was pissed at me after school and he pushed me into the lake."

Melissa let out a snort of laughter and quickly slapped her hand to her mouth. Jess looked at her amused. Melissa dropped her hand and tried to hold back her laugh. "Was it refreshing at least?"

"Oh, yeah," he said. He grinned at the smile on her face. "So very refreshing."

The two of them sat there, beaming brightly. Jess's eyes were trained on Melissa's face as she looked down into the moonlit water. She suddenly looked up at him, their eyes meeting. They held eye contact for a brief moment before they burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

They laughed together, their voices matching perfectly. Melissa clutched at her stomach and leaned her head over, laying against Jess' shoulder. They calmed down soon, but neither of them made any effort to move. resting her head on his shoulder, but it felt right. So goddamn right.

Jess moved his free hand and rummaged around to find something in his pockets. He pulled out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter and tried his hardest to pull a cigarette out but he couldn't manage. He sadly pulled his hand from Melissa's and opened the box, pulling one out. Melissa took her hand back to her chest and reached for her necklace. She started fiddling with it, something she'd come to do when she was nervous. Jess placed the cigarette between his lips and lit it, took a drag of it and brought it away, inhaling the smoke and then blowing it back out. He moved the cigarette towards Melissa and gestured for her to take it. She looked at it, then at him and then back at the cigarette again.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I can even put it out if you want," he told her.

Melissa reached forward and took the cigarette from him and brought it to her lips. She too, took a drag of it and inhaled the smoke before exhaling it. She passed the cigarette back to the boy who sat admiring her.

"Not too bad for your first time, Gilmore."

Melissa grinned sneakily. "Who said it was my first time, Mariano?"

He looked at her with a look of shock spread across his features. He nodded and smirked at the cheeky tone of her voice. He placed the cigarette between his lips again and stared off into the distance. Melissa watched him, mesmerised by him. felt something tap at her leg. She looked down and Jess' hand was facing palm up as though waiting for her to take it.

Melissa looked up between him and his hand and then smiled widely as she interlocked their fingers. She scooted closer to him and rested her head against his shoulder again. He relaxed into it, gently leaning his head against the top of hers.

They passed the cigarette between them till it ran out, sitting in comfortable silence while the birds around them chirped with glee. The moment was theirs, the moon was theirs and they were theirs.

"Isn't it pretty?" Melissa whispered into the night, her eyes fixed on the glistening moon above them. She took another drag of the cigarette and sighed with contentment.

"It sure is," Jess replied, his eyes fixed on the girl next to him, her face lit delicately by the shine of the moon. She looked happy, at peace. And that made him happy too.