Written in the Stars (W.I.P.)

Chapter 6

Dean
As we walked side-by-side on the gravel path within the woods beside my house, I looked up at the magnificent white Andalusian mare.
She looked down at me and snorted, pawing the ground.
"Beatrice, I have a problem." I said, keeping my voice low.
She whinnied at me and huffed as if responding.
"I'm in love with Gage... but I think I'm in love with Rhys too," admitting it out loud felt strange, but oddly good in a way. I looked down at the gravel path below my shoes and her hooves, "what am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to choose?"
She didn't give a response that time, didn't make a sound, didn't look at me.
It's like she was just as stuck as I was.
I stroked her beautiful snow-white mane and laid my hand on her neck, leaving it to lay there.
"Why did I expect you to know the answer? You're just a horse." I said, letting my hand fall back to my side.
At that, she snorted and shook her neck, her mane flowing gracefully with the movement.

We made it to a spot in the woods where the trees opened up to reveal a large lake leading through tangles of trees and hanging leaves like vines.
An old wooden fishing boat was docked at the edge of the lake, a long paddle laid across it, untouched for years.
Dorion, my father, and Ian used to come out here all the time when my older brothers were younger.
It made me think back to every moment my father was good to me when I was a kid.
Back when nothing ever mattered.
Beatrice whinnied at the sight of the old boat and I shook my head slowly.
"I'm not going out there, Bea. I haven't in years. It probably couldn't hold the weight of a child now, let alone a sixteen-year-old, and I'm not a kid anymore."
She pawed the ground and looked at me, her small black eyes sparkling in the dappled sunlight radiating down from above the tree canopy.
"We should head back." I started to say, turning around to walk away until I heard a noise like moving gravel from another path to another side of the lake.
"Hello Dean." Rhys stepped out from the path and I gazed at him.
He wore a white button-up dress shirt with light jeans and brown dress shoes.
Definitely not somebody wandering out in the woods should be wearing.
His eyes traveled from me, to my horse, to the boat, and he said, "How about a boat ride?"

Rhys
Every time Dean looked at me, I knew exactly where he was looking.
I didn't wear button-up shirts like this often, but I had it unbuttoned three buttons down and he couldn't take his eyes away from my dark chest.
I cleared my throat as we sat facing each other on the old wooden boat with the long paddle sitting between us.
Dean's horse, which I'd learned is named 'Beatrice', stood with her lead tied to a post at the edge of the lake.
Dean's eyes pulled away from the chest area of my almost-halfway-unbuttoned shirt.
"So, how's Gage..." I asked, trying to break the silence that stands like a thick, concrete wall between the two of us.
"He's..." Dean looks at me, then down at the clear water on one side of the boat, "he's fine."
Silence.
"Is he a good kisser?" I looked at him, a forced teasing smirk on my face, making things normal for his sake and not mine.
He looked up at me, his face reddening and his eyes widening.
He's a blusher, noted.
"Well, is he?" I pressed with an amused attitude.
"Yes, he is..." Dean muttered slowly with pretend defeat.
I chuckled slightly and smiled, not forced this time.
Dean Silvers made me, impossible Rhys Dawn, actually smile.
The passionate and confident side of my brain wanted to lean in and kiss him, but the rational side of my brain knew that the very idea of that would get me, and him, into a terrible situation.
We'd be following in all of the rumors footsteps, and Gage would find out one way or another.
It'd just be a very bad idea.

When the sky began to darken, we were still out on the lake.
The paddle dipped down in the water, creating a satisfying swishing sound.
I looked up at him, his blue eyes glittering as the trees opened up at the top, revealing the magnificent dark blue sky, dotted with white, glowing stars.
His eyes reflected them, which made them more sparkly than before, making them more tempting to stare at.
As he looked up at me, I didn't tear my eyes away, or sigh, or deny the fact that I liked him.
Rhys Dawn and Dean Silvers.
A spark of confidence rose within me, and I gripped onto the paddle in the middle, in between where Dean had both of his hands.
I leaned over the paddle, and he did the same, his lips meeting mine.
And for a moment, nothing mattered.
Not my dad and how homophobic he was, not the drama page and the rumors, not the fact that I had no friends aside from my little sister, not the expectations my parents had thrown on my shoulders, not Dean's living situation, or his siblings, or Gage.
Especially not Gage.
The only thing that mattered was me and Dean and that kiss.
It was like my destiny was to be with him, like it was written in the stars.