𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝: 𝙴𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜𝚎 (𝙳𝙺 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚡 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒)

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 11

~

𝙷𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚃

{𝙳𝙴𝙺𝙰𝚈𝙻𝙸𝙽}

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{𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍: "𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝙰𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙼𝚎? - 𝚂𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎" 𝚋𝚢 𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝙽𝚎𝚠𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍"}
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I pricked my finger with a pin before touching my finger to the side of a tree.

I moved up the trail to the next one, doin' the same thing. The wind was cold, and the clouds above us were dark.

I continued doin' what I was doin' until Mani and I got to the clearing. The field was empty, for now. I touched another tree as my finger continued bleeding.

"Goin' a little overboard," Mani said as she came up beside me, "don't you think?"

"If this is all I can contribute," I said, "I wanna be thorough."

"John will be very impressed and the newborns will be frantic. Now let me put a band aid on that."

She reached for my hand before I pulled it away, worry setting in.

"I got it," I said. "You don't gotta make yourself uncomfortable."

"It's alright, babe," she smiled. "That doesn't bother me anymore."

"Since when?"

She took my hand, putting a bandaid on my finger while lookin' up at me with sincerity in her eyes.

"Since I survived thinking you were dead," she answered.

Her answer shook me, but quickly made me realize that there was nothing that could separate us now. God, I love this girl.

"You're not wearing your ring," she pointed out.

"...I ain't wanna risk losin' it..." I said.

"...or letting Jorja see it?"

I sighed.

"It would be better if I told her later," I explained. "After tomorrow's fight."

"If you're having second thoughts-"

"Nah! Not that. I just want her to have a clear head..."

"Whose head is unclear?"

We both looked back to see Jorja comin' across the field. I smiled, trynna save face.

"No one's," I said, "I hope."

I brought her in for a hug before her and Mani gave a curt nod to one another. We all eyed the sky above us as it quickly filled with more clouds.

"Vic said there's a storm comin'," Mani said.

"I can feel it," Jorja agreed. "And it looks like it's comin' fast. We should get going."

"I'll take the long route. But I'll get there first to set up camp."

Jorja nodded before giving Mani and I some space. Mani turned to me, searching my face for surety. I smiled down at her before granting her a lingering kiss.

"I'll see you in a few," I uttered to her.

"Be safe, okay?" she asked, smiling as her nose touched mine.

"Always."

I watched as she grabbed our stuff before bolting into the forest. I turned to see Jorja eyein' me quizzically.