Walking Corpse

chapter eight

April 26, 2005

In mid-spring, Kai had made a plan to take Dakota out to a place he discovered years ago when he was exploring with an old friend. The past weeks had brought them closer through assurance and building up a strong bond. By now his feelings settled in, and he knew it would be telling Dakota now or never at all.

He smiles to himself as he looks over to Dakota, the sun rays hitting her dark chocolate brown hair made it look lighter than usual, the lighting against her skin was flawless, browline sunglasses cover her honey eyes, and a relaxed smile settles on her face. He removes his aviators so he could get a photo of her on his camera while the lighting was still perfect.

"You're killing all the famous models right now with this photo," He compliments and smiles.

"Don't take pictures and drive," She takes his camera. He puts his sunglasses back on and speeds up as there were no cars in front of him.

She punches his arm lightly then speaks her mind, "You'll get us killed."

"Live a little," He laughs.

"Says the one who thinks he's dead," She snaps a photo of him, "I should look into photography, I could be better at it than you."

"Funny," He draws out the word.

After a few more minutes, he spots the place that was hidden in the distance. Kai pulls into a small dirt patch on the side of the road and turns off the engine. Dakota steps out of the car and gazes at all the aspen trees far from where they were.

"It would be beautiful here when it's fall."

"It's also beautiful right now if you know which area to go to," He takes his camera as he stands in front of her. When he finishes adjusting the settings, he holds out his hand for hers without thinking.

He's about to pull it back but Dakota holds onto it before he does so. Her hand intertwined with his as if they were always meant to hold each other. They start onto the trail, at times getting closer to each other as the trail narrowed. There was nothing odd about how any of it was though. It was nice. It was near sunset once they were deep in the aspen forest, but there'd be enough time. Kai stops when they reach a small, circular meadow. Aspen trees circle around them as they go out into the meadow more. There were golden rays of sunlight peeking through any of the open spots among the tightly grouped trees and tiny particles that floated around.

"It's amazing," She sighs in awe.

Kai glances around and agrees, "It's the best place in the world. I discovered it with an old friend of mine, his parents were nature lovers and I would join them sometimes."

"Where is this old friend now?" Dakota asks and returns to him.

"Well, people come and go without warning," He shrugs but still keeps a cheery expression.

She nods in understanding, "I see."

"Up ahead is a creek and a cabin," He moves past the topic.

"Please tell me it's your cabin," She replies.

He nods and laughs at how tired she already seemed, "It'll be nightfall if we head back now and it's easy to get lost, I learned the hard way."

Dakota giggles at this before wandering ahead to where he said the cabin and creek were. She found herself stunned by more beauty of the surroundings. The creek laid beside an immense mountainside which blocked away most of the sun but there was enough of a space to let the sunlight cast a dim glow.

"I had a feeling that you needed some time away from the city, so I brought you here," He stands beside her, "And I was hoping to talk to you."

"About?" She turns to him.

He places his hands inside the pockets of his hoodie, "I never really knew what to say—what to tell you—or how to—but I've been meaning to confess these feelings I've developed for you over the time we've known each other. They've been there for so long too, but I never knew and was scared to lose us. I would totally understand if you didn't feel the same way but I love you, Dakota."

She's left speechless for a moment as she processed the words he had said. Dakota had slowly developed feelings for him over time as well but was always hesitant about how Kai felt. She gazes at him and finds herself slowly leaning in to kiss him. There's a quick smirk on him before her lips are on his and they're in a slow, passionate kiss. Her hands placed on his face while his hands roamed down her back and settled at her waist where he pulls her closer to deepen the kiss. Eventually, she pulls away reluctantly, "It took you long enough."

"It was worth the wait," He gives her a lopsided grin.

"I can't believe I was missing out on this the whole time," She plays around and pulls him in for another kiss.

They stay out around a fire pit they made until the night sky was lit up with billions of dancing stars. Dakota admired all the stars she could see out here, there was no scenery to beat this back in the city. Kai took some pictures of the night sky before he focused his attention on her.

"You look like you have something on your mind," She states as he sits down beside her.

"There's a lot," He replies and pokes at the fire with a stick, "My thoughts tend to come rushing back to me when I'm here as well."

"It's the perfect place to go over thoughts," She gazes at the small fire and rests her head on his shoulder.

"There're days where I don't feel like myself and I feel this fear build up in me because I don't want to lose you during the times I'm dealing with my syndrome," He tells her, "I don't want you to always be waiting around for me when I'm getting treatment, and I hate not being able to be there when you need me to."

"What is it that you always say?" She responds with a question.

"Everything will be okay."

"Exactly," She smiles but it leaves quickly, "You know, sometimes I think of my parents and wonder why they abandoned me."

"Do you ever think of meeting them?"

"I have moments where I do, but then I think that if they wanted to meet me, they would've already done it," She lets out a quiet breath.

"What if they're still searching for you and they really wish they could just find you?" He suggests.

"It's been too long," She mumbles and shakes her head, "Anyways I've done fine with Kate."

"I think of my parents sometimes too," He looks up to the stars, "I like to think that whenever I see one of the stars twinkle, it's them telling me that they're thinking of me."

"Is that why you look up to the stars or why you like the night better? And why you were looking up to the sky the night I met you?" She questions, now looking at him.

"None of the stars twinkled that night," He adjusts his sitting position and chuckles quietly, "Instead, your eyes seemed to."

"Five months after, you started looking at me like I was your universe," She speaks out loud and covers her face with her sleeves to hide.

Kai laughs at her and moves her hands away to look at her, "I believe the stars stopped twinkling at me because there was someone else thinking about me, the girl who I would end up seeing as my universe. Perhaps, my parents were sending a message for me to move on. I think you should find your parents so you can get some closure."

She thinks about what he says for a minute, "Would you help me?"

"Of course, you always have me by your side."

"Thank you," She pecks his lips and embraces him.

Kai lets out a quiet breath and smiles as he looks up to the sky catching a quick glance at a shooting star.