Open Fields of Ohio

4 ••• Okay? Not Really, John Green.

"Do you ever wear something ither than flannel or demin ... or both?" Dawn asked, she had come early that day, a white top tank with black letters all around it, jeans and a leather jacket on her. It was 80° outside, how could she stand it?

I smiled at her anyways, reaching out to hug her, but she took a step back.

"What, you've never been hugged before?" I joked, when she stayed silent, I regreted it. "I didn't—"

"I know. It's just ... I grew up with no hugs. Only my dad, and it wasn't that big a' deal. But ..." She took a step towards me, and wrapped my arms around her, taking her small yet strong frame in.

She smelled like strawberries and cherries and chocolate. I almost fainted with the smell of her. For a moment, she had her face in her neck, breathing me in. I—

"You smell like wine and cheese..." She said, taking me in with a deep breath and sighing on my neck. I gave a step back from her embrace. "What?" I touched the soace where her mouth had been two seconds ago.

"... Nothing." I lied, I had to. She made my bones just by breathing on me; she was stepping into a territory that I wanted too bad with her. And that wasn't good. I needed to focus.

I have work to do.

School starts in a week, and I have my job at the fields. "I'm going to work, you coming?" I said, after a moment, she nodded, hugging herself.

I glanced at her. "Do you want to leave that here?" I pointed at her jacket, she arched an eyebrow.

"I don't 'leave' my jacket anywhere." She said with a light mood, so I nodded.

"That's fine, you can take it off anyways in the fields if you want." She nodded, but kept her mind to herself.

Suffocation. Do you know what that is? Suffocation: feel, or cause to feel, opressed or trapped. And that is how Dawn was, I had long ago taken my shirt off, and put it on my neck, the flannel was around my hips, showing off my V line and faint abs, nothing much; but I got the feeling that every time Dawn looked my way, she sweated even more.

"Dawn, you can take off the damn jacket, I don't care if you're sweaty." She scoffed.

"I don't care if you care that you think I'm sweaty under my jacket." She said in a slight pant, it made things to me, but I was worried about her. She could dehydrate. "And I heard that curse, Tess."  Tess. Tess. My name was just a name people and myself called me, but when she said it, I had to swallow and force my heart to stop hammering on my lungs.

"So?" I smiled. She swayed. "Dawn?" Stupid! How couldn't I notice her cheeks? She was flush red, she sat slowly on the ground. Shaking. "Please, take it off." Sat in front of her, her legs on either side of me, her knees touching my waist, but I didn't pay attention to that.

"Promise ... me," she gulped. "Promise me you won't freak out if I do, yeah?"

"I swear—here," I said while ripping that jacket off of her, down her wr shoulders, I leaned close to her face and her agitated breath hit with mine, making me sway myself. "There, that's better, right?" fresh breeze hit her and she closed her eyes at the feeling.

I looked at her with awe, pushing her hair out of her face, she tensed, but I couldn't stop, I stroked her hair until she relaxed again, forgetting whatever worried her, she was still hot and her cheeks were pink, so I pulled her hair up to tue with one of her bands, so I—

"Either you're not surprised, Tess, or you haven't seen it." She said in cool voice. I frowned.

"Huh?" She looked up at her and raised her hands, palms down. I couldn't believe it. Her? Then, she pulled one of her short sleeves down, I still frowned, but when she taised her shirt: I had to touch her. "Who did this to you? Why did you fight?" She sighed.

"Well, mom thought it would be fun scarrying me while I slept, so I started with a punch, because I thought it was a thief or something, whatever. So she punches back, and it's not until she turns on the light that I noyice it's her, she still hit me after I apologized."

"Did you hit her back after that?" I asked with hope thatshe denied.

"Nah," she said. "Wasn't worth it, and I couldn't get up, anyways. Next morning I found her passed out on the kitchen floor. So I locked er in the house today. So she wouldn't buy no more beer." I narrowed my eyes.

"There are windows in your house, no?" I asked. She nodded with a shrug.

"They're crazy-glued to the core. I used to run away a lot. But some times I just hopped to the roof and see the stars. Thise were nice back then."

"They're nice back now," I commented. "Do you want to stay after dinner and watch them with me?" I wasn't a bit shy. I asked without hesitation. She looked up at me and nodded.

"But I have to unlock mom from the house, we can sneak in."

"I don't want your mom to be mad at—" she hushed me.

"She won't. She's probably getting over her hangover. C'mon. Take me home." I smiled and gladly took her to her house, by the time we were half way there: I was nervous. It wasn't the best part in town, and she was used to it, waving to some women near a bar, nodding at men that worked in some construction thing.

I was new to this place, used to being a friendly part of Ohio. But, I wasn't going to question just yet. When we got tere, I was proud to see that er house was the best house inthe place, other than a few around it.

"I take care of it," she said. "I used to babysit a lot around here, kids love me, I don't know my, though. I have a friend around here somewhere. Micael, but I we all call him Mica. It's cooler than that, what, Ancient Europe name? Sounds weird to me."

"Right," I agreed with a smile. "So, do I wait here, or...?" She smiled.

"Wait here." She said, but frowned. "Just get out of the car, just in case she ... decides to play with me." I swallowed a bit, scared for Dawn, but I knew she would be fine.

She trusted me.

That, at least, gave me courage. So she left.

Skyler here! Could you imagine living like Dawn?

I bet some of you do, and that's okay if you want to talk to someone.

No Psycologist shīt here, but: trust me, talking it out feels awesome.

And remember that I love you.

-Skyler_Dawn💌

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