Blood Money - HO

•20•

As we walked through the orchard, in our marshmallow jackets and boots, it was peaceful and calming. Haz and I could talk for hours, we never run out of things to talk about. But walking together in silence was just as good. The only sound was the autumn leaves crunching beneath our feet and the children and families scattered around.
My hand rested in his, his hand squeezing mine. We stood shoulder to shoulder and our steps were in sync.
"I want that one ugh" a little girl, no older than 9 says as she jumps to reach an Apple.
Haz lets my hand go as we reach her and he grabs the Apple, handing it to her.
"Now What is so special about this Apple?" He laughs.
"It's the prettiest one in the orchard!" The girl smiles. "Thank you!"
She runs off to find her family and Haz is quick to grasp my hand in his again.
"You know that girl was wrong" he says.
"About what?" I ask.
"You're the prettiest one in the orchard" he says and I can't help but laugh, it was so cringey and sweet.
"I love you" I say, without thinking. I hold my breath, realizing I probably just fucked all of this up.
Who the fuck says I love you on the first date?! Who?!!!!
"Oh wow look at that tree over there I'm gunna go pick some of those!" I say quickly, not even giving him a chance to react to what I just said. I let go of his hand and run off to the tree.
Fuck.
I hate this. I've ruined everything.
___
Haz went on with our orchard date as if nothing happened, which I was so grateful for. We had finished up and got in the car.
"Alright now for the real fun" he says and I roll my eyes.
"That was fun!" I say.
"Yes it was" he smiles and kisses my cheek before turning back to the steering wheel and pulling out.
"So what exactly are we doing?" I ask.
"I'm going to teach you how to shoot a gun" he says.
"I'm not shooting a death machine" I laugh.
"Cmon it's fun" he encourages. "I teach all the guys at home so you'll be fine"
"Alright..."
We get to the outdoor range and there's rows of targets on one side and weird fake but lifelike animals on the other.
"Oh god I'm scared" I say.
"Why? You'll be great with me teaching you" he says.
"Not that, there's so many guys with guns what if they shoot me" I laugh.
"Then I'll put a bullet in their skull" he says in a much too serious tone.
But that's the thing. He was 100% serious.
"Alright lets go I guess" I say.
We get out of the car and go set up.
"Alright put these on" he says, handing me some noise reduction ear muffs.
"Why?" I ask and the person next to me shoots, causing my ears to ring, as my hands quickly go to cover them.
"That's why" he laughs, putting them on my head.
He goes through the several guns he had brought.
"This one should work well, it has the least recoil" he says.
"I don't know what that means but okay"
He hands me the gun and I reluctantly take it, feeling very weird holding such a scary object.
"Okay hold it like this" he moves my hands around it, pointing it towards the ground.
And it happens, the cute movie moment every girl wants. He stands closely behind me, wrapping his arms around me to show me how to aim the gun.
"Hold it tightly, the recoil will push you back a bit when you shoot so just hold you hands and feet steady okay"
He helps me get into a proper position and I aim at the target.
"Okay.. 3.. 2.. 1.." I count myself down.
"Go on, you can do it" he says.
I press my finger to the trigger, feeling the bullet escape the gun.
"Oh my god I did it I did it!" I shriek, looking over to see Haz laughing.
"What? I did it!"
"You did, But you missed terribly" He says. "In fact you hit that guys target"
He points to the guy next to me and I laugh.
"Sorry" I giggle to the man.
"No problem, everyone starts somewhere" he nods.
And so we went on, multiple attempts of trying to shoot this damn target, missing every time. Slowly the field started to clear out. Haz sitting on the ground watching me fail over and over.
"Maybe it's just not your thing" he says.
"No I will get it!" I groan, reloading the gun.
"You don't have to hit the target baby cakes" He laughs.
"Yes I do so just shh" I say.
"Did you just shush me?" He asks.
"Yes, shh." I say once more, aiming.
"It's getting really late Ari" he says.
I shoot the gun and it hits the target, not in the center, but still.
"Oh my god!" I squeal.
"Holy shit you did it!" He jumps up.
"I did it!" I cheer hugging him.
We pull away from the hug and I rip the ear muffs off.
"Now that I finally did it, I never want to do it again" I laugh which makes him smile.
"Ari?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you too."