"Felix you just started school, you cannot be tired already!"
Kashi grimaced as her dad laid into Felix. Two weeks into school and his first three quizzes were all below a seventy percent. She looked to Carr whose awkward shifting had become a telling sign. "C'mere" Kashi gestured towards the front door away from the ensuing fight as the other two lifted their voices.
She let the screen door bang in its frame as they entered into the evening sunlight. "Sorry about those two. Dad is insistent that we excel at everything." Kashi rolled her eyes, sliding into her boots. She chuckled, but when she turned back to Carr, he wasn't laughing. "Hey, what's got you?"
"Ah, nothing," he let out a laugh, but it contained no amusement. He walked into the yard, Kashi beside him. "You're lucky to have a dad that cares so much, even if his ways are… blunt or irritating."
Kashi said nothing, the grass crunching beneath their boots as they walked into the fields, sliding between the fence and the slightly unhinged horse gate. Everything needed a new coat of paint. Or to simply be replaced altogether.
She turned to Carr again but the bronzed sunlight shielded his features from sight with its rays. He sighed audibly. "My dad never cared so much Kash. I know your dad can annoy you, but he's a good guy. He means well. I may not know the whole story, but I'd love to have a guy like your dad for a father, you know?" Carr chuckled for a moment.
Kashi watched the sunlight turn red over the landscape as it sunk. It reflected off of the little pond her dad stocked last summer, nearly doubling the amount of red light across the yellowed fields. "I know I'm fortunate. I do." Kashi said. "It's like you said. He can just get on my nerves. We butt heads."
She turned to meet his eyes which she could feel fixed on her. In the late light his eyes looked more tender. His features were softer. The way the left side of his lips quirked up made her unable to keep from mimicking his expression. It was so— peaceful.
"It's beautiful out here." Carr's voice was barely audible over the symphony of crickets, cicadas, birds and other creatures alike. "I never understood the lure of the city when there are places like this."
His eyes roamed over the landscape taking in every tree, every bale of hay, every line of unsteady fence… Kashi couldn't help but appreciate how he took in all the sights of the land. His shoulders were relaxed, his stance was easy, every ounce of tension was gone from his body as he continued to stare.
"I'll never get tired of it." He turned to look at Kashi. Something in her stomach leapt a little bit. She often remarked to herself how attractive he was, but especially in the late light of the day… everything from his build, to his features, his low voice tinged with a lulled accent that was from somewhere far away.
She wasn't sure who had taken steps to draw closer to the other, but she found herself no more than a foot away from Carr. She could barely peer over his shoulder. She'd forgotten how tall he was. She had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.
One of his hands slowly reached towards her, landing somewhere around where her neck met her shoulder. Her breath caught a little in her throat. She'd definitely found him attractive, but this… she hadn't realized that she was was attracted to him.
The realization dawned on her just as the sun sunk below the horizon with one last flash of light. She stood on her tip-toes, her hands reaching up, sliding from his shoulders to the back of his neck. His hand moved to her lower back, moving Kashi a touch closer.
And as she moved towards him, her eyes closed as his lips made contact with hers.
The landscape disappeared. Kashi's attention turned only to the hand on the small of her back, the lips pressed gently against hers. The way she could feel his arms around her as his other arm created the embrace.
He pulled away just slightly enough to smirk at her. "Was that all it took for me to kiss you?"
Kashi was tempted to smack him, but from the way his chest was moving up and down… "Don't act so casual." she moved her hands to his shoulders. "I think you were looking forward to that way more than I was."
"So you were looking forward to it?" He stood up, giving her a smile. One of his eyebrows was raised.
"You look like a dork, don't do that." Kashi giggled, fully aware she ignored his question. They turned to face the fields in the pale light the sun had left after it sunk. "What do you say to an evening stroll?" Kashi asked.
To her surprise, He answered genuinely. "I would like that a lot." he looked down at her hand. "May I?"
They wandered the length of the closest field, boots crunching in the grass. Fireflies scattered at their feet becoming brighter and brighter as the light became weaker. Stars came out, barely hindered by the smattering of clouds. The fence was the only indicator of where they were going or had been. Though Kashi had lived her entire life here, The acres upon acres were plenty for a native to get lost in. They passed a deep pond, the black surface a clear image of the sky until a bullfrog or a waterbug obscured the reflection.
"You know when I was little," Kashi began, breaking their silence. Their joined hands swung as they trekked through the grass. "I always thought the stars looked like popcorn." She turned to see the laughter written on Carr's features.
"Popcorn?" he chuckled, looking up. "You know I understand seeing the moon being made of cheese, but popcorn stars, huh?"
She let go of his hand to perch herself on the old fence. It creaked a little as she swung her legs. Carr leaned up against the fence beside her. She was eye to eye with him at this level.
She was looking over at the bats flying from a cluster of trees when she felt Carr rest his hand on her leg just above her knee. She had to focus on keeping her breaths even at the surprise of it. But she let herself smile. She hadn't realized how much she really was attracted to him until now. It was always exciting to get a message from him or to bump into him like at the library. Even their second meeting at the barn was fun.
She leaned up against his shoulder, watching as the moon began to appear over the horizon, white as the clovers that covered the yard in the spring.
"You don't see this in the city." Carr said aloud, the both of them looking at the sky. Kashi agreed. There was nothing quite like the night sky over the midwest.