Double Life: Uphill

A/N: The tittle could´ve been "let go" or "letting go" -last night in my sleepless night I saw both of the main character´s thoughts in this one! wow! a lot was going on!! and this is nothing but a glimpse of the depth of it. I didn´t even know of it until this morning! I think I´ll write that for the future -I think it helps  that in my mind, it´s years after DL, from 3 to 8 years after it, so both the characters are grown up... gotta go lol

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“Do you mind walking back up?” she said as they went again through the outskirts of Woodhills. He looked up across the road to the woods and up the hill they were about to walk through

“Let´s do it” he said, she smiled

“It´s won´t be bad” she took his hand and led him across the road and up the hill through the woods. The birds kept chirping as they went up.

“Where do you want to let these go?” he lifted the cage he carried

“You choose” she smiled with the side of her face.

“How about here?” he said stopping next to a huge tree with mossy trunk and branches that went in all directions, some very close to the ground. She nodded with a smile. She sat and so did he. Each of then took a bird, he took the green one between his hands as she had asked and she took the yellow one, very carefully of not letting it go but of not hurting it. She looked at it with tender eyes.

“You give the best presents” she said softly, he blinked a couple of times “ready?” she said before he could say anything, he nodded, she lifted her arms a little and so did he, then she turned to look at him and smiled, he nodded again and they both let the birds go. She had a bright smile on her face, so similar to the one he´d seen before except it was different because this one made her chocolate eyes look bright, it was a real happy smile.

“What will we do with the cage?” he asked after a moment in silence, she pondered for a moment

“We´ll hang it on this tree” she pointed to the mossy tree “like a birdhouse”

“It won’t make such a good birdhouse, it´s not…” he started and she chuckled

“I´ve seen birds make nests in the roofs in Burgeoys where they´re barely covered and also in the oddest places there, I think as long as they feel the place is safe from other animals they take it…” she explained, he stared at her unconvinced

“I guess we could try…”

“We´re certainly not taking a bird cage with us back to Burgeoys” she raised an eyebrow

“So you’re only getting rid of this?”

“No, just giving you another reason to hung it up there” she pointed her finger up, he said nothing “we could come back and make it a proper birdhouse?” she offered, he chuckled

“Alright” he agreed. They took off the little door of it and she climbed the tree despite his reluctance to it, she went to the higher and farthest branches from the trunk. “Be careful” he told her and she smiled down to him, secured the bird cage and started to descend, jumping off the tree a few feet from the ground.

“I hope they like it” she said. A few minutes later some birds came, the cage still had the little food and water container filled. He sat and closed his eyes.

There was still some sun out, so they rested for a while, she took out her drawing pad and sketched the bird on Ashley´s grave, after that she sketched Josh against the tree, he felt her eyes on him and when he saw her drawing he leaned to see what she was doing

“Every time I see you drawing, I get amazed at how good you are at this” he complimented her

“Do you like you?” she raised an eyebrow

“Yeah, I look good”

“So much ego… but I’m just doing you the favor” she poke her tongue

“Ah, yeah? Well, then let me, I´ll draw you now” he reached for her drawing pad and pencil

“Do you draw?”

“Of course I do. I’m a man of many talents but you have to stay very still so that it can be accurate” he grinned, she rolled her eyes

“You better not waste my paper” she said and stayed still

“I am a good artist, this will be better than most of yours. I´ll even include myself in it”

“Didn´t you say it was going to be an accurate portrait?”

“It´ll be” he laughed

“Stop wasting my paper, let me see that” she scooted closer to him, he burst in laughter

“You better stick to music, Josh –she laughed quietly- because mii can draw better stick figures than you”

“Aw, no, they´re not that bad”

“They suck, Josh –she laughed some more- I can´t even figure out who´s who”

“This is you, on top of the wall, look, these are your gloves” he pointed to the hands of a stick figure

“Oh, that´s Burgeoys´wall… you made it of bricks instead of stones”

“Minor details…”

“Why are your hands tiny circles?” she tilted her head

“Because I suck at it” he made her laugh

“You do –she took his hand and shook it- but… it was funny. I´ll ask mike to hang this one in the library, next to mine”

“It´ll look great there” he also shook her hand

“Mh” with her free hand she turned the page and lazily started to sketch the same image he´d doodled. He started to hum a song as he watched her draw

“I´d like to make myself believe that the planet Earth turns slowly it´s hard to say I rather …” she mumbled the song he was humming  

“You didn´t draw my hair in yours” she interrupted the song as she turned the page back

“You had your hair braided” he continued humming as she mumbled the lyrics

“You sing” she prompted, he did so, singing softly many songs until her drawing as done, until the sunset

“We should go, I’m hungry” she squeezed his hand twice, he´d been playing with it

“So, I get this one –he pointed to her drawing- in exchange of mine, right?” his phone rang before she could answer “that was supposed to be at nine” he said to the phone, it was followed by a series of “yeah” and “no” finished by an “I´ll meet you there” and one “I´ll call grandpa, obviously” while Josh spoke she had packed her things, once he finished she started to walk towards the school.

“You´re having dinner with me, right?” he followed a couple of steps behind

“They´re waiting for you”

“No, they´re not”

“Yes, that´s why they´re calling you”

“That´s at nine”

“They´re calling you”

“We´d agreed to go at nine and that´s what I’m doing”

“I heard… sounds like it´s more convenient for you to go now that later” she spoke in her usual detached manner, he snorted

“That doesn´t matter, it´s going out not an appointment” he said, she glanced his way for a moment and kept walking

“So, dinner?” he said once they were close to the stone wall

“Go –she climbed the wall next to the old gates- Josh, you´ve been with me the whole day, go have fun” she said from the top and then jumped to the other side

“Don´t want you to be alone during dinner” he said once he was on the other side of the wall, next to her, she chuckled

“I only eat in the cafeteria when I’m with you, most of the times not even then…”

“You also do it when it´s almost empty”

“Yeah”

“You´ll eat in your room?”

“Yeah”

“why don’t you come with us?” he offered, she stared at him “it´ll be Aaron, Brighton, Lex, my roommate and a few other guys and girls, we´re having dinner first and then the girls wanted to go dancing”

“I don’t dance”

“You don’t have to”

“I know”

“Then come with us, with me”

“Nope”

“It has to be better than dinner alone”

“Nope”

“Nic”

“Josh”

“Please”

“That good do I look eating that you want to see me at it?” she teased, he stared

“Don’t want me to be with you anymore?” his voice had dropped, she stopped walking to face him

“It is not that” she locked gazes with him who gave her a questioning look “don’t want to keep you from going to your gathering… it seems –she started slowly- that … it is perceived sometimes that I… keep you from doing stuff with people”

“That´s not true”

“it´s what´s happening now” she said starting to walk, he fell a couple of steps behind

“Then by saying no, you´re keeping me longer” he said and she stopped but then continued

“I can always leave you” she said once he caught up to her

“Slave for the whole eternity, remember?” he teased reminding her of the first time she´d saved his life, she sighed and he chuckled

“You´ll get me extra fries” her eyes were slightly narrowed. She´d been walking already on her way to the cafeteria

“And apple pie” he smiled and she fought a smile of her own

Josh wanted to walk her to her dorm after they had dinner, she gave him a look of “you´re crazy” but this time she didn´t argue and let him do as he wished, he´d been detained long enough.

“I think you´d have fun if you go with us” Josh said once they were close to her dorm

“I told you I’m visiting mii tomorrow; I’m leaving early in the morning”

“If you were not to visit her, you´d go with us?” he said, she chuckled

“It´s unlikely”

“Then that is a bad excuse” he narrowed his eyes

“It´s better than I don’t want to” she said with a smile which prevented him from getting hurt

“It´d be fun”

“Go have fun, Josh” she shook his hand quick, as she let go he kept hold of it, she raised an eyebrow looking at their hands

“Just come for a little while” he asked, she stared at him for a moment

“Why are you so reluctant to go? Why are you so set in making me go?” she narrowed her eyes, he said nothing but his eyes quickly looked to a side and back to her “Oh –she mouthed- it´s because of Ashley?” she inquired, he opened his mouth to talk but he didn´t say anything, he took a deep breath

“I feel like I can´t leave you alone” he said in a pensive manner as if he realized it as he said it, she closed her eyes and smiled

“You don´t have to worry about me. I don´t feel sad. I’m ok. I think I wanted you to know Ash –she furrowed her eyebrows for a second- I think that if he was around you´d like each other…”

“I don´t think he´d like me” Josh chuckled

“Why?” she inquired with curiosity

“I´ll tell you if you come” he smiled, she shook her head

“Go, now. I can hear your phone vibrating like crazy in your pocket; your leg must be fried by now with the many calls you´ve gotten just in the last few minutes!”

“Ok” he sighed

“I’m fine. Have fun” she let go of his hand. He hugged her taking her by surprise “oh”

“Good night, Nichole”

“Later Josh” he heard in his ear. Each turned to leave.