Paint You Wings

Chapter Eighteen - Daryl

We awoke at dawn the next morning. We still had some stuff we needed to do in order to make the house habitable. We packed up our stuff and took what the Kingdom offered us. Some food and water, candles, clothes, and a car.

"I will send my men twice a week to check up on you. After a few weeks, it'll be only once," Ezekiel informed us. "I wish you two a safe haven."

"Thank you." Jakki smiled at him.

He gave us both smiles and reassuring nods before returning to his theatre.

"Here," Jakki handed me the keys. "You drive." She kissed my cheek and got in the passenger's seat.

I got in the driver's seat and drove us out of the gates and down the road to our new home. We loaded our stuff inside and hid the car behind some trees. The house was a little deep into the woods which was great for coverage, being on the run and all.

"Well," Jakki sighed. "Here's our new home."

I looked around at the house. It was quite nice. It was just gamey and lacked utilities.

"Hopefully we won't be found here." Jakki looked around, a twinge of pain in her voice.

"Hey," I walked over to her. "He's not gonna get to you. Or me."

She nodded a little and crossed her arms, looking down at her feet.

"I promise." I laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It's just..." She sniffled. "You had been there so long and then you got ripped away. I didn't know if I was ever gonna see you again. I didn't even get to tell you that I love you."

I took her chin between two of my fingers. "I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded and quickly wiped her eyes. She took my hand in hers and kisses my knuckles before letting my hand fall.

We spent a few hours making the place secure. There was an escape plan for every scenario, a way to keep the doors locked and barricaded when we were in. Then we spent more time rearranging the house. We put our stuff away and then moved the furniture to an easy place to put up against the door.

Jakki went upstairs to take a closer look at what the bedrooms had. We planned to sleep in the master bedroom and use the smaller room for storing our shit like weapons and essentials. Food stayed in the kitchen, of course.

       The fridge was empty, thank god. We could store some things in there to keep it from going bad too soon. I watched Jakki arrange the canned goods and dishes up in the cupboards. She was a little OCD but it was fun to watch her. She got his cute little look on her face when she was concentrating. She'd furrow her brows and sometimes chew her lip a little. Her face would relax and she would smile to herself a bit. She'd even mouth words to herself as she figured out everything's place.

       We finally got everything in place. It was couple hours before sun down so not enough time to hunt or anything. We tied the door shut and moved the couch up against it. We both took a seat on the couch, Jakki immediately leaned her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her and kissed her temple.

"How are you feeling about this now?" I looked down at her.

"Excited but still a little scared." She held my hand in both of hers.

"We'll be okay."

       She nodded and leaned her head back, closing her eyes. I put a hand on her cheek and brought her closer to me before planting a soft kiss on her lips.

       She held my wrist as the kiss went on. I pulled away and rested my forehead against hers.

"I'm gonna get us something to eat." She pecked my lips and went to the kitchen.

       I watched her dig around the cupboards, searching for something that required as little work as possible to make.

       I found myself thinking about yesterday and how she now knows I'm a virgin. It kind of made the whole thing easier, honestly. She didn't make fun of me or anything for it and the presence of that knowledge meant she wasn't gonna try anything weird. That left me at ease.

       She finally found something, canned pasta. We ate it cold and in silence. Jakki got up and disposed of the cans before walking back over and standing in front of me.

"Let's go lay down. We've had a long day." She held out her hand.

       I took it and followed her upstairs to the bedroom. Jakki changed into some shorts and laid down. I stripped down to my boxers and laid with her. My crossbow leaned against the night stand by the bed.

       Jakki laid on her side and rested her head on my chest. She traced over the lines in my skin with her finger while I rubbed slow circles into her back.

"I'm gonna go get some candles. I'll be back." I pecked her lips and went to the other room to retrieve a couple candles. I lit them and placed them on either side of the bed. I laid back down and we took our former places.

"This is kinda sweet," Jakki said softly. "You know, the candles and all."

       I nodded in agreement. The small fires casted a dim glow around the room. The light accented Jakki's face, capturing certain things about her that I never noticed before. Her nose was a perfect slope that didn't come to a point but was squared off. She had a small scar on her forehead that was shaped like a crescent moon.

"Yeah, it's kinda romantic."

       She looked up at me and smiled softly. Her hand moved up from my chest and to my cheek. I felt her thumb glide along my cheekbone. "You're so handsome."

       I couldn't help but smile. I wasn't used to compliments and I loved when she gave them.

"You're beautiful."

She smiled back at me rolled onto her back, pulling me on top of her. She moved her fingers through my hair and rested her hands on my shoulders.

I looked down at her. The way her hair fell over the pillow like flames, her bright blue eyes, and her kind smile. At first glance, she looked like she had never seen or done anything bad in her life.

I rested my body on top of hers. She was warm and inviting, making me crave more. I just didn't want to ruin our moment here.

I held one of her hands and placed small kisses on her fingertips. I kissed her palm and then her wrist.

"We can do this if you're ready." She looked down at me.

"I'm ready if you are."

She nodded. "I'm pretty sure I'm ready," she held my hand. "I feel safe with you."