Thing for the Wild Ones

14

    Before I knew it weeks had passed. I had fallen into a routine. Carter was certainly invested in getting me out of the house often and honestly I had started looking forward to it. Occasionally he had something planned with Spence and Maya but most of the time we were just going on random adventures. I genuinely enjoyed Carter's company. It was scary at times how much alike we were. He knew when I needed space and was respectful of my boundaries.

    On the other hand, Orion and I were not doing well with this space. The first week we would face time and talk every night, and text during the day. But the next week the texts were less and anytime he'd called it was almost immediately interrupted by whatever he was doing. And the next week he had called to tell me he couldn't come back yet. He offered to come home for a day or two but I told him it wasn't worth the drive, he was already spread thin and exhausted and I didn't want to add to the stress.

    Which brings us to now, nearly 5 weeks later. I'd never in my life felt such a feeling of longing. We weren't even together for 5 weeks yet 5 weeks without him and I felt upset, but more than that I felt angry. Angry that I felt so much for him that I was driving myself crazy. And if much more time passes I'll force myself to detach from him because I cannot handle this feeling of having no control over my self and my emotions.

~~

"What in the world are you doing?" Carter laughed at me, walking outside where I was. I huffed and flipped him off. "What does it look like I'm doing?" He chucked, crossing his arms as he observed me. "Well, clearly you're digging a hole silly. But like, why?" "To throw your dead body in." I grumbled and he laughed. "Lilith, I know you're much too smart for that." I couldn't help but laugh and I stopped, looking up at him. "I had a sudden urge to have a pond." He laughed but nonetheless, walked over to me. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it to the side before grabbing the shovel from me. "I'm perfectly capable." I rolled my eyes. He smirked, leaning closer to me. "Yeah, but now you can enjoy the view without the work." I laughed, pushing him playfully. "Fine. You won't see me complain about free labor." I shrugged walking inside.

I came back out maybe 10 minutes later to see Carter vibing to my 2010's playlist. I stifled a laugh as I walked over to him. I handed him the fresh lemonade and he took it and gulped it down. It wasn't too hot today but I know from experience that even 10 minutes of digging will have you sweating your ass off. "So what's the plan Lil?" He asked, referring to the pond. Honestly he had about doubled the size of the hole I had been digging for the last hour and a half. I shrugged. "I don't know yet. Where do they even sell ponds?" He burst out laughing. "Fuck if I know." I joined in on his laughing.

~~

We sat outside for a while, looking up pictures of ponds until I found a style I liked. I really hadn't put much thought into it before I started digging a hole but I needed something to distract my brain for a while.

    "Okay okay, let's go." Carter groaned as I added another plant to the cart. "Shush, I want it to look nice and peaceful and cohesive." He rolled his eyes. "Why don't we just start with what you have and see how it looks." He suggested. I looked over the cart before nodding reluctantly. We walked towards the check out and since there was no one else here, the man immediately started scanning items. I gave him a friendly smile. "Hi! I called ahead about the lagoon pond and the grey stones." He nodded. "Ah, yes! We have those pulled out in back for you. Let me let them know you're here real quick so they can bring them around." He said and I smiled, nodding.

    After we had finished checking out and everything was loaded into the back of my suv, I sat in the driver seat with a sigh of relief. As I turned the car on, my phone dinged.