With Flecks of Gold

‘When is he planning to come back…?’ I wondered to myself, still lounging in the same position on the sleeping bag in which he left me before he departed. He told me he was planning to get us food, but I never thought that it would take this long. I mean… I’m not even sure if I would eat anyway.

I stared blankly into the thin, papery material of the tent until I heard the door being unzipped and shoes crunching on the ground. I squeezed me eyes shut in that exact moment, hoping that he would think I was asleep.

After a few minutes of him rustling around the tent, I felt him lean over my 'sleeping' figure. I felt his warm breath on my neck and I tried not to shiver. His presence left me as he sighed and proceeded to exit the tent.

A few minutes went by.

Five more.

Ten more.

Next thing I knew, I heard the crackling of a fire from where I assumed was only paces away from where the tent stood. My eyes fluttered open and I concentrated on the faint smell of smoke drifting its way through the air and wrapping its way around my senses. I loved the smell of campfire. I lightly smiled, allowing myself to escape from the prison that was my mind for only a moment.

I felt him enter the tent again. He crouched by my side.

“Love?” He quietly tried to wake me. My heart flopped at the tenderness and gentleness in his voice humming through the small capacity that was the tent. After an internal battle with myself whether to turn around to meet his gaze or not, I slowly craned my neck to look into his eyes. They were soft and apologetic. “It’s supper time, darlin’.” He continued, rubbing my arm sensually. I smiled uncomfortably at him and he returned the awkward gesture, standing up and offering me a hand. I reluctantly sat up from my previous, and rather relaxing, position on the sleeping bag, grabbed his hand, and we ducked our way out of the tent.

I noted a freshly chopped log seated across from a blazing fire. Flames danced and licked the air, eating at the pile of wood and dried up leaves beneath it. The boy made his way over to the log and pulled a large wooden spear from beside him. What looked like two rather big trout were stuck at the center of the long, sharp object. Not at all disturbed by the blood trailing from where the fish were struck, the boy lifted them from his weapon and placed them in a small, rusty frying pan, and proceeded heating them over the fire.

He glanced over momentarily to where I was still awkwardly shifting and twiddling my thumbs right outside the tent. Giving me another one of his million-dollar smiles, he patted the vacant area next to him on the log. I hesitantly made my way over to sit beside him, placing myself on the wood as if it might explode. He offered me a friendly, but cautious smile and attempted to make small talk with me.

“I never did catch your name, hon.” He began, turning his gaze once again towards the fish and giving the pan a little jiggle.

“Lauren.” I answered, staring down at my palms. I never did like saying my name out loud, or introducing myself for that matter.

“Niall.” He stated, shooting me a small glance, then returning to the cooking, noting that I was avoiding his eyes.

“Are you camping out here, Niall?” I asked quietly, struggling to surface some sort of communication between us. He hesitated; I lifted my head from my lap to read his facial expression.

“Somethin’ like ‘dat.” He concluded, obviously not wanting to expand on his answer. “Do ya’ remember how you ended up washed up on da’ beach?” He asked me, worry prominent in his voice.

I thought to myself for a second. I couldn’t tell him my secret; first of all, he probably wouldn’t believe me. And secondly, if he told anyone I would probably end up being poked and probed at on a laboratory table somewhere.

“No.” I lied. I was never a good liar. I looked away, hoping he wouldn’t catch the obvious dilating of my pupils or the look on my face.

“Are ya’ sure?” He pushed, obviously concerned. “Do ya’ have any memory at all?” I whipped my head back in his direction, momentarily taken off guard by this question.

“What… Yeah.” He was looking at me uncertain. “Yes, yes.” I laughed it off. “I do.” I confirmed. He nodded and flipped the fish over in the pan, pausing our conversation for a few moments.

This was painfully awkward.

So I decided to do the first stupid thing that came into my head.

“What did the big bucket say to the little bucket?” I smiled at him. When all else fails, tell a bad joke. He looked up at me confused at first, his face then softening into an amused expression upon realizing my intentions for such an outburst.

“What?” He played along, a playful smirk tugging at his lip.

“You look a little pail.” I giggled. He threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh, obviously over-doing it for my enjoyment. It was adorable.

“’Dat’s a good one,” He finally regained his composure, nodding in my direction. “What’s ‘da best way to carve wood?” He was playing along, I like him.

“What?” I straightened my posture, my eyes gleaming with innocence and joy.

“Whittle by whittle.” Now it was my turn to laugh.

This continued until thankfully the food was finished cooking. Niall removed both the trout from the spear and placed them on two separate thin, metal plates. He handed me my plate as well as a fork.

“Eat up!” He beamed, automatically digging in to his food. I could only gape at him while he nearly inhaled his fish. I glanced back at my plate nervously, unsure. As he was nearly halfway through his trout, he looked over at my plate. He swallowed whatever food was left in his mouth before speaking. “Why aren’t you eating?” He questioned, as if I was completely and utterly insane. I smiled nervously and tried to laugh it off.

“I’m just… Do you want it?” I shoved my plate in his face, hoping to get out of this anyway that I could. A look of lust glazed over his eyes as he gazed at the untouched food before looked, rather concerned, back at me.

“I found you beat up and washed up on the beach.” He stated matter-of-factly. “You need to eat.” I looked at my lap guiltily and poked absent-mindedly at a rather large bruise on my thigh. I was still very sore but it was nothing like the pain I had witnessed just hours ago.

“It’s just that…” I couldn’t find a way to tell him. I hated telling people this, it was just one of my many problems I had. One of many.

“What…? I didn’t poison it or anything.” He teased.

“Oh, no! No, of course not!” I waved my hand back and forth, shaking my head frantically.

“So…?” He just seemed confused at this point. I sighed in defeat.

“Ihavetnghdsrdr…” I mumbled inaudibly.

“What was that?” He smiled, leaning forward slightly and turning his ear towards me in order to hear me better.

“I have an eating disorder.” I spat, staring him straight in the face. His smile was now miles away. It faded instantly.

“You… you do?” He tripped over his own words. I simply nodded, trying not to roll my eyes at his response. I was not expecting him to understand. Nobody did, really. Not unless you had one. It was just something that I carried with me, more like something that followed me around everywhere. “I mean…” He was at loss for words, glancing back at his own plate. He set it beside him and sighed, putting his forehead in his palms.

“That doesn’t mean you have to stop eating.” I pried, trying to force the thoughts out of his head.

“In fact, you can have mine, as well.” I offered with a fake smile, shoving my food in his face. I couldn’t even look at it. I might swallow the entire think in one gulp.

He looked back up at me, his expression stern yet caring, But mostly stern. “No, Lauren.” He stated plainly. My stomach dropped at the strictness of his voice. “You’re goin’ to eat ‘dat.” My face fell. Was he really going to try this with me?

We stared each other down for a good two minutes. He looked at the plate and then looked at me, as if to say, “Go on,” All I could do was stare at him, wishing somehow he would just spontaneously combust.

“Look, I didn’t mean to make this awkward or anything,” I began once again, shoving the plate next to me. “And it’s not like I don’t appreciate you getting food for me,” I was struggling to be polite at this point. “But I really don’t expect you to help me with my problems.” I rambled on, lifting myself from my seat. “Besides, I know nothing about you, and you barely know anything about me. So, in that case, I will be on my way, and thank you for everything, Niall.” I swiftly turned my body around and began to walk away but I was stopped by a strong hand grasping my arm.

“Lauren,” He pleaded, I shot my head around, prepared to give him the death glare, but ended up almost tearing up from the sincere look written across his features. “We are miles away from any sort of civilization.” He slowly but hesitantly let go of my arm, making sure I wasn’t going to run away. “You can stay here for the night.”

“And tomorrow morning?” I questioned.

“We can get you home.” He smiled sympathetically. I sighed and shook my head.
“I can get home by myself you know.” And it was true, I could. I could jump back in the water, turn back into a mermaid, and swim home. I got here easily, I could get back easily.

“You have no idea where we are, do ya', love?” He questioned smugly.

“Well, yes.” I answered in the same tone.

“Where?” He sassed.

“Nebraska.” I spoke in his face. He started laughing. What was so funny? “What?” I huffed, stomping a foot on the ground.

“Try da' next state over!” He laughed uncontrollably. My eyes widened in shock, my jaw dropped to the floor.

“Wyoming?!” I shrieked. “I’m in Wyoming?!” I shot my head back and forth frantically. This only caused him to laugh harder. I suddenly felt incredibly angry at his reaction. On what planet could this possibly be funny? “Stop laughing!” I screeched again, tears brimming my eyes. My mom was probably having a freak attack, if she was okay that is. All of this was just clicking now. What had I gotten myself into? Niall immediately snapped back to reality after he realized I was nearly sobbing.

“Oh, oh love look, I didn’t mean ta’ make ya’ start cryin’. I’m sorry okay? I understand ‘dat this is really hard for ya’, I’m sorry.” He sputtered, pulling me into his chest for a deep hug. He caressed the soft hair on top of my head and tried to quiet my cries. “Just stay here for ‘da night, yeah?” He brought my head back to look him in the face. I could only nod in response.

This was going to be a long night.

He brought me back to the fire and sat me on the log. My eyes locked on the plate of food I had left vacant next to me while he quickly scrambled to fetch something in the tent. He came back with a couple bottles of water that I guessed were right out of the cooler.

They were wet.

He tried handing one to me. I had previously held my hand out, prepared to take it from him until I had realized that they had condensation on them. As he released his grip on the bottle, I moved my hand quickly to the side, allowing it to drop to the dirt. He gave me a deeply concerning stare.

“It’s just water…” He stammered, unsure of what to say. “It doesn’t have any calories…” He continued, switching his gaze between me and the fallen plastic water bottle.

“It’s wet.” I stated. I wasn’t about to let this guy bask in all of my fishy glory just yet. He looked at me confused for what was maybe the fifth time that day. I smiled innocently and headed for the tent. “I’ll just get a towel to dry it off!” I forced a laugh, bursting in and out of the tent like lightning, frantically making my way back over to the fallen bottle and drying it quickly. I held it up in front of his face. “There! All better!” I announced, slumping back down and opening the bottle, bringing it to my lips, careful not to let it hit my skin. “Refreshing!” I announced. All he could do was shake his head and continue with his meal, taking a sip of water every now and again.

We sat there in a comfortable silence until the sun began to set. Niall placed the dirty plates (he had happily eaten my fish as well) next to the log we were seated at along with the spear and the silverware.

“So…” He began uncomfortably, staring down at his muddy fingers. “Umm…” He shut his eyes in what I expected to be concentration briefly before meeting my gaze once again. “Ya’ don’t have to talk about this if ya’ don’t want to but…” My stomach twisted. I knew what he wanted to ask, I was just waiting to see if he had the balls to actually say it.

“Tell me about your ummm… eatin’ issues.” I stared into his piercing blue eyes. They were unraveling the knots in my soul that I had always tried so desperately to keep contained.

“Oh? Well…” I honestly had no idea where to start.

“I mean, ya’ don’t have to it’s just ‘dat…”

“No, I know what you mean. It’s fine. I’m not exactly ashamed of it or anything. I can talk about it.” I assured him. This earned me a proud smile radiating from his face.

“Tell me anything and everything that you’re comfortable with. I can keep secrets.” He promised. Oh, if only he knew. This double sense made me smile to myself.

“I’ve had this for a while. Since I was thirteen. I’m sixteen now.” I began, glancing at him. He only nodded at me, his eyes were locked with mine, full of concentration.

Here we go, time to spill myself out to him.

Hopefully he won’t crush me like everyone else seems to love to do.

Notes

I am getting so excited about this story guys!

This is awesome!

I have so may ideas and I'm really excited for where this story is going!

What did you guys think?
What do you think of Niall?
What do you think of Lauren's eating disorder?
What do you want to happen next?
What do you think will happen?

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Thank you so much for reading!