23| The Cocoon

                                    

                                          
Arlo and Riley move the conversation to the rusty, green, bench, huddling close to each other for warmth as the wind changes direction, travelling over the lake before eventually reaching the pair.
Their nostrils burn with the smell of damp grass, freshly cut only a day ago. Although dominant on Riley's sense of smell, the tiny wisps of his sweet musky scent mixing with her flowery fragrance give her some relief.
When the conversation had seemed to come to its peak, they'd taken a moment, struggling to decided how to continue now that things have gotten to this point.
Still looking straight ahead, Riley opens her left palm, wiggling her fingers in her grey, fingerless, woolly gloves.
He doesn't realize at first, only noticing when she wiggles them a few inches from his face, forcing him to grasp her left hand with his right and place their entangled fingers on his thigh.
"When was the last time you talked about it?" Riley asks, referring to the death of his mother.
"I don't know." he replies, trying to recall that information for himself. "A month, two maybe."
"I'm sorry, I'm just...a little shocked to be honest. We've never really talked about it before, y'know."
"Well it's not really something you can just bring up in casual conversation without bumming everyone else out."
Riley hums, casting her eyes down to his tanned hand covering hers. "You're right."
"Like hey, fun fact about me, my dad killed my mom the day I turned sixteen, gang, gang."
"Alright, that's enough sass from you tonight."
"I'm on time out am I?"
"Very funny."
"You couldn't do that anyway."
"Couldn't do what?"
"Put me on time out." he repeats, speaking with noticeably less vigour than he previously did, grinning nervously when Riley whips her head around and glares into his eyes.
"Wanna bet?"
"Have your eyes always been that colour?"
"Brown, yes, stop trying to distract me."
"Why? Because it's working?" When Riley rolls her eyes, Arlo chuckles before sinking back into the seat.
Riley laughs until the corners of her mouth hurt, exhaling to stabilize herself before asking the question she's wanted to ask for the past ten minutes. "Arlo...what happened between you and Lain?"
For a while it seems like Arlo will ignore her, tapping his foot on the rocky floor as his palms get increasingly sweaty. "You want to know about Lain, fine, but don't shoot the messenger."
"Go on then. Stop being so dramatic. Spit it out already." she teases, only half-joking.
"Alright, Sheesh!" Arlo groans, looking out at the water before going on to explain his shared history with Lain. "He slept with-"
"-no, what are you doing?"
Arlo raises a brow, locking eyes with Riley once more. "I'm doing what you asked."
"Set the scene, I can't just jump right in. I need who, what, when, where, how and age."
Arlo pokes Riley's head. "I swear Reddit is frying that brain of yours."
"I though you said my brain was beautiful."
"It is beautiful...but it's being mushed by that stuff you read."