#aug21drabble

[liquidcxurage]

Puppy Love

Ash popped up from the ground with a bit of a flourish. He held his hand out for Lydia, “Ma cherie, I think it might be time to start heading to mahmen’s.” With a smile on her face, she clapped her palm against his and allowed him to pull her up from the blanket laid out on the ground. She came up off the floor fast enough to lift her feet from the blanket as he pulled her against his chest and kissed her. He smiled against her lips as she giggled, just two teenagers in love. Being with Lydia was like surfacing from a deep dive, the air feeling so good in your lungs that it burns, and boy did Ash want to burn.

Checking his phone, he knew that they were going to be late for the barbecue. There was no way that they would make it all the way out to the bayou in the next fifteen minutes. So much for managing his time. Their families had been getting together for dinners his whole life, but this one was different. This one mattered more than the rest and if he still wanted to live after tonight, he needed it to go well. Stealing one last kiss from Lydia, he got on his motorcycle and held his hand up to help her on.

Riding through the warm day was nice. The wind kicked up and cooled them off even as the sun beat down on them, but that was nothing compared to having her arms wrapped around him. He had known her his whole life, yet she still seemed like a whole new person. Maybe not a whole new person, but he was getting a side of her that he hadn’t even known had existed. He finally understood what people were talking about when they said they fell in love with their best friend. The slight squeeze around his torso drew his attention back to the road only to notice they were already home. Parking the cruiser near the door, he began to mentally prepare himself for whatever was about to happen. At least that’s what he was trying to do until Lydia took his hand, smiled at him and told him the only thing that mattered. “No matter what happens, remember that I love you.”

[liquidcxurage]

What Ifs

Asher didn’t know how to back down from anything. Most people said it was in his blood, you couldn’t have that much hot headed Cajun coursing through your veins without some consequences. Some even said he was just too stupid to know when to cut bait, but he never wasted too much time thinking about it, he was too busy living his life. Growing up with the father he was ‘blessed’ with, Asher figured the flight part of his programming was simply conditioned out of him. It made sense to him since growing up his choices were to take a good lickin’ or to watch his brother get hurt. He dealt with the former because he refused to allow the latter. Either way, walking away from bad decisions just wasn’t really in his wheelhouse.

“What if we get caught?” A dainty hand gripped the sleeve of his jacket, forcing him to turn around. Lydia Porter looked at him with wide brown eyes that reminded him of just how perfect her life had always been. He couldn’t blame her for not wanting to get into trouble, though he was trouble enough for the both of them. Turning his back to the open window, he faced her so she could see his face. “We’re not running away to the Quarter to dance naked under the moon, just getting a little air.” He could see by the look on her face she wasn’t really buying his pitch but that couldn’t be helped. Her hand was still holding his sleeve so he rested his over it. “If you don’t want to come then stay here, I’m just going to stretch my legs a little.” His smile grew as he watched the indecision in her eyes change to conviction. 

Climbing out of her window wasn’t the challenge, the eight foot drop to the ground wasn’t either. The real show was going to be getting her back into her room before her parents found out. Mrs. Porter grew up with Mama Bordeaux and nothing stood between those two. Even as Lydia and Ash started hanging around each other more and more, neither woman had any qualms with it. Mr. Porter was a different story though. Lydia was, and always would be, his little girl. With a shiteating grin on his face, Ash draped his arm over Lydia’s shoulders as they headed out into the Bayou.

[liquidcxurage]

My Blood

Asher gripped his brother's hand tight as he pulled him through the weeds. Their shoes stuck to the mud making every step a true labor of movement. Ash knew, even at nine years old, no matter how quickly they moved, their father had longer strides and would catch up to them. With Kyle’s latest growth spurt he was too big to try to carry effectively through the swamp land behind their bayou home which left the yanking and pulling. There was a small part of him that worried he was hurting his brother more, or worse, feared that he would end up dislocating his tiny arm. From the frightened look on his little brother’s face, he wouldn’t even notice if he had. 

“BOUG! Gitcher arse back here!” Merde. His father was closer than he thought he would be. If they kept running they would be caught in the next few minutes and nothing Ash could do would protect Kyle. Unfortunately, Kyle was at the age that he was starting to understand what was happening and Ash didn’t want their father to mold the person Kyle would become. He refused to give the older Bordeaux that power over his brother. Grateful that the weather was already cooling down, a lot of the ‘gators were in brumation and wouldn’t be a threat as long as he could get back to his brother quickly. Tucking him between the tangled roots of a tree, Ash leaned in and grabbed his hand. “No matter what happens, it’s you and me, okay?” Even with his breath pounding in and out of his small chest, the promise to Kyle was clear; nothing would ever come between them and Asher would always protect him. 

The sound of footfalls twenty yards had Ash pressing his finger to his lips, making sure Kyle knew he needed to stay quiet. Grinning at his brother was the last thing he did before heading straight for his father. He knew this mood. Some days they could hide; out of sight, out of mind often worked when their father was in the bottle. Other days, days like today, nothing would appease him but blood. As soon as his father came into view, Ash skidded to a stop, kicking up mud and drawing his father’s attention. It was enough to startle the older man into dropping the bottle of Jack that was still in his hand. The glass fell in slow motion, taking hours before it hit a dead stump and shattering, leaving the neck of the bottle as a lethal weapon. That day was the first scar he got from broken glass but it wouldn’t be the last.