Defibrillate My Heart Ch. 03

**Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait. I finally finished med school and internship. Hopefully this means I can write a bit more now. Looking forward to any feedback! **

*****

I still had no idea where we were going. My incessant nagging and poking did not help much in prying an answer out of Todd. He just smiled good naturedly and told me that I'd find out when we got there. It was a brilliant day. The sun hadn't quite reached scorching and the sky was the most pristine blue. The windows were open and the gentle gust of wind tugged neatly at Todd's hair. The light almost made it shine. It was a comfortable silence, one I didn't feel the need to fill with my constant jibber jabber. Every now and then he'd catch me looking at him and smile.

As we continued our journey the labyrinth of buildings and civilization were replaced by rolling hills and grasslands. We were leaving the city. I couldn't pretend that this didn't fill me with some anxiety. I mean, I was city boy at heart. A gay city boy. We don't tend to fare well in the outdoors. My idea of spending time outside is going out onto my fire escape to water my ever dying plants (I'm not blessed with a green thumb but I should get some points for persistence).

"Come now, tell me where we're going," I said, doing my best at a puppy dog face.

"Just because you're acting cute it doesn't mean I'm going to cave," he said, laughing. He reached out and gave my hand a squeeze and started running his fingers over mine. Luckily he drove an automatic. "Tell me something I don't know about you," he asked.

"I like to draw, mostly superheroes, and some animated characters. Aurora is my favorite Disney princess. I like to sing but I'm terrible at it. One of the nurses actually told me I would be a contender on Idols. Then she proceeded to specify wooden mike. That kind of killed my dream of being the next Hannah Montana."

"Is that so. I'll need to get you to draw me sometime, Picasso. Also, I love your voice," he said sweetly.

"When have you heard me sing?," I squeaked, mortified.

"I caught you holding one of the babies in the ward while singing The Circle of Life. It was one of the things that made me like you even more."

I wanted to crawl in a hole. I usually sleuthily scope out the corridors before I unleash my inner Whitney Houston (Yes, I still attempt to hit the high notes even though I know I can't).

"Hey," he said trying to pry my hands away from my face, "Don't be shy."

Thats like asking an apple not to be red. Well I guess you do get green apples. This analogy nosedived quite quickly.

"Look," he said excitedly, "We're finally here."

***

It was my worst nightmare come to life. We were in the deep outdoors. Like deep outdoors. Like the woodlands. There weren't even telephone poles out here. Todd leaped out of the car like a gazelle. I somewhat slumped out and followed him to the boot. He opened it and pulled out a sizable pack which he then harnessed to his body like he was Bear Grylls or something. He handed me a water bottle and a quick kiss, which brightened me up considerably, and asked if I was ready.

"Just a quick disclaimer, the outdoors and me don't really get along but I'll try if you're patient with me," I said, laughing nervously.

"Nick, it's just me. You'll be great," he said, taking my hand. "Let's go."

And thus we were off on an adventure. The path he led me down wasn't quite what I expected. It was neatly marked and smoothed out and instead of being surrounded by scrubby thug looking plants I was met with fields of flowers and lush vegetation. There was some uphill and scraggly bits which slowed us down at times (Okay! Slowed me down times) but it was quite a leisurely journey. Todd walked with me, sweetly guiding me through the dodgier terrain, gently brushing me in the right directions.

He never once got annoyed even when I squealed in terror after walking through a spider's web. He just laughed, a lot, and helped me make sure that was no residual web (or even worse, spider) on me. I was mildly amazed that I wasn't complaining more, usually I'd be ready to star in a one man show after such action filled adventure. It was probably because being around him was like my own personal Xanax.

"Ooooh. We're almost there," he chipped.

He gambled over the last hill while I wheezed along behind him clutching a stitch in my side. When I came over the hill I could see that the long walk to freedom was indeed worth it. I stood looking out over a small canyon with a river flowing merrily at the bottom. The sun enveloped him and accentuated every iota of his beauty. It was quite the sight. I probably would have instagrammed the moment had I not been so breathless.

I walked up to stand by him. He wrapped his strong arms around my waist and pulled me to him. The air was sweet with the smell of the surrounding foliage and of him. I could feel the familiar fluttering of the butterflies from just being close to him and I wondered if it would ever go away. I melted into the warmth of his chest as he pulled me closer. This guy. He had barely broken a sweat.

"Worth it?" he asked, leaning in, his emerald eyes boring into my cerulean ones.

"Being with you? Worth every second," I breathed.

His mouth swept over mine and my world started spinning on a different axis. Todd was an experience. His masculine pine fresh scent, his strong hands running their way up my back, his lips on mine molding me like clay, the bristle of his face against mine. He could make every part of my body respond to him. I caressed his face and ran my hand up into his hair threading my fingers into it. I never want to let go but we both had to come up for air at some point, and I was about five seconds away from passing out.

We disengaged and I was breathless again (well, for the most part of the day).

"There's more," he said, after stealing one last peck. I, myself, was still in a state of stun making the theft a bit easier.

He starting unpacking things from his manly camping bag and the next thing you know we were surrounded by soft blankets, a colorful array of Tupperware's and a bottle of wine with two glasses. The wine was even still cold. I don't know what sorcery this is.

After fortifying ourselves with sandwiches and wine we nestled together on the blanket, with me lying back on his chest and him running his hand through my hair.

"I love it out here," he said with a sigh. "It lets me get away from the oppression of the city. Everything is so beautiful and alive, you know? It makes a nice change from the suffocating halls of the hospital."

"I know what you mean. I'm surprised that we weren't attacked by a bear, though."

"There are no bears here," he said laughingly. "Unless there's a couple shacked up in one of the cabins around here."

"You never know. I've seen some of them open doors on Youtube, you know."

"I need to take you out more."

"That's something I won't disagree with," I said, snuggling closer to him.

There was a light breeze and the air was alive with the melody of birds that I couldn't name.

"I'm glad I brought you here. It's going to sound stupid and cliche but I really haven't brought anyone up here before. It's like sharing a part of myself and I wanted to share it with you."

"You need to stop saying things like this unless you want me to fall in love with you," I joked.

He tilted my head towards his and looked deep into my soul. There were flecks of gold in his eyes when the sun hit them.

"Then fall," he said simply as he lay his lips upon mine again. I kissed him back earnestly and I felt it happen. I felt myself fall even though I knew I shouldn't. But in that moment you would be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn't.

***

The way back was surprisingly shorter in my mind, probably because I knew where the end lay. We walked along side each other meeting eyes, bumping shoulders with sneaky touches while laughing the whole time. It was so easy with him. I didn't have to overthink and sometimes when he looked at me my neuroses would vanish.

We got back on the highway leaving behind the realm of the ancients and heading towards the hustle and bustle of the city as well as work and studying *cringe*.

"I wish we could have spent more time there," I said with a wistful sigh.

"I know. Next time we'd go for longer. So, is there anything else I can change your mind on? I've already succeeded with the outdoors," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Don't get cocky. I'm not usually so persuadable."

"You said cocky," he sniggered adorably.

"Boys are stupid," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Not when they're kissing your neck," he crooned, stroking my face.

What could I say then? I just blushed myself into silence.

Lucky he was so good at multitasking. I would have definitely crashed the car with all these extra curriculars.

***