Chapter Text
June brings Brockton alive, the trees bloom along with the flowers, wherever the flowers can survive at least. The cemetery is beautiful in the summer Del discovers, all the flowers so carefully planted, blooming beautifully in the warmth the summer brings. The bees flow around them, beginning to spread their pollen to the others. Del and Wayne are sitting on their usual bench, she’s basking in the sun, allowing her bare legs to soak in the rays.
Since his birthday Janice and Matt opened up to letting them spend time alone, Janice had told Del that the more she knew Del the more she worried she’d be the troublemaker, she can’t fight the acquisition. Wayne was more mellow now, like he was at peace, a peace she never saw in him when they traveled together.
Today was the last day of school, Del had done fine this year, and Wayne had exceeded expectations, or that's what the counselor had told him. So they came to the cemetery, a place they started to frequent more, visiting her mom and his dad. Wayne never really says much, just stares down at this fathers grave with a blank face, Del talks about her mom when they visit her.
She chatters about random memories that come to mind, how she would have reacted to things, how brilliant she was but no one looked past her addictions. And Wayne listens, he looks at Del and listens as she word vomits whatever comes to mind. It’s peaceful.
His mother had left again, Del had been shocked when he told her everything, even more so when he’d said she left them the car. The thing was still banged up from the accident, another thing Del feels guilty about, but Matt said he would fix it up slowly. Wayne tells her that he can’t even drive it, that he never even got his license and with him being fresh out of juvie he’s not allowed to.
She had asked him once if he was excited to get it back, but he’d just shrugged looking indifferent.
“I don’t know, I know we went through a lot for it, but I don’t know.” She understands, or she thinks she does. She finds Wayne confusing still, she wishes she could worm her way into his head and read his thoughts sometimes. He has a hard time getting the words out sometimes, she can see them swirling in his head but when he tries he falls flat.
______
Janice’s birthday is on the twentieth, her friend turns sixty three. The event brings all of her children over, her son Nick, and daughter Fiona. It’s the first time she’s met Fiona, and Del thinks she’s terrifying. With a stare so hard statues would crumble away. When they do finally talk though she’s hilarious, and she even has a son that’s Del’s age, his name is Chirstopher.
“Do you want to go to college?” Fiona asks, outside the building at the moment, Janice refused to let her smoke in the apartment.
“I don’t know, I don’t exactly have the money for it.” She shrugs and tries to laugh the question off, but Fiona doesn't take it.
“That sounds like an excuse, money is hardly an issue when I’m sure you could apply for a plethora of loans, and with how smart you are I’m sure you could find one way or another to get out of paying them.” She shakes her head back at her.
“I don’t care, really. I mean I don’t even know what the fuck I would go for.” She admits, suddenly feeling vulnerable under the older woman's stare.
“Well then it’s a good thing you're young, you have time to figure that out. Listen, you don’t have to go to college, but you should think about what you want to do. I know it’s easier said than done, but if you find something you want to do, or something you just enjoy enough, then you should try to ride that.” Del nods.
“Did you go to college?” Fiona nods, finishing her cigarette.
“Yeah, I have a degree in classic art. Not that it’s done me very good.” Fiona laughs. “But I met my husband at school, so that makes it better. What about your guy? My mom told me about you two a little.” Del scrunches at the question, feeling warm now.
“Wayne? I don’t know, I can’t see him going to college. But again I guess when I first met him I didn’t think he would do well in school, but this last semester he did great. I helped tutor him kind of but he caught on all on his own, the guidance counselor said he went above all their expectations.” She doesn’t realize she’s rambling until she looks at Fiona’s face, she’s smiling down at Del like she knows something Del doesn’t.
Del clams up, Fiona claps her hand on Del’s shoulder. They go back upstairs then, the rest of the night is fun, and most of all Janice has fun. Which is the most important part for Del. Since moving in with Janice she’s felt guilty for not being able to do more, Del contemplates getting a job to be able to help pay for things. She expressed that thought to Janice after everyone had left, when they were both cleaning up the apartment.
“Dear, I promise you don’t have to worry about any of that. Honestly after Toby died, we both had life insurance, but I still have most of his settlement set away. Money isn’t an issue Delilah.” Del nods, Janice comes over to her.
“I enjoy having you here with me, your company alone is payment dear, so please don’t feel guilty.” It’s enough to both put Del at ease and bring her to the brink of tears.
_______
Wayne had begun taking care of a kitten, something Del finds adorable about him, considering the rabbit. The small thing had been huddled against his building, taking cover behind the dumpster when he first saw it, but everytime he tried to get close it always ran.
“I wonder where its family is.” Wayne muses, she’s not sure if he meant for it to come out. There at the cemetery again, she gazes at him, he almost looks sad. She’d really never seen him sad before. She’d seen Wayne annoyed, angry, uncomfortable, she’d even seen him embarrassed, but sadness was a rarity. He just looks on, mind going god knows where.
“I don’t know, maybe something happened to them.” She tries, he turns to look at her then. His face is blank, all besides the swirling pit she can see in his eyes.
“It’s all alone.” Is all he gives her, she feels her throat tighten at it. The hitch in his voice, the look in his eyes.
She starts helping him then, they set up water for it, buy some shitty cheap blanket, and they put down wet food for it. They sit in the alley and watch it, Wayne is happy with it, and they endearingly call the little grey tuft Fleafuck. Wayne wants Conan, but she fights him on it, mostly because the name seems too serious. So they compromised with Fleafuck.
______
Wayne on occasion comes to Janice’s place to see Del. When he does come over Janice makes him anything he wants, this time it’s lasagna, something he apparently has never had before, not that it shocks Del. Janice is still cooking while they're in her room, Wayne is currently telling her about Matt, or more specifically how Matt and Annette have been.
“It’s horrible.” He states, face scrunching up. “Last night they woke me up, I couldn’t even look at Matt without hearing the bed frame hitting the wall.” Del has doubled over laughing, something he is not enjoying, giving her an almost stern look.
“‘Cmon at least he’s happy.” She offers, he just looks away from her.
“I just want to sleep, I almost have to sleep in the afternoon because it’s almost every night she’s over. I don’t think they know they wake me up, but I don’t want to tell them.” With the conflicted look on his face, the serious tone to his face, and the desperation, it doesn’t help Del from laughing more at him.
“Why don’t you take a nap here then?” She asks, he looks at her like she’s an angel, something she hates, obviously. He nods and gets comfortable on the bed next to her, if it wasn’t so fucking hot she’d relish in the way his body feels next to her, the heat of it, the sensation of his skin brushing hers.
His body relaxes as sleep takes him, she lays next to him, admiring his face. He looks so peaceful like this, she’d seen him sleep when they were on the road and she always thought the same thing. Janice peeks through the open door, eyeing the two of them on the bed.
“He’s just taking a nap.” Del whispers, Janice nods, giving her a smile.
“The food is in the oven, it’ll be about forty minutes, so he has some time to sleep.” Janice whispers back, Del thanks her and surprisingly Janice closes the door as she leaves.
Janice had made the rule right away that when Wayne was over the door had to be open, even if it was just a little open. Del wonders if it was an accident, contemplating getting up and opening the door again, but she feels so comfortable she decides to chance it.
Unsurprisingly Wayne is also quiet in his sleep, she watches as his chest rises and falls, seeing the outline of her necklace under his shirt. She spends some time like that, just watching him. And when the food is done she shakes him lightly, his eyes darting frantically.
“Hey, it’s just me. The food is done if you're hungry.” She tells him lightly, his eyes soften as they land on her. He just stays like that, looking into her eyes.
______
Sometimes when they are alone together things go further than the quick kiss, chaste hug. When things do go further, his lips trail downwards more, and his fingers against her makes her feel light and fuzzy, she pictures a sparkler, a fuzzy explosion that tickles her skin. Janice still gives her the talk often, always making sure that Del is being safe.
But they never take it further, neither of them are ready for it still, so they do just enough to leave them satisfied. And the way he looks at her once he’s done, the pure adoration in his eyes, it’s like a punch to the gut. She realizes then how much control she has over him, how much he loves her, and how much she loves him.
July
July begins with explosions, literally and figuratively. Geller reaches out on the first, it’s her father, still hospital bound. He wants to talk to Del. She agrees only if they make it a call, because really she isn’t sure if she can handle seeing him in person. Scared that all her resolve will go out the window at the sight of her father like that, again.
When the call happens it’s about how Del expected it would go. He whines about the hospital, how shitty the food was, how the nurses were bitches and the doctors are assholes. He cries on about how he can’t smoke, and can barely leave his bed. And she’s not surprised when he barely asks her anything.
She sat there listening to him whine and moan about his life now, and the worst part was that she didn’t really care. She couldn’t find it in here to be bothered, she thinks about all he’s done since October, all the hurt he caused her, all he did to Wayne. He’s her father, and a part of Del will always love him, and cherish the man he used to be, but by the end of their conversation she asks him to not call again.
______
The fourth is spent at the park, Del watches the people go by with their kids, getting onto rides with them, cheering for them to win the horrible games. It pulls a string in her chest, especially since the conversation with her father.
She attempts to get Wayne on some of the rides, even gets help from Orlando who joined them to the park. He runs away from them, Orlando tries to force him but Wayne is still stronger and wrestles his way out of grabs. It’s the most fun Del’s had in ages, she laughs, eats shitty fair foods, and enjoys her time with Wayne.
They go on the ferris wheel, one of the few he would agree to go on. As it sits at the top he looks at her, he looks pensive.
“Are you happy?” He blurts. Del doesn’t hesitate before answering.
“Yes.” He nods at her, looks back through the grates of the door, the sun is setting and soon the fireworks will start. “Are you?” The question makes him look at her.
“I think this is the most happy I’ve been.” He confesses after a minute, she feels that familiar warm fuzzy feeling sit in her chest at it, and the adoring look in his eyes doesn’t help. “Do you ever feel bad?” He whispers.
“What do you mean?” He shrugs, looking down at his hands.
“I don’t know, like my dad is gone, and I guess sometimes I feel bad for feeling happy.” She does get it, she understands the feeling better than he could imagine.
“Sometimes.” He looks at her, eyes wide at her confession, as though he thought he was the only person with that feeling. “Sometimes when I’m with you I think about my ma, like when Fleafuck came over to us and we were petting it I thought about how I wish I could tell her. She loved cats but my dad hated pets. But I felt bad, because I’m so happy here, but she’s gone and sometimes it feels wrong.” He nods again, mute across from her. The cabin jolts, the wheel moving a little more before stopping again.
“How do you make it feel right?” He looks desperate as the words leave his mouth.
“I think that she would be happy to know I am, that helps.” It’s the only answer she has, because really she doesn’t know how to make it feel right, she still needs to figure that out. They stay and watch the fireworks, he walks her to her place, leaving her for the night with a kiss.
______
The situation with the kitten outside his building had also changed in the first week of July, being that Wayne had taken the stray into the apartment. He’d managed to catch it, not without getting some battle wounds on his arms of course. He looks proud as he shows her the cat, huddled in the corner next to his dresser. She helps him wash Fleafuck, mostly just standing with the shower head as Wayne tries desperately to scrub the yowling cat. But eventually it’s done and they feed it some tuna they had in the cabinet.
“Is it a boy or a girl?” Wayne shrugs, enamored by the thing in front of them.
“I dunno.” Is all he offers.
“I feel like we should know, maybe come up with a better name.” He looks as her, head cocked to the side a bit.
“Why would we change its name?” She laughs at him.
“Wayne, Fleafuck is a joke name. If you're actually gonna be keeping this cat we need a better name.” He shakes his head at her.
“I like its name though.” He mutters, she looks back at the cat. It’s a blue grey, now much lighter than before.
“What about Flea? That way we don’t sound like idiots if we talk about it with others, and it still keeps its name. Then when we are with it we still call it Fleafuck.” Wayne nods, seemingly happy with the compromise.
Del swears she’s never seen Wayne melt as much as he does when Fleafuck curls up next to him, he looks at Del like a child, that ‘are you seeing this!’ look in his eyes.
_______
Wayne receives a letter on the fifteenth, from an old friend from juvie. Wayne tells her all about him then, how he was his only friend there, what he did to get there, how excited he was to go home. And thankfully the letter is cheerful.
His friend, Dustin, tells Wayne that he got his GED, started working at a mechanic shop, but that he’s finding it a little difficult to adjust to being out again. He writes that his sister is doing really good and her track team came number two in the state. And finally he writes that his relationship with his father is okay, probably the best it’s been in his whole life.
“I wanna write him back.” Wayne states as Del finishes reading it.
“Well then do it.” She states back, but Wayne seems unsure.
“I don’t think I’m a very good writer.” He admits, whispering it to her.
“I’ll help you, we can write it together if you want, or I can proofread it when you're done to make sure it makes sense.” His eyes nearly sparkle as she offers him help, nodding enthusiastically at her.
_______
Fiona comes by again with Christopher, who prefers Chris she learns. They decided to come by unannounced, it’s just Del and Wayne in the apartment, Janice had to leave to grab some fresh ingredients for this roasted tomato risotto she was going to make for dinner.
The knock at the door gives Del a jump, admittedly she and Wayne were using Janice’s absence to have some alone time. She breaks away from Wayne quickly, who is much slower to realize the new situation. She huffs annoyingly as she walks to the door, Wayne now on her heels, and Del looks through the peephole. She quickly opens the door for Fiona when she realizes it’s her, the woman smiles at her, before she sees her eyes dart behind her towards Wayne.
“Janice never said anything about you guys coming by.” She says, feeling awkward in the current situation. Fiona laughs, waving her hand in the air.
“She doesn’t know, I figured it would be a good surprise, where is my mother?” Fiona smiles at her, and she knows she’s caught. It’s a wicked smile, she knows what they were up to.
“She went to get some produce for dinner.” Del tells her flatly, Fiona and Chris come inside and everyone settles in the living room. And when Fiona starts asking Wayne about his life Del feels herself become protective, maybe even defensive over Wayne.
“Del said you did really well in your last semester of school, have you considered college?” Fiona tries, and Del feels her skin prickle. Del just can’t get why everyone is so obsessed with college, what good does it do for her or even Wayne?
“I don’t know.” Is all he says, sitting in the chair looking completely out of place.
“What about your parents? I’m sure they would love to see you go to school.” Fiona seems earnest with the question, Wayne tenses at the question, eyes darting between Del and Fiona.
“His dad is dead, his mom isn’t around.” Del jumps in, Fiona to her credit looks horrified.
“I am so sorry, I had no idea.” Wayne shrugs, looking down at his hands.
“He lives with his older brother, I don’t see Matt being at all too invested in college.” She tells Fiona, who doesn’t look convinced.
“I just think it’s something that shouldn’t be completely disregarded, college is not just about the degree it’s about the experience.” She tries, Wayne smiles to himself.
“I think I’ve had enough experiences.” Del laughs at his words, more so surprised he said it at all, and thankfully Janice returns then.
Fiona goes to help Janice in the kitchen leaving Del and Wayne with Chris. Chris was the same age as her, and the picture of the average attractive sixteen year old that girls swoon over. Blonde hair short but tousled, piercing blue eyes, with the match of a smile with perfect dimples. He was friendly enough at the party last month, all smiles at Del, trying to make small talk about anything he could think of at the time.
“How's your summer going?” He asks, staring directly at Del.
“It’s going, the heat is miserable though.” She offers, voice flat. He still smiles at her all the same. “What about yours?” She asks, mostly to be polite.
“It’s been really good, I run track so I’ve been doing a lot of running this summer to train for the next season. I’ve even been thinking about trying football next year too, do either of you play any sports?” Del shakes her head with a laugh, looking over at Wayne who looks strange.
“My dad used to box.” He tells them, it’s even something Del didn’t know. “His brother used to box on a team I guess, so he taught him, and then he taught me and my brother.” He explains, Chris looks interested.
“That's so cool, boxing is really interesting.” Wayne keeps eye contact with him, and Del can’t help but be reminded of the time with those college kids at the motel, how he stared that boy in the eye before he walked off. It practicality smacks Del in the face then, Wayne was jealous. Wayne hated talking to new people, only just recently offering more than a couple quick words to Janice.
“I’ve been thinking about seeing if there's a place around where I can get into it.” Chris nods.
“I could totally look into that, my boyfriend loves boxing so he would know of some places.” Del nearly chokes on her spit at the comment, and Wayne looks about the same as she feels.
Chris and Wayne actually talk more after that, Chris is really chatty so he just brings up one topic after another. Del knows it’s a done deal when Chris confesses to being a comic book nerd, he and Wayne talk relentlessly the rest of the night. She’s almost convinced that Chris likes him by the end of the night, asking him about his tattoos after dinner with a downright dreamy look in his eyes.
_______
July is nearly over, something that strikes Del with panic. August will go by just as quickly, then they’ll be back in school, Wayne’s senior year.
“What do you wanna do after school?” She prompts as they lay on his bed, laying on his chest.
“I don’t know.” She feels the vibration of his words against her ears, tickling them. She perks her chin on his chest looking at him. His eyes are closed, face relaxed, she thinks he looks best like this, when they're alone together like this.
“It’s your last year of school, we should try to think about it.” She sounds too much like Fiona now for her liking. He opens his eyes, making contact with her.
“I want to stay with you.” He says plainly, like it’s the simplest thing ever.
“I have two more years left Wayne, you're gonna stay through my senior year?” She hadn’t meant for this conversation to turn this way, but she’s too deep now to turn back.
“Yeah, if that's okay with you.” Del isn’t sure what to say, she wants him to stay obviously, but she doesn’t want him to feel like he has to.
“Yeah, that's okay. But that's what you want, right?” He looks at her, gaze strong.
“I want you.” He says, voice steady. It nearly knocks the breath out of her, she moves up to his face, both hands planted on either side of his head. Her fingers fiddle with his hair, his eyes close, a sigh leaving him. She leans down for a kiss then, he returns it back to her.
They lay there like that, her hands in his hair, his on her waist, all while Fleafuck is cuddled in the corner of his room on the makeshift bed they made him.
August
August thankfully brings a breeze, anything to make the horrid heat and humidity feel more bearable.
She and Wayne are visiting the cemetery again, something they hadn’t done since June. Del feels guilty for it, forgetting about it for so long, but Janice reassures her.
“It could be seen as a good thing dear, this summer you’ve been happy, enjoying yourself, and your time with Wayne. I think your mother would be elated.” It helps the guilt in the pit of her stomach.
“Do you believe in heaven?” She wasn’t expecting that, especially from Wayne. For Del it’s a difficult question.
“I don’t know. A part of me thinks heaven is just something people believe in to make themselves feel better ‘bout dying, but another part of me hopes it’s real. So my ma is really in a better place. Probably flirting with some twenty something with a fruity drink in her hand.” Wayne smiles. “Why?”
“I don’t believe in heaven.” He says, the smile disappearing off his face. “So my dad is just gone, he just lived, had all these memories and moments and now he’s gone, all of it wiped away.” He shrugs, Del just pats his back, head on his shoulder as they look down onto his fathers grave.
_____
Geller shows up not long after they visit the cemetery, looking grim. He tells Del that all of the family he was able to track down were either dead or incarcerated. Something that doesn’t shock Del at all. He promises to keep looking, to update her if things change.
Del doesn’t want things to change, she’s just fine with where they are now, here with Janice.
“I hope they don’t find anyone.” She blurts over dinner that night, Janice crooks her head to the side for a moment before she realizes what her words really mean. She purses her lips, gaze unsure.
“I believe the reality is, well, they might not. Or at least the chances seem so slim, with what he told us today. But you must know that if they do, I'm afraid you may not have a choice.” Del scoffs, fork stabbing into the meatball on the plate.
“I’m sixteen, I have a choice. If I tell them I wanna stay with you they should let me.” Janice nods, face still pensive.
“In a perfect world, yes. But this world isn’t perfect dear.” Del shelves the subject after that, with at least the reassurance that the woman across from her doesn’t want her to leave yet too.
She sees Wayne the next day and tells him all about it over pizza at the Cape Cod Cafe, he tenses at what Janice had told her, about it not being perfect.
“What if they do find family?” He prompts after swallowing down his bite, which of course they ordered with no mushrooms.
“Then I tell them to fuck off, I’m not fucking leaving.” She practically spits, she means it wholly. She won’t leave her home, because none of this is her fault. Her dad is the one who didn’t give a shit about his health enough to get better, he’s the reason she’d be leaving, and now this would be the second time. She refuses to run because of him.
“What if you didn’t have a choice?” Wayne asks, face unreadable.
“I do have a choice Wayne, I want to stay with Janice. I don’t care who I have to tell, or who I have to yell at, I'll be staying.” It still doesn't convince him.
“Ya know, if Matt hadn’t come back I don’t know where I’d be. Like I might not have been able to come back to Brockton.” He admits, staring down at his pizza. “I thought about it a lot when I was in at first, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, or if I did it would have been years.” She can’t imagine that, him being gone for that long.
“Well that didn’t happen.” She tries, but he gives her an unimpressed look, hand going to scratch the back of his neck.
“Because of Matt.” He starts, taking a breath before continuing. “ I had this teacher in there who was really nice, his name was Sean. He got me to read Wuthering Heights, you read that?” She hasn’t, but she knows about it, it’s a romance book.
“Wow this guy had you reading romance, that's cute. I haven’t read it but I know it’s all cutesy isn’t it?” He shakes his head, and her attempt at a joke doesn’t work, he still looks deathly serious.
“It’s a horrible book, all the people in it kinda suck. The main guy is all mad because the girl he loves won’t love him because he’s different, but she does love him, but she marries this other guy. Then he comes back and fucks everything up because he wants revenge, like she dies and it’s not really his fault but it is.” He rambles, stopping for a breath. “The whole thing is if he didn’t come back, a lot of it wouldn’t have happened, if he left her alone she would have lived.” Del thinks she’s getting what he’s saying now, while a little confusing with his synapsis.
“Wayne, we aren’t like that.” She offers softly, she can see how much this is bugging him as he spills it all out.
“Del, the woman he loved died because he couldn’t let her go, because he was an asshole.” He won’t look her in the eyes.
“Wayne.” It’s sharper now, he snaps his eyes to hers. “That book sounds horrible, but it’s a book. This is real life, we are completely different from those stupid characters. I mean I have pretty much loved you from the beginning, I have always accepted your weird shit and you have accepted mine. I’d like to think the two of us have improved a lot since we met. I'm not going anywhere, no matter how much anyone tries.” His eyes are wide, a pink flush dusting his cheeks.
“What if I can’t let you go?” He whispers, she feels her throat tighten, he sounds so vulnerable.
“I’m not asking you to, dummy.” It ends the topic there, they enjoy the rest of their pizza after that, going back to his place to play with Fleafuck.
______
Del meets Annette for the first time, she’s at Wayne’s place watching some stupid movies. His brother had been given all the Fast and Furious movies by a coworker, needless to say Wayne was in deep. The door opens and Matt walks through first, a woman following him.
“Hey Del.” Matt smiles, offering a wave their way. The woman next to him waves at them as well.
“Hey Wayne.” She greets, voice gentle, sickly sweet. He nods at them.
“So guys.” Matt claps his hands, a big smile spread over his face. “I have a proposition for you both.” He looks giddy, Del just raises her brow at him.
“Yeah?” She asks, not one for big surprises.
“So, I was thinking. Ya know it’s such a nice day out, the breeze is fucking amazing. We should go to the beach, I was thinking about Plymouth.” Annette nudges Matt, whispering something about his language she thinks. Del perks up immediately, she knows that beach.
She looks over at Wayne who doesn’t look too enthralled by the idea.
“Come on, it could be a lot of fun, you’ve never been to a beach too.” She tries, he looks down at her with a look like he’s about to make the most important decision in his whole life, all over a beach visit.
“Do you want to?” He asks, she gives him a look.
“Fuck yeah, but do you want to? We can stay if you want but I haven’t swam in ages.” He again looks contemplative, but he nods. Matt and Annette both celebrate.
They drive Del back to Janice’s place to pick up her swimsuit, Matt promises her he’ll have her back by ten at the latest, but Jancie doesn’t seem to be bothered.
“Just have fun.” She tells Del as she prepares to leave, Wayne and Del take the back seat, the drive is a little under an hour.
True to her word she does have fun at the beach, Matt and Annette go off to do their own thing, and she and Wayne just walk the beach. It’s the first time she’s ever seen him in shorts, borrowing a pair from his brother, because unsurprisingly Wayne didn’t own a pair.
She asks Wayne to apply some sunscreen, she burns quick it’s her curse of being fair skinned. He flushes red when she hands him the bottle, but he does it for her, and she can’t deny how nice his hands feel against the skin of her back. She offers to apply some on him, he tries to say no but he’s just as pale as she is, he’ll burn alive without some on. She tells him as much and he caves.
She can feel the muscles of his back relax as she applies, he sways a little bit as she works it in, she’s almost worried he’ll fall over before she’s done. Wayne doesn’t want to get in the water, which she respects, but she also tells him she’s getting in either way. She’s in the water for not even ten minutes when she sees him awkwardly wad his way through the water.
“You don’t have to come in Wayne.” She offers, but he shakes his head, the water is about to his waist.
“I wanna come with you though.” Her heart swells at the words.
They spend hours goofing around in the water, Del feels her skin pruning, but Wayne doesn’t complain once. When the sun starts to set she’s reminded of the day she spent here with her family, something she tells Wayne as they stand chest deep in the swaying water. She tells him about the day, how her mother complained, how her father held her in these waters, how fond the memory still was for her.
He looks sad for her, a lost look on his face, like he has no clue what to say. She looks at him, as he tries to figure out something to say to her.
“But I guess now I have a new memory of this beach, being here with you.” She tells him instead, he looks like she gut punched him with her words. She leans in to kiss him, tasting the salt on his lips.
They go home not long after, and true to Matt’s word to Janice she’s home by ten.
________
School starts next week, leaving Del with a pit in her stomach. She’s not even as mad about going to school, she’s upset because she won’t get to spend as much time with Wayne. They are currently on the way to the school to get their schedules, walking there to enjoy some of the weather more.
Once inside the school is bustling, teachers and students all around them on the way to the office. She hears Orlando before she sees him, calling out Wayne’s name.
“Hey man, are you excited to be a senior this year!” Orlando most certainly seems to be, Wayne just shrugs.
“I guess, it doesn’t really make much of a difference for me.” Orlando scoffs.
“C'mon man, we're the top dogs this year, top tier of the chain. This is it for us, yo! We should totally do some pranks this year!” Wayne looks uncomfortable at the idea.
“No, I don’t wanna be getting in trouble, Mike says I’m doing really well. That maybe by winter I won’t need to be under probation. I’m not messing that up.” Del is proud of him for it, but Orlando boos him and calls him a party pooper, leaving to go see Diya.
As they enter the office they see Cole in his office, talking with parents by the looks of it. They approach the desk and tell the woman their names. Del is giddy as they compare their schedules, they again share the same lunch and a study period. Shockingly they also share a gym hour too. Not that Del is complaining, just more time she gets to spend with him at school.
Del isn’t really sure what is going to happen this year, she hopes very little. She wants peace in her life, like the peace she felt this summer with Wayne. She wants to get through school and do things, she dreams about moving in with Wayne, not that she’s told him yet. Trying to find something she enjoys doing, she’s even been reconsidering politics again, maybe she really could try to run for Mayor one day.
She isn’t sure yet, but she wants to do important things in her life, and she wants to do them with Wayne by her side.