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after they left the amphitheater, they began walking down towards the road that led to the elementary school. “race you to the tire swing,” he cried and began running towards the school’s playground. sutton began running after him and pulled him away from the tire swing by his stomach as he clasped on to the iron rings. she quickly pulled him away and pushed herself towards the swing, laughing as taylor fell back into the soft sand. she meshed herself into the small swing, suited for a five year old rather than a fifteen year old as taylor looked up to the sky. “are you gonna push me?” sutton asked as she looked down at taylor. “probably not,” he laughed as he slowly stood and brushed himself off. “alright,” sutton gave into him. “you can go first.” taylor laughed as he replaced sutton in the tire swing, and held on as sutton began whipping him around in circles. they laughed together as taylor leaned his head back and his blond hair blew in the breeze. taylor lied on the swing, his long legs nearly touching the ground as he let go with his arms and twirled around in circles. sutton laughed, “you look just like a little kid.” “but i am,” he smiled as he reached for her hands and sutton grabbed them, and pushed him forward again. she gave him a couple more pushes and went and sat in the sand near the swing as he slowly stopped swinging. he carefully sat up and fell out of the swing and into the sand next to sutton. “i don’t think i’m getting back in that thing again,” he laughed. “i wouldn’t want you to get stuck in here,” sutton grinned as she let sand drain from her fingers like a sieve onto his khaki pants. “quit it,” he laughed as he pushed the sand off of him and onto sutton. she quickly stood up and brushed the sand off of her and taylor followed her up yellow rubber steps as they ran across a drawbridge and followed each other down a big twirling slide. “its funny how easily we can amuse ourselves,” sutton said as she and him went down the slide together again, and landed in the sand. they began to laugh as they helped each other up and wandered back up the steps to the top of the playset. “i know, but its not that hard when i’m with you,” taylor said as they sat down next to each other, legs dangling off of a platform. sutton blushed as he continued, “i’ve missed you, sutt.” “i know,” she said and patted his arm, suddenly wanting to pull him closer and confide in him. the wind blew through their hair and sutton exhaled deeply as she brought her legs into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “you won’t have to miss me anymore, though. i’ll be with you for like, ten more months.” she siad instead, simply. “i know, i know.” taylor smiled. “are you cold?” “kind of.” “do you want to go home?” taylor asked. “shouldn’t i be asking you that?” sutton smiled. “but you’re not.” he grinned. “okay, do you want to go home?” “no.” “neither do i,” she shook her head. “well what are we going to do to keep you warm?” “you can try to catch me,” sutton said and quickly jumped to her feet and went twirling down the yellow tube. she ran towards the opposite side of the playground as taylor cried, “no!” and jumped off of the platform and began running towards her. “you better run,” he called as he neared her and she ran back behind him towards the playset and around it until taylor finally caught up with her. he grabbed her shirt and pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her stomach as they laughed, out of breath. “ah ha, i got you,” he said into her hair. they swayed to the right and to the left and then fianlly lost their balance and they fell to the ground. sutton landed on top of taylor and laughed as she rolled over to the sand next to him as they exhaled loudly. “gosh you’re fast,” she sighed, dizzy from running so fast. she leaned her head back in the cool sand. “well i bet you’re not cold anymore,” taylor said. “ah, no.” she grinned. “what time is it anyway?” she asked as she played with taylor’s shoelaces and he nonchalantly poured sand on her stomach. taylor looked at his watch. “quarter to six.” “already? wow.” taylor nodded. “do you think we should go back for dinner?” “yeah, i just want to go on the swings first.” she said as she sat up and stood and taylor followed her. sutton stood in the bucket of her swing and taylor did the same next to her as they began to swing back and forth. “i bet i can jump further than you,” sutton looked over to taylor and grinned as she swung back and forth. “i bet you can’t,” taylor smirked and laughed. “fine, are you ready?” she asked. “yep, go ahead.” “on five,” sutton said and waited a moment and then began a countdown as they swung back and forth. “5...4...3...2.....1!!” she cried as they jumped from their swings and flew into the sand below. taylor landed a little behind sutton, but noticed she had fallen to her back and was clutching her knee. “oww,” she cried as she sat up and taylor came crawling over to her. her right knee was a scratched, bloody mess as it skidded against a large rock on her way down from the swing, and her right shin and arms had several scrapes and bloody cuts as well. “oh sutt,” he said as he kneeled before her and gently placed his index finger on her knee. sutton quickly slapped it away and he said, “i’m sorry.” “its okay,” she said and reached for his hand and squeezed it. “sorry.” sutton winced as she brushed away a few grains of sand and rock that were around her knee and inspected her wound. taylor leaned in closer and gently blew it softly and looked up to her. their eyes connected and for a moment all of her pain was gone. taylor quickly looked away and said, “thats pretty bad, we better get you home so my mom can clean you up. it looks like small rocks and sand impeded your skin.” he said quietly. “yeah...” sutton groaned, embarassed for hurting herself. she brought her hand up to her head and scratched her temple. “aw, sutt. look at your arm,” he said and pointed out the scrapes and blood that was forming. “gosh, i really outdid myself this time,” she managed a weak smile as she brushed off her arm. “do you want a piggy back ride?” taylor stood and grinned and held his hands out towards her to help her up. sutton took his hands and stood as she shifted her weight to her left foot. “i’m so embarassed.” sutton said as she held onto his hands to steady herself. “don’t be. its not as bad as the time as i flew over the windshield of my parents car when i was riding my bike down that hill, and actually broke my arm.” sutton looked at taylor and grinned. “how do you always know the right things to say?” he held onto one of her hands as they walked out of the sandy area and into the grass. sutton limped along as he shrugged and smiled. when they reached the grass sutton stopped and rubbed the back of her knee. “quit being macho sutt, i know that hurts. i can give you a piggy back ride.” taylor offered. she looked at him, appreciative, and he squatted as she got onto his back. he slowly stood and sutton draped her arms loosely around his neck as his blond hair tickled her nose. “are you okay?” he asked as he began walking out of the playground area and across the street. “yeah,” sutton breathed. she put her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes. “i just feel really stupid. i still beat you though,” she grinned and saw a faint smile appear across his lips. “yes, you did.” taylor walked slowly home, not worried about running into any overzealous fans or being late for dinner. the weather had cooled down tremendously, and the faint breeze that blew through the pine trees as well as their hair was soothing, peaceful. taylor scuffed along the side of the road as he turned onto his street. “you alive back there?” he asked softly. “yea,” sutton smiled. “kinda worn out and tired now. i’m about to fall asleep.” “i would if i were you, too. you know that you’re extremely heavy, though?” taylor laughed. “god taylor, don’t make me feel even worse,” sutton said and closed her eyes, knowing he was kidding. “you know i’m kidding,” taylor said and twirled around as he wandered down the long street to their house at the end. sutton tightened her grasp around his neck as she laughed. he began jogging down the road, suddenly not wanting everyone to be waiting for them and make a big deal when they returned. when he reached the house he gently let sutton slide off his back as she limped up the steps to the front door, taylor behind her. |