⌗ 21
third person ✎ᝰ
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The weekend slips away like two lovers adjourned, a balloon gone with the wind or a whisper into thin air. The couple are sat beneath the big Maple tree, ultimately deciding to spend their last few moments under the stars.

The little house on the hill shines vividly behind them. The lights shine through the bay windows.
Their belongings are laid neatly by the hallway, ready to go for their departure later in the evening. "I can't believe we're already leaving."

Riley finds herself sat in between Mason's legs. The latter has her arms around her girlfriend, chin resting on their left shoulder. "I know," She sighed. "Which is why we're coming back next month." Mason grinned widely.

Riley turns her face. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that we're coming back." Mason explained, feeling quite proud. "I booked our stay for our second month. I had a feeling we'd be coming back so I thought ahead and planned everything. We'll be back before you know it."

There's a silence that follows. A comfortable one that lingers through the air. The night sky illuminates the city past the vast green hills. Their stay had been short yet sweet. An opportunity to get away from reality and take in their solitude from the busy crowds and the familiarity of the homes they always go back to.

It was a taste of a possible future, one where they live in their own little place, away from the bustling city and the societal norms. It was a their own little escape—free to be themselves. Free to love and be happy without anyone telling them otherwise. It was a safe space that they so desperately needed, and one, that came at the right time, one that came, when they most needed it, one that came to those that needed to break away from reality and live a fairy tale dream. The cottage life is alive and well. Nature surrounds them, appealing to eye. The white and pink tulips sway with the wind, dancing to a song almost. You can ever hear the croaks and chirps of those that take refuge in this cottage.

Mason could paint a picture of her future. Riley, not so much. The younger had been determined in her want for a life away from her home and familiarity. A new experience she was willing to take. It was the latter who bore many calculated concerns. Riley felt dizzy at the thought of being away from everything she's ever known. Unfamiliarity, after all can be a scary thing. She thought carefully about things. Could she sacrifice her own belonging to live a life with the person she loves most? The thought provokes her enough to pull away slightly from the younger's embrace, earning a rather confused expression.

The brunette takes a deep breath. A multitude of thoughts had come crashing down upon her like waves to the shore. Her breath hitched as she moved away even further, disappearing from Mason's embrace, the warmth she so desperately seeks. "Love, what's wrong?"

Riley takes a stand and walks further down the hill, arms crossed and her lips pursed. That look only meant one thing. She was overthinking. Mason followed suit and made her way down to the pond where Riley had brought herself to. She's sitting by the waters edge, the tips of her fingers gliding through the cold crystal water.

Mason looks back at their time at the pond. The atmosphere this time round is much different to the one she previously encountered. It's no longer the same. An undefined tension mixes itself into the breeze of the night. It seems colder now. The latter takes a deep breath and sits herself beside her partner. Riley shivers at the touch of the wind beneath her skin. This compels Mason to take off her oversized jacket. She takes it with both hands and wraps it around Riley's shoulders, ushering the girl to put it on.

"Riley, what happened?" Her voice is softer than usual. "There's something bothering you, isn't there?" She added. Riley shakes her head but leaves Mason totally unconvinced. She can't lie.

"It's fine it's nothing much," Riley uttered. Her voice was monotone. "I think I just need to sit and think for a while. It's nothing don't worry."

Mason scrunched her brows together. The look on Riley's face was unusual, like the life had been sucked dry from her soul, like a dementor draining out feelings of happiness and joy; that of which can only be repelled by the Patronus charm. It was simply odd and off putting for Mason. The girl beside her was completely out of character. The happy go lucky had been stripped away and was evidently replaced with something unknown, therefore placing a feeling of anxiousness deep within Mason's mind. It's seed was deeply rooted. The only question was whether it would continue to grow as time passed. And that made Mason feel bothered.

They sit under the stars for a little while longer. A silence so deafening following them thereafter. It had stirred a complete turnover for what was meant to be their getaway from their own reality. But it seemed, as time passed, although slow, was that this was their reality. One that could change like the turn of the wind, the transition from night to day or the silence before the storm.

Riley shifts in her place and takes Mason's hand in hers. Her warmth was replaced by the coldness wrapped around her from the droplets of water that drip down the sides of her hand and past her elbow. Mason felt a small smile form on her lips, although unhappy but still somewhat grateful.

She squeezes the latter's hand and wishes for the best. Her lucky stars are looking down upon her from the sky above. They can't do her no wrong.
The universe is on her side. It always has been. Mason believed that wholeheartedly. The cosmos had given her a gift in the form of a person. An invisible string ties them together after all.

The red string of fate.

Red symbolises happiness after all.

The red string of fate that brings two people together.

Destined lovers regardless of place, time or circumstances. It may stretch or tangle, but never break.

But red can mean many different things,

But life is never just red either.