The trailer seemed strange without Melody around. Rick understood why she’d moved on—defeating McAllister wouldn’t do a lick of good if his second-in-command, the Snake Goddess, wasn’t captured too. The thing Rick didn’t really understand was why he hadn’t gone with her.
He didn’t like the idea of adventures going on without him. But he also didn’t like the idea of leaving right now.
Oliver’s alligator nightmares hadn’t gone away. If anything, they now felt more real, more detailed. Rick could hear him crying out as he woke up. If Rick asked what was wrong, Oliver would try to downplay it, saying it was just leftover nerves from what had gone down in Florida. He said it would go away over time. Rick wasn’t so sure.
Rick wasn’t awake now because of Oliver making noise, but because of a silence so absolute there was no way Oliver was around. With the threat of attack temporarily lessened, they’d moved the trailer aboveground, so a muted light was coming through the windows.
Rick threw on a bathrobe and walked outside. It was dawn, the grass wet with dew, the sky on the verge of color. Oliver, also wrapped in a bathrobe, hadn’t walked too far away. He stood at the edge of the hill, looking at the spot where the sun would soon rise.
Oliver didn’t seem surprised when Rick came up to him.
“You’re up early,” Rick said.
“My thoughts woke me up,” Oliver explained. Then, referencing the now-imprisoned Jacques Le Jacques, he said, “It’s really weird to finally find out you have family and realize you don’t want to have anything to do with them.”
“He’s not your family,” Rick assured Oliver. “You get to decide.”
Oliver nodded, and as he angled his head down, the sun tilted its head above the horizon.
“That’s pretty,” Rick observed.
Oliver thought it was pretty too, but he had more important things on his mind. He needed to get them off his mind, and Rick was the only person he wanted to give them to.
He turned and looked at his friend for a second, the way the sun cast its glow across his welcoming, delighted face.
“Look,” Oliver said, “I love it here. And I know what we do, fighting evil, is important. But how would you feel if we … went to school. Like, a regular school. Just to be around other kids and to do things like go to movies and complain about homework and have friends who don’t always have to save our lives. How would you feel about that?”
Rick turned away from the sunrise and turned toward his friend. He took in the question and thought about it a second. Then he smiled.
“You know I’m always up for a challenge,” he replied. “Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, count me in.”
Now Oliver smiled back, all his nervousness gone. They watched each other and they watched the sunrise, and the way they felt, it was just about the same thing.
At that moment Rick knew just how deeply he loved Oliver, and Oliver knew just how deeply he loved Rick, and the understanding of this moment would lead them to much of the happiness and adventure that came next.
THE END