He slept for a few hours. He woke up with the pre-dawn and waited for everyone at school. Huck came before everyone else did.
"Hey, Tom." Huck said, walking up to him.
"Hi, Huck." Tom smiled. "Get sleep after I left?"
"Some." Huck shrugged. "Ain't your fault, though." Huck said, wringing his hands. Tom nodded, running a hand through his hair. "How's it going with Becky?" Huck asked.
"Oh, it's going pretty well. Calmed down since we got back together. It's nice." Tom said. He saw something in Huck's eyes and couldn't place it. But when Huck looked back at him, Tom had to look away so he wasn't staring.
"That's good. I'm glad you two're happy." Huck said.
"Me too." Tom smiled. He saw Becky and the others coming. He waved, and Huck looked over to where they were, too.
"We still on for today after school?" Tom asked before they got there.
"Yeah, 'course." Huck said, and Tom nodded. The others came and they all talked. Tom felt like there was a strange feeling between him and Huck, but it felt warmer and better than feeling so distant.
School eventually started. The day went by. Huck did all of his work in class, not talking to anyone, and then at break and lunch he was so open. Every day of seeing it made Tom more interested in seeing it again.
And Tom was hardly there as Mr. Dobbins beat him and as he was called on, over and over in each of his classes. He focused on being able to talk with Huck after school. Being able to relax because he had a definite friend he could see after the day's uncomfortable, unbearable feeling. He held on to that-- after all this, he could see Huck. After turning in one assignment and realizing he forgot another, he kept thinking that. It'd be okay.
So eventually, school ended.
"Hey, I'm gonna hang out with Huck, today." Tom said to Becky as they left class. He felt uneasy, talking to her about Huck. He didn't know what she'd say.
"Oh, okay." She said. Tom nodded, relief in his chest in that split second.
They walked out to the courtyard together, and through the current of people, Huck came up to Tom. "I'll see you tomorrow." Becky said, and smiled and hugged Tom. It brought a calmness to his chest, and he realized his heart had been beating so fast. "Bye, Tom."
"Bye, Becky." Tom said, watching her leave with the other waves of people. Huck looked at him, and Tom looked back, smiling.
"Ready?" Huck asked, and his warm steady voice made Tom's heart beat a little slower. But he still didn't know why it was fast in the first place.
"Yeah." Tom said.
Maybe it was because they hadn't hung out alone in years. And Tom would find out what Huck was really like, now.
They would be by themselves, together, like old times. Old friends finally, finally reunited as they used to be.
They walked through the courtyard and left school side by side. Their shoulders hit together, sometimes, and it would bring another wave to Tom's stomach.
"You doin' alright, Tom?" Huck asked, looking at him. Tom turned and met his eyes, then looked away again.
"Yeah." Tom said, but his voice was shallow.
"You seem nervous." Huck said, bumping shoulders with him again.
"I," Tom sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I think I am."
"Well, don't be. It's just us." Huck said. Tom nodded. His heartbeats subsided to slow pulses.
"Okay." Tom smiled, meeting eyes with Huck again. He tried to forget about the burning in his stomach until eventually it subsided. They talked and breathed and walked together through town, towards the woods. Like old times. Like how it should've been all along.
Tom and Huck walked together to the woods. Tom felt a comfort in their steps together-- in the same pace of their movements. And a calm came as they reached the edge of the trees and they weaved through them to their usual spot.
They got there and air was warm, even in the shadows of the trees. They set their bags down, and then Tom sat on the ground. Huck sat next to him.
Tom looked around, feeling breezes on his skin and feeling the hard, rough ground under him. The ends of twigs and leaves poked into his legs, and Tom leaned back onto his hands, looking up through the branches. He heard Huck's quiet breaths as he stared up, up, at the vibrant and bright blue in the sky, past the trees.
Rustling came, and Tom looked to Huck, who was moving to lay down.
Tom watched as Huck lay and put his hands behind his head as a sort of cushion; he saw as the bottom of Huck's shirt came up just enough for tan skin to show. Tom felt his breaths slow in his throat for a moment, and he looked away, up again. Tom stayed sitting.
"Why'd ya wanna hang out so bad if it's just this? Just us?"
"Uh... I don't know, really." Tom said. He stared at the sky from his spot on the ground.
"...Ain't that boring to you?" Huck asked.
"Is it, to you?" Tom asked, looking down at Huck again with a furrow in his eyebrows. Tom was having fun.
"No, but..." Huck turned his head and his eyes met Tom's. "I thought it might've been, for you." Huck said, and their eyes didn't break their connection. Tom shook his head. Tom felt a swirling in his chest again. He tried not to look down at Huck's stomach. "Alright, then." Huck said. Tom's mind was buzzing, and the seconds all stilled into one, until Huck looked away. Abruptly, Huck got up. He wrung his hands, not bothering to brush off his clothes.
"Where you going?" Tom asked. Huck turned to Tom, taking a few steps backwards. He motioned with a flick of his head backwards, towards the way he was moving. A half-smile came to Huck's mouth, and Tom stayed sitting.
"Come on, Tom." Huck said.
"What? But..." Tom looked around them. They had been sitting, relaxing...
"Tom Sawyer. Come on." Huck said. Wrung his hands again and then let them fall. "Let's take a walk."
Tom hesitated again. But Huck was staring at him, still walking backwards, and Tom felt a nervousness on if Huck walked backwards into a tree. Tom sighed, exhaling quickly.
"Alright. Alright!" Tom said, and Huck's smile widened for a moment, and Tom gave a smile back. Huck turned around and kept walking, so Tom caught up.
Tom brushed off his clothes and ran a hand through his hair. Huck had a strange sort of expression on his face-- the smile was gone and his eyes were staring at the ground, and in this second he didn't have that usual feeling of greatness-- of excitement-- that he usually had. Instead, Tom felt the bareness of being with him, like Huck had lost the display he had on for everyone.
But then Huck glanced over and saw Tom staring at him, and his eyes gained that smoky look they had when looking at Tom. And they continued like it hadn't happened.
Tom felt waves over him. Like he was under a lake, looking up at the smooth sun through the water, and he was wrapped in warmness and silence, and he was calm. Almost unthinking except for when he looked at Huck and met his eyes. Walking through the woods.
Huck had been walking slightly ahead of Tom, but now had slowed. And now they walked at the same pace, side by side, like they had been when leaving school. Bumping shoulders as they walked, slowly, slowly, through the trees. Into patches of sun with its increasing gold, and into shadowed areas where the light was spread between trees. Tom thought of Becky for a moment, and of what she was doing. But then Huck looked back again and smiled. And he forgot. And he smiled back.
It was so different here. Every so often there were squirrels and birds, and then the sound of a steamboat, but otherwise... This place had no qualities that life in town had.
Tom was surprised that in all these years, he hadn't come back here. Not until a few weeks ago. Everything had changed so much these past few weeks, few months.
They kept going through the forest, side by side. And then Tom heard Huck's intake of breath and saw his skipping steps. Huck started to sprint, then. Through the forest, and Tom halted for a moment, seeing that. Huck's his steps were so strong and sure, weaving through trees.
Tom realized that if he marveled longer he would lose him, and so he started running, too. He heard a whoop and saw Huck look back for a moment at him. Tom laughed and smiled, and the wind and breaths moved through his open mouth and his teeth, and the sun shifted warmly on his skin. His hair went into his eyes. His heart beat fast, and it was finally from the movement of his body and not just irregularities. A buzzing warmth was in his legs and his arms and his chest.
This felt right.
Tom weaved past trees that snagged on his shirt and his pants. He felt an ache in his legs from all this running, but he just ran faster, trying and trying to catch up with Huck. Another laugh breathed out of him into the warm air, and he was so close. Tom reached out and leaned forwards, running faster and continuing. Another weave in the trees, and then he was even closer to Huck; he could almost step on his heels and get tangled with him. He could almost-- Tom tripped forwards and caught and gripped Huck's arm, and they came to a stop.
Their breaths were so heavy they took up the air and filled Tom's ears. And their smiles were open and wide as they met eyes. Tom's stomach hurt from the running, the hard breathing, the laughter that was pulling up through his chest. Tom let go of Huck's arm.
"What was that?" Tom asked. He could hardly ask it. Huck shook his head, reaching his free hand out to Tom. It rested on Tom's shoulder, and Tom couldn't focus on its warmth because he had to breathe, had to get more air. They were both leaning over the ground, out of breath.
"I dunno." Huck shrugged, laughed, and Tom laughed back. "I just felt like running." Huck said. Tom looked at him. He almost got his breaths back, but now it was his heart that was out of control. Beating in his throat and his head and his ears and pulling a heat through his body.
"Alright." Tom said. He could hardly think through his words with the tiredness and the hum and blur he had now. Tom could see specks in Huck's eyes. "I," Tom took a long breath, breathing in the air like a long wind, and letting it go a few moments later. Huck stood upright again, but his hand was still on Tom's shoulder. "I haven't had that much fun in a while." Tom said.
"Me neither." Huck said. Tom's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked at Huck. Huck was busy staring up through the trees.
"What?" Tom ran a hand through his hair. He felt small bits of leaves in it and pulled them out. Probably from sitting, probably from the running. How long had those been there? A heat stayed in Tom's face. "You-- you didn't have any fun on your trip?" Tom asked. Huck's hand left Tom. He wrung his hands, and a smile shortly came to his face.
"No, I did, but..." Huck sighed. "Only for part of it. But that ended and I had to move on." Huck said. Tom nodded. He heard the noises of the forest around them again, with his heartbeats subsided.
"Well, that's how I felt," Tom's eyes met his, "when you left." Tom said.
"Really?" Huck asked. And Tom nodded. They breathed together and the air gained a glow.
Huck looked at him a while and smiled. The wideness of it, the brightness of it, made Tom smile too. They stared at each other.
Huck was right in front of him. They stared at each other, and their faces were so close.
Tom could really look at him-- at those eyes, and at the sparks in them, and at the few, scattered freckles on his skin. In the forest, Tom could only hear their breaths. He could only see Huck and the specks in his eyes, familiar and full and warm like fire glowing white-yellow. The air here in this liminal place was yellow like a sunset, like a sunrise, like stars, collected.
Everything about Huck was relieving, was calming, except for the feeling Tom sometimes got in his stomach. A soft glow, a faint twinging-- Huck looked away.
Huck turned and they kept walking. Kept moving through that forest together. Until eventually the sun started setting and they could see it past the trees.