Page 47 of Sugar

“Juno…”

“No, I know,” he said in a rush. He didn’t want to talk about this now, but he figured it couldn’t hurt to give Piper some peace of mind. “I’m probably gonna say yes to moving in as long as you don’t want to throw me into the Atlantic by the time we’re done with this trip.”

“Only to cool you off,” Piper told him, leaning in to steal a quick kiss before tugging him along. “And I’d be right there with you.”

“I can’t believe you’re not married to some fucking supermodel with those moves,” Juno told him.

Piper just laughed and kept his hand as they made their way up the trail. There were more people on the trail now, the closer they got, and Juno started to get anxious.

“How much further?”

“It’s right up there. I can hear the water,” Piper said.

Now that he mentioned it, Juno could too. It wasn’t the rush of a huge falls, but it wasn’t a gentle trickle either. The air was wetter there—not quite humid. It was almost misty in a way. It was a moment he understood why people in the past believed in the fae. The place felt a little surreal, like they were stepping into another world.

They made their way down the trail, and then finally, Piper squeezed his hand. There was a small crowd near a collection of tall rocks with water flowing down. And then Juno’s heart squeezed because he could hear what they were saying.

“…went out last night.”

“That guy over there has petroleum. He’s going to light it.”

“Yeah, it was out last time I was here too.”

His heart felt like he was crawling out of his stomach. You don’t even believe in that bullshit, he told himself, but maybe it was a sign. He blinked, looking for changes in his vision, but it remained steadfastly the same.

“It’s okay,” Piper told him, pulling Juno’s back against his front. He leaned down to speak right against his ear. “It goes out sometimes. But the reason it burns hasn’t changed.”

“How did they start it before they had lighters?” Juno asked. He still felt a little off-kilter, but he was safe in Piper’s arms.

“That’s a good question. I was never much of a historian, but I bet my brother would know.”

“Did you ever take him here?”

Piper laughed. “No. He’s not much for hiking, but he likes to read about ancient geography and geology and things like that when he gets bored.”

“Oh God, he’s going to think I’m stupid,” Juno moaned.

“He won’t. He’s not a big fan of that word. He finds it meaningless, and I agree with him.”

Juno scoffed and tilted his head back to look up at Piper. From that position, he could see all of him—with both eyes. His heart swooped in his chest. He couldn’t stare at him like this for long, but maybe he could keep this. “How is it meaningless?”

“Because no one is stupid. It’s a word meant to insult someone’s intelligence, and that implies that their worth is only in how smart they are. And that’s a fallacy because everyone is smarter than everyone else in their own ways. I might know more about space than you, and Phoenix might have an encyclopedia of knowledge about how rocks are formed, but neither one of us will ever be experts on the things you are.”

“Trauma?”

“You’re so much more than that, and you know it,” Piper said.

Juno knew his answer hadn’t been fair. He knew perfectly well he had strengths other people didn’t. He was just feeling low. And maybe a little afraid. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Piper said and held him a little tighter. Then his breath caught. “It’s going. The flame is going.”

Juno slowly pulled away, taking several steps forward until he could see it. It was such a small thing. Underwhelming in so many ways, and yet, he felt warm inside. Thousands of people, if not more, flocked to see the exact spot. So many people thought it was important.

That it was worth something.

Why couldn’t he be important to someone too?

Piper touched him on the waist, then wrapped an arm around him as they watched it burn behind the water. There were people around them, but for the moment, Juno was only aware of their heartbeats. No one else existed.

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