Mr. Lone Boy /BoyxBoy/

||Twenty-eight||

"I think we picked the wrong season for a camping trip," Jesse commented when we finally arrived at the camping site.

Tom waved him off. "We'll be fine. I got those heater thingies for our tents."

"I don't think that'll be enough."

"Well, we have each other," Tom suggested, his cheeks pinking.

Jesse smiled and swooped down to give him a quick peck on the lips. "You're right."

"Come on," Ian said to me.

"Hmm?" I asked, distracted by the couple's exchange.

"I said let's go. We should set up our tent before night fall."

I nodded, following Ian back to the car where we carried our things and found a good spot to set up our tent.

It was too cold.

There was lake somewhere near where we made camp, but it was too cold to take a dip in and therefore we had nothing much to do.

I stared at the trees around us, admiring the way almost every one of them seemed to be of the same hight. I admired the way the sky looked so clear. The way the air smelt so much fresher than the air back in the city.

I loved how almost everything seemed out in the open, as if nature was aware of its secretes and wasn't afraid to show them to the world. Yet there were times when my eyes fell against the endless rows of trees and wondered if there was anything hidden, something not meant for my eyes to see.

I took a deep breath and sighed, sitting on a log by the fire I just helped build up with Ian.

We were originally going to stay near Jesse and Tom, but after we saw the way they clung to each other, we decided otherwise and had our tent somewhere farther away.

We could still see them, but only if we tried really hard and tilted heads at a certain angle.

"Are you cold?" Ian asked, sitting beside me.

I shook my head. "It's not too bad."

He nodded. "At least it isn't raining."

"Yeah."

"Would you like to have some of the s'mores now?"

"Sure. We've got nothing better to do."

He agreed, and got up to fetch the bag of food we had bought earlier.

I instantly felt deprived of his warmth, and hated myself for noticing that.

"Here," Ian said when he came back.

He kept a safe distance away from me, yet I still inched my way closer to him.

The fire isn't enough, I managed to convince myself.

I took the bag of marshmallows from his outstretched hand and tugged it open.

We roasted our marshmallows in silence and I huddle in the blanket I got from my pack. Ian was silent as well, but I had a feeling that he had a million thoughts running around in his head. Just like I did.

"I wish we had hot chocolate," he said.

"We don't?"

He frowned thoughtfully. "I don't remember buying any."

"I'll go check," I said, moving to stand, but Ian swiftly beat me to it.

"Stay," he said, "I'll go look for it now."

"Okay."

Ian got up once again and came back with a pack of hot chocolate, two mugs, a milk carton, and a pan.