We all sat by the dying bonfire, talking, playing games, laughing and eventually, getting sleepy. "Night!" Daniel called out while crawling into his tent behind Hayley.

Alex and I stayed outside for a few more minutes, listening to the water hit the shore repeatedly. "The sky looks pretty," I whispered while looking to see the stars littering the pitch-black sky while the moon bounced off the waves.

He hummed in response while kissing my cheek.

"Let's go inside," I slowly stood up, dusting the sand off my legs.

He followed me in and I almost immediately collapsed on my sleeping bag. "Tired, huh?" he questioned while throwing his shirt over his head.

Of course.

"Yup, very." I sighed, "Goodnight," I turned my back to face him before closing my eyes. I was expecting to hear some shuffling while he got into his sleeping bag, but I didn't.

Because he didn't get into his sleeping bag. He got into mine.

"What're you doing?" I chuckled while turning to face him.

"I don't have a sleeping bag," he lied.

"Alex, I see it!" I laughed.

"No, you don't," he said slowly.

I sighed before shaking my head and closing my eyes. A couple of minutes went by and all I could hear every minute was Alex letting out a frustrated sigh. "I can hear the wheels turning in your head. Literally. What's wrong?" I opened my eyes.

"I don't know," he groaned, "I just can't sleep," he rubbed his eyes.

"Something particular on your mind?" I asked while running my hand through his hair.

"Nothing," he said hesitantly.

"You don't have to talk about it," I replied.

"I don't even know what's going on in my head. It's just a random, swirled mix of things," he huffed.

"About what?" I questioned softly.

"You," he turned to look at me.

"What about me?" I asked.

"About yesterday. About the roses," he mumbled.

"You don't wanna talk about it?" I questioned. He gently shook his head. "So don't, Alex." I kissed his cheek softly before retracting my hand, only for him to grab it and place it back in his hair. I chuckled but kept going nonetheless, both of us dozing off without realizing.

x-X-x

I woke up in the middle of the night to see Alex gone. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and peeked out of the tent.

Did he leave the tent open?

I blinked to get back my clear vision and I saw a silhouette sitting by the shore. I sighed before crawling out, walking over to him. I stood beside where he sat, looking down at him with my eyes barely opening.

"Hey," he whispered. He was sitting while hugging his knees.

I had a permanent pout on my face as I always do when I wake up while the sleeves of his hoodie dangled way past my arms while the cold breeze blew against my bare legs. I grabbed his arms, throwing them off his legs.

Once his legs fell, straightening out, I crawled into his lap, straddling him, sitting with my legs beside his waist, my head resting on his shoulder. "Where'd you go?" I whined while hugging him.

"I woke up to get water, then I couldn't sleep again. I came out here to clear my head," he kissed the top of my head before running his hands through my hair.

"What's going on, Alex? Are you okay?" I pulled away to look at him, wide awake now.

He sighed but didn't answer and I didn't push. He needed time. "I just can't stop thinking about the roses," he huffed.

"What about them? Talk to me," I put his arms around my waist while looking at him.

He was looking at everything but me.

I grabbed his face and pulled it up, his eyes meeting mine. I arched an eyebrow at him while wrapping my arms around his neck.

"I should've picked a different flower," he scoffed.

"Maybe," I nodded and his eyes snapped to mine. "But you didn't. For a reason that you may not even know. But it's okay. Alex, you're not in lo-"

He cut me off, "I'm in love with you, Faith."

I just stared at him motionlessly. "What?" I sputtered out.

"I'm in love with you," he repeated.

"No, you're not," I shook my head. "You're just overthinking this because you know red roses symbolize love." I reasoned.

"That's what I thought. But apparently not. I am in love with you, Faith. I've never been in love so I don't exactly know what it is, but this is what I imagine it to feel like."

No, no, no! This can't be happening.

"You're not in love with me," I shook my head again.

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"You're not."

"Yes, I am, Faith."

"No, you're not Alex!"

"Why are you-"

I cut him off. "Because!" I snapped.

He sighed in realization. "Faith, just because I'm in love with you, doesn't mean you have to be in love with me," he held my hands.

"Yes, it does! That's how relationships work, Alex! They're not meant to be one-sided!" I huffed.

"Why are you freaking out about this? It's not that big of a deal," he said.

"Not that big of a deal? Alex, when two people are dating, they are desperate to hear the other say they love them. I didn't wanna hear it!" I exclaimed.

"You didn't wanna hear it from me?" He sounded hurt.

"I didn't wanna hear it from anybody," I sighed.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because it's not real!"

He sighed, "Faith." I could see the pleading look in his eyes. It mixed perfectly well with the hurt he was trying to conceal.

"Alex, it's the same shit, okay? You're gonna tell me you love me, then we'll be happy for a while, then one of us is gonna fuck it up, then we'll both be broken." I huffed.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly.

"What if I hurt you?" I questioned.

"You won't," he shook his head.

"You don't know that!" I huffed.

"You're not in love with me?" he asked after a moment of silence.

Yes, I am.

"No," I lied. We stared at each other, both not blinking, daring for the other to break.

"Don't be a coward," he glared.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"You don't think I know where this is coming from?" he lifted an eyebrow at me. "You were in a very serious relationship with Cody on your part, and I know he told you he loved you. You never said it back to him because you didn't feel it and a part of you thinks he cheated because you didn't say it.

I'm not Cody. You're not either. You're not gonna hurt me, you know better than that. You'll have your heart broken over and over again but you'll never break someone else's. I know you're scared. And that's fine. But don't let your fear make your decisions."

I was looking down at the sand, my thumbs twiddling while I blinked back tears. He read me spot on. "That's not true," I argued weakly.

"Faith," he said. I didn't look up. "Will you look at me?"

I clenched my jaw while lifting my gaze to meet his.

"You don't have to be in love with me. You don't have to tell me that you aren't, or that you are. You just have to feel it. If you are, or you aren't."

I shook my head, "That's not fair to you. You could be heading nowhere," I mumbled.

"Then that's my time to lose, not yours."

This isn't right.

I sighed while thoughts flooded my mind. "I can't do this," I pulled away.

"Faith," he sighed.

"No, it's not right. You're wasting your time. What if we come to the conclusion that I'm not in love with you? All this time that you wasted on me will go to hell," I stood up.

"Then that's my time going to hell." He stood up too. "Faith, you're the girl that someone is lucky to meet in their lifetime. I got to meet you, know you, hate you, like you, love you. And I'd be stupid to let you go. I can't let you leave," he shook his head.

A tear slipped and I wiped it away as quickly as possible.

"I know you know your answer and I also know you're not telling me because you wanna see if I'm just like Cody. But I'm not. And you can keep the truth in as long as you'd like. But I'm not letting you walk out."

"You say that now but you'll get sick of it. You'll wanna know and when I don't tell you, you'll leave," I replied.

"I'll make you tell me even if it drives you away. Even if it hurts you. And if you don't love me, Faith, then just tell me now. Because if you don't," he paused.

Then I'll leave?

Isn't that what he's going to say?

"Then I have to get started on making you fall in love with me. I have to turn that charm on."

How can someone be so pure?

"You're not gonna leave?" I whispered.

"Nope, and I'm not letting you leave either," he took steps closer. "I love you," he kissed me.

What a fucking ugly sunrise today, huh?

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