"i always knew it would take you longer to get ready,"

harlow was currently hanging off colby's bed, her head touching the floor and her legs holding her to the bed. she had been waiting for what felt like half an hour for colby to get ready when in reality it had been half that.

"i don't understand why you can't just let your hair air dry," harlow huffed, scrolling through her instagram feed once again.

harlow could hear colby chuckle from the bathroom. "if it takes you this long to do your makeup, i can take the time to do my hair."

before harlow could respond, colby turned the blow dryer back on, pausing their conversation. the two had been seeing each other for a few weeks now but had still been keeping it pretty low key. most of their time spent together was usually at their homes, or with a larger group in public. today was going to be their first official date out in the public eye, but only harlow and colby knew it was a date.

out of the two, it seemed that colby was more nervous about what the outing may bring. harlow really didn't care if anyone knew that they were seeing each other, but colby did, and harlow would respect that.

it still felt surreal that harlow was in this position in the first place. she had so many new friends, and even a potential relationship unfolding before her, all because of her brother. the only problem was that elton didn't know that there was anything going on between colby and harlow, and she needed to keep it that way, at least until she figured out a way to tell him herself. so harlow was willing to keep their relationship under wraps for elton's sake as well.

"okay, i'm ready!" colby announced, standing in the doorway.

harlow maneuvered herself so that she was sitting on the floor, "took ya long enough," she joked, grabbing her bag from the bed and standing up.

colby rolled his eyes at the sarcastic girl. "don't think i won't leave you stranded at the top of this stupid hike,"

now it was harlow's turn to roll her eyes. "don't think i won't ditch you and take kat on this hike instead," she retorted, arms crossed.

colby huffed in defeat, then moved to the side of the door to let harlow pass. "i hate cardio,"

"don't be such a baby, brock. it's not gonna kill you! plus there probably won't be a lot of people around."

colby followed the girl out of the room and down to her jeep. "you know, cardio has probably killed some people,"

harlow snorted, putting her vehicle in drive and starting off towards their destination. "i hate to break it to ya, but i'm sure anything can kill anyone."

the drive to where they would hike was only about half an hour in traffic, and most of the ride was colby switching songs in his playlist just as harlow would get into them. once at the spot, harlow grabbed her water bottle from the backseat and hopped out of the vehicle.

she was already making her way towards the trail's entry when colby got out of the jeep. "guess i'm beating you to the top!" she called out while picking up her pace.

harlow could hear colby laugh from behind her. "in your dreams, castee."

the hike surprisingly went smoother than harlow expected, although to anyone they passed the pair probably looked a little eccentric. they walked with their arms swinging wildly and randomly yelling out lyrics to their favorite songs. once the two actually got going, colby hardly whined about the stretch ahead of them. instead, he cracked joke after joke, causing harlow to double over in laughter at one point. to harlow, it was perfect. a perfect way to spend her day.

it amazed the girl at how easy it was for her to be authentically herself when she was with colby. she had only known the boy for a few months, but it felt like much longer. it was pretty corny, but when harlow was with colby, she felt even more like herself.

about forty-five minutes had passed before the two had made it to the lookout. "so this is why you wanted to hike," colby breathed, looking at the view around the two.

surprisingly there were only a few people at the lookout point, despite them passing numerous people on the hike up.

harlow laughed, "yeah not to spend time with you, just needed someone to take a pic of me so i can update my insta,"

"oh, so i'm just a photographer, am i?"

"maybe a little bit more" she replied, shooting colby a wink.

colby grinned, grabbing harlow's hand from her side and pulling her close to him. the two had shared more kisses than harlow could count at this point, but they were never affectionate in public. it was one of their unspoken rules. but with only a few people around who wouldn't question the two together, they were able to have a moment. like a real couple.

harlow circled one arm around colby's torso and looked out at the view in front of them. "i gotta say, i do know how to pick 'em,"

"i mean, i don't wanna brag, but i am a catch." colby replied, squeezing his arm around the girl.

harlow gave a small laugh. "i was talking about the trail, brock." she glanced up at colby, who was looking down at her all pouty. "you're okay,"

she stood on her tiptoes and gave colby a quick kiss, then removed herself from his hold. "where are you going?" he asked, lip jutted out.

"if i didn't take a picture of the view, did i really go on a hike?"

"damn. you're right." he said, his voice full of sarcasm.

harlow wandered off, taking photos of the view. she desperately wanted to take a photo of her and colby and post it, but that just wasn't something that was going to happen. hiding her relationships from people was something that harlow hadn't done since middle school, where she would hide boyfriends from her parents and brother for weeks.

the situation was still similar though, as she was hiding the truth from elton still. to elton, harlow and colby were just friends, which was partially true. harlow wasn't good at lying, but the half-truth of colby and harlow being friends helped her convince elton that there was nothing going on. in fact, as far as harlow knew, that's all she and colby were. friends, who shared kisses and went on hikes. totally normal.

harlow was absorbed in her thoughts until she heard her name being called. "harley!" colby half-shouted, gesturing for her to come over.

colby was standing with two young girls, who were whispering excitedly to each other. harlow felt her insides tighten as she put on a smile and walked over. just friends, just friends, just friends.

harlow stood with just enough space between her and colby, making things between them look friendly and not at all romantic. "do you guys watch elton's videos?" he asked the two girls who were looking at the boy like he was a glass of water in the desert.

"totally! we love elton."

"yeah! the pink wig prank he did on you was really funny!" the other girl exclaimed.

"i'm glad it was funny to someone," he replied jokingly. "anyway, this is elton's sister, harlow."

the introduction annoyed harlow to no end. she wasn't even introduced as his friend. all she was to colby was his friend's sister. harlow felt slightly humiliated to be introduced in that way because she and colby were together. she knew he wouldn't tell people that, but she thought she would at least be a friend.

harlow smiled at the two girls who had now turned their attention on her. "the one and only," she chuckled. "i have all the stories to prove it. if you ever feel like giving him a good old fashioned roast, let me know."

"harlow, this is mia and savannah. they watch me and sam."

the girls nodded their heads excitedly. "would you be able to take a picture of us together?" mia asked, holding her phone out to harlow.

"for sure!"

colby stood with his arms around both girls, who went to either side of him. she quickly took a few photos, and then handed mia's phone back. "there should be at least one good one in there,"

"i'm sure they're all good! thank you so much!"

"yeah, thank you! we'll let you get back to your date now," savannah giggled, stuck close to her friend.

harlow's eyes widened as she whipped her head towards colby. he was looking at the two girls with an emotionless face. "oh, this isn't a date or anything." he stated, suddenly completely serious. "harlow just needed a hiking buddy."

savannah looked at harlow with an eyebrow raised. "yep. i just hate hiking by myself."

the two girls just shrugged in response. "alright. thanks again!" they called out, continuing up the trail away from harlow and colby.

harlow watched as the two girls walked farther and farther away, waiting until they were out of earshot. "i hate to be the one to say it, but you have some nosy ass fans,"

colby nodded, "yeah, sometimes. it's just easier if they don't know everything."

"mhm,"

"hopefully they weren't watching us for long," colby thought aloud. "we should be more careful."

she wouldn't admit it to colby, but it was pretty annoying to have a secret relationship at 23. at first, it was kinda fun sneaking around and keeping things private, but it got tired pretty quick. all harlow wanted to do was go on a hike with colby, hold his hand, make silly jokes, and kiss while the view stood before them. even though it annoyed her, she would go along with what colby wanted. at the end of the day, this was his job, this is how he paid the bills. if harlow had to be kept in the dark for a little bit, so be it.

"yeah, we can do that." she finally responded, knowing that this was going to be her relationship with colby brock. secret dates, hidden kisses, and a hell of a lot of lies. "we'll be super careful."