I laughed as Ethan almost ate shit again, tripping over a stray tree root. He looked over his shoulder and playfully glared at me.

"I'm glad to see that my pain brings you enjoyment, Ivy," he pouted.

I smirked, squinting against the bright, warm sun. Everything seemed to come alive after the first couple of warm days in spring, the heated air wrapping around me like a blanket.

We continued tromping through the path until we came to a clearing, the same clearing by the lake we were at last September. Time moves so fast.

I stared at Ethan, who had his back turned to me and was facing the lake, the sun illuminating his tan skin and messy brown hair. I couldn't help but smile to myself, thinking about how far we've come since we were last here.

As if he felt me staring at him, my boyfriend looked at me from over his shoulder as a big grin spread across his face. I threw my backpack down next to his by some tree stump, before walking up to the lake and standing by his side. We watched the water ripple for a while, and I felt Ethan grab my hand before bringing it to his lips.

"You look so handsome right now," he whispered, kissing my forehead and moving over to our discarded backpacks. He unzipped his and pulled out a large beach towel, carefully laying it on the bank so there were no wrinkles.

He bowed, gesturing obnoxiously towards the towel. "Sit, your highness."

I shook my head, walking over to sit down nevertheless as Ethan laid out his towel right next to mine. "You're ridiculous."

He simply ignored my comment as I pulled off my shirt, leaving me in my navy blue swim trunks.

"Did you put on sunscreen?" He asked seriously, while also raking his eyes down my body, which kind've ruined the whole scolding thing he was going for.

"It's seventy six degrees."

"Melanoma doesn't care if it's fifty degrees, and you're whiter than a sheet of printer paper. Come here," he said while putting some sunscreen in the palm of his hand and rubbing them together. I groaned, scooting closer to him and turning so my back was to him.

"Sometimes I think you just use this as an excuse to touch me," I muse.

I heard Ethan gasp dramatically behind me. "Ivan, I'm offended you would think so lowly of me. I simply care for your health, and for your really soft, really smooth, beautiful skin, okay?"

I hummed, closing my eyes as I felt his hands move over my shoulders and neck, slowly starting to knead the muscle there.

"You gotta stop carrying your stress in your upper back," he whispered in my ear, making me jump.

"Jesus, Ethan," I breathed heavily, placing a hand on my chest.

"Oh sorry, shit that probably didn't help," he frowned. I turned around, giving him a kiss, using the distraction to snag the sunscreen bottle from him.

"My turn," I smiled against his lips. He grumbled, but turned around anyway. "Hey, what happened to caring about each other's health?" I questioned, beginning to work the sunscreen into Ethan's skin.

"I was totally using that as an excuse to run my hands all over you," he muttered, picking at the grass.

"Who would've known," I teased.

We laid there for a while, soaking up the sun as much as we could, because knowing Washington weather, it could all be gone by the next day. I was even starting to fall asleep before Ethan piped up. "I had the biggest crush on you when we were here in September. We had just met and I was already head over heels, I'm surprised you never noticed," he was laying on his stomach, head turned towards me and resting on his forearms. I shifted onto my side to look at him better, picking at a loose thread on my towel.

"I think I had a crush on you too then. I just. . . It took a long time for me to figure out what I was feeling. I never really had feelings like that before, so I didn't even know who I was into anyway."

"I'm glad we're together now," he smiled, and I nodded, feeling my throat constrict slightly.

"When did you come out to your parents?" I asked to distract myself.

He sighed, squinting his eyes as he remembered the past. "I guess it was right after we moved here. It wasn't some big announcement though, just an off-handed comment about how I thought the boy down the street was cute," he smirked. "They just didn't really care, they were hippies that smoked a lot of weed in college, so I was never concerned about them not being accepting."

"I'm glad that's how it went, that's how it should go."

He hummed in agreement. "When did you come out?"

"Mrs. Clarissa could tell I had a crush on you from the start, but now that I think of it, I never actually said it directly."

"We both have pretty good parents," he closed his eyes again.

"Yeah, we do," I whispered before following suit.

~

"Hello boys! Did you have fun at the lake?" Ethan's mom waved to us from the kitchen, helping Ally pour some juice into popsicle molds.

"Yeah, it was real nice out there," he replied, leading me through the house by the hand.

"Oh! And Ethan- there's some mail for you, on the kitchen table. From Harvard," she smiled softly. Ethan froze, staring at her as he dropped his backpack in the middle of the floor. I clutched his hand in encouragement.

"What?" He whispered in shock, before dropping my hand and rushing over to the wooden table across from the kitchen. I followed quickly, looking over his shoulder at the official letter from Harvard. "I think I'm going to throw up," the paper began to shake as he held it.

"You're so smart Ethan. You'll end up somewhere most people could only dream of going- no matter what," I reassured, hugging onto his arm and resting my chin on his shoulder. He pursed his lips, nodding frantically as he tore open the letter, almost ripping the paper as he unraveled it. The house was silent enough to hear a pin drop, aside from the thumping of his dad's footsteps down the stairs until he realized everyone was having an intense moment and he stopped. Ethan's eyes floated across the paper so fast it almost made me dizzy, until his mouth dropped open and his eyes widened in shock.

"I got in," he whispered. I jumped at the high pitched shriek that ripped through the house, as his mom bounded over and gave him a giant bear hug, his dad even walked over to hug him too. I smiled at them, so completely over the moon for Ethan. They quickly pulled away and I saw tears streaming down his face, he took one look at me before wrapping his arms around my shoulders and practically squeezing the life out of me.

"We're so happy for you, honey," his mom sniffed, dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a tissue. Ethan pulled away, looking back at the admission letter still sitting on the kitchen table.

"I seriously can't believe this," he whispered, folding it up and struggling to put it back into the envelope with his unstable hands. "Well, um, I guess we should unpack our bags?"

His mom ruffled his hair before going back to the kitchen, and his dad gave him a fist pump.

"Proud of you, buddy," he nodded, going out the sliding glass door to the backyard. Ethan still seemed to be stuck in one spot, so I grabbed his hand to guide him over to our bags still sitting in the middle of the floor.

When we got back to his bedroom, Ethan went straight for his bed and sat down, running his hands over his face. I sat next to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and kissing his temple.

"I'm proud of you. I knew you could do it," I whispered excitedly.

He suddenly looked up, grabbing my hands in both of his. Ethan stared at me with a serious look on his face, his lips in a thin line and dark brows furrowed. "You're coming with me, right? To Massachusetts?"

I lowered my eyes, I hadn't really thought about that. "I- I didn't apply to any colleges."

"That's fine! You- you can still apply to any of the community colleges, or just take a gap year! We could- we could rent an apartment and-"

"Ethan, I don't. . . I don't have the money to do that. I don't have the grades, either. I'm literally failing math right now," I look away, ashamed.

"Then I'm not going," Ethan said in determination. "I got into the University of Washington, I'll just go there-"

"I'm not going to let you do that, Ethan. Harvard has been your dream! You're not throwing that away because of me," I say sternly, making sure he understands that this is non-negotiable.

"But I- I can't lose you, Ivy," he choked, eyes starting to water. "Not when I finally have you." I closed my eyes tightly, shaking my head.

"Let's not. . . worry about this right now. This is supposed to be a happy day, so we're going to spend it celebrating," I say, giving him a tight hug. People like me are the ones who stay stuck in the same place all their lives, not people like Ethan who have so much potential and things to offer the world. I'll be damned if I brought Ethan down with me.

~

Can't let our couple be conflict free for too long, that's against the rules! As always, leave a vote if you liked the chapter!