"Do you have everything packed?" Natasha asked from my phone. She was on speaker and was keeping me company while I get ready for my getaway with Dani over the break.

I had asked her about her secretive and suspicious behavior but she insisted that she wasn't ready to talk about it yet. She said that it wasn't something to worry about and reassured me that she will talk about it soon.

"I have everything." I replied while looking at my luggage sitting on my bed. "Nat, I'm really nervous."

"What are you even talking about? Think about the idea of it's just you and Dani for three nights. The Maverick I know would be ecstatic."

"I'm excited about our time together but I'm nervous about the other part." I said huffing stressfully.

"What do you mean?" Nat asked, but followed by a, "Oh! Like the... oh my god. I didn't even think about that."

"Yeah."

"Well even better then!" She said.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty excited about that too but how... What- what do I even do?"

"Mave for the love of God, please do not ask me that." Nat said now laughing.

I dropped the subject because just even talking about it made me feel like I was going to faint. Natasha has been a little distant before but she's finally coming back.

It's hard to keep in touch sometimes especially us seniors being busy applying for colleges and scholarships. I've been scouted by universities far away but I am not ready to talk to anyone about that yet. The idea of moving away from my loved ones gives me this tightening feeling in my chest. I just know that it is not that time to start that conversation.

I know Dani has been briefly talking about her choice of universities. But like me, she seems to be dismissing it and only talking about her portfolio. We have a silent mutual understanding that when we're ready to make a decision, that's when we tell the other what it is.

Nat hung up the phone after promising to see me when I get back. I was left alone in my room with the birds chirping outside gave a comfortable silence. I triple checked my luggage and caught myself looking in the mirror and thought that I looked different somehow.

I didn't have the usual worried lines on my face, and thought that I looked somehow content. I smiled at myself, and reminisced back when I used to be a different person, and how tiny my world was.

"Maverick are you ready? Dani is downstairs!" I heard my mom call.

My smile turned into a cheeky grin and I can't help but feel immense joy. I hurriedly grab my luggage and swiftly ran downstairs.

Dani was sitting in the dining area and was offered a cup of coffee by my mom. She caught my gaze and I matched her enthusiastic smile.

Mom, Dani and I chatted for little bit and talked about what she had planned for our trip. Apparently my mom knows all about it because Dani's Aunt Susan has been blabbering about us on the phone with her.

"I want to know too." I told Dani.

"It'll just ruin the surprise." She replied with a shrug.

"Call me when you get there." My mom said while she walked me and Dani outside to her car. She kissed me on the cheek and waved us goodbye.

The inside of Dani's car was already warm, so I took off my toque and immediately tried to fight her for music. I gave in when she said that she spent hours making a playlist for this trip and tossed me her phone to look at the songs.

I bit the inside on cheek as I blushed because she is obviously making an effort to make this our romantic getaway. I blushed harder when I saw a playlist named Mave.

"I was thinking of taking the scenic route." Dani said smiling as we finally reached the highway. "It will take a little longer to reach Waskesiu, but I promise it's gonna be pretty."

I nodded and was still staring at the playlist named after me. Dani looked over at what I was staring at, and acted as if she embarrassed. She was obviously blushing but she was hiding it with her scarf.

"I should be the one blushing and not you." I said, laughing a little.

"You were not supposed to see that." She replied, and looking ahead.

"Oh?" I questioned, now curious.

"They're songs that make me think of you. There's a lot of it in there, but don't listen to it yet."

"Why not?" I asked and pressed the playlist to look at the songs. There were a lot of unfamiliar artists that I've never heard before. First on her list was a song by SOKO.

I felt Dani's hand on my knee and I looked up to see her giving me quick smile before she had her eyes on the road again.

"Just click on the Travel playlist that I made. The one named after you is for a special occasion."

"Okay." I replied feeling the tip of my ears hot, and her touch suddenly sending a familiar feeling in my stomach.

Dani and I sat in comfortable silence for a little bit, and taking in the scenery on the road. I keep stealing glances towards her and thought how lucky I was right now. Every little thing she does like tapping a finger on the steering wheel, saying oh look at that beast at a deer hanging out by the trees, and her humming along to a song made me feel so happy.

She looked effortlessly beautiful. She's taking my breath away everytime she glances my way. I must've been staring because she gave me a confused look, and her eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" She asked. Her brown eyes looked like expensive gold under the sunlight and I can't help but give a happy sigh.

"Dani, you're something else." I managed to say. Dani immediately grinned and she looked so happy just sitting there it made my heart pump a little extra hard. For dramatic effect, I clutched it which earned me a wonderful laugh from her.

Half an hour on the road, we decided to stop and take some pictures. She brought her fancy camera and started snapping photos of me. Naturally I tried covering my face and protested.

"Come here." Dani said, grinning now and placed her arm around me. I was too busy staring at her when I realized that she took another photo using a different camera. It was her polaroid camera.

The film printed out and she handed it to me.

"Hold on to that and see how it turns out."

The photo developed and it surprised me how good it turned out. I looked different. A good different. I had same realization that I had in my room while looking at myself in my mirror.

"Wow, you're looking at me like-"

"Like I'm madly in love with you?" I finished for her, now suddenly shy. I couldn't even meet her eyes now.

Dani chuckled.

We continued our journey to Waskesiu. We finally stopped by the entrance and the worker asked how long we were planning on staying.

"Three nights." Dani replied.

"Would you like a copy of the map for the trails?"

"Yes, please."

"Alright, here you go. Enjoy your stay!"

We saw a lot of wildlife on our way to Dani's family's cabin. I pretended that I was Steve Irwin and narrated an elk minding it's own business on a clearing.

"What a beaut!" I said in an Australian accent.

Dani turned to a residential road and pulled up to the end of the road where the cabin is located. It was a little far away from the other cabins and had its own privacy with shrubs and trees surrounding it.

"We're here!" Dani said excitedly and shifted to park.

Dani's grandparents had called maintenance beforehand to make sure that the cabin was ready for us. The inside looked homey. There was a tiny kitchen on the left, and the living room on the right with a functional fireplace. The staircase connects to an overlooking hallway down. It had an open concept with glass windows that brings in a lot of natural sunlight.

I daydreamed about living here with Dani and she brought me back to reality by grabbing my hand.

"Do you want to see the bedroom?"

I nodded and followed her up the stairs, both of us carrying our luggage.

There were two other rooms that were near the staircase but Dani led me to another hallway and opened a door leading into a bigger bedroom. This one had its own separate bathroom, a king sized bed, a couch at the end of the bed, a television on the wall, and an electric fireplace.

Dani stepped in further into the room and sat on the bed.

"This is where we'll be sleeping." She said, and smiled at me.

Heated thoughts ran into my head and I was starting to get really nervous. Dani looked at me in amusement but was blushing herself.

"What do you have planned for us today?" I asked trying to distract myself from jumping her now. It's noon now, and I was starting to get hungry.

"I was thinking that we should grab lunch first and look around the town's local business afterwards. I know a shop you'll really like. You should dress warm because we'll be doing a lot if walking today."

Dani and I organized our things and settled for a little bit. I was enjoying my time playing with the electric fireplace because I didn't know a thing like that existed.

I also looked at the pictures hanging on the walls which consists of tiny Dani.

"You had a Dora haircut?" I asked, laughing at a specific solo photo of hers.

"Oh yeah, I was so cool back then." She said, looking over my shoulders and smiling.

There aren't photos of Dani's parents around. It was mostly her grandparents, cousins, and her Aunt Susan.

"Grandma must've had them removed." Dani said, somehow reading my mind.

"Do you think about them?" I asked.

"Sometimes." She murmured. "I used to think that I was the wrong one for cutting them off my life because they're family. But when I think about what they have done, and how they treated me made me realize that just because we're related by blood doesn't mean that I have to treat them like family."

Dani pulled out an album from a book shelf and opened it. There was one family photo of her and her parents. She was not smiling, and neither were her parents.

"I had to learn what family really means in a hard way, which was kind of a tough learning curve."

All I could do was nod.

"I'm really glad to be here with you." I told her.

"Me too."

***

Dani had brought me to a candy and snack store. Guess what they have? All of the Goldfish Crackers flavours. They even have the limited edition ones and I looked at them admiringly.

"Princess Cheddar Crackers!" I called out excitedly, tapping Dani's shoulders to look. I grabbed a package with Jasmine and Rapunzel on the front. "Look at them, are you seeing this? They have their faces shaped as crackers!"

"I see them." Dani replied, and looking at me in amusement.

"Look over there, there's a Marvel Avengers one too!"

It was like that for about who knows how long. I blabbered on and on about my love for these crunchy and flakey crackers.

"You know, if I was an influencer and had a following on social media, I would want to be sponsored by them."

"I see you being a pro athlete and holding up a package of Goldfish Crackers saying something like, a perfect snack, after a perfect play!"

"You know who's a perfect snack?" I asked.

"Who?" She asked, busy looking at sour patch candies. "Me?" She smirked, while staring at me.

I pretended like I was disappointed.

"I was going to say me but I guess you'll do." I said.

We left that store with a bag full of snacks. The owner even gave us a discount because we bought so much.

"Where to next?" I asked.

"Follow me." Dani said, and confidently walked ahead of me. I caught up to her and held her hand. She flinched a little, not expecting it.

"Is this okay?" I asked carefully.

"It's more than okay." She replied, her cheeks turning red.

We went to a boardgame store, and I bought a puzzle that I think my mom would like. Dani secretly bought something and wouldn't tell me what she got. She keeps insisting that we could play it later. We also went to a furniture store and both of us pretended like we were shopping for our future home together.

Then there was the movie store, and Dani bought movies for us to watch. I picked Saw while she picked a film called Saving Face. I've never heard of that movie so I asked Dani about it.

"It's gay, and you'll love it."

I can't help but laugh at her answer.

When we exited the shop, there was a doe by the entrance and I stopped in my tracks. Dani on the other hand pulled out the polaroid camera that was hanging around her shoulders and took a picture of me looking terrified at the doe.

"This is a rare sight. Maverick Bridge looking terrified. I thought you were invincible?" She joked. "I'd like to keep this photo forever."

"Oh my god, it's looking at me straight in the eye. Dani I think it wants to eat me!"

"Fun fact, deers mostly eat woody plants and they're thought to be vegetarians but that's not true. They sometimes eat meat as well which is kind of interesting huh?"

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

Dani took another photo. She convinced me that the doe is harmless and that it'll run away on its own. With that, I sprinted towards her and thought that I was going to have a heart attack.

She made me look at the photo and said, "I think that's my favourite one." And keeps making fun of me good-heartedly.

We went to every shop and Dani wasn't kidding about us doing a lot of walking. The last shop we went to was a clothing shop and we played dress up which I thought was so much fun. We picked each other's outfits and let the other buy it for them.

I tapped Dani's shoulders and pointed at a lingerie hanging on the wall.

"What do you think of this one?" I asked her, acting innocent while grabbing it and trying to place it on top of me to size it up. "Do you think it'll look good on me?"

Dani bit her bottom lip as she stared. She nodded.

"Hm." I pretended to think long and hard about a decision. "Should I get it?"

Dani nodded again.

"I could help you put it on in the change room if you'd like?" She added which made me narrow my eyes at her and push her playfully.

"Tsk tsk." I said, and looked away from her gaze quickly. Knowing myself, I would probably give in. But I muster all my will to put the lingerie back.

Dani and I didn't realize that it was already seven in the evening until both of our stomachs growled. That's when we decided to head back to the cabin.

"What are we eating for dinner?" I asked.

"Each other." Dani replied.

"Dani!"

"I'm kidding! I was planning on cooking you something delicious tonight. I planned ahead of time to have food in the fridge for us to cook together."

"You will be very disappointed of my cooking skills." I said.

"That's okay, I'll only make you wash the dishes then."

"You're so mean."

"If I'm mean, then what are you?"

"I'm a saint!"

"Lies!"

_______

AN:

How's life?