The bark of the tree was warm under her, baked from the summer sun. Ellen's finger traced the cracks in the bark as the heat pulled the deep, earthy smell from the damp wood.

      Her legs swung mindlessly, her brain in a similar state.

      "Ellen!" A voice called up from below her. She peered down to find pale green eyes staring up at her under a head of blonde hair.

      Moving towards the middle of the tree, Ellen shuffled along her branch with expert ease - or perhaps idiotic confidence - and smiled down at Kennan. She pressed her hands either side of the trunk and manoeuvred her feet over each other down the branches until she'd reached one low enough to let go and jump down.

      Kennan smiled the smile she'd loved for so long and then tipped his head to the ground.

      "Are you okay?" Ellen asked, because she'd never seen him act so bashful before. He wasn't usually the quiet one of the two of them.

      "I lied to you," he started, and the pit of her stomach melted with dread. "I didn't want to go Christmas shopping with you."

      She nearly laughed, and she would have done if he didn't look like he was about to be sick on her lawn. "That's okay, you don't have to. Olive will go with me tomorrow, it's fine."

      But he was shaking his head. "That's not what I meant. I mean, what I meant to say is I didn't want to go Christmas shopping with you today." He stopped her from suggesting they just reschedule with the 'wait,' in his eyes. He took a deep breath. "Here, maybe this will help my confidence," he said, more flustered than she'd ever seen him, as he tapped his phone screen a few times and reached up to balance it on a tree branch at head height, playing a song she'd sung along to last time they'd met up.

      She'd had a crush on Kennan for almost a year now, and her hopeful imagination was telling her he might finally be returning that love.

      But, she reminded herself, he'd always made a point of saying what good best friends they were. He was probably just trying to tell her he'd failed another maths exam and that he needed her help convincing his parents not to kill him for it.

      "Okay, maybe it didn't help enough," he said, his voice tight with fear and anticipation, his hands strangling each other and twisting around.

      "Did you fail maths?" Ellen asked, trying to cut to the chase before her heart fed her any further hopeful lies.

      Momentarily, his awkwardness shattered and his green eyes flicked towards hers in confusion and surprise, "Yes, but-"

      "I'll tell your parents," Ellen laughed, "With added homemade brownies."

      As she reached to turn the music off, he grabbed her hand, and she didn't think this afternoon could get any weirder. She gave him the look that said as much, but he didn't seem to notice. He took an audible gulp and brought her hand round to him, because neither had come back to reality enough to let go.

      Eyes on the floor, he carefully rested his free hand on her waist, and she could feel it shaking. "Kennan..." she whispered, unable to speak loudly for the feeling that this was a fragile moment.

      His feet started stepping around the grass, near-missing almost every beat of the music until she finally brought her left hand up to his shoulder.

      They danced awkwardly, stumbling occasionally as people who had never danced before often did, around and around underneath the tree.

      Her tree, that had always brought comfort and warm memories, now had one more to add to the list.

      But she couldn't just let this continue. Maybe it was some deeply ingrained instinct to never allow herself true happiness, or maybe it was just her paranoia telling herself none of it was true. Either way, her feet stopped, and so did his heart - very visible in the sudden regret dripping dark shades through his irises. "Why?" She asked.

      "Being just friends hurts now," Kennan admitted. "I just needed to know if you understood that feeling."

      For the first time, Ellen really let herself believe it. "I understand," she whispered, a single tear of joy landing in a salty puddle at the corner of her mouth. "I understand."

      His smile lit up his face, and hers her own, and then their feet were moving again to the rhythm of the next song.

      Three hours later, it was time for Kennan to go home.

      "Until next time," he smiled.

      She nodded. "Next time."