Aiden was packing sandwiches into a cooler bag when Chase, his roommate, walked into the kitchen. Chase was dressed for work, gym clothes loose on his body. He passed Aiden and reached into the fridge, coming back with a water bottle.

"What are you doing?" Chase asked as he pulled himself up onto the bench next to where Aiden was standing. He sat with his feet dangling above the ground.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Aiden asked with a smile.

"Sassy today," Chase replied. He reached over and ruffled Aiden's hair with his hand.

Aiden dodged his hand and laughed as he swatted the hand away. "You're such a child," he said with a laugh. The expression on Aiden's face was annoyance, but he secretly loved his best friend's way of making him smile. Aiden had known Chase for five years and lived with him the second they both turned eighteen. Chase had problems with his parents, as did Aiden, and so moving out together seemed like the best option.

"I'm older than you," Chase teased as he retracted his hand.

"Yeah, by a grand total of two months."

"Still counts," Chase replied. "So, why are you packing up food? Big hike for some photos?"

"I'm going on a date," Aiden replied. He went back to cutting up the fruit he had laid out on a chopping board.

"And you're bringing snacks?" Chase laughed. "You're such a mother."

"I'm taking him on a picnic!" Aiden defended.

"Oh. Well I guess that's understandable then," Chase replied. "Where did you meet? What's his name?"

"Met during my hike yesterday. His names Oliver. Works in IT."

"I thought you were taking a break from the dating game?" Chase asked. "You told me a few weeks ago that you were sick of this casual hook-up stuff."

Aiden shrugged. "I don't think this is a casual hook-up guy."

"Are you sure?'

Aiden wondered suddenly what Oliver was looking for tonight. "Oh God, I hope I haven't read this wrong. If I have, he's going to hate this picnic idea. Damn, I should have just chosen a bar or something. I promised myself I wasn't going to be into this hook-up stuff anymore, but I should have guessed this is what he wanted!"

"Calm down, dude!" Chase said quickly. He jumped down from the counter. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything. If he was looking for a booty call then I'm sure you would know before now. You obviously got a feeling that this could be something real, so just go with it, stop freaking out!"

"You're the one who's freaking me out!" Aiden replied, half joking.

Chase's face grew serious. "I'm sorry, buddy."

Aiden nudged him with his elbow. "Meh, you're right. I really got a vibe that tonight would be a proper date, and If I'm wrong then I'll just roll with it."

"You mean sleep with him?' Chase threw his head back in a laugh. "So much for leaving the hook-up game."

"You haven't seen this guy, Chase. He looks like a model. Real Channing Tatum type."

"That is your type," Chase replied. "Mary is going to be so disappointed in you, she thought you were turning a new leaf."

Aiden had to laugh at that. Mary, Chase's girlfriend of two months, had been explaining to Aiden the joys of monogamy from the moment she and Chase started dating. She continuously encouraged him to date her friends who she claimed were good, stable people. In other words, boring people. He did go on one date with her friend, Phillip, who had a nine to five desk job and thought photography was a nice "hobby" but not a career. Aiden wasn't too fussed on Mary or her friends after that. "You do know that girl is crazy. You were dating two days before she put a framed photo of the two of you in our kitchen." Aiden motioned towards the thick black framed photo sitting in the corner of their kitchen bench. "Two days, Chase, and you dare to judge me?"

Chase only shrugged but a smile tugged on his lips. "Alright, she's a little weird, I'll admit, but she's a nice girl."

Aiden made air quotes with his fingers. "Nice."

Chase laughed and swatted at his hands. "I have to go to work, but I'll see you tonight. Tell me all about this date with this Oliver guy," he walked out of the kitchen and stood in the doorway. "Or I'll see your door closed when I get home and know that I was right about this guy," Chase added with a teasing tone in his words.

"Shut up," Aiden said. He walked towards Chase and lightly pushed him towards the door. "Get out of here."

"Bye sweetheart, don't kiss too many boys while I'm gone." Chase blew a kiss to Aiden.

Aiden laughed at their strange goodbye routine. "Goodbye darling, have a good day. I'll have dinner on the table when you get home."

"Will you actually?" Chase asked seriously.

"No!" Aiden laughed. "Get out of here."

Aiden heard Chase laughing under his breath as he left the apartment. With dinner packed, Aiden left the kitchen and walked out into the hall and down to the living area. Right now, however, their living area had turned into a storage space for his photos. Large framed photos were piled up on the couch and against the wall. They were photos that hadn't sold yet from his website. He didn't like looking at them, piled there, he wished they would sell. Aiden walked through the living room and into another hallway, Chase's room on the left, bathroom in the middle and his own room on the right. He walked into his room. He loved his room. The walls were filled with photos all hung up on string with little clips and fairy light intertwined with the string. It felt magical at night, the fairy lights around the room illuminating the photos. His bed was in the middle of the room, black sheets and black blanket. His pillowcase was the only thing on the bed with colour. It was a brightly coloured image of a Polaroid camera, a birthday present from Chase the year before. Aiden quickly stripped and found some clothes for his date. He decided on a blue long sleeve shirt and black jeans. He looked at his watch and realised that he still had three hours until he was supposed to meet up with Oliver. He sat on his bed and wondered why he had gotten everything ready so early. He really was excited about this date. He liked Oliver. Yesterday had been fun. Oliver had made him laugh. Aiden suddenly hoped more than before that tonight was a real date. He didn't know much about Oliver, but he knew that he wanted to find more out.

Aiden had spent a few hours editing photos on his computer when his phone sounded. He picked it up and saw that Oliver had messaged him. I'm downstairs, it read. Aiden reached for his camera and slipped it around his neck. He gathered all his things and practically ran to the elevator, cooler bag in his hand and picnic blanket under his arm. He found Oliver in the lobby. He looked adorable, bright blue button down with black pants and a blue and white striped tie. He looked like he was going for a job interview. Aiden suddenly felt so special that Oliver had dressed up so much for him. He hadn't dressed up at all and he instantly regretted it. He shouldn't have listened to Chase, Oliver was dressed for a real date. A classy first date, at that. Damn, Aiden thought, I should have cleaned up better than this. He hoped that Oliver wouldn't care about what he was wearing.

"How did I know that you would bring your camera?" Oliver said with a bright smile.

There was that smile again. Aiden felt like he was about to swoon at the sight of it again. He looked down at the heavy camera around his neck and shrugged. "You better get used to it, I take this thing everywhere." Oliver got a strange look on his face and Aiden pretended not to notice. He wondered, yet again, if Chase had been right. "Let's go," Aiden said, changing the subject.

"Here, let me carry that," Oliver said. He took the cooler bag from Aiden's hand.

Aiden led him out the lobby and around the side of the building where his car was parked. It was an old Toyota that he had bought when he first moved out of home. The thing ran just fine but wasn't the nicest to look at. He threw the picnic blanket in the backseat and took the cooler off of Oliver, sitting it on the floor of the car.

"Are you going to tell me where we are headed?" Oliver asked as they both got in the car.

Aiden had forgotten for a moment that he hadn't actually told Oliver where they were headed. "You'll see," Aiden teased. Oliver looked happy. He smiled over at Aiden and nodded. "Do you like surprises?" he asked.

"I depends on the surprise," Oliver replied.

Aiden watched Oliver out the corner of his eye as he drove. He just couldn't keep his eyes off of him There was something captivating about Oliver, something he couldn't put his finger on. The guys Aiden usually attracted were people a lot like him, outgoing and outspoken guys who always told him exactly what they wanted and were easy to read. Oliver wasn't like them at all. They would have demanded to know where they were going, or they would have started guessing out loud. Instead, Oliver was deep in thought, quiet and calm as he looked out of the window. Aiden was desperate to know what was going on inside his head.

"Did you work today?" Aiden asked.

"Yeah," Oliver replied. "Did you go on any adventures today?"

"I'm about to go on one," Aiden replied with a cheeky smile.

"Oh are you now?"

"Yep, and you are going to be forced along for the ride."

Oliver smiled brightly. "I think you'll find I'm quite the willing victim."

Aiden laughed. He turned off the main road and the houses got scarcer and the trees around them became more abundant. Eventually, the road beneath them turned from concrete to dirt.

"Where are you taking me?' Oliver asked.

Aiden didn't respond, he just smiled over at Oliver. They had been driving for just under half an hour when Aiden pulled the car over, parking it along the dirt. He could see the trail entrance from where he sat. "We are here."

Oliver looked over at where Aiden's gaze was pointed at. They were surrounded by trees and a small trail entrance sat a small distance away with a sign and map next to it.

"Are we hiking?" Oliver asked.

"Only a little one, like less than ten minutes. The view at the end is worth it, I promise."

Oliver looked down at his outfit. Almost in one movement he pulled his tie off and unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt. He turned to Aiden. "Let's go."

The sun was just starting to set around them when they were nearing the end of the trail. Aiden had the picnic blanket under his arm and Oliver had folded up the sleeves of his shirt so that his forearms were bare. He was holding the cooler loosely in his hand by the handle.

"Stop here," Aiden said.

"The trail still goes up that way." Oliver pointed towards the space in the trees ahead of them.

Aiden shook his head and pointed to the huge tree next to them. The tree was pushed up against a huge rock that seemed to be imbedded within the side of a hill and rose up above it. The steep incline of the ground next to them prevented them from seeing what was on the other side of the hill. "We have to climb it."

Oliver didn't seem fazed. He took the picnic blanket from Aiden's hand. "You first, adventurer boy."

Aiden smiled and wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. He hated heights but the tree wasn't that high and he had climbed it once before, so he knew that he could do it. He started slowly, reaching for each branch with caution, but it only took him a few feet to become more confident. He somehow knew that Oliver would catch him if he fell to the ground. The tree's branches were huge and in abundance, so the tree was quiet easy to climb. He made it to where the rock hit the tree. Oliver threw him up the cooler and then the blanket.

Aiden turned and looked at the view. It was even more beautiful than he remembered. He stood on a giant rock imbedded into the hillside. The rock was flat at the top, almost twenty feet wide, with a lake sitting right below it. The lake was undetectable from where they had been standing, but once on the rock, Aiden could see the entire lake, from where it started at the base of the hill to where it stopped at the trees.

"This is incredible," Oliver said.

Aiden turned. He hadn't noticed Oliver reach the top. Oliver was standing behind him. He put down the cooler down and spread out the picnic blanket. They sat down and Aiden handed Oliver a sandwich and some fruit. They were silent as they ate. Aiden wanted to break the silence, but Oliver looked so content looking out at the water that he didn't want to break it. They finished their food.

"This is the most adventurous date I've ever been on," Oliver admitted suddenly.

"I love stuff like this," Aiden admitted. He pulled the camera up from around his neck and snapped a photo of Oliver. Oliver bit at his lip. "I'm sorry, you don't like having your photo taken, I forgot."

Oliver smiled. "It's okay. You can take photos of me." Aiden snapped another one. Oliver knew this one was coming and so he smiled brightly. "Can I take one of you?"

Aiden handed over his camera and poked his tongue out as soon as Oliver took the photo. They laughed. Aiden let him take a serious one. Then he smiled into the camera. Oliver handed the camera back.

"How did you find this place?" Oliver asked as he looked around.

"Was taking photos here one day and decided to climb the tree to see if I could get a good photo. Ended up finding this place."

The sound of a phone vibrating was loud against the rock. Aiden looked over to see that Oliver's phone was buzzing. The name 'Ava' was on the screen in bold letters. He watched Oliver press decline. Aiden didn't ask who Ava was.

"So what do you do with your free time other than adventures?" Oliver asked.

"I edit the photos from the adventures. I hang out with my roommate. That's about it," Aiden told him.

"What do you do when you're not working in IT and hiking?" Aiden asked.

"Not much really," Oliver told him. "Do you like your roommate?"

"Yeah, we are best friends," Aiden said. "Chase and I have been friends for years and becoming roommates was just natural for us. His parents are strict, they haven't gotten along since he was a child. I guess we have that in common."

"You don't get along with your parents?" Oliver asked.

"No. My mother died when I was young. Car accident. My father was never the same after that. He ended up remarrying the next year and had more kids. It was complicated between us, it still is," Aiden said. He usually would have just said that they didn't get along, he wasn't sure why he opened up so much to Oliver. "What about your parents?" he asked.

"That must have been hard, I'm sorry to hear about your mother," Oliver replied.

Aiden didn't push on the question about his parents. Aiden knew better than most people what a touchy subject family can be for some people. Instead, he changed the subject to something else. They kept talking for what seemed like hours. The sun was slowly setting in the distance around them and they just made it down the tree as the sun disappeared.

"Did you happen to bring a torch with you?" Oliver asked.

Aiden shook his head, but Oliver couldn't see in the dark. "Nope. We might have to try to make it with just our phone torches."

The phone lights weren't as effective as Aiden had hoped. He reached for Oliver's hand in the dark, in the hope that they wouldn't lose each other. When their fingers intertwined, the warmest feeling hit Aiden's stomach. He couldn't help but smile into the dark. They stumbled through the darkness. Aiden tried to ignore the creepy sounds of the forest at night around them. The moon above their heads provided little light through the thick trees and so they relied on the little phone lights to get them back to the car.

"I think we are almost there," Aiden said.

Suddenly Aiden was being pulled down to the ground. He would later refute the fact that he let out a high pitched scream as he fell. He landed next to Oliver. Oliver started laughing. Aiden couldn't help but follow.

"What the hell just happened?' Aiden asked between laughs.

"I might have tripped over a stick," Oliver laughed out.

They pulled themselves from the ground and somehow made it to the car. They practically fell into the car, throwing the blanket and cooler into the backseat. Aiden turned the lights on inside the car. They were both covered in dirt and leaves and dust. He laughed as he looked at Oliver. His shirt was ripped in three places. His hair was an absolute mess. Aiden paused his laughter as Oliver reached over and pulled a dead leaf out of his hair.

"Thank-you," Aiden said as he looked at the leaf in Oliver's hand.

"This was the best date I've ever been on," Oliver said quietly and seriously.

Their eyes met and Aiden slowly reached over and wrapped his hand around Oliver's neck, pulling him in. When their lips met, Aiden could taste dirt and he laughed, throwing his head back and smiling brightly at Oliver. "Me too," he said before bringing their lips back together again.

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