THE lunch was delicious—the chef had outdone himself again. Aahana couldn't help but lick her fingers. They served the best Mexican cuisine in the entire town. She looked at Everett who was already watching her. "What are you thinking?" She asked before slurping a glass of water. He shook his head and shrugged dismissively. She didn't push it. After splitting the bill, they walked out. Aahana frowned.

"What's wrong?" He questioned, looking over his shoulder.

"We should've had lunch after going on a Ferris wheel."

"We're staying here for a couple of days. I think we can squeeze it in somewhere." He began walking. A smile crept back onto her face before she ran to match her pace with him.

"What's next?" He asked.

"Oh, hell no. I'm not going to do that!" Everett held his hands in surrender as he stared at the pointed tattoo needle. His eyebrows were curled up and he seemed terrified.

"Why not? It will be fun–to mark us." She tried to reason with him.

"You may be willing to sting yourself a thousand times but I'm not!" He took a step back. He stumbled into a table and a few things fell. His lips parted as he stared at the man with strong muscular arms covered in scary skull tattoos.

She scowled. "Sting—ah, oh. You're so stupid." She facepalmed herself and laughed. "We're getting temporary tattoos. They are like stickers."

He slumped his shoulders down. "Stickers?"

The tattooed man nodded. He rummaged through a cabinet and passed him a book. Everett flipped through its pages. His expressions changed back to normal. "Oh." That's all he said.

"Are you in?" She was hopeful.

"Yeah, I guess." She smiled and went through the book along with Everett to choose a tattoo for themselves.

About thirty minutes later, they walked out of the tattoo shop. Aahana chose two tattoos–one had a birth date in Roman numerals on her arm and a crown on her ring finger near her nail. On the other hand, Everett wasn't willing to show what he had tattooed his back with. Aahana forced him to show her but he wouldn't budge.

"I have something in mind for us to do next," Everett said.

"Let me guess, not show your tattoo." She wasn't upset, just curious but her voice said otherwise.

He rolled his eyes. "Some things are supposed to be private." She huffed, so he added, "Would you share every intimate detail of your life with a random stranger?"

"Random stranger?" She retorted. "That's what you think of me?" A huff left her mouth. She began walking away with dismay and anger.

"Hey, hey. That is not what I meant, you know that. You're missing the point." She paused and turned to her side to face him. Warm winds were blowing, making her hair blow in front of her hair no matter how many times she would tuck them away. The sun was blazing on top of them. The temperature was rising steadily with each passing minute but it was nothing compared to the heat between them at this present moment.

"Okay, tell me. What do I mean to you, Everett? Be honest. It's fine if you say nothing, just say it," she said coolly. He blew a breath out. He swallowed and peered around before landing his gaze back to her.

"A friend?"

"You sound so uncertain. That's what I am then—nothing." She winced. She folded her arms over her chest and strode to where her legs took her. He scratched his head before running after.

"Ay, Aahana. I'm sorry. I panicked, okay? You are my friend."

"Well, that's a relief. At least I am not a quote, unquote, random stranger." He chose to remain silent. He just followed her to a cabin. They walked inside and the cool breeze of the air conditioner greeted them. They were offered with a strangely good welcome drink.

"Aahana—" he was interrupted when a young man walked up to them. From his uniform, he seemed to work there. The man smiled at them and shook hands with Aahana. He refused to look away from her.

"Hello, Ma'am. I'm Alex. I believe you are here for—" she cut him.

"Yes, we are."

Alex smiled. "Great. We're happy to have you. I'll show you your house and provide you with the supplies. Please follow me." Aahana glanced at Everett and caught him staring at Alex with a mixture of emotions. She rolled her eyes and followed Alex. He guided them to the backyard of the cabin. She looked around to find many trees surrounded by a circular staircase around them. They neared a tree and Alex looked back at her. He ushered her to climb the ladders first that lead them to the treehouse.

She took a deep breath and braced herself to the railing of the staircase because they were warned that it can be unstable at times. Everett was behind her and Alex climbed next. She gasped once they reached the treehouse. It was nothing special but the view was quite fantastic. The roof on top covered the hot sun rays, giving them a perfect shade to do what they want. In the middle of the treehouse were a round table and two chairs on both of its sides.

"The painting supplies are on the table along with papers. The canvas board is right there." Alex pointed at two canvas boards with adjustable lengths standing in one corner. "There will be a worker standing downstairs. You can ask him whatever you want. Enjoy." Alex walked down.

"What is this place?"

"Just for people to live in the moment. To savour the time by painting. I booked us this last night before going to sleep."

"It's beautiful." Everett grinned.

"I'll pretend to be Arlo. Be quiet while I work on my painting." She walked to a canvas board and adjusted it to her height. She chose a brush and picked out two colours.

"Who's Arlo?" He asked while doing the same.

"None of your business." She wet the brush and changed the position to the opposite of Everett so that he couldn't see what she was painting.

"See, now you get it. We can't share everything with everyone."

She huffed in response. "Arlo was my crush when I first moved here. I would watch him paint from my room. I just had one awkward conversation with him and decided how bad we would be together." She dipped the paintbrush in blue. He chuckled. "See, I can share everything with a random stranger because I have nothing to hide unlike you who seems to have many secrets."

He rolled his eyes playfully. "You're not going to let me live peacefully." He joked. "Come here and take a look at it."

Aahana gave a toothy grin like a five-year-old. She dropped her brush and strode to him. He didn't turn around as she had expected. He pulled his t-shirt away from his shoulder. Aahana stood on her toe to take a better look at his tattoo. It was an arrow stretched from the nape of his neck throughout his shoulder blade.She traced his tattoo with her fingers. She felt his warm breath on her lips when she looked up at him. Her fingers didn't leave his shoulder. Her heart began to throb.

"Why an arrow?"

He swallowed. "It means to keep going. It, uh, kinda matches my profession." Her gaze was fixed on his lips and his on hers. Her fingers trailed up to his neck, reaching his face. Her thumb was about to caress his cheek when they heard a creak. They quickly turned around and found Alex climbing the staircase, oblivious to the tension between them.

Oh, God. What was I doing? She thought. But, damn. It felt good.

an almost kiss! what the heck, Alex? who asked you to come in the middle of their almost kiss?!

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