I'm just closing the cooler bag I've stuffed with fruit, containers filled with sandwiches and a flask of homemade lemonade when Ethan bursts into our kitchen.

No, he hasn't knocked since about two weeks after we moved in here.

The guy has the patience of a three-year-old! The ten minutes only passed about four minutes ago. All I did was make sandwiches. It didn't take long. The ingredients for the fillings were ready to use. Chicken fillets left over from our dinner, cheese, mayo, gherkins, jam, peanut butter and chocolate spread.

Not all together on the same sandwich, of course!

I believe in variety; besides, Ethan is always super hungry, and he usually comes with an entire army of guys with similar appetites. I'm not looking forward to hanging out with them, but I've found that when I have enough sandwiches and fruit with me, they're too busy eating to hassle me. The lemonade is always in the refrigerator. My dad loves it, so I keep him in stock.

This whole charging in and complaining about waiting for me for ages and ages is completely unjustified. Fortunately, also just like a three-year-old, Ethan is easy to distract. I shove the last small piece of chicken left on the cutting board into his mouth, and he is immediately all smiles, noticing the cooler bag.

"I have the best girlfriend," he grins.

"Awesome!" I say, washing the last of the items I used to make our lunch. "Does that mean we're done with this weird exp-"

"Shut up," he snorts, looping the cooler bag's strap over his shoulder. "Ready to go now?"

♀

I don't resist when we reach the road, and he takes my hand in his. My heart, my hand, my face and a few of my other parts want to dance a little jig, but I give all of them a stern warning and clamp my teeth together to suppress a giddy giggle.

I'll check myself for a fever later; I might be coming down with something.

So, this is apparently going to be a thing we do now and... well... I'm not complaining. I'll probably feel embarrassed once we start running into people we know and they see us. I'm not looking forward to that. There's no way I can walk around holding this guy's hand without drawing way too much attention to myself. I'm either going to have to make peace with that or end this... whatever it is.

I glance up at Ethan and am surprised to see a slight smile touching his lips. He probably also wants to giggle about the absurdity of this whole crazy situation. I don't blame him.

His friends are waiting at the foot of the hill, where a footpath splits off from the road, snaking into the small forest, systematically climbing along the slope.

To their credit, the three stooges don't say anything when they see us walking hand in hand, and to my credit, I don't yank my hand free and run away. James is the only one who reacts, and even his reaction is an almost imperceptible smile before he looks away.

So far, so good.

I'm a little thrown by the fact that Tonia is the only other girl in our group. Usually, there is a whole crowd of them hanging around these boys. I've never seen Jet without a girl clinging to him. He looks unfinished right now, leaning against a tree, looking me up and down as if he's considering a menu option. The guy is good-looking, and he knows it all too well, from his sunbleached surfer hair, over his tanned muscles right down to his flip-flops.

Ugh.

I'm not surprised to see Tonia; I think her and Lurch's tissue might be fused together permanently. I hardly ever see the one without the other, and they are almost always involved in some kind of awkwardness-inducing embrace. She gives me a quick smile, and I'm not sure (I don't know her well enough), but she seems to be feeling a little bit uncomfortable. Perhaps she is not enjoying their public display of oh, so much affection as much as I thought.

Barn and James are having a rather heated debate about... breakfast cereal... Really?

I appreciate it that these guys are not fussing over us or even really acknowledging the fact that Ethan and I walking around with our fingers entwined is friggin' weird. They are taking it in their stride, just moaning about the heat and about melting while they were waiting and nonsense like that.

Sometimes, these boys are refreshingly uncomplicated.

On the other hand, if they did scoff and laugh and make inappropriate comments, I might actually feel less weird than I do. Sometimes, pointing out the elephant in the room is a good thing. It helps the elephant feel at home.

I thought I'd get used to holding Ethan's hand and would soon just be feeling the way I always feel around him. Mildly confused and highly irritated, but it is not happening. I am irritated, but that is only because it is way too hot today to be walking around, even in this beautiful forest. I nearly fall to my knees and sing for joy when I finally hear the tempting gurgle of the brook.

And there is the bridge! Not far to the waterfall now.

Ethan and I have fallen behind a bit because he is keeping pace with me, and the others are having some kind of strange, way too-energetic war with sticks they picked up. Lurch is carrying Tonia on his shoulders, and she doesn't seem to be fazed by the fact that he turned into one of the three musketeers somewhere along our route. The three stooge-kateers.

Normally, Ethan would be the one leading that kind of chaos; I wonder if docilely walking with me is frustrating him. I glance at him, and he doesn't look frustrated, just mildly amused.

Only James is lagging behind with us. He is also carrying a cooler bag, and walking while reading does tend to have a slowing-down effect on people. I would not have thought that Great Expectations is the kind of book one could read while walking, but he is doing it quite successfully. He hasn't tripped or fallen once.

Impressive!

I'm about to precede Ethan onto the bridge when he lets go of my hand and guides me forward with that hand on my back, but then my last two living brain cells are suddenly revived by the refreshing coolness wafting up from the water below.

"What's wrong?" he wants to know, and I shake my head, giving him a suspicious look.

"There is no way I'm going on this bridge with you. Run to the waterfall and wait there; I'll follow."

"This again?" he snorts.

"Yeah! This again! I don't want to get thrown into the pool under the bridge."

"I won't throw you in."

"Yeah, right!"

"I promise," he says, handing the cooler bag to James so that he can lay a hand on his heart and put his other hand up, palm out, in front of his chest as if he's swearing some kind of ancient oath.

"What are you doing?"

"Promising you that I won't throw you in... well," he grins, "not today."

Not today... Great!

"If you break your promise, Ethan Fletcher, I'm out of here," I tell him, taking one step onto the bridge and then another, glancing over my shoulder at him after every step. "And I'm taking the sandwiches with me."

"Don't you trust me?" he says, looking almost hurt. "I promised!"

He is right; what is a relationship without trust? An Ethan relationship, that's what it is. Well, he usually keeps his promises; I do know that much...

I'm startled but not all that surprised when I'm suddenly airborne, but I'm not flying! I am being held quite safely in his arms... he is the one who is flying. He steps onto the railing and jumps into the pool with me.

The water is freezing, as expected, but Ethan is quite warm, and I'm suddenly drowning in a multitude of sensations and emotions, pushing away from him to reach the rocks at the side of the pool. I'm gasping for breath, as I always do when I'm hit by cold water, and I'm glaring at him, as I always do after he's thrown me in, but I'm feeling none of the expected annoyance.

I am feeling... I don't know...

Usually, he jumps in after dropping me in, and Delia, Simon and everybody else with us join us too. Today is no different. Barn and Jet run back to the bridge to jump in too, and Lurch follows Ethan's example by jumping in with Tonia in his arms. She screams and giggles, clinging tightly to his neck as if it is possible for a strong swimmer like her to drown in this hip-deep water... Well, it's a little deeper for me. The only person not in the pool is James, sitting on the bridge with his back resting against one of the railing's supports. He is guarding the two cooler bags while reading his book.

The boy has his priorities straight.

"You promised," I accuse Ethan, and he nods his head in agreement.

"Yeah, I kept my promise. I didn't throw you in."

"Ass!" I should've been tipped off when he handed the bag to James.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I know why you're mad," he says, joining me on my rock near the side of the pool. "I promised that I'd strip you first next time."

I slap his hands away when he moves to take hold of the hem of my t-shirt. "Too late now! Besides, I'm swimming like this today!"

"Seriously? Aren't you wearing your bathers?"

"I like swimming like this," I shrug, hugging my knees, watching the others soak themselves, dodging a splash or two aimed at us. It's rather refreshing to sit here in my wet clothes.

"Wow, really? Are you sure you're wearing enough? I could loan you my clothes too; I don't need any."

"Whatever," I scoff, rolling my eyes. "You know, Ethan, unlike you, I might not be an exhibitionist who likes to walk around naked with my curtains open. Ever thought of that?"

He gazes at me for a few seconds, blinking his eyes as if he is digesting some life-changing information. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry," he says, stroking strands of hair from my face. "I'll do something about that. I promise."

Wow, considerate Ethan... a rather disturbing rarity.

"Thank you."

"Yeah," he smiles, sliding his hand from the top of my head down my mussed-up hair to my shoulder. "When we get home, I'm stealing your curtains."

♂♀