A/N: ^ Mt. Ranier!

"Seattle Ballooning," I read off the entrance sign off the road but the words stuck in my ears. "This is it?"

"Yep." Ellie's dark eyes flashed with excitement at me.

Her confirmation stirred a few reactions in me. First, I was relieved we hadn't gone to another farm since the one date where we dodged cow pies and horse shit piles was enough. While our actual date had been horseback riding, just the memory of my slapped-up balls afterwards confirmed that once had been enough.

Ellie definitely has different ideas for dates.

Second, uncertainty and apprehension knotted in my stomach because, well, I'm a big guy. I wasn't afraid of heights, loved rollercoasters until my stomach was done with them, and flying was no problem.

A straw-woven basket hundreds of feet in the air, giant gas flame-powered balloon, no seatbelts... That's another story.

"Thought I'd get you off-campus," Ellie's sweet voice cut through my thoughts as I drove up to what looked like a regular split-level house with white siding and blue shutters. The large, flat, and grassy property had a gigantic back yard and I couldn't help but wonder the obvious question.

We just take off from here?

"How do you find this stuff?" I asked Ellie, who definitely surprised me here.

"Can't reveal my secrets," she teased and refused to say anything further.

Ellie had definitely started out our date on a high note and for sure took me by surprise when we shared by far our hottest make out session since I'd been here. Kissing her resurfaced all of my desires and arousal for her within two seconds flat and both my hands and mouth couldn't get enough of her.

Although I would've been completely fine had we taken what we started in the library back to our place and spent all night there, I knew Ellie and I needed to talk over some hurdles that remained between us. Plus, now that we were here and with the excited look in her eyes, I knew I was just along for the ride.

Literally.

We exited my truck, well I stepped out while Ellie adorably jumped down, and walked up to the front of the house with her small, warm hand tucked in mine. Just inside the front entry was an office set up with three metal desks. An older man with gray streaks in his dark brown hair sat behind one desk and balloon paraphernalia, posters, and pictures hung on every available wall surface.

"Miss Harrison?" The man stood up from behind his desk, walked over to us with a welcoming smile, and shook Ellie's free hand. He looked more like a mountain man than a pilot dressed in black jeans, red flannel, and a puffy navy blue vest coat, but introduced himself, "Captain Elias, we spoke on the phone."

"Hi Captain Elias." She smiled brightly, lifted her hand, then patted my chest. "Yep, I'm Ellie and this is Logan."

"Nice to meet you Logan. You look familiar..." He looked up and studied my face while his hand shook mine. "For a big guy."

"Too big for this?" I looked around the office like some of the pictures showed this was best for people who barely stood taller than the baskets.

Like Ellie.

"Well..." He craned his neck back and studied me curiously. "How much do you weigh?"

"About two-thirty," I confessed and ignored the surprised look on Ellie's face that yes, I now weighed more than twice her weight.

"I'll tell Axel to swap out for a heavier duty gondola," he muttered and sized me up. "Maybe one for five to six people."

Before I responded, Elias and Ellie both broke out into laughs.

"I'm kidding, you're absolutely fine." His shoulders shook lightly as he laughed. "We only use the single-person baskets for air shows or demonstrations."

"Hilarious," I muttered and looked straight at Ellie, who still giggled at probably a mental image that I plummeted to my death.

Fortunately, Elias continued, "We need to go over some safety and general information, sign some forms then we'll get you two up in the air. Rain cleared off so we'll have a bright and clear afternoon flight with Axel, who's in the field setting up."

"Sounds great." Ellie twitched with excitement next to me, then tightly squeezed my hand. I wasn't quite on the same level as her but was curious about exactly what we'd see. So far we'd driven up to a flat, suburban neighborhood intermixed with flat farmland.

"First of all, consent forms." Captain Elias passed a few pieces of paper that I tried my best not to read before I signed, for fear 'plummeting to death' really was included in the fine print.

Elias walked us through a brief description of the science behind the air balloons, which I appreciated from the thermal dynamics perspective. Prior to today, I'd assumed a hot air balloon was a big piece of fabric strapped onto a basket over a large Bunsen burner that floated back down to the ground once all the heat was gone, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

Over the next ten minutes, from the envelopes to the steams, coatings, vents, propulsion system, burner, and propane fuel tanks, Elias hadn't left a single detail behind. I actually found myself really interested from the thermal dynamics side, even though Ellie stifled a slight yawn.

A few signed forms later and a short ride in their vehicle later, Ellie and I stepped out into an open field that in fact had a gigantic, multi-colored balloon partially inflated and ready to go from the other two people in the office.

"This is Axel," Elias introduced us to the short-haired guy who stood inside the gondola. With his long, scraggly beard, shaved head, solid black clothes, and gauges in his ears, he looked more ready for a rock concert, but shook both our hands and helped us inside. After we all climbed in, Elias secured the door onto the outside, then waved us off.

The gondola itself felt just like a giant, plastic basket, but made with industrial strength materials weaved together with air-tight tension. On the inside, large cylinders of the propane gas were strapped into each corner, held in place with red fabric sleeves. There was enough space for possibly two more people before we crammed in like sardines, but with this setup we definitely were in there tight.

"Wanna pull us up?" Axel asked Ellie with a lopsided grin and pointed to a large handle overhead.

"Of course!" She beamed brightly and I smiled at her contagious positive energy. Her small hand lifted, grasped around the handle, and lit what sounded and vibrated the air with a whoosh.

The gondola twitched, shook, then lifted effortlessly off the ground. Captain Elias grinned and gave us a small two-finger salute before he got smaller.

We were surrounded with a sense of weightlessness as the loud sound of the propane gas burned above our heads and surged us upwards. The whole gondola rocked back and forth a little with how high we shot up but Ellie only giggled and her free hand clutched one of my forearms. Both of mine grabbed onto the edge of the gondola wall like an oh-shit handle since this girl obviously had a lead-hand when it came to balloons.

We ascended fairly quickly and went straight up, up, up until the ground below looked like a patchwork of different shaded green squares around the dark evergreen trees, tan roads, and miniature houses and barns looked like a model built underneath us. My knuckles turned white from my grip on the gondola's edge.

Fuck, we are high!

A cool, steady breeze blew against us as Axel took over, then churned the propane until we ascended to a height that satisfied him.

"Five thousand feet," he inhaled and exhaled with a calm expression. "We're limited in altitude by the class B aircraft space around SeaTac airport."

Plenty high enough.

"Oh my gosh," Ellie gasped and pushed herself into the flat side of the gondola, right between two propane tanks. "This is so high!"

All around us, in a continuous, three-hundred-sixty degree direction was a stunning view. The late-afternoon sunlight glittered off the large body of water that we approached.

"Lake Tapps." Axel pointed at the water and positioned us in that direction. The gondola twitched and swayed as it shifted sideways, until a view of the bottom of the gondola, surrounded by the colorful balloon fabric around it, and our curious expressions over the edge reflected back in the water underneath us.

As Axel dropped us lower, a few birds scattered from the bank of the lake and flapped through the air on both sides of the balloon. Axel surprised both of us when he dipped down and skimmed the water's surface with the gondola's bottom with a small splash. Ellie's hand tightened around my forearm but her face broke into a bright smile, then she even released a tiny squeal.

With another chuffed round of propane blasts, Axel lifted us back up higher, along the waterline and towards the white-tipped Mt. Rainier. While I'd only seen it from a distance, particularly Huskies Field, up close the color gradients were much more striking.

In his self-guided tour towards the dormant volcano, Axel explained geological points and development of the area, combined with a history of hot air ballooning as an aviation development then recreational interest. Ellie listened politely and asked questions as they chatted like old friends but I was content while I enjoyed the view.

"Oh here..." Axel pointed to an incoming cluster of evergreen trees. "You'll want to see this."

He slowed our horizontal pace down, then almost paused us fifty feet from a large tree. He pointed between the branches at a cluster of twigs and sticks that looked like -

"A nest?" Ellie squinted, then gasped quietly at the movement inside and the three small brown heads that popped up over the edge. "Gosh, are those really -"

"Eagles," Axel confirmed in a voice that sounded like he was the proud father.

We took a few pictures of the nest, some of us, plus the amazing view. Axel continued his journey, closer to Mt. Rainier until he paused and essentially reversed our direction.

"Normally we touch down and offer a picnic with champagne, but since you two are twenty..." his voice rang out behind me. "Just lemonade to go with the mandatory romantic chocolates for the ride back."

"Mandatory, huh?" I took the small, square metal tin he extended out to me and handed one of the small chocolate pieces inside to Ellie.

"Thanks." Her cheeks flushed slightly pink when I offered the chocolate up to her lips. In a soft, romantic moment, they parted and I gently set it on her tongue. She smiled, returned the favor for me, then gently ran her thumb over my chin.

After I verified Axel's attention was away from us, his back completely turned in the other direction for a moment of privacy, I grinned at Ellie then slipped a piece of chocolate between my lips. With a wink at her, I leaned forwards, pressed my lips against hers, then pushed the chocolate into her mouth with my tongue.

Her cheeks were definitely pink when I pulled back and I'd ungraciously smeared chocolate all over her lips, but her eyes darkened with larger pupils. The corners of my mouth curled upwards at her reaction, I rolled my lips inward, then ran my tongue over the leftover chocolate I also wore.

Once I sent her another wink, she just shook her head, wiped her lips with her fingertips, and stepped flush against the side of the gondola. I more than happily stood behind her, my hands rested on the edge on both sides of her elbows.

For the rest of the ride, the completely unobstructed view, soft clouds, and blue sky backdrop looked amazing but my attention drifted towards the short, cute brunette who stood tucked in between my arms and leaned her head back against my chest. How a few strands of her hair tossed around her face, the look of awe in her eyes, and her lips slightly parted captured more of my attention the longer I looked at her until she held all of it.

While her backside was pressed right in my pelvis, sexual thoughts were the last thing that occupied my mind, only Ellie's heart. The fact that she'd called the Prakashes, who were more than just my neighbors across the hall at UCD, and they virtually joined us for dinner was such a simple but thoughtful gesture. Mom texted me almost daily about her first, then me, even Brody sent me a 'good luck' text after I'd told Mom we had a date tonight.

Ellie's non-date with James was a clusterfuck but she definitely shut him down, then chased me down. While I wished most of that night hadn't happened, on both sides, we both physically worked out our frustrations and the situation ended up better than I could've imagined.

Every damn day even, while Ellie felt obliged to and I washed more dishes than probably the dorm cafeterias in return, she made every one of our healthy, amazingly tasty meals that made me feel better. My appetite was demanding but she hadn't complained once. While she definitely pushed me to eat food I'd never considered, she always aimed for what was good for my health.

Just like the old Ellie, feels like she's taking care of me.

Even today, she knew our UW scene probably turned into a fishbowl pretty soon, at least it would if I had anything to say and do with how many games we won this year. So the fact she took me somewhere completely remote and private, with the exception of Axel's presence, felt like a physical and mental breath of fresh air.

As with all things Ellie, there was just more than the physical attraction and release. I knew right at that moment, just holding my arms around her, that if she was ready to talk about and hear everything, then I was ready to ask if she'd be my Ellie again.

Just hope she's ready because I'm all in at this point.