IT TOOK THEM EXACTLY ten minutes to break the cucumber in two. Gabriela had looked away for one second and Mateo had whacked it against Jay's head. It may have been a petty revenge, but he seemed satisfied with it. Until he had seen the vegetable snap in two before his eyes, that was.

He was crouched down beside it, cradling the broken pieces in his hands, his head dipped.

"Why are you mourning?" Jay said.

"I lost my child, Jay," Mateo said, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout.

"What did you expect when you threw it at my head?"

"It's your fault," Mateo said," your head was too hard for our poor Bas. He never stood a chance."

"No worries, guys," Sahar said," I'll tape it together."

Gabriela looked at the whole scene confusedly, before shaking her head. "Let's not tape the broken vegetable together, please."

"Do you have a plan?" Mateo said, looking at her with newfound hope.

"Just steal another one," she said as she stuck a pin in the ground," and watch chaos ensue."

Sahar clapped excitedly in her hands at the idea, though Jay seemed like it was all too much effort for what it's worth. Still, he would be helping, she was sure of that. Mateo's reaction was a low whistle, followed by one of his most blinding smiles, that look in his eyes he always had with her. She always got swept away in it, too easily.

"What a woman," Mateo grinned.

The words seemed to have escaped his mouth, because just a second later he looked lost. Their relationship had changed over the course of the last few days, she knew that, but seeing him try to find the right boundaries again was painful. Normally he didn't think before speaking with her, but now it seemed like it was all he did. The casual feeling they had before seemed so far away.

"She is indeed," Sahar agreed then, interrupting the silent exchange between them.

"Yeah," Mateo murmured, looking as if the spell he had been under was broken, his gaze quickly focused on the tools in his hand.

His smile was a bit sheepish then, but he ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. Whatever had been running through his mind seemed to have been gone with the movement, replaced with his usual cheeky smile.

"I suggest we go for Chase's group," he said.

"Betraying your friends, huh?" Sahar grinned," risky. I like it."

"What can I say?" Mateo shrugged," I am a man made of mystery and sin."

The look Jay gave him then was so dumbfounded Mateo swatted him on his shoulder.

Gabriela rolled her eyes amusedly. "Mateo, we both know you're only made of honesty and impulsive decisions. Now finish what you're doing and after that we'll stab Chase in the back."

"Sure, Gabriela," he said, a soft smile tugging on his lips," though I must say you wound me."

"Gabriela's being nice," Jay said," I would have just straight up called you an id -"

Sahar's raised eyebrow caused him to stop talking though and he gave her a guilty grimace, before continuing on with the task he had been assigned. In response she gave him a fluttery kiss on his forehead, butterflies erupting beyond the space of her lips, her eyes the kind of warmth you could only find in the sun itself.

"Be nice, now," she said.

"I'm trying," he sulked, though his cheeks were dusted with pink now.

She brushed his hair away softly and smiled, a giggle escaping her lips. With a shake of her head she left then, walking towards Gabriela to help her. Honestly, when Gabriela had first seen those two it had felt like fire and ice, but now, after these past two weeks however, she had noticed she'd been wrong. They never had been melting each other away, they had been air and flames instead, giving room to breathe and flicker even brighter, in a way so soft it smelled like love.

"Hey Gabriela, can I help?"

Her name sounded so unfamiliar on his tongue, like a forgotten memory which she was remembering all wrong. Still, she turned around, offering Mateo a smile.

"Sure," she said.

They both knew she didn't really need his help, but the rift between them was becoming so clear that she couldn't have said no. Pretending was the only way to keep it from growing, pretending and sticking band-aids on the festering wound, hoping it would go away. They needed to talk it out, she knew that, but it was hard to when both of them seemed to still have the same point of view, so different from each other that it was like they were seeing other things altogether.

She was setting up the tent, a process she was all too familiar with. Camping was almost a monthly thing with her family and Mateo always came with, grinning through even the most bothersome chores. Her hands tied a knot expertly, Mateo crouched down beside her, hand gripped around the tools from before.

"I love this," he said, glancing up at the azure-consumed sky, the birds crossing through, the trees, bitten by autumn and dusted with red.

"You always have," she chuckled, opening her hand for one of the tools.

He handed it to her, before getting to work himself on the other side, just a few feet away from her. "You know I'm a man of nature."

"Surprisingly so," she said.

"It's just..." he began, trailing off before he found his voice again," it feels so soft and quiet out here, like nothing truly matters. I'd love to do this with my family, in the future."

"Thinking about kids already, Mateo?" she said, her teasing tone light.

He flashed her a smile, but it seemed more sad than anything else.

"I'd love to have kids one day," he said," and be with them throughout it all." His gaze lifted to the sky, following the clouds. "That's just all I want, really. To be the loving father for them, forever."

The way his own father couldn't have been. She heard the words even though he didn't speak them, tasted the grief in the air like she did the morning dew, jarringly cold.

"You will be," she promised him.

His usual grin was back then and he laughed at her, a happy sound. "You know what I'll do? I'll send them here too then when they start acting up. Let them find out how legendary their dad is to be head of this school, so they'll never dare to talk back to me again."

"Those poor kids," she said with a raised eyebrow," what do they have to do to deserve that punishment?"

"Oh, but you don't understand, Nena," he smiled," it won't be a punishment, not really. It will never be about punishing them."

He stopped talking then, freezing in place as soon as he noticed what word has escaped his lips. She hadn't realized at first, the sound too natural to sound out of place, but as soon as she did, her breath danced against her lungs.

"Uhm," he began, the word tumbling in the air awkwardly, before hanging there in silence.

The both of them didn't know what to say, she realized, and that was such a sad thing that she almost wanted to shout. Instead, she continued on, unbothered, her eyes focused on the nail she was hammering in the ground.

"Sure," she said," but do give them the idea that you're a bit strict or they'll walk all over you, Mateo."

"You're right," he said, his tension fading away and making place for relieved laughter," but I'm sure the idea of being sent to a school for delinquents sounds daunting enough."

"Did it sound daunting to you?" she said.

He pointed a finger at her. "Okay, you got me there."
His hand tapped on the grass pensively, before perking up then, his eyes bright. "I got it."

"You're having a stupid idea, Mateo," she said," I can feel it."

"There's no place for negativity in this zone," he said, waving a hand around him at their small clearing," but despite that comment of yours, I'm going to share my brilliant idea with you anyway. Because I'm that kind."

"Do I want to hear it though?" she replied," think about that."

"I can, but I choose not to," he said, continuing on," so, here's my pitch, Gabriela, I say we threaten to send them to a nunnery. That will get them to listen for sure."

He didn't seem to have noticed that he had misspoke, but she had and her heart replied, quickly letting the words run through her. We. Not him and his future wife, him and her.

We.

"Are you proposing to me, Mateo Martinez?" she said, a soft gasp leaving her lips," scandalous."

As soon as he realized his cheeks flamed up and he accidentally hit his thumb with the hammer, a string of curses leaving his lips. She quickly jumped to her feet, running to his side with a worried frown on her face.

"You should watch out," she said softly as she crouched down beside him, taking his calloused hand in hers.

He glanced at her, pain forgotten and replaced by something undecipherable. Though she felt his gaze burning though, she kept hers trained on his thumb, as red as his cheeks were.

"What if I was, Gabriela?" he said," what if it doesn't matter if I'm strict, because I know you'll raise them right? What if you're the only one I can envision a future with?"

She bit her cheek, the taste of iron sharp a second later.

"That's a lot of what ifs," she said.

He pulled his hand back then and got to his feet, the rays of the sun hiding his expression from sight.

"It sure is," he said.