Song:
"Dusk till Dawn" - ZAYN, Sia

"Hadley."

I smiled from the comfort of my deliciously warm bed, not needing to open my eyes to know whose lips had settled on mine.

Baker's thumb stroked the side of my face as he gazed down at me. "Do you still want to go?"

My brows furrowed, and I cracked an eye, noting the lingering dark and the man who stood above my bed. "What time is it?" I asked, hearing nothing aside from the heavily induced snores of Austin coming from down the hall.

Baker replied, "Six."

I sat up on my side, glancing around my room.

Janelle had made it to her bed a few feet from mine, curled like a cat beneath her quilt, but Alyssa was nowhere to be found.

She must have gone, I thought. Breena's flight was scheduled to arrive... now.

"Where are we going?" I asked, really not wanting to rise out of bed.

"The ledge," he answered. To the photo spot he pointed to on our way here.

My heart warmed at the gesture, but I was too exhausted to go anywhere. I yearned for sleep after a long night of cards, babysitting Austin and pretending to be surprised when Baker made it back and sat across from me. "No," I murmured and flung the blankets back. "I'm too cold."

I saw him smile at the invitation, and he crawled in slowly, doing what he could not to jostle me.

It wasn't sex I craved but intimacy, and while I knew he wanted it, he seemed content as I curled into his warmth, burrowed deep into his chest and tangled his legs in mine.

My eyes lulled as the lingering scent of his cologne and the smell of sweet pine enveloped me in a cocoon of security.

I missed this. I missed the old Baker. The one who smiled, and joked, and snuck into my room late at night just to be with me. I missed the long, cold nights at the cabin and the memories of Baker and I sitting before the fire downstairs when I'd listen to him play his guitar and read by firelight.

The boys teased us about being old, but I enjoyed it. Out here, we didn't have to worry about the weight of life's problems. Or about the fast pace freeway of society. We could simply be. Where time didn't exist, and things were done on our own accord.

Baker's gentle fingers combed through my hair, and I might have fallen back to sleep had he not said, "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Today?" I teased, being quiet, so I didn't wake Janelle.

I hadn't told her yet, but I was sure she suspected something if the looks she gave us at the card table earlier were any indication. It was tough to keep a straight face, especially when the boys teased and prodded Baker about where he went.

His eyes caught mine, and while I looked away in an effort to calm myself and stuff down the image of us at the lake, I could feel his lingering gaze.

I didn't know if I wanted to tell anyone just yet. I kind of liked this little secret. This perfect untainted place Baker and I shared, where we didn't have to answer questions we didn't know the answers to, like if we were official or if I would return to school and maintain a long-distance relationship.

"Smartass," he murmured in my hair, and I couldn't help but smile as he kissed the top of my forehead.

"I have to set up," I said, more serious now, "for the Santa photos."

"And after that?"

"I haven't decided."

I looked up, angling my chin to his and kissed the newly grown stubble. "Why?"

For a moment, he was quiet–his fingers lazily dragging through my hair. "I want to show you something."

"Is it something I've seen before?"

His barely audible chuckle had my smile stretching. "No."

"Will there be food?"

"We can grab something on the way."

"Is it far?"

He laughed quietly at my inquisitive behaviour as if he expected nothing less. "No," he answered, shifting, so he was comfortable. "It's about twenty minutes outside of town."

I was curious but was too tired to inquire further. "Meet me at the booth at four," I yawned. "You'll be there anyway." Putting the finishing touches on the track.

My father's construction company volunteered their machines to build the track for the winter fair every year. And every year, he put Baker in charge of ensuring they were done well.

Why Baker, I hardly knew. Maybe it was because he treated Baker like a son, and he was rather skilled at diffusing the arguments between Luke and Nate. Maybe it was because Baker had more to lose than his sons. Or maybe Baker just appreciated it more.

Baker was so meticulous to detail. A perfectionist at heart, and it showed in everything he did.

The boys didn't mind so long as no one told them how to do their job. Which they usually didn't. Luke and Nate had learned how to run those machines when they were ten—when my father bought his first, second-hand skid steer and threw them on. Baker learned later when he came to live with us. When he was determined to live a better life and refused to be anything like his father.

I stared at him from my little nest of heat below his chin. Admiring him and the man he'd become.

Maybe he had been stuck. Perhaps I'd been too harsh on him, but if I had stayed, would he have tried, or would he have continued to rely on me to fix everything.

He wasn't always so hard. So angry and guarded, not with me. And neither was I. We were happy and easygoing, and I wondered if we could get to that place again.

"What?" he asked, sensing my gaze as his eyes lulled.

"Nothing," I said, holding him a little tighter.

I'd nearly lost him. And I feared, if I wasn't careful, I might lose him again. Or worse, I might lose the person I'd become.

I wouldn't dwell on it. Not right now. Right now was for us. To cradle one another before the sun crept over the mountains, when we were due to return home.

A/N: I wonder where he's going to take her.