Page 33 of Somewhere Between Falling

“One, I packed all the essentials, including a brand new toothbrush for you,” he said, leading me closer to the tent.“And two, I didn’t plan on wearing pajamas.” He winked, and I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks.

He opened the tent and pulled out a cooler and a couple of bags. I peeked inside the tent and noticed he had set up a full-sized air mattress already made up with blankets and pillows.

“So what exactly are we supposed to do while camping?” I asked.

“The key to a successful camping trip is to embrace the three S’s,” he explained.

“Which are?” I asked.

“S’mores, sunset and stargazing, of course.” He pulled out a box of graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows, and a large chocolate bar to show me before putting them back in the cooler for later.

“Of course,” I said with a grin.

“But before we do that, how do you feel about doing a little fishing?” he asked, with a slight cock of his head.

“As long as I don’t have to bait any hooks, I’m in.”

He laughed as he handed me a tackle box. “Right this way.”

Fishing was more peaceful than I thought it would be. He baited my hooks for me, which I appreciated since the worms looked slimy and gross. We sat side by side, our feet dangling off of the dock, and waited for the tell-tale tug of the line. The lake was larger than I realized; I could barely make out the trees on the other side. It was warmer now than it had been when we first left campus, with just a light breeze that made ripples on the surface of the water—basically a perfect spring day. We didn’t keep anything we caught. He said it was because they were too small, but I think it was because he knew I wouldn’t be able to stomach actually killing the creatures.

The sun was just starting to set when we returned to our campsite. Tobias really had thought of everything from our dinner—traditional hot dogs roasted over the open fire, of course—to coffee for the next morning.

“How do you like your marshmallows toasted?”

“Um, I’ve only had s’mores in the microwave before, so I have no idea,” I admitted.

“Hmm, definitely lightly toasted then for your first real s’more.”He stuck a marshmallow on a long metal stick, and I watched as it turned golden brown in the flame. He built my s’more for me before roasting his own marshmallow a dark brown until it caught fire, then he blew it out.

“Perfect,” he said of his burnt marshmallow. Then he added, “The charcoal flavor adds to the experience.”

“I’ll have to try it your way next, then.”

Campfire s’mores were definitely superior to the microwave ones my mom made when I was a kid.After we finished, he dug out some wipes to get the stickiness off of our fingers.The inky-black sky was full of twinkling stars, and we heard an owl nearby hooting.

“Are there coyotes out here?” I asked, suddenly nervous.

“Yeah, but they usually don’t approach humans. They tend to be more afraid of us than we are of them,” Tobias assured me.

After we cleaned up our dinner of extra-charred hot dogs, we went inside the tent. He had hung up a string of lights on the inside. It still surprised me the amount of thought he put into the tiniest details.

“This was the reason I bought this one,” he said, revealing a sunroof. “Perfect for stargazing comfortably.”

We lay down on the air mattress, and I appreciated all of the pillows and blankets he brought, as it was much cooler now that it had been earlier today.

“Have you ever seen a shooting star?” I asked him, cuddling up under his arm.

“I’ve seen one or two,” he answered before kissing the top of my head.

“I hope we see one tonight.”

“If we do, what would you wish for?” he asked.

I thought about it for a moment as I listened to the peaceful rustling of the leaves in the wind and the beat of his heart. I realized there was only one thing I would wish for.

“To be more fearless…to do things that scare me,” I told him. Like falling in love. “What about you?”

“More moments like this,” he said, tightening his arm around me.

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