Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 59: Waterfall

They spend their first morning in the mountains sleeping in, and the rest of their first full day in the spa getting an extensive (and expensive) couples massage treatment. It does exactly what it promises, pulling the tension in their bodies from the constant movement and pressure of their lives out and dissipating it into the air, at least as long as they can stay here in quiet bliss.

They get up much earlier on the second morning, carefully packing towels, water and lunches in backpacks and putting their swimwear under their clothes. It's already comfortably warm when they set off, following the path along the river to its fork. They had previously turned left to loop back through the resort, but this time they take the right fork and the bridge over the river to head into the national park trails.

It's not a rough back-country hike by any means. The trail is asphalted for the first little while, before it turns to rough gravel as they start climbing further up into the mountain. The forest thickens as they head higher, too, and about 45 minutes in they start hearing the first signs of water, a distant ambient rush of white noise.

They choose not to stop at the first waterfall they cross, instead committing to making the full 2-hour walk up to the top first. They chat idly as they walk, although not loudly, the environment demanding a sense of quiet and calmness. They do pass one other person walking going the opposite direction – evidently someone who had been up early to see the sunrise from the top, which would be nice, but neither of them are that into getting up early – but their morning is otherwise reserved for just them.

Courtney pulls out her phone when they reach the top, not able to resist taking a few photos of the view they have out over the mountains around them. They aren't up the tallest peak in the area by far, but they're high enough to see quite a way, and it's nice. It's pretty.

She can't help but flip the camera around for a moment and take a selfie with Shayne, too, although she merely takes it and closes out the camera.

There's a clearing a little way back down the path where they find a spot to sit and eat the picnic lunch they'd packed. They briefly visit the waterfall closest to the top when they start their return walk, but it's scenic more than anything else, so they quickly continue on to a smaller waterfall further down that they had earmarked as an ideal spot to get a little more involved. It's a few minutes' walk off the main trail down into a small ravine, but it has its own marked trail, too.

Their pick was right – there's a clear, open pool at the bottom, and there's evidence that people use it for swimming often enough with worn paths down into the water. There's a worn path up to the top of the small waterfall, too, and Shayne makes a mental note of it, although he doesn't point it out when they first arrive. There isn't anyone else they can see or hear, although they'd spotted a group of friends up near the top of the mountain not long ago, so they hide their bags behind a rock that shields them from the pathway leading out to the main trail.

Shayne is eager, discarding his shoes, pulling off his shirt and throwing it on top of their bags as he quickly moves to step into the water and push himself out into the pool. It isn't hugely deep, but it's enough that he can sink down so only his shoulders sit above the water.

"You coming?" he calls out, with a laugh, and Courtney rolls her eyes.

"Patience, idiot," she tells him, as she struggles to pull off her own bike shorts – they were good for walking, not so good for quickly removing to go swimming –, moving towards the water as soon as she succeeds. She isn't as rapid as him, metaphorically and literally dipping a toe in the water to test the temperature before she steps further out, although still only up to her knees.

Shayne is openly watching and grinning at her, teasing clear as he hovers halfway out towards where the waterfall lands. She playfully rolls her eyes at him, although she takes notice of the fact that he's evidently waiting for her to join him before he actually goes under the waterfall. She hesitates on her next step, before murmuring a quiet 'fuck it' and propelling herself forward to slide into the water up to her shoulders just as he has.