𝑺 𝑬 𝑹 𝑬 𝑵 𝑰 𝑻 𝒀 (18+)

nineteen.

      S E R E N I T Y

       ♥

"And what's that?" I asked, turning to face him. His eyes scanned me slowly and he grinned, "hiking in thirty and I already added you to our reservation at Mahogany." Noah pressed a chaste kiss to my forehead and left the room laughing. I didn't take him for a tease but clearly, I was mistaken. And Hiking? Did I even bring anything suitable for hiking? I groaned and heard another laugh coming from outside of my door, "I also figured you didn't have anything appropriate for a hiking excursion. I had Andrew pick this up, I hope it fits." He handed me a bag and smiled. It was weird seeing him in such high spirits. He was relaxed, happy. It looked good on him.

"You're correct, I didn't. Thank you." He nodded and began walking out of the room, "please be on time Serenity."

"Yeah, yeah," I hummed.

Noah or Andrew had done a perfect job at guessing my size. The sneakers and the rest of the ensemble fit perfectly and they were quite cute. I had no interest in outdoor affairs but boy did I look the part. With a minute to spare I was downstairs with everyone else, Noah and Andrew congratulating me for being on time. 

"Who's riding with who?" George questioned.

"Serenity is with me, Andrew you can take my parents." I wanted to laugh but I choked it back. I could hear Drew whining in his head at the thought of having to sit in the car for twenty minutes with Giselle Harrington.

"Lovely, Katrina you must tell me where you got those beautiful boots from on the way there." Katrina smiled at Noah's mother and took her hand in hers. I almost rolled my eyes but stopped when I felt Noah's large hand on the small of my back, "let's go," he urged.

"Your mother seems to really like Katrina," I smiled, buckling my seatbelt.

"Does that upset you?" He asked. "No, why would it?"

Noah laughed, "Katrina is safe. My mother likes safe. Your airy attitude scares her, I'm sure you remind her of Bev."

Could I consider this as him opening up to me? Cause if he was I was going to cherish it forever.

"Does it scare you too?"

He shook his head, "no, I like it."

                                       ...

This was my punishment. Punishment for persuing my boss, and for cutting the line at Roasted every day. My feet were in agony, I couldn't take another step. And the bugs, I wanted to curse Mother Nature for even creating them. It was like they had no sense of personal space. If they weren't trying to get in my ear or up my nose, I found them on my neck and on my forehead. Andrew caught a glimpse of me behind the group and smiled, "can we break for a second? I want to get a picture of this stream." I blew him a kiss and he laughed, pulling out his phone to capture a few shots.

"You get used to it," I heard a soft voice declare. "Katrina, I didn't even see you come over here," I admitted in between breaths. She looked radiant. Like the past hour, we spent sifting through nature had no effect on her. Bitch.

"My parents and I love camping. We went all the time while I still lived at home." I didn't ask for her backstory so I was unsure why she was giving me one. I silently chastised myself at the thought, play nice Serenity.

"Oh, really? That sounds lovely Katrina really." She smiled and sat next to me on the dirty log. "I wanted to ask you something Serenity."

"Now's not really a good—"