» 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕖: i got this idea from a comment, but i can't find it now :') anyway, the comment said something about travis doing the chocolate bunnies but in a more romantic way, and here's that.
» 𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕖: 1 / 31 / 22
» 𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪: travis decides to surprise katie with some nostalgia on valentine's day. just pure, unadulterated fluff.
» 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤: 1158
. . .
"Just a little farther..."
I kept my hands securely trained over Katie's eyes, hardly containing my giggles. Carefully, I made sure she wasn't going to trip over a root as we neared her cabin, and I halted her in front of my masterpiece.
It was Valentine's Day, and for the first time ever, I had the valentine I'd wanted for years.
Obviously, I had to outdo myself.
"Okay, open your eyes."
I could feel Katie's cheeks lift as she smiled, and I removed my hands from her face. I rushed to her side to see her reaction, and it was just like I thought.
For a moment, her eyes filled first with wonder and anticipation - I'd hyped up our private date for weeks, so she was excited to see what I had planned; then, confusion - she probably wondered why we stood in front of Cabin 4 instead of some romantic spot on the lake; then, utter annoyance when she raised her gaze to the roof.
"Travis."
"Yes, Katie dearest?"
Her jaw was practically on the floor. "Chocolate bunnies."
"That is what they appear to be, huh?"
"Chocolate bunnies?" she reiterated, her braids flipping over her shoulder as she faced me. "You freaking put chocolate bunnies on our roof?!"
"Took me a whole hour," I stated plainly. I took her hand and led her to behind the cabin, where we could climb up the tree branch I'd used earlier to get to the roof.
Katie, incredulous, blabbered on about how she couldn't believe I would do something like this, how we'd been dating for three months and I hadn't pranked her once until now, how she was prepared for a wonderful evening and now she'd have to clean melted chocolate off the grass. But she stopped as soon as she beheld what really took me an hour to set up.
"Woah," she said.
I'd strung fairy lights through the higher branches of the tree, and besides the bunnies on the grass, there was a blanket with gas station snack foods and wildflowers strewn around it. With the spread, a handwritten note telling Katie how glad I was that we weren't enemies anymore and heart-shaped paper cutouts put the final touches on it all.
I was pretty proud, if I did say so myself.
"Trav," Katie murmured, taking a tentative step forward. But, remembering her irritation from earlier, she huffed at me. "You seriously did not put chocolate bunnies on the roof again."
I stuck my tongue out at her and guided her to sit on the blanket. "Just think about it - I'm only reenacting the first prank I'd pulled on you after I realized how much I liked you."
"What?"
Smiling, I motioned to the letter at her crossed feet. As I waited for her to read it, I tried to remember how I worded everything - I'd started the note by saying that I had crushed on Katie long before I admitted it, and I'd started pranking her because I wanted to get her attention. And now, I had it.
Finally.
"This still doesn't explain why you let me do all the cleanup on the pranks, Stoll." She rolled her eyes when she finished reading, but I knew from the little grin on her face that she loved it.
I reached over and splayed a hand on her shoulder. "That's not the fun part!"
"Oh, yeah, that's how you get the girl: prank her relentlessly and let her fix it all afterwards."
"Hey, I never claimed I had game in middle school," I laughed. "Besides, it worked."
She scoffed, but leaned into my arm. "I never said it didn't."
This was the entire end goal for me. This was it. Katie resting her head on my shoulder, still muttering sarcastic comments about how annoying it had been to clean up those chocolate bunnies the first time. Dating the girl I'd pined after for so long, rendering me lovesick for years before I finally worked up enough courage to break through the facade of hatred. The memory of Katie reacting to my admission of feelings played in my head, and I knew I'd always look back fondly on it.
"I have a question," Katie interrupted my reminiscing, and I looked down at her.
"Shoot."
She picked up the letter I wrote, inspecting the divots in the thick parchment. "You said in here that you put the chocolate bunnies on my roof because you'd realized you liked me."
"Yup."
"But that was after I'd been at camp for, like, a year."
I lifted a shoulder. "Yeah, probably."
"You liked me that early on?" Her voice skipped a syllable, but I understood her perfectly.
"Of course, Katie-kat." My thumb rubbed circles into the back of her neck, and I kissed her on the cheek chastely. "I always liked you."
At first, the fairy lights reflected off of her glistening eyes, but then she frowned. Just as quick as she'd smiled, she flipped the switch and shoved me off of her. "You jerk!"
I chuckled, fully pleased with her shift. "How so, Kates?"
"You pranked me for five years instead of just telling me how you felt from the beginning?" Now, she was laughing too. "It was such a pain to wash out that stupid goo out of the grass, you have no idea!"
I sat back up and rested a casual hand on her leg. "You're right, I have no clue whatsoever. But your face was priceless!"
Jokingly, Katie nudged me again with her shoulder. We'd talked briefly about our so-called hatred before we got together, but I'd never admitted to her that I'd always liked her. I knew that we got off on the wrong foot, but when you're a Hermes kid, it's easy to take things leaps and bounds ahead regardless.
"Remember how happy we were back then?" I mused, scooting right back over to her. "Just two kids, hating each other and swearing they'd never feel any different?"
"I wouldn't exactly call it 'happy'," she rebutted. "There was a reason I yelled at you from across the camp sometimes."
"But I still wouldn't have it any other way."
"Neither would I, Trav."
Whether she was screaming my name across the grounds or whispering it from inches away, as long as it was Katie I didn't care. As long as it were her lips my name was on, I knew I'd be content.
"I love you, Kates."
My girlfriend started, and it dawned on me that I'd just said my thoughts aloud. I hadn't really thought twice about vocalizing it, though - it felt right in the moment, even if I hadn't ever said it before. Neither of us had.
Oddly enough, it didn't feel like a big deal. And, luckily, she seemed to feel the same way about the declaration because she cupped my face with her hand and smiled.
"I love you, too," she said, "chocolate bunnies and all."
