campfire | joshua

four

"what about you?"

joshua faced her once again. and their eyes met as soon as he did as she has been gazing at him for awhile now.

"i'm staying here for the night.", he answered.

her lower lip thrusted out as her brows lifted. "oh. . really?"

"yeah. . i'm gonna stargaze the whole night and eventually sleep inside my car."

"that sounds great. how I wish I could do that too.", she sighed with a not so happy smile. she really yearned for anything that wouldn't require her to drain any of her energy, yet in her current situation, she was afraid to admit that it was just too impossible.

"you can sleep with me.", joshua, without much thought about how he constructed his sentence, blurted out, but quickly regretted it as soon as he heard himself.

what will she think of him now? yes, he wanted to tell her possibly something like that, but not in the way that would sound so wrong.

he grew nervous by every quiet second, and to add up, he felt like she seem to not plan on responding. he wanted to take back his words, but he didn't know how, it was the exact opposite of possible.

however, he felt all the weight on his shoulders disappearing when he heard a chuckle coming from her. "that's impossible for me. I have a truck loads of things to do."

joshua was somewhat relieved that she didn't seem to take his words the wrong way and misunderstood what he truly meant.

"oh. . ."

she pursed her lips as she felt the atmosphere becoming awkwardly quiet. of course, she understood what joshua said, but she tried not to react to not make it more embarrassing for him as she sensed that he was.

"are you. . going to be with someone for the rest of your stay?", he asked her, somehow feeling uneasy.

he genuinely wished that she would disagree, it would be a chance for him if she would.

"no. . not really. .", luckily, she did disagree, and in a way, it was enough reason for him to completely be in bliss.

"really?", she nodded. "then would you mind spending it with me?", he asked her with his pleasantly gentle voice. she looked at him, confused by his offer at first, but eventually smiled, and doing so felt natural to her now. absurd to hear, but his words somehow touched her heart.

"no, not at all. . I wouldn't mind and. . i think it would be fun to spend the day with someone.", the beam on joshua's face became wider. she literally makes him feel things. he hadn't expect that a person he met like an hour ago can make him as ecstatic as this.

on the next moments and hours, they spent it like how he offered, they spent the day having fun, so much that is. they waded on the beach, and on the perspective of a third person, skin ships seemed like a normal and usual thing for them to do.

they would sit on the sand every now and then, gazing at the waves, at the clouds, at the sky and sometimes, even at each other.

they found thrill in each other's company. the whole time, all they could see from one another were happy faces. and being comfortable with each other seemed like the most easiest thing to do. they maybe haven't realize, but the bond that they already had became even more.

they both weren't aware of the time, or perhaps they just didn't choose to know, and even her plan of going home was long forgotten. she was genuinely enjoying herself, way more than how much she had expected from an impulsive trip.

at some point, the sun had already started to set, making the surrounding fill with deep and warm colors.

as joshua took in that it was slowly starting to get dark too, he told her that it would be nice to make a bonfire. and that idea made her instantly agree.

everything that joshua had offer to her turned out amazing and that made her really happy.

they helped each other making the fire, and as soon as they finished, they sat side by side, sitting on the camping chairs that joshua brought.

looking at him from a close proximity, she doesn't know why, but he felt like home.