You Must Be the One

Green- Tranquility

Time we've learned to sail above
Time won't change the meaning of one love

-Evergreen, Barbra Streisand

"When I said I needed a vacation, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

"What, you never went camping as a kid?"

"You know as well as anyone, I was a city kid. We didn't do camping."

"So was I, but my dad liked to take us to the Poconos every summer. Get us out in nature."

"Well, okay, Mister Boy Scout. The closest I got to nature was summer camp upstate."

"You told me I could surprise you. It worked, right?"

"Hell yeah it did. I'm certainly surprised."

Bradley put the SUV into park. "Here we are."

The grounds were pretty, even she had to admit that much. There were evergreens as far as the eye could see and the gentle rain that had fallen the evening before clung to the needles in the form of delicate drops. 

Stefani enjoyed the outdoors as much as the next person. She liked to hike, she adored the beach. Bradley had even gotten her into tennis. It wasn't as though she was necessarily opposed to the idea of camping. 

It was more so the actual idea of sleeping outside. In a tent. In the woods. With bugs. Possibly bears. None of it sounded appealing in the least. 

And then there was her sweet boyfriend who looked extremely eager to please and so proud of himself for planning a vacation for the two of them. Squashing his excitement wasn't an option, so she smiled at him, touching his elbow.

"This is beautiful."

"Not what you had in mind, though. I'm sorry, baby. If you want to go somewhere else, we can--"

She shook her head. "You went to a lot of trouble to plan all this, I'm sure. We can stay."

"You sure?" His eyes narrowed in concern.

"One hundred percent."

They both got out of the car, stretching to recuperate from the long drive. Bradley's fingers brushed hers.

"Take in that air for a second. That's not LA air."

His enthusiasm was adorable, she had to give him that.

Obliging, Stefani inhaled, allowing the scent of the fresh pine and wet soil fill her nostrils. "No smog, that's for sure."

He grinned, "nope. I know it's not exactly the beach, but---"

"Oh, I've had lifetimes of the beach. We live at the beach. This is good."

"C'mon," he replied brightly, giving her hand a squeeze, "we'll grab the stuff and set up."

The area they decided to set up camp wasn't too far in; a nice walk along a shaded path to a clearing of trees.

"What do you think?" Bradley gestured with his chin, "this it?"

Beyond them, she caught a glimpse of the lake, twinkling in the distance.

"This is it."

"Perfect. On to the tent."

He sounded fairly confident and she took off her sweatshirt, settling on the ground. "Do you want some help there?"

"You relax, grab a drink or something," he pushed the cooler toward her with his foot. "I got this."

"I'll get you a water, too."

It took approximately ten minutes to determine that Bradley's tent building skills were probably more on par with hers.