His Heart For Collection

Chapter six

The moment we finished hiking the trail that led to our camping spot, I was exhausted. The sun was out in its vengeance to scorch us. Drew didn't even look tired.

He's always been like this. He's never tired.

When we reached our camping spot, he got to work on setting up our camp. I was sitting on the camping chair, massaging my legs.

I was not used to walking long distances, so my legs were swelled up.

When Drew was done setting up camp, he came up to me. He crouched down to my level, helping me massage my legs.

"I should have packed up the serum. I'm sorry, my love," he said, his hands gently massaging my legs.

I shook my head. "Not your fault. I should have brought the serum. The swelling will probably go down by morning," I tried to reassure him.

He nodded, then stood up. "Well, let me get some wood so that I can cook for us. I'll be back." Before he left, he bent down to kiss my forehead.

I smiled at that.

When he came back, he had a stack of wood and he didn't waste time before making the fire.

When the fire was made, I grabbed my chair and went to it. Drew made quick work of pan-frying the steak. He even gave me a glass of wine.

He also set up a blanket on the ground, then set up our dinner. I laughed when he placed a rose on the blanket. My husband was really sweet.

He had prepared a lamb steak with yeast butter and warm hummus. The smell was tantalizing. I didn't waste time when he finished setting up our dinner. He poured us wine, then made sure the bottle was on his side.

I shook my head at that, but I didn't complain because the food called out to me.

But before I could dig in, Drew took a hold of my hands. "I know we agreed to not do speeches or the sorts on our anniversary, but I feel as though I need to make one this time," he said.

As much as I was salivating for the food and impatient to eat, I was alright with Drew making a little speech.

"My beloved Leon, I know we have had our differences over the past few years and I know I am the one to blame. I acknowledge that, my love. But I was hoping that we could work on our differences and see whether or not we can fix our marriage. I'm hoping we can fix our marriage, Leon," he finished, looking at me with hopeful eyes.

I looked down at my plate, then back at Drew. "I love you too, Drew." That's all I said. Until he acknowledged that the problem was him not standing up for me when I needed him to, then there was nothing to fix.

Drew nodded, getting what I couldn't say out loud.

He gestured for me to eat, so I did. Drew has always been a great cook for someone who didn't eat a lot. Even his piece was just a small fraction of mine.

When we were done eating, I scooted closer to the fire, then laid down, I put my head on Drew's lap. He ran his hand through my hair, lulling me to a sense of peace.

"Thank you for the dinner. I appreciate it. And happy anniversary, Drew," I said, the only sound in the forest being the crickets.

"Anything for you, my beloved."

_____________

It was cold in our tent that even Drew's nonexistent body heat couldn't even heat me up. I was cold. So I made us come back to our room the moment the glimmer of the sun rose. It was easier getting down, so we didn't take too much time.

When we reached our room, I put the heater to the highest degrees, then got under the blankets.

Drew suggested to order us breakfast, but I said I didn't want to have any. I didn't want to get out of bed until I was forced to.

Drew went to shower, then when done, he joined me in bed.

He wrapped his arm around me, scooting closer to me.

"What's the plan for tonight?" he asked.

That's when I remembered that I was supposed to hang out with Sam. "Sam and I are going to catch up." I hated to bring that up, but I hated lying even more.

His eyes darkened and his hold on me tightened. "Sam."

I sighed, putting my hand over his. "Yes."

He nodded, but his expression did not fade. He looked up at the ceiling, then looked back at me. "Are you not sleepy?"

I was about to shake my head, but an involuntary yawn escaped me. "I actually am. The walk back must have tired me out."

"Sleep, my beloved. Everything will be all well when you wake up."

I nodded, slipping into an unusual sleep. I must have been really tired.

__________

The drive back was filled with 90s music. Drew and I had this thing back in university that whoever didn't know the song that played would be indebted to the other.

I lost many times, but this time, I was determined to not lose. So, we both belted out the songs that came.

Safe to say, neither of us lost. When we reached my apartment, Drew walked me up to the front door of the complex. I did invite him in, but he said he had an early morning tomorrow. He kissed my forehead goodbye.

Before he could leave, I kissed his cheek, then hugged him. Spending the weekend with him just made me realise how bad I missed being close to him.

When he left, I felt unnervingly cold. I entered the complex, then went to the elevator.

When I reached my floor, I was shocked to see Sam, my neighbour, back. He had left about a month ago.

"Sam! What a nice surprise. When did you get back?" I asked, smiling.

He frowned, assessing me. "Excuse me?"

"Why didn't you say you were coming back? Nevertheless, welcome back. How was your trip?" I asked, unlocking my door. He hesitantly followed me inside.

"I came back on Friday. You don't remember?" he asked, closing the door behind him.

I didn't. I was pretty sure I didn't see him on Friday. I brushed it off, putting my bag on the couch. "I must be really tired then. But how are you?"

"I'm doing good. So, when are you coming to mines?"

I wanted to ask for what, but refrained. "I'm really tired, so I can't. But maybe sometime in the week. Right now, I really need to sleep."

He looked disappointed. I wondered why.

"Alright. Let me not keep you up then. But did you have a lovely hiking?"

I was unnerved. I didn't remember telling him that I went hiking. I just nodded, but I was skeptical.

When he left, I made sure to lock the door. You never knew people's intentions these days.