Floral and Fading;

4;

It's 11pm and we're  still hitting the road.

"Just enough to dream and make believe." Raph said after he rolled the window halfway down.

Cold breeze hit my cheeks. Yes, it's just enough to dream and make believe. I sighed.

"Where are we really going?" I asked them for the nth time.

"It's the place where the moon shines bright above." Raph said.

I sat there, dumbfounded. Where the fuck is that place?

I heard Peterpan chuckle.

"It's anywhere under the moon tiger. You look so stupid." He laughed so damn hard. Annoying fuck.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes.

"Do you do this often?"

"Nope," Peterpan answered quickly.

I nodded in return.

Well, it's okay to have the first time together with these assholes.

Just when I was going to sleep, Raph killed the engine.

"We're here!" He said. Proudly presenting the place to us.

"Wow," I said. Amazed.

The breeze is cold here, too. We're in a cliff near the ocean, under the moonlight. The calming sound of the waves hitting the rocks. The sweet sound of the night. And damn the moon and stars above us, shining brightly as if they're happy we're here to watch them.

Peterpan rested his arm on my shoulder and said, "Let's go get our things."

I grabbed my bag because that's all I brought. But I saw other things there and grabbed another one.

We finished unloading our things when Raph was searching for something.

"Hey! Any problem here?" I asked.

"Have you seen a tent?" He asked me while he's busy pointing his flashlight there.

"What does it looks like?" I'm curious.

"Here. It's like a rectangular prism but with circular edges. It's just about this big." He said. Drawing the tent in the air.

Wait.

What?

"Omg"

"What?!" Raph faced me.

"Is this what you mean?" I held up the thing I grabbed earlier.

"Yes! That's it!" He jumped for joy and so quickly, Raph and Peterpan set the tent up while I was busy lighting up the campfire.

We're roasting marshmallows. They smell so good. And they taste so delicious.

"Thank you," I said absent-mindedly.

"What for?" Raph asked.

"For this." I shrugged.

"Yeah. You're welcome, tiger" Peterpan answered with a smile. Not the annoying smile, but the sweet smile. Damn, I can feel my heart melting like my marshmallows.

"Hey, Wendy! Watch out for your marshmallows!" Raph and Peterpan laughed at my burnt marshmallows.

"Nah. I'll go get some more." I stood up and threw my dear marshmallows away.

I was on my way back to the campfire when I heard them talking seriously. I stopped walking and started listening to them.

"So, you're going to continue this?" I heard Peterpan's voice.

"Maybe. I don't really know. I don't even know why I'm here." Raph replied.

Peterpan laughed at Raph's response.

"Seriously? But tell me, she makes you happy right?"

"Like what kind of happy do you mean?"

"Come on, stop lying to yourself!"

I showed up. I need to stop listening to those confusing words.

"Who's lying?" I asked them. Breaking their moment.

"Uhh, Raph lies a lot, like a freaking lot." Peterpan laughed.

"Speak for yourself, Pete!" Raph narrowed his eyes at him.

"Oh, you're challenging me stickman?" Peterpan stood up jokingly.

"Uh probably, after five years, when I'll have more muscles than you" Raph laughed.

And the night was filled with jokes and laughter.

It's already 1 AM and our conversation got serious. Like most conversations do.

"So how many ex-girlfriends have you two had?" I asked them while playing with the firewood.

"I had four," Peterpan said.

Raph was silent. I nudged his shoulder and asked.

"How about you Raph?"

Raph said something but the only thing I heard was first.

How come I didn't hear him clearly when Peterpan did but he's a little farther than me.

He was eyeing Raph with a playful smile.

"Oh sure," I said. We were silent for a while when Raph started to speak up.

"How about you Wendy?"

"How about me?"

"How many ex-boyfriends have you had?" Raph asked me.

"Forty-four," I said casually, making Raph's eyes almost pop out, but Peterpan didn't budge like he knows everything about me.

"What the fuck?" Raph said. Obviously not believing anything I just said.

"I know Raph. It's almost unbelievable. And I really think I'm cursed. Imagine? There were forty-four assholes who broke my heart? Who would believe that? I'm not even pretty." I said trying to lighten up the mood.

"You're pretty," Raph said seriously.

"I agree." Peterpan nodded.

"Thank you. But I still think I'm not." I smiled at them.

We talked our hearts out up until 4 am. Raph shared about why he loved going outside, anywhere away from their house because he thinks their house is not qualified to be called a home for his parents are always away and his sister locked herself up in her room which made him thinks she hates him.
Peterpan shared about his recent ex. How they broke up was terrifying. His ex just left him one day. She disappeared and left him a note saying, "I'm not coming back. I've done something so terrible." She left him broken. But then he said, he tried to find her but her neighbors said she moved away.
And me, I shared about how I managed to fall in love so many times after experiencing those breakups. I said to them, "I know they're assholes okay? But when I think about it, we met for a reason. Maybe to touch each other's lives and tilt our lives' direction. Maybe, to shape me for the future. To armor me from the pain the future will bring."

This night makes me think like I've known them all my life. And then I drifted into sleep.