The Floaters [cake au] ✔

⌛ ➀➂: love. ⌛

Chapter 13: love.

"This is the perfect spot!" Ashton shouted from the forest clearing, beckoning us over with his huge hands. I collected our tent and bags from the ground and went over with Luke, who only managed to carry his backpack.

Michael found us too after doing a quick circle of the area around the clearing, announcing that he'd found a waterfall and multiple lakes curving around, which made sense because we could hear the sound of gushing water gently making its way past the river banks.

"So which one of us has set up a tent before?" I asked, but an awkward silence followed as we realised that we were newbies to the world of camping, or surviving alone at all. "Well this is gonna be fun."

Michael chuckled nervously, responding, "It'll be okay guys! Look – we've got tent pegs here – we stick them in the ground right? And hook the tent to it... wait, what's keeping it up then..."

Two hours later, we'd worked our way around the catastrophe and had come up with a reasonable excuse for a tent. All that mattered was that we could stay dry if there was rain, and have some privacy if need be. It had taken us so long to get here that honestly all we cared about was getting inside and resting.

"You okay?" I asked Luke, who was taking a break from the back-breaking work on a rock nearby. He smiled, leaning into me.

"Yeah, just sleepy. I think the nurses have just fed me so I'm thinking of having a food nap... how much longer till the tent will be ready?" he asked. I glanced up at the towering branches of the tall trees and canopies.

"Probably another ten minutes or so. We've got to unpack the blankets and everything, remember? Hey – how about we take a little walk before it gets dark? We could check out all the cool things Michael keeps mentioning. By the time we get back, the tent will be ready and we can go to sleep."

Luke grinned, nodding eagerly. "That sounds good!"

We made our way out of the open space, as he stuffed his hands into my pockets. It was getting pretty chilly actually – back in the village it was always at least lukewarm, so we'd never had the issue of being cold unless there was a sea breeze. There were so many trees, I guessed that they didn't let in much sunlight.

"You're so warm," he whispered, head close to my shoulders. "It feels like we're cuddling in bed or something."

"Aw Lukey, you're so cute," I giggled. We wandered past a few colourful birds chasing each other from branch to branch – who knew I'd be one to appreciate nature? Looking closer, it was indeed beautiful. I felt I could walk around in that forest for days on end with Luke next to me, admiring the different tree species and biodiversity; the occasional speckle of sun peeking through gaps between leaves, the sound of trickling water nearby.

"Did you have a boyfriend back on earth?" he asked out of the blue. Quite frankly, I was a bit stumped, and didn't know quite how to reply.

"I did. But I haven't thought about him in ages."

"Were you close?"

I smiled, somewhat nostalgically. "I guess we were. We'd been friends since primary school, but got closer towards the end of high school – don't you find talking about this weird?"

He shrugged. "Not really. I haven't experienced love before so I was just wondering how common it is to be in love."

Of course... since he'd been here since his tween years, he hadn't had the opportunity to meet someone, fall in love for the first time, kiss... that was pretty amazing in my eyes. To meet someone so untainted by the complexities of love.

"Haven't you ever been in love? Not once? Not even a primary school crush?"

He shook his head. "I don't want to sound heartless, but I never liked my classmates. The only person I liked was probably my science teacher, but that was only because she was nice to me."

"Your friends weren't nice to you?"

"I didn't have any."

Who wouldn't want to be friends with someone as amazing as Luke? To be honest, I kind of understood. At school, he would've been the communal punchbag, the one who was always being teased. I mean, it was the same here, until I came and befriended him. I'm sure he was a little bit grateful for that – I certainly was.

As we continued to converse, we reached the end of the forest, and found a very small gap to crawl through, reaching probably the most beautiful scenery I'd ever seen in my entire life. There was a creek, illuminated by the familiar shades of the sunset above; a wooden walkway had been put in place, though slightly eroded by the gentle lapping waves; what's more, we'd left the cold of the woodland, returning to the temperature we felt comfortable in.

"Can you believe your eyes?" I exclaimed in amazement. He tilted his head ever so slightly, enough for my lips to reach his. I shut my eyes, interlocking our fingers in my pocket and deepening the kiss so that my heart beat spiked abnormally with the amount of passion I was feeling between us. I could love no one more, and no one could love me more. It was bliss – the perfect moment, one that I knew I'd keep safe in my heart no matter what was going to happen.

Our future was unpredictable and we knew; it didn't stop us from taking our relationship to the next level, in fact it may have speeded it up. Whilst some couples might have waited a few months before sleeping with each other, for all we knew we'd be gone the next day.

So I laid him down on the wooden walkway, keeping our lips tightly locked the whole time my hands worked on getting rid of my unnecessary clothing. He did the same, struggling beneath me to pull his top over his head. I used my hand to pump my dick slightly, though it was already fully erect, before sliding a couple fingers into Luke's hole. He groaned in pleasure, arching his back towards me as I kissed his jaw, taking my time in finding the right position to enter. One good thing about this place was feeling no pain.

Once I'd fully inserted my length he tensed due to the tightness of his butt, then relaxed. His eyes shut naturally, eyebrows furrowing when I moved as it was bound to feel a little strange the first time. I picked up a pace, feeling the cum build up inside me with every thrust, lining up to burst out at the right moment; and when it did, it didn't disappoint. I groaned, eyes rolling back as I reached my high, then leant down towards Luke, kissing him gently.

He came too, soon after, and he admitted that that had been his very first time. "That felt amazing," he breathed, eyes glistening as the sun poured its rays down on us. "I see why sex is a thing now..."

I rolled over so we were laying side by side, and took his hand into mine. We both looked up at the never-ending watercolour sky, hoping that one day we'd be able to return to our lives and be together for real. The thought of that excited me so much – introducing him to my parents, to Mali, to our new dog that I hadn't even met yet. I knew that he'd be good with animals, since it was almost natural for him to be with them. He was free-spirited and longed for his own pair of wings, and here he was, in a way, permitted that.

When the sun had finally travelled past the horizon, we made our way back to the tent, struggling through bramble and branches, mistaking shadows for creatures. Luckily we had each other's company, and Luke wasn't at all scared of creepy crawlies that had come out for their night time snack.

"Where have you two been?" Michael shouted from inside the tent. "We got it all ready, look! I bet it won't fall down-"

He spoke too soon, because moments later the top collapsed on his and Ashton's heads, resulting in a fit of giggles from both Luke and myself. When Michael and Ashton cried in dissatisfaction, we headed over and helped them out of the mess; Luke then used his super amazing skills to put the tent back up in a way that meant it wouldn't fall down in our sleep.

We unrolled our blankets and pillows and got comfortable. The cold was seeping in through the tiny pores in the tent material, but that was more of an excuse for me to cuddle Luke close. Although Michael and Ashton were right next to us, I whispered into Luke's ear, "I love you."

And he said back with a kiss on the cheek, "I love you too, CalPal."

***

i wonder if this will end soon? :)))

kimmy xx