Falling in Love with my Best Friend

Chapter 14: Getting in Trouble

Jake woke me up in the middle of the night, shaking my shoulders gently until I peered up at him in confusion.

"What?" I grumbled, rubbing my eyes and yawning. "Why are you up?"

"Just get your shoes on," he replied. "I wanna show you something."

My brow furrowed in confusion. "Why-"

"It's a surprise," he replied. "Now c'mon."

I sighed, sitting up slowly and searching around for my sneakers. I could barely keep my eyes open let alone function properly and Jake's sunny attitude wansn't helping. After I got my shoes on we crept downstairs, the house was quiet because every sane person would clearly be asleep at this hour.

"What time is it?" I asked as he closed the front door behind us.

"5:00."

"Jake," I moaned. "It's so early."

He chuckled at me, pulling me to his side and wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "You'll be fine, you're a big girl," he said, mockingly.

I huffed stubbornly, crossing my arms.

We got in his car and drove a short ways, all the while me trying not to imagine the warm and cozy bed I'd left behind. Jake pulled over and I was surprised to see where he'd taken us.

"Granite Peak?" I asked.

He nodded, putting the car in park and opening his door. "We're going on a hike."

I rose my eyebrows in disbelief. "Really?"

He smirked at me. "Really." With that he hopped out of the car.

I sighed, reluctantly pushing myself out of my seat and following him across the parking lot.

"Um... Any reason why you had the desire to do a strenuous activity at 5 in the morning?"

He scoffed. "This is hardly a strenuous activity."

I rolled my eyes at him, wrapping my arms around myself. "Everything is strenuous at 5 in the morning," I grumbled, under my breath.

"Come on," he said suddenly, marching up to the entrance and glancing over his shoulder to make sure I was following. I huffed in defeat, trudging up the trail after him.

Jake's POV

"Are we there yet?" Stacy called from behind me.

"Nope," I replied, rolling my eyes and smiling to myself. We'd been walking for maybe five minutes and Stacy had been lagging behind the whole time. She was definitely not a morning person.

After another minute of walking I gave up, turning around and watching as Stacy trudged up the path with her head down. She was wearing her usual converse along with some Superman PJ pants and a sweatshirt with the hoodie pulled up over her head. She lifted her eyes when she saw me waiting for her and her brow furrowed in adorable confusion.

"Are we-" she started.

"No," I replied, my lips quirking up in amusement. "Come here."

She walked up to me slowly, her eyes sleepy. I turned around and bent my knees, holding my hands out by my sides. "Get on," I said.

She climbed onto my back, linking her arms around my neck and resting her chin on my shoulder.

"Go horsie," she mumbled sleepily.

I rolled my eyes, feeling my lips pull up into a grin as I started hiking up the path with Stacy clinging onto my back.

We reached the top of the hill just as the sun was peaking out from the horizon.