Waking up was a lot easier of a task the next morning. I could've sworn the sunlight was brighter, the plants looked like they were flourishing, and the shower I took was the best I'd had in ages.
This was gonna be a good day.
As I woke everyone up in the cabin, Miranda smirked at me.
"You know what? You finally look happier," she remarked. "After all this crap that's been happening, you look at peace."
A light feeling spread through me. "I am."
I really was.
The way I felt made me wonder why I hadn't admitted my emotions sooner. Why did I ever let my anxiety get in the way of me living my life? This was the best thing that had happened to me in a long time.
As I walked to breakfast with an airy walk, a pair of arms slipped around me and pulled me close. I grinned.
Travis' head nuzzled into the crook of my neck as he grumbled, "Morning, Kates."
"Morning," I stumbled over the word, feeling my cheeks warm.
My heart palpitated when he chuckled, his chest rumbling against me. "You're cute."
I scoffed, gently pushing him off me as I kept walking. "Yeah, right."
It still felt weird hearing Travis say something so nice about me, even after we'd been "together" for a while. I'd also heard that line plenty of times. Enough to where I was numb to it. But, he persisted.
"I mean it, you know." His feet matched time with mine, though he had to make his natural step smaller due to my shorter legs. "I feel great 'cuz now you know I'm being for real."
I brushed my shoulder against his as we reached the pavilion. "Whatever you say, Stoll, but I know the truth."
My comfort would always be my self-deprecating jokes, and no matter how many times someone told me otherwise, my family and past relationships made me believe the worst about myself. That also went for my looks.
He looked like he wanted to contradict me, but one of his younger siblings called for him. He turned to me and said, "This conversation isn't over." Then, he spun to see whatever disaster his little brother created.
Miranda and I went through the breakfast line, and I stole glances at Travis every few minutes. Every once in a while, we'd catch each other's eye and he'd send me a goofy grin. Instead of growing angry like I would have before, I found myself feeling giddy and excited.
I liked this change.
As we stood to get to our activities, Travis approached Miranda and me.
"Hey, Kates?"
"Hmm?"
"I, uh, wanna ask you something," he said, scuffing his shoe on the ground.
I motioned for Miranda to go ahead without me. "Okay."
He grinned. "Umm, so about fireworks tonight-"
"Yup...?"
"We're, er, going together, right?"
I almost bust out laughing. The confident, bold, and conclusion-jumping Travis Stoll wasn't sure if I was going with him after all the things that had happened between us?
"You didn't seem to have a problem asking me last time," I noted.
He took my light giggle with a bad connotation, and he pursed his lips. "I mean, I just kinda assumed since..."
"Since we're dating for real now?"
Freezing up, his eyes widened. For a split second, I freaked - were we not on the same page about that? Was I jumping the gun? Oh, no... I'd probably scared him away, after everything we'd been through emotionally to get to this point.
But, soon enough, a smirk reached his face. "Glad to hear you say that out loud, Katie-kat. I'd be honored to go out with you."
The sharp turn from stress to calm gave me a wave of comfort. "Don't get so cocky, Stoll, I might end up dumping you for someone who actually deserves me."
He laughed, giving me assurance. "Joke's on you, Gardner. Nobody's good enough to deserve you."
The sudden seriousness of his tone made me smile at the ground, cheeks heating up. I muttered, "Yeah, whatever. I'll see you at dinner?"
"Sooner than that, I hope." He grinned, drawing me into his arms.
I sighed when he propped his chin on my head, reveling in the moment. I couldn't believe how quickly I'd fallen for him after all those years of building up walls. A part of me yelled that breaking down the barrier to my emotions was a bad idea, but rather than agreeing with it, I chastised it.
I didn't need to keep the walls up anymore.
The strawberry fields felt warmer and more homey than normal. I gathered my gardening tools together and posted myself in a patch of newly-dug holes ready for planting, all the while daydreaming of how drastically my life had shifted for the good.
"Hey, Katie-kat," Travis greeted easily, folding himself to sit next to me.
I smiled in reply, carefully arranging a plant in one of the holes in the dirt.
He didn't say anything else for the time being - the quiet suited us now, as opposed to the old fighting and bickering that used to fill up our time together. I hummed to myself and he toyed with whichever gardening equipment I wasn't using at the moment.
It was... nice.
Really nice.
"I'm glad it ended up like this," Travis remarked offhandedly, keeping his eyes trained on the trowel he was fidgeting with.
I touched his knee with mine before returning to the planting. "Me, too. I can't believe I used to think I hated you."
We both laughed lightheartedly, and for once, I felt like everything was okay.
After another stent of silence, he voiced another thought.
"You're beautiful, Kates."
I rolled my eyes dramatically as I gestured to my grimy self. "Mmhm, sure. Anything you say."
"I don't know why you won't believe me. You take my breath away."
Comfort slipped away from me as I felt my cheeks tinge pink. The way his eyes bore into me with something I could only describe as passion... he was the one taking my breath away. I'd had my share of self esteem issues, but in that minute, I felt a twinge of acceptance.
Then, as if he hadn't said a thing, he grinned and shot up. "I'll see you at fireworks. I have a surprise for you tonight."
A bit taken aback, I wondered what on earth he was doing. As he darted off to gods knew where, I could only think that this was the first time I was excited for a "surprise" from a Stoll.
And I liked that.
+ + + + +
Everybody say it all together now: "McKenna, that was super short and it took you three days to write?"
Yup. Oops.
In other news, I tabulated there to be around 27 chapters of this book. I've never been so close to finishing a WIP, and any feedback would be really appreciated. I love hearing from y'all, but you're too kind! Say something criticizing, I need to beat myself up over something other than how short my chapters have been lol.
(Kidding, but also, please leave any constructive criticism you may have!)
More chapters coming as soon as possible, lovelies!
- mckenna
YOU ARE READING
fake | tratie | EDITING |
Fanfictionhe hated her, she hated him. so why'd he kiss her? alternative summary: a really cliche trope that's super overused but it's tratie so who cares?