Wanderlust Heart (18+)

1

Vote and enjoy, babes✈

The picture is of Milo

"I can't believe we're leaving today," I pouted.

It's our last day in the Philippines and we have no idea where we're going to next. That's the beauty of being spontaneous, you surprise yourself. Currently, we're standing at the very top of the lookout in the Kayangan Lake area. The water is so blue and so clear from where we're standing, but I'm really starting to regret not bringing a bottle of water considering Stefan and I had to walk three hundred and sixty-seven steps to get to this point.

Stefan threw his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to his side, "Coron was definitely worth the go, you did good, sis." I looked up at him and scrunched my nose, "You're sweaty, dude." I pushed him away whilst he laughed and shook his head, handing me a bottle of water that came from nowhere, "I knew you'd forget to bring yours."

I sighed in relief dramatically as I grabbed it and downed half of it, "You're a life saver." He cheesed at me before looking down at the water, "I'm such a whore for that water right now... can we please hurry and swim in it?" I rolled my eyes with a smile and nodded as I posed for the picture Stefan had to take.

I have an Instagram account with nearly a million followers, my account theme is traveling since that's what we do best. I looked out in the view with a grin on my face, both hands on the railing, and on my tip-toes. I heard him take a couple of pictures before he giddily hopped down the stairs like a five-year-old on a sugar rush. I chuckled quietly at his eagerness, following him down the hundreds of stairs before we finally reached the life vest area.

We grabbed the life vests since they were mandatory and he placed our things on the rocks. There weren't many people here so we wouldn't have to worry about our things getting stolen, so without further notice, we jumped into the deep, beautiful water. It was cold but definitely bearable.

"Stef, this water is freaking amazing," I said once my head reached the surface and he splashed my face with the water, "I couldn't agree more. So, in comparison, how does this rank with the Maldives?" I hovered in the water as I thought for a moment before I lowered myself completely under the surface. I opened my eyes as my long blonde hair floated around me, the fish swam around me as if I were no threat to them. And I'm not.

I came back up and pushed my hair back as he awaited my answer with an eyebrow cocked and I groaned loudly, "I can't choose! You know that's not fair!" He laughed as he swam around in circles around me, "Maldives or Kayangan, Sammie, choose." I closed my eyes, weighing the options back and forth in my mind before I looked at him.

"Okay, if we're talking about finances, definitely here because fifty grand a night at the underwater villa at the Muraka is crazy! But view wise? I mean you can't beat going to sleep watching the fish and waking up watching the fish," I said with a grin on my face and he high-fived me, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

✈️

"So where to next? We still have to go see Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, the Great Barrier Reef and Whitehaven Beach in Australia, Salar de Uyuni in Bolivar-"

Stefan cut me off with a grim look on his face whilst he rolled socks on his feet, immediately causing me confusion as he spoke, "How about Tingley Beach?"

My eyebrows met in incertitude, "Tingley Beach? But that's in Albuquerque- Stef, no!" He gave me an apologetic look as he stood up from the bed and I shook my head, "I don't want to go back. Why does dad want us back?" He began typing on his phone and handed it to me after a couple of seconds. I glanced at the screen that showed our bank account which only held a little over two grand; that will only get us back to the United States from here.

"We're broke..." I stated with pursed lips and he nodded, "Remember what he told us? He'll stay out of our lives so long as we travel the world and stay out of New Mexico. He has to sign off on the money since it's such a large amount but as soon as he does we're out of there." I sighed and nodded my head as I finished packing Stefan's bags. I flipped the front of the suitcase closed and tried to zip it up, but it wouldn't budge.

He grinned at me mischievously and before I could yell at him for doing what he was about to do, he did it. I squealed as he wrapped his arms around me and threw us both on top of the uncomfortable suitcase. He grabbed the zipper as our weight held the contents down and he zipped it up. I stuck my tongue out at him as he snapped a picture of me and sent it to his buddy from Albuquerque, letting him know that we were coming back for a little bit.

Soon after I finished packing my own bags, my brother's phone started ringing whilst he showered. I answered the face-time from his friend, Benjamin. His face was close to the screen in a disgusting face as the call connected.

"Hey, little Castillo, what's cookin' good lookin'?" Benny's voice laughed through the screen because he knows it makes Stefan irritated. All throughout high school his friends always tried to flirt with me until Stefan finally put his foot down and basically told them all to either screw off or don't come back to the house. That was when Stefan owned a two-bedroom apartment before we began traveling.

"I heard that, Ben," Stefan yelled from the bathroom, and Benny and I laughed at his annoyance as Benny yelled through the phone, "You know I'd never do your sister! Anyways, Stef told me about you guys coming back? Where are you guys staying?"

I sighed and shrugged my shoulders as I grabbed my water and took a sip, "I don't know, but what I do know is dad's place is out of the question. We're not going back there." Benny nodded as he took a bite of pizza and began talking with his mouth full, "Well... come back to my place? I'm rooming with my friend Willow right now. She introduced me to this guy named Gino who is a family friend. But the house belongs to Gino's brother who is like a millionaire or some shit but I've never met him even though I've been living here for almost a year now. I'm rambling but needless to say, this house is fucking huge-"

"Language, Benny," I scolded and he rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyways, this house is freaking huge and there are plenty of rooms for you, Stef, and Milo." My heart clenched as I remembered my baby that I had to leave behind two weeks ago with Benjamin because of where we were going.

"How is he?" I asked and as if on cue, Milo popped up on the screen with his tongue out and his ears flopping around, barking playfully at the screen once he noticed me, "There's my boy! I miss you so much, Milo!" He barked again and I grinned at how beautiful he was. Benny laughed as he scratched behind his ears, "Milo has been a good boy. He finally mastered using the doggy door out back and rolling over."

I grinned as Stefan came out of the bathroom and looked at the phone, "Milo! Who's a good boy?"

As much as I hate seeing my dad, I'm glad I'm going back to Albuquerque.